One of the hardest things to do as a Special Education teacher is to group like need IEP goals into a small group, work on IEP goals within that group, and have a way to collect the data without losing your mind at the same time.

Differentiating instruction is easy, targeting everyone's IEP goal but I have found a data collection method that works! No more looking for papers or stickies. I talked last about how (you can check it out here) I use Google to simplify my IEP data collection and progress monitoring.

At the beginning of the year, I group like IEP goals together and create one group to start my data collection. This way I'm collecting the same information on one Google sheet and form instead of seven or twenty. Google has become my go-to data collection method when I'm doing the collection. don't get me wrong it will morph into my students doing the work before too long but even then I can keep updating my information to ensure that no matter what happens when my students do their own data collection--I have accurate information.




Why is using Google Drive such a huge thing for me as my go-to data collection method?

I am paperless.

I do the vast majority of my teacher work in some way online. That means I use my Google Drive for my lesson plans, data collection, observation notes, and behavior tracking. It doesn't hurt that it's free and super simple to use.  Plus I love how easy it is to share with students and teachers. I can also make intervention changes without having to do any data collection by hand.