Public Records "aha"

Public records.  One day during my September experience the principal of Hale came to observe our class with her district boss.  It was a short visit, perhaps ten minutes, but the one thing they wanted addressed as lacking in the classroom were “Public Records”.  The use of Public Records is one of eight “High Leverage Teaching Moves” outlined by Seattle Public Schools.  As the intern I got the assignment to maintain the Public Records in the classroom.  The stated purpose of Public Records is to: “Provide students with a resource- an opportunity to reconnect to skills and processes they’ve learned or to apply learning in a new way”. In my middle school experience Public Records are used in the classroom.  I learned some basic guidelines governing Public Records.
Create Public Records with the classes they apply to, the last class period to cover the material in the record is a good time to finalize the record, this does not require separate prep time for the records.  Do not create too many records; this clutters the walls making them less powerful.  Segregate records into classes on the walls.  Remove public records from past units that are no longer pertinent.  When I  return to my high school classes I will master making Public Record Posters on a printer, expanding 8 ½ by 11 inch sheets to larger poster sizes, because I think my writing is sloppy.  By using the Smart board I can get input from the classes on the actual Public Record by editing the file with which we create it.  This is important, it gives the students ownership and fluency of the records.