The Joy of Reports

Not that they're due immediately or anything  - in fact I have until the 20th of this month - but I thought that for once I would be ahead of the game and get them done early. So today I sit staring at piles of assessments and work samples and notes that I've made all term.... and nothing, so far, has been written.

It's almost a guaranteed equation:

thought of reports = procrastination

My procrastination today has been to think about reports and all the discussions that result at this time of the year in the staff room. :)

It fascinates me that everyone has their own way of writing the things:

Some people write by comment: all the social comments get done first, then all the topic comments, then all the language, then all the Maths...;

Some of us write each report in its entirety before moving on to the next child;

Some teachers start with the "easiest" reports and save the challenging ones for last; others do the opposite :)

Some of us edit furiously, determined to have perfect writing for the head to peruse; others figure they'll get corrections no matter what so why bother proof-reading.

Some teachers leave reports to the last minute and then work to a deadline staying up until 3 in the morning to finish; some discipline themselves to do a couple every day and finish 2 days before the deadline so they can proof-read carefully.


Myself, I do each report in turn in its entirety and start with the most challenging; I try to space them out over a week or so and usually finish the last one the night before the due date; I'm obsessive about proof-reading and HATE it if I make ANY mistakes at all!  :)

The only thing we ALL seem to do, no matter what year group we teach, is complain about having to do them! :)

What's your approach to report writing?