Doing Reports: Continuous Improvement Required

Here are my recommendations up front:

1. Plan out the time lines for next year NOW, in JUNE. We need to set these dates for each term: end of marking;due dates for all marks and comments; report card printing DAY for draft copies; next due date for all corrections; printing DAY for final copies.
2. Get everyone to use email for file transfer if working at home, and stop relying on floppy disks.
3. If a teacher can't do email transfer, then they must work at school.
   

Analysis of the present (difficult) situation:

We've got administrators finding mistakes that teachers should have caught. We've got teachers arriving at school with no data, or faulty data, and having to return home again because the deadline has passed. And, we've got the report card facilitator spending hours doing corrections that should have been taken care of by teachers.

The task of printing report cards is not a difficult task, nor should it consume more than a half a day. BUT, when the data does not come in at the same time, but instead it arrives piecemeal over a two week time period, with blurred time lines for drafts and finals, the task becomes a silly run around that takes all day for several days. This is because teachers are doing work under gun of time pressure and everything needs to be printed ASAP. Time lines go quickly to pieces when the data set is incomplete. One missed data set holds up the hold process.

We need realistic, comfortable deadlines that allow teachers and administrators the time to successfully transfer data and proofread. Printing should occur all at once.

The report card administrator should not be making corrections and reprints constantly over many days. All corrections should be caught by teachers and administrators after first draft printouts, data resubmitted after teachers make corrections on their eTeacher, then the final printouts are produced.

Here are some other observations:

• some teachers are uncomfortable with submitting data in specific ways, especially by email
  
• We should consider having some of our comments pre-approved. A little forethought on the comments we are going to use in our reports, and careful design of our comment library, would eliminate MOST of the editing problems.
  
• we should work more to build our comment library, and learn to export and save libraries of comments.
  
• our training on eTeacher can be sharpened: submitting data files, moving data files, emailing data files, backing up files, using floppy disks appropriately (ie. for back up only)
  
• many grad tasks should be done earlier in the year: e.g. grad certificates, subject awards.
  

Any comments?

Report Card Trivia

Number of sheets of paper used: 3000
Cost of one toner cartridge for school printer: $275
Number of toner cartridges used: 1

Number of teachers relying on floppy disks for file transfer: 9
Number of teachers who successfully used "TAB done" folder: 5
Number of teachers using email to send data: 3
Number of teachers who needed direct assistance to transfer data files: 3

Time required to configure staff teaching profiles and class lists: 12 hours
Time required to import your configuration and class lists to eTeacher: 3 minutes
Time required to reassign a class of kids to another teacher: 20 minutes

Time required for one teacher to submit data file to TAB done folder: 3 minutes
Time required for report card administrator to track down a floppy disk not handed in: 1 hour

Approximate number of times I have sat down to print various sets and subgroups of report cards over the past two weeks: 20
Number of times I would prefer to sit down and print report cards per term: 2 (one draft, one final)

Total estimated staff hours required to produce report cards: 25staff X 10hours = 250 staff hours

Time required to administer report cards in June 2005: ongoing over two weeks, 10 half/days
Time actually required to print report cards if deadlines were realistic, enforced, if proof-reading included administrators well ahead of printing date, and there were not data transfer problems: 2 half/days

Any comments?

Teacher Gripped by Flear of Floppies

True confessions of a muddle manager

Think about it. Report cards are one of the truest, regular tests of our teamwork as a staff, especially in the middle school, but also in the primary and junior departments. It is a task we share in common, it exercises our too-often flaccid technology muscle, and it’s a great opportunity to interact, problem solve and improve our time management. We should reflect on how well we do it.

Tracking the Data Krunch

The Data Krunch is a catch-all term for the managing of data files, setting and meeting of deadlines, proof-reading, corrections, paper flow and signatures.

Teacher gripped by fear of floppy disks

You wouldn’t believe how satisfying it is to be able to sit down at the computer and have TAB files sitting in the "TAB done" folder ready for import, all at one time.
It is second only to the pure joy of checking my email and seeing a data file attached to an email message saying, "Here’s my data!"
Honestly, I hate floppy disks. They’ve saved my life a few times, but I still hate them. I fear the loss of data when we rely on floppies as our main method of data transfer.
Floppy disks are unreliable. Computer floppy disk drives are unreliable. They gather dust. Kids stick junk in them. The disks get damaged or demagnetized.
If you are not able to transfer files by email, then transfer your data file into the "TAB done" folder. Keep your floppy disk. This way you safeguard your data, and you can rest assured that I will find it when I need it. No need to keep track of your disk or chase me for it.

Any comments?

The Count of Monte Cristo

This is another redemptive story that follows a man through a life of trials through injustice and a wrongful prison sentence.

It reminds me of The Shawshank Redemption. Both movies have a spiritual theme that shows up, unexpectedly, through the main character's agonizing endurance of years of physic pain, physical pain and suffering and isolation. Both men make an important friend in prison, who gives them hope enough to make it. These friends become the arm of God, even though faith in God is nonexistent. The hope of the friendship carries them through to a better place.

I have a few friends who are like that to me. Precious few. They have not judged me, but have just been there at critical moments. They have affirmed me as a person. JD, MF, LM, GB, DD. These people are gifts not to be forgotten.

Maybe I'll be that friend to someone else some day.

My Careers Unit is going to start with this!

The US Department of Labour's List of Occupational Titles. Unbelievable. Definitely would start many kids thinking in new ways about what to do when they grow up!

http://www.occupationalinfo.org/dot_index.html