Glow and Grow

Glow—something you are doing very well; encouragement to continue; area of excellence

Grow – something we need to work on; area for growth      

I have a goal (not yet accomplished) to send home “Glow and Grow” reports with student report cards. I would like to use these accounts to share with parents an area where the child is doing very well and an area where the child can grow.     

It would also be a good practice for the students to evaluate themselves, considering: “What am I doing well? What do I need to do better?” They could write or draw their thoughts and save them for later review. Perhaps we could do this each quarter and then check back on our progress. It would be good to acknowledge growth and recognize that progress. We should also observe the “Glow” to see if that continues and find new areas of “Glow and Grow.” The students would enjoy using glow sticks to celebrate our “glows”.    

The record sheet (see photo above for design/layout) could be used for my reports to parents and for the students to complete for their own evaluations. I should complete a “Glow and Grow” report for myself as the teacher when the students are doing their evaluations. Teachers who feel brave enough could have students complete the “Glow and Grow” for their teaching!

This “Glow and Grow” idea does not originate with me. I first heard it from my administrator, and we teachers used it with ourselves in staff meetings. This was a good exercise for us teachers to think of areas in which we were feeling successful and then areas where we need to grow.