Celebrating Process, Part 1

Documentation is somehow both the easiest part of teaching, and the most difficult part. We want to tell stories of learning, play, and exploration that illustrate the small moments in which learning takes place. Stories often have ups and downs, revelations, excitement, and intriguing characters. When we choose stories to share with children, we choose engaging stories that they'll want to hear over and over again. We choose stories that we hope to see them retelling as they run their fingers over the illustration of Corduroy's missing button or the band-aid over the d's skinned knee in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We can pick out the right story to add to the classroom library, but what about choosing what story to tell using documentation? We might be gathering words, photos, drawings, and/or video of children at play, but how do we know we're capturing stories?

There is no plot as we watch a child painting. We’re not writing that story. We’re trying to pay attention to the most salient aspects, but we’re not always able to put our finger on what exactly that is while it is happening. A story that we are not writing is unfolding and we are trying to figure out where it is going next.  It feels like writing a mystery novel without deciding on who did it first, and letting the story unfold chronologically.

I took over 200 photos in the classroom the other day, many of them of a block tower that C worked on. He didn’t say much about it, and as I looked at the photos that evening, I was having a difficult time justifying the time and energy that I put into documenting that event. Why did I even begin to take those photos? And when C decided that he was finished, he didn’t have anything to tell me about his blocks. His construction did not look much different at the end than it did at the beginning. So what is the story? Why take the photos?

Earlier in the week, I took photos and dictation of K at the clay table. He made a variety of small objects from clay and talked both to me and to himself as he worked. I sat across from him for about five minutes as he made a bed, a blanket, a pillow, a mountain, and some little balls. The objects are as representational as one would expect from a child who just turned three, and I knew it was not about those products as I took photos and wrote down his words.

In the case of C, I began taking photos because it was a rare occasion of seeing C engaged with a material, with a new look of determination. I felt compelled to document it. With K, it was the beginning of the day, and it was just he and I in the classroom, starting the day.


If I think about who that documentation is for, it is for our whole classroom community. I could say that C’s is information that I can show back to him so that he can feel excitement and pride about the work that he did, but it is much more than that. It is a story that can be valued by other children, by parents, by teachers. I could make it a story about fine motor development or spatial awareness, but I was not telling that specific of a story as I observed C at play. Perhaps in the future, I’ll need to gather information about spatial relations, gross motor skills, or self-regulation. These photos may help tell that story as well.

With K, I began to document because it was the beginning of the day and it was just he and I. I sat with him at the clay table and he was being unusually chatty, so I suppose I was gathering his words primarily. He was able to represent his words with the clay, and the photos compliment the quotes I was able to gather. But like C’s blocks , there isn’t exactly a “finished product”. So how do you tell a story that seemingly has no ending? How can you call that a story?

After feeling overwhelmed with photos, reflection on the process of documentation brought me to the conclusion that I was thinking about things in a way that is quite contrary to how I think about most other goals in the classroom. Everything that is shared with children, from materials to stories to songs, is about exploring and experiencing. We don’t sing songs to hear them sung perfectly, and we don’t experiment with art materials for the product. The choices made in the classroom are about process, and that is what we can capture with documentation. That is the fundamental difference between documentation and an old-fashioned bulletin board. We can share the product, or we can share a story. That story might be five minutes of paintbrush experimentation or three months of planning an amusement park for birds. Either way, chances are that children will revisit that documentation if it represents their work. If it is made available to them, they can gain the same pleasure from those photographs of their clay bed and blanket as they do from being able to share how Lisa reattaches Corduroy’s button.

For my own work, This reflection is reminding me to always celebrate process over product. And as long as the pictures are digital, there is no harm in taking 200. I do feel more confident about sharing stories but short and long with children and families. Documentation is one of the many reasons that I long for a co-teacher! If you have colleagues to share photographs and stories with, I urge you to – it is an invaluable resource.

kids with cameras, encore!

I was reminded of the beauty of kids with cameras this week.  As we explore our classroom community and the people and spaces that make it up, the children are documenting the days with two old digital cameras.  Their perspective is always refreshing, and they capture the details about people and space that are important to them.

If you are able to acquire an old digital camera, I highly recommend it for the classroom, or for home.  Spend a few dollars at Goodwill and don't get too attached, though - technology changes and cameras can end up in sticky (or wet, or temper tantrum) situations.  I've acquired a few over the years, and the photos above were taken with a 3.2 megapixel camera.  Skip fancy, skip "made for kids" - and let your children use the real tool.  You'll love the photos they take!

Auto-Documentation!

I uploaded some photos to Google+ the other day, per usual, and then Google let me know they had made an "auto awesome" gif for me.  And oh, is it awesome!

M (who is on the rope swing) and some others had created a 'video game', swinging over bowls of water and sand o the ground.  One bowl was added for each 'level' of the game, and players swung over until they bumped a bowl.

Not only is this stop motion animation-like image fun to look at, it seems like an intriguing way to document children's work.  There is something more magical about this than a video, which I have dozens of already, only 4 weeks into the preschool year.  I am looking forward to presenting this back to M, and perhaps some of the others who were involved in the creation of this game.

Stop motion is something that we explored this past summer in the connected learning MOOC, and I have had JellyCam on my computer since one of the moderators suggested it as a good free tool.  I have not thought of a natural way to introduce that medium, but using the images above to start a dialogue certainly can't hurt!

Introducing Dialogue Number One

If you follow Bakers and Astronauts on Facebook, you've probably seen the rumblings of some conversation about an article discussion group.  There seemed to be some interest when I first proposed the idea, and now we are ready to give it a whirl!  I thought it would be more fitting to call it a dialogue, though, because I hope that it allows for more than surface discussion.

For our first dialogue, we will be learning about documentation.  There was some interest in learning more about how to document everyday, how to fit it into a routine, and how to learn more about it in general.  Many of us want a better understanding of what documentation is and how it might fit into our practices.

We will begin by talking about how it fits into our settings, what it means to us, and what we want it to look like or feel like as we learn more.  What do we want to do differently?  What resources do we need?  Why are we documenting at all?

We will se varied sources to learn more, from journal articles to blog posts and photographs.  These resources will add to our understanding of what documentation is, and how is about more than Reggio Emilia style planels.  Our needs are diverse, our families are diverse, and our resources are diverse.  How can we make it work for each of us?

It is important to share that this dialogue is not about everyone being on the same page with pedagogy or philosophy, but instead, it is about broad topics that we can discuss and help each other and ourselves.  Reflecting on what we are doing now and envisioning new ideas for the future is best done in a group, and I hope this will turn into a place where we can support each other in that process.

I hope that you'll join in!  There are no specific assignments, but there will be readings available and an ongoing discussion board.  We will also be having a group web conference so we can see each other and chat in real time towards the end of the month.

We will be using Wiggio as our platform for the group, and you can use this link to join in.  If you're having trouble, please email me at alliepasquier@gmail.com.  The articles and links to our reading will be up on Wednesday!

expanding on work by reflecting

The same materials from my documentation conundrum were on a table today, along with photographs from T's work.  When I asked her what she was doing in the photos with the cylinders and the rubber bands she said, "putting it together".  She did not come back to the materials, but the children who did used the photos as a jumping off point for their constructions.  Some paired in colors, like T; others made new combinations.  No one had much to say, but their actions spoke loudly.

I took some time today to watch a child use materials in a new way.  This was important for me to see from a teacher perspective because I think I have become more flexible with materials.  It was also important in the perspective that I saw T active and engaged in this.  Even though she did not have any words to go along with it, she said so much with her actions.  I hope I'm on the road to more meaningful documentation.

documentation and making it meaningful

This post at Beyond the classroom has me thinking today.  How do I document?  How do I respect not only the children's communication through words and visuals, but also through movement?  How can I make a continuing record to show what is valued by the children and the teachers in the environment?

For me, lately, it has been more than that, even.  How can I follow through with the children's interests?  How can I support them as they bring their explorations to the next level?  I begin the documentation, but then it falls short.

 

For example, weeks ago, I brought in a variety of things from m kitchen that may or may not grow.  Dried garbanzo beans, caraway seed, fennel, lentils, sesame seeds, and more.  I put them on a table with lots of containers and magnifying glasses.  I was there from time to time, talking to the children about sorting.  There were also small cards on the table and black pens, and I occasionally prompted the children to draw their predictions of what different seeds might look like when they grow.

Reflecting on the experience now, I do understand what I could have done differently.  This could have been separated over more days; it could have been in a format where it was facilitated by an adult with small groups of children - an atelier type setting, really.  I did not write down any words, and no one drew a picture.  After this day, the children helped to plant the seeds, but I did not have them follow up in any way besides the obvious watering and using the plants for observational drawings as they grow.

Every moment is not going to be recorded, and I see a beauty in that.  But I do see how I need to improve on my practice of documentation.

Documentation and Parents 2

Day two of parent teacher conferences. I do not have any amazing quotes from the day (yet...there are still three conferences to go...). Unless you count the parents that insist that their daughter must have learned the phrase "you silly old goose" from me. How else can they explain that she says it 15 times a day?

I have noticed parents looking at the documentation, which I am glad for. Not everyone, or course, but some. I like to put a book of information for them to look through -- it makes it a little more interactive. Inside of the "What are we making?" book that is in the second photo are my notes from my one on one meetings with the kids to plan what they would make out of fabric.

The rest of the photos and words are the progession of getting interested in sewing and textiles to the evolution of what we sewed and the current progress of our sewing projects. I also showed each parent their child's work in progress during their conference.

Some look and some do not. Is there too much text? I think I should be including more of the children's words - recorded conversations transcribed for the parents to read. I also have to remember that I have a population of parents who are not fluent in English, so perhaps there should be more photos and work from the children.

I also like the idea of including children in the documentation process. Shouldn't it be for them, too?

Documentation and Parents

It is time for parent-teacher conferences this week. I'm working hard to put together some documentation about our current sewing project -- the kids have wonderful ideas and are all working hard to make something to bring home and keep. That seems to be the theme when I ask the kids about their projects at least!




I hope that the parents take the time to look at the photos and words that I'm presenting. Most bulletin boards are one art project that every child in the class has done with each piece clearly labelled with the artist's name. Is it that important to label with names? Does everyone have to do it? I think that is something that is done for parents. In my opinion, the children bring home artwork everyday, so each parent knows their child is producing artwork, and what it looks like. Documentation (or bulletin boards) are about our classroom community and what is happening. I think it is a true releflection of what is going on, rather than twenty coffee filter butterflies.

But are the parents looking at it? I'll share this round of documentation with you later this week, and I may have an answer to that question as well!