Week 3 reflection

I have always had an idea of what documentation was, but now I have learned the different ways we can do this and the benefits to this as well as why we do it. Documentation to me is a creative way to show a student's progress and learning. Artifacts that can be included are observation notes, videos of students playing, and/or students' work. There are a few ways we can do these: taking notes, taking pictures, and/or videos. Documentation is utilized for many reasons, but a few are, revisiting what a child learns, communicating with families, and advocating for appropriate development. I would use mainly individual portfolios and even portfolio panels as a way for students to show off their work, track their progress, and communicate with their families. There are two types of documentation we learned about, which include, Conventional and Reggio Emilia/project style documentation. The conventional style is more individualized. For example, students would each have their own portfolio that measures their progress/ learning and a form of summative assessment. Reggio Amelia/ project approach is more of a group effort where students collaboratively work on what they want to know which results in a formative type assessment. For example, the students show interest in something and then from there will work to figure it out through hands-on activities. The teacher in this situation works as the guide. These two types can still be documented in portfolio panels. Overall, this information will help me better show parents specific things that the students learn in parent-teacher conferences. I will even have this displayed in my classroom of their work so that outsiders or administrators see what we are working on.