Observations advice please...

[Keeley77]

Hi,

How do you all do your obs- how often, etc

I'm struggling to do them effectively.

Do you guy's do an observation with a particular objective/EYFS outcome in mind?

Such as one ob every week

week one - C & L
Week two - Phys
week three - p s & e d

and then all the specific areas?

Do set up a specific activity that links with the observation that you want to carry out?

This is driving me nuts now....

[phoenix2010]

I dont do long observations with specific goals in mind

I probably should but i never get round to it and its something that once I start i know I will have to maintain

I take pictures and i will write a small obs on each one , it could be a sentence "j can stand on one foot when asked " or it could be a longer explaination of something they said , how they reacted to a given situation , including what next step i have planned based on that obs

i like the idea of the weekly sheet with several bubbles / clouds on it and you write something short in each bubble you saw that child do that week , they seem pretty simple and effective but again havnt got round to doing that

there seems like enough paperwork as it is really

[phoenix2010]

no i dont really set up an activity with a specific goal in mind , but i make sure i have a good selection of things available that cover all the areas , then things just seem to happen

[QualityCare]

I don't do long obs just a photo with a short obs of what was said or done and link to the three main areas, if l find l havn't done one on a particular area for a while l will look out for that child to be doing something that covers that area, l don't set activities with a goal in mind but make sure the activities that are out cover all areas.

[zippy]

The only reason I would do a long ob with. Specfic area in mind is if I had a particular worry about a child in a certain area.

[phoenix2010]

The only reason I would do a long ob with. Specfic area in mind is if I had a particular worry about a child in a certain area.

agreed , for example i have a child with speech delay and when i just have that child I will do a one to one session on her language , how she is pronouncing things , where here strengths and weaknesses lie

It can be hard to pinpoint specific development in the chaos of a normal day , so in that instance or something similar i would do a specific obs on a child

[sarah707]

I use long / focus obs to fill a gap very often - if I haven't seen something happening for a while - so they tend to be based on adult led play.

Or if I am worried and want to focus on something in more detail.

Hth :D

[Little Puddings]

I take a lot of photos and I just make short comments in the children's photo diares/scrap/profile books, sometimes the write up is longer.
If they have said or done things I have not got a photo of then I just add the date and write it down.
I was recommended to use an A4 diary with a day on each page for myself and in there I put the children's attendance (I transfer it to spreadsheet when I invoice and parents then sign the sheet and it goes into my attendance register) any activites I have planned that day resources needed.
I then write down how it went (evaluation) add next steps if applicable.
I also write down things that they say and do. I then transfer if to the children photo diaries/profile books on a monthly basis. Only one little one have daily dairy at the minute (parents choice).
So my own diary has everything in it :) keeps me upto date and makes it easier for me to update the profile books.

I use microsoft word for the photo diares/profile books and only print it off every other month to put in a ringbinder. I save a lot on ink and photo paper now and glue.
I also have one photo diary that includes all the children dating back to Sep 08 with just general comments nothing personal that I show to new parents so they can see what we get up to :)

[phoenix2010]

love that idea and have just ordered myself an a4 day to view diary Thankyou

[Little Puddings]

love that idea and have just ordered myself an a4 day to view diary Thankyou

It was my network coordinator who suggested it, I struggled with documenting things down (evidence). We were meant to have emigrated to NZ in Jul 11 but the NZ Army messed up and got cancelled few weeks before due to pack house up so I had a rather emotional year after that, 18mts of planning out of window, we didnt know until a year ago if we were going to go, husband now has a well paid job here so we are staying put for a few years. But I went from working fulltime, parents making other arrangements so ended up working parttime only having one under 5... so everything just went out of window.
I was put forward to become accredited so had to pick myself up and get back into it. Ofsted inspector had said in Mar11 that I was creating to much work for myself so the diary is great, works for me anyway :)
I must admit some days I dont write in it straight away if Ive been busy but Im always taking photos so they help jog my memory.
Also if we dont get to do a planned activity I just comment why (ie we went out jumping in puddles as it had been raining) and move the activity to another day.
So really you end up with attendance, planning, observations in one place :)
I also leave some days blank and let the children take the lead and add at the end of the day what we did.

S

[migimoo]

Same as everyone else really-I take a lot of photos during spontaneous play and planned activities then at the weekend I look through them and choose one for each child and do an ob...trying to choose one showing a new activity or skill and/or showing proof of next steps being achieved.

You'll be surprised how much you will cover in EVERY area when you think you're just doing an ob on a painting activity so will only cover EAD-actually it could also cover Maths(patterns) CL(talking about the colours/what it is) PD(fine motor) and lots more!

Every few weeks i'll look through LJ's and my own diary and see which areas we've covered or if any child is 'missing' any areas of the eyfs in their obs and will plan an activity with the intention of observing it to cover the gap-for example we hadn't done much Maths last month so i've made a point of doing rainbow rice in my Tuffspot (measuring,weighing,patterns) and a cooking activity on different days so everyone can join in.

[phoenix2010]

so sometimes you write in it what you have planned for the day , then comment whether you did it or not , and if so how it went , if not that you will move it to another day ?

Do you write obs in it and next steps then transfer them to the childrens individual folders ?

Its a great idea , at the moment I tend to rely on my plans , and then photos ive taken to try to remember what we did and when

just wondering how I could use it effectively and what other paperwork it could replace , as i dont really need to add more things to do in my life.:)

[jillplum]

I am always looking to reduce what I have to do :D

[Little Puddings]

so sometimes you write in it what you have planned for the day , then comment whether you did it or not , and if so how it went , if not that you will move it to another day ?

Do you write obs in it and next steps then transfer them to the childrens individual folders ?

Its a great idea , at the moment I tend to rely on my plans , and then photos ive taken to try to remember what we did and when

just wondering how I could use it effectively and what other paperwork it could replace , as i dont really need to add more things to do in my life.:)

I do my long term plan seperate covering all areas of learning (in a folder for the term, I keep the children's indidual planning with it too, I use the forms they used as example in the new EYFS) and use that for my detailed planning that I write in my diary.
Say if you planned a messy activity to observe say expressive art and communication etc... but on that day the focus child is poorly or the children not in a mood then I just leave it for another day. You can then use it as evidence for ofsted if they ask why you havnt covered a certain thing you can prove that you had but for such and such reason it wasnt done. If that makes sense.
I have also cut down on my planning as I tried to cram to much things in, I have a theme for the term which I try to link to the primary schools planning (my youngest daughter love it when I do that) and then try and cover every thing else that goes on, last week was mad, pancake day, mardi gras, valentines day etc.
My devlopment worker says I over complicate it for myself when it comes to writing observations, she says I try to analyse it to much.. she says it is because I go into essay mode :)
So Im working really hard on reducing my paperwork making it easier for myself and not so time consuming.

I'm using the app on my phone so I apologise for any spelling or 'thumb typing' errors

S