Pedagogical Documentation by Catelin Donelle

Fun at the Water Table.

c_donelle154414 — 2024-02-03 14:59:19 UTC

Learning Story

c_donelle154414 — 2024-02-03 15:02:42 UTC

This learning story was used to document what we observed when Leigha (3 years old) was playing at the water table in the classroom.

Provocation

2024-02-10 02:32:24 UTC

Carrying on with blue coloured water, Leigha can explore with different containers that will hold water and release the water in different ways like spoon, water cans, and buckets. Sponges are great for learning how water can be absorbed into different materials. Experimenting with new items will help explore the concept of sinking, floating and volume in water play.

Tool #1: Seesaw- Elementary Learning Experience Platform

c_donelle154414 — 2024-02-10 02:35:22 UTC

Seesaw is a favourite tool to use as childcare workers and educators because it allows us to keep a strong connection between educators, children and their families. This tool is valuable because it allows us to share activities that we are working on with families, and allows them to have positive interactions when responding to their child's work.

Provocation

c_donelle154414 — 2024-02-10 02:44:41 UTC

Tool #2: Monthly Individual Newsletters and Weekly Classroom Newsletters

c_donelle154414 — 2024-02-10 03:09:48 UTC

News letters can be a very useful tool to receive and understand the progress your children are making while in care. Different themes with each letter keep things fun and interesting, and can create lasting keepsakes as your child grows. This is a valuable form of documentation, as it creates a strong relationship with the families aswell as the educators by allowing a creative way to gain insight into their children’s day and educational milestones!

Voices: The Child

c_donelle154414 — 2024-02-10 03:50:39 UTC

Documenting what the child is learning through art, photographs, story telling and observation are all great ways to give a glimpse into the child's growth and development over time. Using little booklets with handprints, writing skills, and drawing skills can create a timeline over the months that allows each child to see their progress.

To extend the child's learning we ask questions that can focus on different learning skills. For example,

Math and Measurement:

How many of the ducky watering cans do you think it would take to fill the pink bucket?

Exploring:

What do you think would happen if you mixed the water with other materials like sand, or dirt?

Creativity:

Using your imagination, what do you think the water could turn into? A magic potion? A pond for your duck? A bathtub?

What would you need to add for each of those things?

Voices: The Family

c_donelle154414 — 2024-02-10 03:58:28 UTC

To generate interaction between parents we regularly enjoy including parents in questionnaires and polls that get them talking about their child's favourite activities outside of childcare. A poll is a fun, interactive way to get parents recognizing what some children do or do not have in common.

Other ways to include the parents is through fun sheets that are connected to a child's monthly individual newsletter that can be filled out asking for more interesting details about their child.

Some questions we might ask about Leigha are:

What water-related activities does your child enjoy the most? Is it splashing, pouring, or floating objects?

Have you noticed any specific behaviors or preferences during water play sessions?

Voices: Colleagues

c_donelle154414 — 2024-02-10 04:11:20 UTC

During meetings with fellow educators we will discuss the observations that we made about each child over the day or week. This helps us get a better understanding on the child from different perspectives. We may interact through online zoom meetings or have additional sheets that can be filled out for documentation. Some questions that might come up are:

Scaffolding and Support:

How might we provide appropriate scaffolding to make their learning experience more beneficial?

Observation:

What did you notice about the child’s interactions with the water? Were there any specific behaviours or patterns?

These conversations increase our awareness as educators and help us increase the child's learning affectively.

References

c_donelle154414 — 2024-02-10 04:15:03 UTC