Week 3 Reflection

 

Week 3 Reflection

What I Learned 

This week we learned about the power of documentation. Documentation helps track student progress in a variety of different ways. It may show photographs, teacher comments, transcripts, explanations, etc. We learned that there are four components of documentation - why, what, how, and utilization. The two documentation types we focused on were documentation panels and portfolios. Documentation panels keep track of what the class is learning, where portfolios document the work of individual children. We learned how there are different advantages and disadvantages for using the actual work of children. Advantages include authentic evidence, focus on change and individualized instruction, whereas disadvantages include having storage issues and representation issues.

Conventional Style vs. Reggio Emilia 

Conventional documentation and Reggio Emilia documentation are different in many ways. Conventional is more of a summative type of documentation whereas Reggio Emilia is more of a formative type of documentation. Additionally, conventional uses assessments such as report cards and other graded types of assessments. Conventional also emphasizes individual work and competition among peers. Reggio Emilia has more of a focus on the actual learning and understanding  rather than on academic performance. Reggio Emilia also emphasizes collaboration and group work.

How Will I Use this Knowledge in the Future?

I will use what I learned this week to help determine what type of documentation I will use to monitor student work. I will know when to use a documentation panel for classroom work or a portfolio for individual work. When documenting learning, I will ensure I pay attention to all four components of documentation to make sure I have a full picture of student progress. I will also remember to include different media in the documentation and make sure I include a variety of photos, comments, transcripts, graphs, drawing, data, etc. to fully demonstrate progress.When documenting student work, I will also remember to display it in the classroom in order for students to revisit their own learning and allow students the opportunity to self assess.