Thorough records are as important as ever, since blended and online learning is becoming more popular in education settings. As teachers, we don’t have that face-to-face contact and notes are important to help students gain autonomy in their learning, keep managers informed and also as a gentle reminder to what we taught last week! These are five of the methods I recommend for record keeping.

1. Individual learning plans. Different schools and settings will have different ideas about the use of ILPs. I use them both in the classroom and for individual tutoring sessions or university tutorial sessions. They can be used for each student termly to review their progress and set targets for the term ahead. I have a template for the ILPs I use, if you would like a copy, please leave me a comment.
2. Summary of each class. This will work well if you have a class once a week, such as an extra-curricular class, an evening class or additional help. It allows you to share with other teachers what has been covered, and also can help give some structure to any subsequent courses you run. If I am teaching different levels, I make a note of what each level did, and make notes on follow up activities/ areas to review for next week. If you would like a template for this, leave me a comment.
3. Summary slide in PPT. Since moving to remote delivery, I have used PPTs more than ever before. I always include a summary slide, as a recap, which can be copied into following lessons as a link to prior learning. It allows students to see what they have learnt, and if anything was unclear, they can raise questions at the end. It also is a useful study tool, when students are revising for assessments, they can make notes on topics covered from the summary slide. If a teacher is covering, this is extremely useful, and could be used at the start of the PPT. Some slide titles could be “Last session” and “This session we looked at”.
4. Verbal feedback to students. Feedback is so important. For all the records we keep, it is important to check that the students have understood what they have learnt. By asking them what they have talked about this class, you can discuss the topics and make notes about anything that has been lost or misunderstood during the session. It helps to ask students about their understanding of the class, as quieter students may be reluctant to ask questions.
5. Regular conversations with other staff and superiors. As someone who has covered illness and temporary leave, I cannot stress enough the importance of clear, coherent and up to date records! Having said that, it is also important that your superiors know what you are working on, where to pick things up in the case of illness or absence. By talking to your managers, you can save a lot of time and back and forth if you had to take absence or were unwell. This interaction is also an opportunity to share ideas and teaching methods for different subject, so as the saying goes, its good to talk.

I hope you found these topics useful. Please leave me a comment if you have any other ideas.

Thank you for reading.