How I Collect and Manage Data as a Travel Educator
Updated: Jun 20
I’m a traveling teacher. I work in various teaching positions in nearly all grade levels all over the country. I serve as a case manager, special education teacher, and educational consultant in my assignments. There’s a lot of movement, and I have to stay flexible and organized. One of the ways I do this without losing (all) my sanity is by creating a comprehensive digital data collection and management system.
I created this system because I was overwhelmed when I started as a traveling teacher. I found myself drowning in paperwork, behind on IEPs, having trouble communicating with parents the way that I wanted, and not being taken seriously when I made requests to the new admin. That’s when I realized…
I knew there were ways to utilize the free technology already available to educators to make this easier on myself- so I dug in and figured it out. I knew I wasn’t alone: data collection and management can be a huge stressor for educators. I brought this system to my graduate program at Boston College to develop this ebook/workshop that helps educators create a data collection and management system that works for their unique needs and offer three professional growth hours for completing this workshop that can be used for teacher recertification.
Let’s talk about this Data Collection and Management System…
Disclaimer: I know this can look overwhelming, but I walk you through each and every aspect of this system with video instructions, clickable resources, biweekly drop-in support meetings, and open discussion boards. :) This system has been peer reviewed (aka TORN APART by my amazing professors and classmates) to create something that will truly be sustainable.
What does it look like?
The end result will be one easy presentation with clickable links (think webpage) that leads to forms, folders, and important resources that make the paperwork part of education easier. This is done entirely
with free tools available to educators (even if you aren’t a google school). With this system, data is in one place, easy to access, measures individualized student goals, is sharable with folks who live with the student, includes organized resources and supports for specific students, and provides a beautiful paper trail of all communication and data.
Why would educators spend their time developing this data collection and management system?
The purpose of this system is to give teachers an easy way to collect data, share their findings with the student’s educational support team, and establish a collaborative digital workspace for supporting students to ultimately help them learn in the way best for them and overall make educators’ lives easier.
Who can use this?
Anyone! This system does focus on IEP data for special education teachers, but it is helpful for anyone. The program teaches participants a set of skills that can be applied in many ways. There are templates embedded in the book that can be useful for educators of all subjects, levels, and disciplines.
Where does the team access the system?
That’s the best part! All the tools we create in this workshop are nicely organized in one easy-to-assess presentation that can be shared as a simple link. Here is my example. I even transfer that link to a QR code and place them all around the classroom, so when I’m ready to track data, I scan it. My whole team can access these tools with ease. This program teaches each step of the process.
When is it helpful?
There are so many contexts where this system can be helpful. Outside of tracking IEP data, I use this to track and manage things like parent/home communication, standards-based grading, student goal setting, daily home communication log, exit/entrance tickets, attendance, participation, student SEL reflection, basic needs check, and so much more. This workshop gives participants the tools needed to create a system that helps where it is needed.
How do I get started?
By checking out this awesome eBook/Workshop!
Developed in conjunction with Boston College’s Global Perspectives: Teaching, Curriculum, and Learning Environments Master’s Program
This is a real PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP!
(with REAL professional growth hours to submit for teacher recertification)
This eBook/asynchronous workshop guides educators in creating a digital data collection system for managing data and supplementary student support folders using free resources. The learning event includes
Step-by-step video instructions
Online discussion board platform to ask questions and share ideas
Biweekly live Q&A sessions.
Useful templates embedded directly in the ebook
Guide on training support staff to implement this system
Review form for feedback
Certificate for 3 Professional Growth Hours
I can’t wait to see the amazing system you create!