Documentation : A Teacher’s Tool
By: Summer Langille, M.A.

Documentation is just that- the process of what children are learning. And if you think about documentation like that, its easily understood what an important tool it can become. It demonstrates to parents and families what children are learning and how they are learning. It can help the teachers plan curriculum and lesson plans. And it is a visible representation of learning for the children. When they can revisit such moments through a documentation board, children may ask new questions, increase their memory skills by telling you the story of what happened and find pride adn inner confidence when they see themselves and the work they are doing, displayed for everyone to see.

If you have never practiced documentation here are few ways I do it in my classroom.

- Documentation boards or panels (this is probably the simplest way): When you have collected pictures of the children working on one thing (example: exploring bubbles, making playdough, painting with watercolors, building with blocks) you can lay them out on a large poster board and begin telling the story of what the children did- the process. You can write under the pictures or type up a story to go along with pictures. I will even involve the children in my documentation and ask them to tell me what they did in each of the pictures. I try and add the skills that were practiced so the parents can better understand why simple acts like blowing bubbles or playing with blocks are so important to a developing child. Display your finished board somewhere the parents can see it as well as where your children can revisit their process.

- Documentation books- these are a great way to incorporate documentation into your center or classroom for children to really revisit what they’ve done in your class. I literally tell the story page by page of one activity, laminate each page (if you don’t have a laminator you can use clear contact paper), hole punch each page and use metal binder rings or yarn to create a handmade documentation book. In my class we have a large basket filled with  documentation books for the children to explore. They love revisiting old projects and explorations and this is a perfect way for little hands and adult hands to see work done in the classroom.

- Documentation through portfolios- if your children are older and you have a little more time and a little more money (or are a little more creative), you can put together a documentation portfolio for each child in your care. Some caregivers/teachers work on daily pages, adding pictures, project work and artwork to the portfolio. For a project on The Three Little Pigs I did with my class a few years back, I put together two whole class portfolios full of chronological pictures, drawings, discussions and any day to day happenings that pertained to the project. It took me awhile to assemble everything in the way I felt it should be presented but the process of putting it together helped me move my curriculum in certain directions as well as showed me what the children were really interested in and what they were learning along the way. Now we have a lovely collection of children’s work to discover over and over again. Documentation used as a tool in sharing children’s work, can open up many new avenues in your teaching and caregiving experience. It is a true reminder of all we accomplish every day working with these fantastic, eager young minds.

Resources for Documentation