Here is a collection of useful forms and strategies from a wide range of disciplines.  To jump to any particular topic, use the menu dots on the right-hand margin.

At the start of the school year, these forms can be useful in establishing the classroom culture.

1st day handout  A model of how to introduce the course without overemphasizing rules and grades.

Introductory letter - hopes and fears  Guidelines for a short student letter to describe what they are anticipating from the course, and what their academic history has been.

Name test  (Source: Esther Song, Niles West High School).  A getting-to-know-you activity for the start of the year.

Student treasure hunt  Another getting-to-know-you activity.

Here are several tools that can stimulate conversation about the bedrock philosophy that defines a community of learners.

Curriculum Transfer Model diagram  A graphic representation of the kind of philosophy that exists in too many classrooms.

Community of Learners diagram  A visual aid showing the relationships between teacher, students, and curriculum in the desired classroom culture.

Working assumptions  A thought provoking collection of statements designed to lead to a student discussion on the nature of school.

Working assumptions 2  Another collection of statements about the nature of school.

Introducing conversational learning and the importance of study groups requires challenging a common belief (by both teachers and students) that socializing is generally a distraction from learning.  These two diagrams show the distinction between the traditional and student-directed models of the classroom.

Learning vs. socializing  A model of the traditional view of students socializing.

Appropriate socializing  A model of how conversational learning combines the innate desire of students to talk to each other with the learning process.

It is important to have students become aware of the character traits that lead to success early in the year. In addition, having them become more metacognitive about how they learn best gives them the tools they need to make good choices in a differentiated classroom.

Character checklist (Source: David Wartowski, Niles North High School)  A list of desirable character traits.

Habits of mind (Source: Rick Cardis, Evanston Township High School)  Another list of desirable character traits.

Student learning style  A student reflection on personal learning style (after an assessment.)

Reflective letter  Guidelines for an end-of-the-year letter describing personal growth and a critique of student’s experiences.

Establishing roles for students can help solidify a sense of belonging and ownership.

Class contribution teacher summary  A form for teachers to keep track of roles that students volunteer for.

Class contributions.  A list of possible roles for students to choose.

Steering committee recommendations  An example of recommendations generated by a student steering committee on how to improve the class.  Handing these out to students helps validate the work of the committee.

One way to have students become more metacognitive in the act of reading is to have them assess their understanding while they are taking reading notes.

Reading notes master  A ready-to-use form for students to use when assessing their own understanding as they read.  It includes instructions on how to use it as well as an example of student work.

History reading notes  A form for note-taking and student self-evaluation on a history reading assignment.  (Source:  David Allen, Evanston Township High School)

Here is a series of problem sets that build in complexity from the energy unit contract.  

Energy problem set I (with answers)  The introduction problem set includes the helpful hints and the answer key that would be used by a study group to review the work. 

Energy problem set III

Energy problem set IV

Above and Beyond energy problem set  This problem set is the enrichment work that a student would do once he had mastered the required material.

Trampoline opener  A checkup to see whether a student has mastered the material.  This would be given prior to open work time.

Some more problem sets and another example of a checkup.

Circular motion problem set  Another example of a problem set

Forces worksheet

Practice problems

HW6A checkup  Simple and quick feedback for students about how to use upcoming open work time.

Concept maps are an excellent way to show students the interrelatedness of the concepts being learned. They are also a great tool for reviewing a unit before an assessment.

Concept map  Here is an example of a concept map with helpful hints on the back, and an answer key.  As always, the helpful hints are only to be used when a student is stumped.

Concept map answer key  A concept map on the topic of energy, as filled in by a student.

Current events are another way to give students more flexibility in exploring ideas of their own choosing.  I made these a required item on every unit contract, and I kept a library of articles, magazines, and books for students to choose from.

Current events introduction

Current events master

Current events student example

Sometimes, it's important to just tell students what to do.

How to solve problems

Here are some structures that help students who are struggling to keep up with homework take responsibility for fixing the problem.

Missing homework response

Plan for late work

Algebra quiz self-assessment   (Source:  Esther Song, Niles West High School)  A form that gives students the ability to critique the mistakes they made on a quiz.

Contract evaluation checklist   A reminder for students on what needs to be included to evaluate their own work effectively.  This is particularly useful at the start of the year.

Contract evaluation rubric   The rules of self-evaluating a unit contract.

English diagnostic assessment   Student self-evaluation of a reading and writing assignment. (Source:  Alyssa Moreno and Jennifer Wodzien, Palatine High School)

ESL self-evaluation   A form that defines a writing assignment and allows for self-evaluation.   (Source:  Seju Jain, Jaison Varghese, Iris Jun, Palatine High School)

Geometry formative assessment reflection  Student mastery self-assessment for a geometry class.  (Source:  Gary Chu and Tina Nocella, Niles North High School)

Homework self-evaluation  Guidelines for self-evaluation of the process of doing homework.

Lab self-evaluation  Guidelines for self-evaluation of the process of writing lab write-ups.

Minicontract self-evaluation  A self-evaluation of a mini contract introducing students to different forms of note-taking.  (Source:  Liz Harer, Palatine High School)

Psych unit reflections A student self-evaluation of both process and mastery at the end of a unit with room for written reflections.  (Source: David Allen, Evanston Township High School)

Writing self-evaluation   A simple, easy-to-use self-evaluation of a writing assignment.  (Source: Steve Wool, Evanston Township High School)

Voicethread self-evaluation   A variation on the writing self-evaluation showing how the criteria for success can be adapted to the task being evaluated.  (Source: Steve Wool, Evanston Township High School)

Sometimes, self-evaluation needs to be not about the curriculum, but about the student herself.  

1st semester reflective letter   A required but subjective student reflection given as a supplement to a traditional end of semester test.

Reflective Letter  Guidelines for writing a reflective letter at the end of the year on a student’s experience and personal growth.

Giving students the appropriate amount of control in creating their own study groups is an excellent way to give them a voice in the classroom.  Here are two forms that can help structure that process.

Study group sign-up 1

Study group sign-up 2

Once groups have been formed and have been operating for a while, it is often good to have students reflect on how well they are functioning.

Study group feedback form

Study group self evaluation  

Study group feedback form  (Thanks to Katie Myers, Niles North High School)

Study group self-evaluation  (Thanks to Steve Wool, Evanston Township High School)

Self-evaluation of individual participation  (Thanks to Steve Wool, Evanston Township High School)

Circles quiz minicontract   (Source:  Vanessa Brechtling, Niles West High School) 

Energy minicontract

ESL verbs minicontract (Source:  Seju Jain, Jaison Varghese, Iris Jun, Palatine High School)

Geometry area minicontract (Source:  Esther Song, Niles West High School)

History minicontract (Source: Rick Cardis, Evanston Township High School)

Indirect characterization minicontract  (Source:  Jen Krause, Palatine High School)

Psychology minicontract (Source:  David Allen, Evanston Township High School)

Quadratics minicontract (Source:  Esther Song, Niles West High School)

Right triangles quiz minicontract  (Source:  Esther Song, Niles West High School)

Rip Van Winkle minicontract  (Source:  Fred Schenck, Evanston Township High School)

Weekly geometry mini contract (Source:  Vanessa Brechtling, Niles West High School)

Weekly geometry mini contract - 2   (Source:  Vanessa Brechtling, Niles West High School)

Protocontracts are a structure that allows unit contracts to be built on the fly, with new items being added as the unit progresses.  They are a useful steppingstone towards complete unit contracts.  Here are two different approaches for the same subject.

Algebra protocontract   (Source:  Jeanette Prusko, Sarina Riley, Dennis Zandi, Palatine High School)  

Algebra protocontract  (Source:  Jim Behling, Niles North High School)  This example includes the blank protocontract, a partially completed protocontract, and a student self-evaluation structure.

Algebra order of operations contract (Source:  Jeanette Prusko, Sarina Riley, Dennis Zandi, Palatine High School)

Algebra solving equations contract (Source:  Jeanette Prusko, Sarina Riley, Dennis Zandi, Palatine High School)

Astronomy contract (Source:  Gionmattias Schelbert, Evanston Township High School)

Chemistry gas law contract   (Source:  Michael Nocella, Niles North High School)

Chemistry mole contract (Source:  Heather Dworak, Palatine High School)

Electric current unit contract

Energy unit contract

English narrative contract   (Source: Jennie Wodzien, Alyssa Moreno, Jessica Means, and Jim Kautz, Palatine High School)

ESL essay contract   (Source:  Seju Jain, Jaison Varghese, Iris Jun, Palatine High School)

ESL paragraph contract   (Source:  Seju Jain, Jaison Varghese, Iris Jun, Palatine High School)

ESL resource contract   (Source:  Seju Jain, Jaison Varghese, Iris Jun, Palatine High School)

Forces contract

Gravity unit contract

History contract   (Source:  Rick Cardis, Evanston Township High School)

Psychology semester exam practice contract   (Source:  David Allen, Evanston Township High School)

Psychology test prep contract (Source:  David Allen, Evanston Township High School)

Rolling contract   (Source:  Sarah Dyson and Liz Sheehan, Palatine High School)

Spanish unit contract (Source:  Fernando Campos, Evanston Township High School)

Statics Unit contract

Writing contract (Source:  Amanda Lipinski,  Patrick Noote, Palatine High School)

At the start of the year, an ungraded test of the status of students' skills can be very useful in determining what remediation ought to be available.

Physics skills pretest station  One of ten stations that students work on before they take the skills pretest.

Physics skills pretest student form 1 Students answer all the questions from all the stations on this form.  It also serves as a summary of their status - whether they need remedial work or not.

Physics skills pretest student form 2 A variation on the form students fill out while doing the skills pretest.

Physics skills pretest answers  A page of the answer key handed out to students after they have completed the pretest.

Reading skills pre-test  Here is an example of how a skills pre-test might be used to assess the reading proficiency of incoming students.  This is one of ten stations designed for that purpose.  (Source:  Liz Harer, Palatine High School)

Learning summary introduction  Instructions on how to write a learning summary.

Test resubmittal form - short   A way for students to assess the problems they had on a concepts test.  An essential part of the remediation process.

Test resubmittal form - long   A variation on the form that asks for more depth in their critique of the problems they misunderstood.

Here are forms to help organize the information needed for grade conferences at the end of the marking period.

1st quarter evaluation as completed by a student  A sample end-of-marking-period self-assessment

3rd quarter evaluation Another example of an end-of-marking-period grade form, to be used in grade conferences.  Note the "personal outcomes" self-evaluation on the second page.

4th quarter evaluation  An end-of-semester grade form that includes a culminating project.

Personal outcomes self-evaluation A variation on the end-of-marking period assessment of desired character traits.  (Source:  Heather Dworak, Palatine High School)

Mid-quarter comments An example of how to give students a voice in the comments that are sent to parents in mid-quarter grade reports.  This also leads to excellent conversations when teacher and student disagree.

Here are examples of learning sequences created for a range of disciplines.  (See "Designing the Learning Process" for more on learning sequences.)

Algebra learning sequence  (Source, Brenden Mariano, Palatine High School)

Economics learning sequence (Source:  Tyler Donnelly and Jeanne Hedgepeth)

English lit learning sequence (Source: Liz Harer, Dana Batterton, and Jason Wodzien, Palatine High School)

Indirect characterization unit learning sequence (Source: Liz Harer, Dana Batterton, and Jason Wodzien, Palatine High School)

Irony unit learning sequence   (Source: Jennie Wodzien, Alyssa Moreno, Jessica Means, and Jim Kautz, Palatine High School)

Scientific method unit    (Source:  Samantha Dolen, Palatine High School) 

Short story learning sequence (Source:  Sarah Dyson and Liz Sheehan, Palatine High School)

Spanish learning sequence  (Source:  Francisco Fernandez , Palatine High School)

U.S. History learning sequence (Source: Asa Gordon and Liza Sullivan, Palatine High School )

One technique for instigating meaningful conversations with students is to have a series of quotations visible in the classroom.  It can be used to maintain an ongoing discussion about the meaning of school or the purpose of the current classroom activities.

Here is a list of useful sayings.