Photographing Children – Observations and Documentation

Hi all,

Observations and documentation are a regular, daily occurrence in the lives of teachers working with children. There are plenty of ways to go about it; learning stories, anecdotal records, running records, parent postcards and plenty of others. With all these different ways of approaching how to document your student’s experiences and progress, it’s easy to find one that works well for you, your classroom and your student’s parents however they all have one thing in common, photos.

Recently, I have seen a push towards more visual oriented observations. In an early childhood settings, these can be seen in display book portfolios, shown proudly on group display boards and handed out in the staff room for inspiration. The rationalisation is that parents are more likely to engage with these observations because they are quick to decipher; you simply need to look at the photo and the words are put into context. In a recent primary placement, the visual element to documentation was imperative; many of the families at the school were immigrants and refugees which made text heavy communication difficult due to language barriers.

So here it comes to the part of putting together the most important part of the observations, the photos. Photographing children doesn't seem too difficult but it is important for the photos to seem genuine and authentic. I typically use 3 types of shots that help to vary the types of photos you can include in your documentation…

Work in progress

I feel like this angle really lets the viewer see what the child is doing and the focus is on their action, preferably the one you are documenting. It works for a range of activities and actions and doesn’t distract the child from their task.  

 Birds eye view

These photos are great if you want to capture a play setup, piece of art or group interaction. The frame is filled up with the play the children are engaged with and often, their interactions with each other.  

 From my perspective

In this photo, you are seeing exactly what the child is seeing and what they are choosing to do with the materials in front of them. This shot is great for documenting the journey from blank slate to finished product, capturing the child’s process in between.

So long as the photos you choose to capture are focused on the child and their play, there is no wrong way to photograph children. Not only do these shots capture the essential but they can also be tweaked so that the photos are non-identifiable, in order to be shared in the public forum.

Happy snapping!  

Miss Tracy xx

Group Observations and Learning Stories

Hola!

I have shared how I write my individual observations for portfolios and planning on here before but am yet to share group learning stories. I only started writing them this year but they are an incredible tool!

Most kindergarten classrooms ave a space where we educators post what we are doing in the classrooms and pieces of children's work to share with parents and caregiver. this was no different in my placement centre...

Featured on this board are two group learning stories printed on A3 paper and photos taken from the group experiences. Writing a group learning story, I feel, is quite different from writing them for an individual child.

Rather than focusing on the specific, I tend to focus on what all the children are doing, what they are learning, what they all have in common. I also try to include some individual responses, sometime included in the story or by writing/typing them out and sticking them up near posted story. This one was an example from the creek experience I set up earlier in the year...

As always, include lots and lots of photos! I cut mine off the bottom, but taking and selecting group phots is one of the most fun parts of writing these! These group experiences are wonderful to have but even better to document and share with families. Slightly adjusting how we write these isn't too difficult but the end result is completely worth the extra time and effort.

Some key things to remember:

• keep it general, try not to write about specific children or their responses
• chose to an experience where about 80% of your students were involved in, not just one or two
• linking to the curriculum framework is important so think of the learning that happens, what thinking did this inspire, what relationships are being built?
• link the chosen experience to how you will plan in the future - this is one of the most important aspects!
• display these printed stories in a well trafficked area and make the presentation appealing to look at - the point of these are to share what happening on the inside with the outside.

Would love to hear from other educators who do these... or are planning to!

Miss Tracy xx

Parent Postcards

Hi all,

I am currently in the midst of my block placement and slowly getting accustomed to the new expectations. one of those is documented in my placement booklet as follows:

"Implement a parent communication strategy during block placement." 

It says so much and yet ...it doesn't. Many of my units, my assignments and my readings have discussed different ways of involving parents and the many benefits of a early childhood service who does.

Taking what I knew, that parents usually love photos and something specific to their child, I came up with the following template...

Each day, I document 5-6 things that their child did or engaged with and hand-write it onto the left side. On the address lines I write the children's name, the room they are currently in and the date of the observation. My current placement's logo, which I have placed under the address lines, features puzzle pieces on which I place pictures of their child and how they spent their day at kinder.

The children in the kinder room absolutely love writing their names at the moment so I have been asking them if they would like to write their names instead of me doing it. For the uninterested children, I usually just write their name myself.

Just like the learning stories, I try to choose easily identifiable photos of the children and their friends. I also try to include pictures from group time, outside and scheduled sessions, like Hey Dee Ho.

These postcards have proved to be a success! They give the parents a quick slice of what happened that day and something to stick on the fridge. Since they are dated and often approved and requested by the children, they are also something which can be included in their portfolios.

The only problems I have had so far is the timeline. I try to complete one per night with a different child each time but taking and downloading the photos, putting it together, printing, writing and photocopying, it can be really difficult to produce the amount that I would like to send home. I have also been having some issues with whether or not it reaches parents; they seem to be staying in some children's bags and not being read until a few days later.

These aren't massive problems but it means I may have to tweak my approach further down the track. I'm going to stick with this communication method until the end of placement (next week).

Would really appreciate some ideas on what you think all think and whether this is something you would consider implementing!  

DOWNLOAD SAMPLE POSTCARD HERE 

Miss Tracy xx