Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  Observation/Documentation Organization

    Posted 04-04-2019 01:24 PM
    I would love to hear how other Early Childhood Educators organize their process of observing, documenting and assessing in their classrooms.
    Streamlining the process of keeping track of objectives you have observed/need to look for, planning based on what you have seen, and creating a student rotation so you have sufficient documentation for each child are the main areas I am looking into.  I strive to work smarter - not just harder - and would love to give additional suggestions to my teachers so they can do the same! Thanks for ANY input you may have on this topic.

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    Sara Larsen

    Concordia MO
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  • 2.  RE: Observation/Documentation Organization

    Posted 04-05-2019 07:24 AM
    Sara,
    over the past 20 years I have used 2 observation tools. I first used the High Scope COR and now Teaching Strategies GOLD. My co-teacher and I both take notes and observations with iPads on all children - not just the children in our small groups. iPad pictures are great for drawings, structures they build, active movement, and so much more and they can be scored and downloaded into the child's folder. We use sheets of paper with each domain and the areas under that domain to write in our observations and then type them in and score them in GOLD. GOLD gives us reports of what documentation we have and what we need, reports to determine where we need to focus learning activities for certain areas or children. There is also a place to create reports to give to parents when needed. It also has daily lesson plans if you want to use them and there are resources for activities to do for each area needed. It does make tracking where we are at in observing our children so we get a complete look at each child's needs and skills and can also track their growth throughout the school year. These programs do cost but they are well worth it for getting data on where children are at developmentally and where we as teachers need to give them more support.

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    Sue Miller
    team leader
    Child Development Center
    Hawarden IA
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  • 3.  RE: Observation/Documentation Organization

    Posted 04-12-2019 12:36 PM

    "Spotlight on Young Children: Observation and Assessment" by Holly Bohart and Rossella Procopio is a great resource for using assessments in your classroom. It gives a purpose, goes over purpose, gives solutions to how to incorporate observations and assessments in a way that works for the typical classroom. It is a useful guide for teachers who want to use formative assessment to guide their teaching.

    Here is bit from the book:

    Formative assessment is a critical piece of a balanced, comprehensive system of assessment for young children that also includes screening, diagnostic tests, and summative assessments (Riley-Ayers 2014).

    When I was in the classroom I did lots of informative assessments. I made it part of Friday fun, but I also made sure that my support staff understood what we were assessing and could support me in the findings. Teaching staff who are building their skills in child assessment may benefit from targeted training such as Classroom-Based Assessment of Preschoolers - an online mini-course that addresses questions that teachers have about approaching assessment effectively.


    Hope this helps.


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    Lark Sontag
    Community Engagement Manager
    National Association for the Education of Young Children
    Washington DC
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