See Beyond the Finished Piece: Understanding How Students Write

As educators, we know that a finished piece of writing is only one part of the learning story. A student may produce a polished sentence, but what did the writing process look like? Which words did they spell independently? When did they use word prediction or spelling support? Which resources helped them organize and express their ideas?

Having answers to these questions can give teachers a more complete picture of a student’s developing literacy skills. It can also help identify strengths, recognize areas for further instruction and support meaningful, achievable writing goals.

Clicker Analytics, built into the Clicker Writer app, gives educators a way to explore those details. Rather than evaluating only the final product, teachers can examine the strategies and supports students used to create it.

Analytics uses colour coding to show how words were added to a document. This includes words typed independently, selections made using word prediction, corrections suggested through spell check, and words or sentences created with Clicker Sets. These details help educators distinguish between skills a student is demonstrating independently and areas where additional support may be helpful.

The data can also provide insight into spelling and word selection. By reviewing typed words, predicted words and spelling corrections, educators can identify patterns in a student’s writing and use those observations to inform future instruction.

Clicker Analytics also shows which resources students used, including sentence sets, word banks and Connect Sets. Teachers can review the selections that contributed to a sentence, providing additional context for understanding how a student approached a writing task.

Document statistics offer another layer of insight, including when work began and how much time a student spent writing. These details can support goal setting, reflection and conversations about progress.

Teacher notes can also be added to documents, creating a useful record of observations and supporting communication between educators.

By making the writing process more visible, Clicker Analytics helps teachers move beyond the final product and gain valuable insight into how students are developing as writers.

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