These are the 77 slides from Tiffany Markman's two webinar presentations to SAALED members during October 2020. For more information, please email tiffany@tiffanymarkman.co.za or visit tiffanymarkman.co.za

1. ADVANCING YOUR
REPORT WRITING
by Tiffany Markman
WELCOME TO:

2. WHY ARE WE HERE
TODAY?

3. REPORT WRITING
CAN BE TOUGH.

4. And if the report that you write
can’t be interpreted in a clear,
concise and positive manner…
ALL OF YOUR CAREFUL
ASSESSMENT IS
UNDER-VALUED.

5. COPYWRITER.
WRITING TRAINER.
SPEAKER.
Tiffany Markman
WHO AM I?

6. MOM

7. Teacher

8. SOMETIMES,
WE HATE WRITING REPORTS.

9. BUUUUT,
THEY’RE
IMPORTANT.

10. Our reports have to
convince parents that we’ve
done our homework.

11. AND MAKE
US
AND
THE SCHOOL
LOOK
GOOD.

12. SO, WHAT’S ON
OUR AGENDA?

13. 1. WRITING STYLE
2. CONCISENESS
3. WORD CHOICE
4. STRUCTURE
5. MY TOP TIPS X 3

14. WRITING
STYLE

15. PARENTS
ARE
PEOPLE.
AND SO ARE YOU.

16. The ideal tone?
Professionally friendly.
LET’S START WITH TONE.

17. LIKE PARTNERS

18. And yet,
they’re entitled to:
authoritative,
well-considered,
truthful info that they can
act on immediately.

19. A pre-school
example…

20. “Zach is a livewire with tons of
energy and no fear. He has a
great vibe with his classmates
and is Mr Popular! Especially
with the little girls, whose hair
he regularly pulls in teasing
fun. Zach is easily able to sort
out issues in his ‘gang’,
though he does have trouble
sharing the leadership role
while playing.”
Nooo.

21. CONCISENESS

22. THERE ARE 2 TYPES.
WORDING
& VOLUME

23. BAD WORDS GOOD WORDS
Lucidity Clarity
Peruse Read
Ascertain Determine
Transpire Happen
Obtain Get

24. A word on
JARGON
LET’S START WITH TONE.

25. Cognitive development
Perceptual development
Gross Motor skills
Fine Motor skills
Self-correcting games
Numeracy concepts
Postural control
Auditory memory
Physical agility
Mathematical problem-solving
Hand-eye coordination
Pencil control
Useful jargon:

26. metacognitive practice
bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
constructivism
locus of control
phonemic awareness
taxonomy
Unhelpful jargon:

27. 80 20

28. USE THE FEWEST
WORDS POSSIBLE.
CONCISENESS

29. BE
RUTHLESS
ABOUT
WAFFLE &
WORDINESS.

30. WORD CHOICE

31. Try to avoid
OVER-USED PHRASES.
WORD CHOICE

32. easily
with ease
easy

33. Watch out for
‘nothingy' descriptors.
WORD CHOICE

34. Enjoys
Always
Productive
Thoroughly
Very
Really
Truly

35. In fact, almost all words that end with -ly

36. Borrow
FROM EACH OTHER.

37. Make
‘GOOD WORD’ LISTS.

38. Here are some good
words and phrases
used by experienced
teachers:

39. Emphasising the positive
Words: thorough, caring,
cooperative, growth, superior,
quality, striving, seeking,
attempting, admirable,
consistent, persevering
Phrases: is able to, is strong
in, has a good grasp of,
independent learner, works
hard, improved tremendously,
is willing to take more risks,
excels at, making good
progress, does a great job
with, has great potential for

40. Appreciating a child's unique qualities
Words: energetic, creative, hard worker, risk taker,
imaginative, persistent, diplomatic, innovative,
cooperative, original, leader, eager, thoughtful,
enthusiastic, perceptive, welcomes, problem
solver
Phrases: interested in, positive attitude, interacts
well with peers, thinks clearly, understands
complex tasks, shows compassion, sets a
standard for others, selects carefully, concentrates
well, follows directions carefully, suggests new
approaches, generates many original ideas, fluent
reader, intrigued by, special talent for, skilled in,
follows projects through to the end

41. Child requires extra help
Words: requires, struggles, seldom,
usually
Phrases: could profit from, shows a
need for, finds it difficult at times to, it is
helpful to, is challenged by, works best
when, needs help with, I'm working with
him/her to, had trouble with, making
progress, seems reticent about, needs
encouragement in, has a tendency to,
let's find a way to solve this together
Words to be wary of: unable, can't,
won't, always, never

42. Create
MENTAL PICTURES.

43. LET’S DO
A QUICK EXPERIMENT.

44. TREE

45. LET’S DO
ANOTHER QUICK EXPERIMENT.

46. DOG

47. Be
SPECIFIC.

48. A prep school
example…

49. Nina has made pleasing progress
in all areas of her growth and development.

50. Nina has learned to manage
challenging social interactions with
assistance and has increased her
circle of friends.

51. STRUCTURE

52. Try to
CONNECT 2 IDEAS.
STRUCTURE

53. Jonty is extremely
helpful (topic): he can
always be counted on
to collect worksheets
from his friends for
marking purposes
(detail).

54. Alexia is keen to learn (topic)
and produces her own
research on subjects that
interest her (detail); in
sharing these with the class
she motivates her peers to
learn more about the world
around them (outcome).

55. Daniel needs to be
encouraged to solve
problems independently
(first idea) rather than
becoming anxious if
confronted with a difficulty
(second idea). I suggest/I
plan to...

56. Daud has shared with me
that he has struggled with
Afrikaans this year (first
idea), finding it much
harder than in Grade 7.
However, I am happy that
he has started attending
Afrikaans tutorials (second
idea), which…

57. Quiz yourself on
two fronts:

58. 1. Am I being too general?

59. 2. Can I use ‘So What’?

60. Let's try this
together.

61. A pre-school
example…

62. ‘Maya has new-found confidence and dexterity
with regard to Fine Motor skills.’

63. Too general? Yes.
EXPAND.

64. ‘Her pencil grip is now correct and she can write
her full name correctly and neatly.’

65. SO WHAT?

66. ‘This means that Maya is beginning to prepare
herself for Grade 1.’

67. A high school
example…

68. ‘Dumo has absolutely embraced what it means to
be a part of our high school.’

69. Too general? Yes.
EXPAND.

70. ‘He is a member of our chess team, plays
basketball and takes part in robotics. I have seen
him grow within each of these disciplines’

71. 3 X
TOP
TIPS

72. ‘BATCHING’

73. BUDDYING

74. BRAINSTORMING

75. OR
A WORKSHOP?

76. Email tiffany@tiffanymarkman.co.za

77. QUESTIONS?
or email tiffany@tiffanymarkman.co.za