Journaling is a method of documenting, practicing and reflecting on your work as an early childhood educator. In this course, you will be creating journal entries as you practice your observation techniques, instead of participating in a traditional discussion forum. For this journal, you will practice observing two children and organize your observational notes using the K-W-L method.
Instructions
First, view the following two videos:
- Why Does the Rock Fall from the Cup – You will observe an infant using cognitive skills.
- Teddy Builds a Ramp – You will observe Teddy using several domains as he builds a ramp.
Next, your journal entry should contain the following two parts:
Part One – Observational Notes
- Document your observational notes in a K-W-L chart for each video (infant/toddler and 4-year-old) in about 2-3 sentences each.
- KNOW: What do you know about the child based only on the observation?
- WANT TO KNOW: What more do you want to know about the child?
- LEARNED: What have I learned about the child during the observation?
Part Two – Reflection
- Reflect on what you learned from organizing your observations in a K-W-L chart and answer the following questions:
- Was this method effective in gaining knowledge about children’s development?
- How could the data be used in early childhood education planning?
