Check-Off Lists

Last week, I met the wonderful Rick Morris, who introduced me to the effectiveness of Check-Off Lists. They’re basically a way for teachers and students to keep up with who has completed their assignments. Each student is assigned a number. The numbers on the COL correspond to the appropriate child's number. (He also speaks highly of numbers...and so do many teachers!) A simple COL looks like this:

Source: newmanagement.com

With my third graders, I expect them to be able to complete multiple assignments independently if they did not finish it earlier in the day. Therefore, I wanted to make a poster with 3 COLs for my students. So if a student has reading, language, and math assignments in one day, he will go up to the COL poster and mark off his number as he completes each assignment.

Orange poster board, star border, COL with numbered stars on star stationery, and Rick Morris's "New Management Handbook"

After I give out an assignment and students complete it, they will turn it into the appropriate subject folder, and then put a slash through their number on the COL. That lets me know which students are still working. Here’s my COL poster:

Numbering the stars

Finished!

Using a dry erase marker, students will mark their numbers using the appropriate code. At the end of each day, I’ll wipe the COLs clean since they’re laminated.

Codes

Taking my COL for a test drive!

Here’s a much simpler COL I’ll use for administrative paperwork (field trip forms, emergency contact cards, book orders, etc).

Same concept simplified.

Again, all the credit goes to Rick Morris! He has a COL on his website, which I’ll make copies of for smaller assignments. I really think COLs promote students' OWNership of their learning and promotes self-regulation and organization!