Session+3+(Begins+5-22-13+online)

Session 3 Online...Begins May 21, 2013

Read a Chapter in your chosen book. List the name of the book, name of the chapter and summarize the chapter briefly. Talk about how it relates to you. Respond to at least one other participant's posting. Session 3 Online...Begins May 21, 2013 The Power of Observation for Birth through Eight by Judy Jablon, Amy Laura Dombro and Margo L. Dichtelmiller, 2nd edition

I chose to reread parts of the entire book to refresh my memory as I have the first edition. I like the simplicity and format of this edition along with the additional resources the authors have included.

Chapter 6, Using What You Learn (p. 93-142), focuses on the **//ongoing cycle of observation//**: asking questions; watching, listening and taking notes; reflecting; and responding. The chapter emphasizes how observation must begin with a willingness to learn about children and about one's practice. The cycle begins with a **//question//**. The question drives where, when and how to observe. **Watching, listening and taking notes** occur next (notice this is NOT the first step!). **Reflecting** on the information gathered will assist when attempting to answer the initial question (What is the explanation for the behavior?). The last step in the cyle is **responding** by linking the explanation to instruction. The cycle then repeats to determine the effectiveness of your intervention or teaching.

Observation is not an add-on but an important part of a teacher's practice. It is ongoing, can happen in the moment, has no right or wrong attached to it, can happen formally or informally, does not always need to be documented and can come with its challenges. It's a learning process and can be used to support individual children and/or groups of children. It's an assessment tool and should be part of an assessment process especially when reporting to parents. Observation needs to occur over time to get the "big picture" of a child or situation. A powerful example illustrating the stages of a daffodil was used to describe the process. If someone had never seen a daffodil but only observed the planting of the bulb, they would never see the blooms or the dropping of the petals. That made me think! On a personal note, I met a family I had served 13 years ago. The son who is now 16 years old was standing alongside his dad and his brother. He was the first to greet me and remembered my name. As a 3 year old, he presented with limited language, anxiety and very rigid behaviors. I was sure we were looking at a long term disability. Needless to say, he qualified for services. Two years later, he left our program to join a regular K classroom. His language developed and the anxiety and rigidity decreased. He's now an honor student, confident with no trace of the concerns that were documented when he was three. I'm offering this example to illustrate how easy it is to jump to conclusions especially as we become more seasoned professionals. We think we know because "it looks like....." today. Tomorrow, changes can and will occur and we need to be open, watchful and reflective so we don't miss the blooms!

I thought about the KWL process and how the observation cycle closely aligns with the cycle of inquiry. Our staff often use a KWL when designing a child-drive project (Project Approach). It reminds me of how the strategies we use with children are strategies we can also use to develop our own practice. This is a book I'd like to order for a book study withour staff. I like the many examples of teachers using observation, their challenges and their successes. The section on how to organize the information gathered would be very useful to our staff who struggle sometimes with the documentation. As the book states, teachers must begin by asking a question and then **//prepare//** to collect information in a manner that can be easily analyzed.