Skip to main content

Student Desk

Learn what's inside a Student Desk in Tandem, from student details to progress tracking, and how each section helps you manage everything about a student in one place.

Each student in Tandem has their own dedicated Student Desk, designed to keep their information organized in one place. It brings everything about that student into one place, so you can check their details and follow their progress from a single view. Each student has their own desk. To open one, select the student's name in either the Students under Desk Tools or the Sidebar.

Student Desk is different from My Desk. To learn more about My Desk, click here.

Click the button with the Plus icon on the upper-left corner to show the Add to desk panel. In the Student's desk, it includes Desk Tools and the Cards group. The Cards group shows information from the student's record and IEP. These records cannot be edited from the desk, which means what you see always matches the source. Inside the Add to desk panel under Cards, you'll find the following:

Desk Tools:

Sticky Note

A Sticky Note is a quick way to jot down student-specific notes and reminders. Click into the note and start typing—it saves automatically as you go.

Use it for quick reminders, student preferences, important contact information, meeting notes, or anything you want to keep easily accessible while working with the student.

Use the gear icon to change the note’s color. Teachers can color-code notes to quickly distinguish between reminders, student preferences, meeting topics, or other types of information.

Table

The Table is a flexible, free-form grid that helps you organize information in rows and columns. There are no fixed columns, so you can customize the table based on what you need.

Use it to organize things like a weekly schedule, student groups, caseloads, data collection, or simple trackers. You can create as many tables as you need for different purposes.

What you can do:

  • Add information: Click any cell and type directly into it. Cells support rich text.

  • Add a column: Click Add column to add another column to the table.

  • Add a row: Click Add row to add another row.

  • Resize the table: Drag the edge of a row or column to adjust its size.

  • Remove a row or column: Hover over a row or column and click the trash icon to delete it.

Note: Tables can be created and edited on a computer. On a phone, tables are view-only.

To Do List

The To Do List is a simple checklist for keeping track of tasks, reminders, and multi-step activities. Each list item can have sub-items, making it easy to break larger tasks into smaller steps.

You can create as many To-Do Lists as you need. For example, you might create one for a student evaluation, another for lesson planning, and another for general reminders.

What you can do:

  • Rename the list: Click the title to give your To-Do List a name.

  • Add a task: Click Add new list item, then type your task directly into the list.

  • Add a sub-task: Click the + on an item to add a sub-item underneath it.

  • Complete a task: Check the box next to an item when it’s finished. Checking a parent item also checks all of its sub-items. When all sub-items are checked, the parent item is automatically completed.

  • Remove a task: Click the trash icon to delete an item and its sub-items.

Journal Entries

Journal Entries are a private running record where you can document observations, student progress, and significant events. They give you a place to keep notes and track important information over time.

Journal Entries are private to you. Other providers will not see this page on their Tandem accounts.

What you can do:

  • Create an entry: Click New Entry to write a journal entry.

  • Save your work: Click Publish to save the entry or Save as Draft if you want to finish it later.

  • Find an entry: Use the search bar to find entries by keyword.

  • Edit or delete an entry: Open the menu on an entry to edit or delete it.

Discussion Board

The Discussion Board is a shared space for a student’s team to communicate and stay up to date. Use it to share questions, observations, updates, or other information that colleagues may need to see. Team members can reply to posts in a thread to keep the conversation organized.

What you can do:

  • Start a conversation: Click New Post, add a title, and write your post. You can Publish it right away or Save as Draft to finish it later.

  • Join a conversation: Click a post to read it and add comments to the thread.

  • Find a post: Search by keyword or sort posts by Newest or Oldest.

  • Edit or delete: Use the menu on your own posts or comments to edit or delete them.

  • Catch up on updates: Posts you haven’t read yet are marked New, making it easy to see what has been added since your last visit.

Entries you have not read yet are marked New, so you can catch up on what colleagues have added. Posts show who wrote them and how many comments they have, so it is easy to see where the conversation is active.

Cards:

Provisions & ESY

Provisions & ESY is the full picture of the IEP Service Delivery. That includes test accommodations, modifications, specially designed instruction (SDI), related services, service minutes, and Extended School Year.

What it shows: The IEP effective date at the top, then one entry per provision. Each entry is tagged with its category and shows details such as the subject, term, location, dates, who it is specified for, and how the service is delivered. If a provision supports specific goals, they are listed under Services. Extended School Year has its own section at the bottom.

What you can do:

  • Use the Show filter to see one category at a time, for example, only accommodations or only related services. Some teachers like to have a Provisions & ESY cards that filters and displays only one category at a time.

Student Information

Student Information is the at-a-glance profile of the student.

What it shows:

  • Student details: date of birth, gender, grade, campus, and email.

  • Disabilities: the student's disability categories.

  • Languages: languages spoken, whether the student has Limited English Proficiency, and whether an interpreter is needed for meetings.

  • Care team: the people supporting the student, inside and outside the school.

  • Contacts: parents and guardians, with their relationship, phone numbers, email, and preferred way to be contacted.

Each section can be expanded or collapsed, so you can keep the card compact and open the part you need.

Service Team

Service Team is the list of staff who provide services to the student.

What it shows: Each person's name, title, phone number, and email. Use the search box to find someone quickly.

IEP Goals

IEP Goals lists all of the goals in the student’s current IEP.

What it shows: Each goal opens into its own panel with the goal title, goal description, and "View past logs" and "Log" buttons.
​

What you can do:

  • Click Log to log a session and record progress on the goal.

  • Click View past logs to review what has been recorded so far.

Disabilities

The Disabilities card shows how and when the student qualified for services.

What it shows: One entry per disability category, with the date the student first qualified, the most recent qualification date, and when the next re-evaluation is due.

Customizing a Student Desk

Each student's desk is set up separately, so you can arrange it around what matters most for that student. Start with the Cards you check most often, like goals or services, then add Desk Tools such as Sticky Note or To Do List for your own notes and reminders. You can rename, move, or remove any card at any time.

Questions or ideas for a new card? Reach out to our support team through the chat in Tandem. We'd love to hear from you.

Did this answer your question?