tapestry questions

[mumofone]

For those of you who use tapestry can you tell me why we have to give the observation a title and what you put for this. The observations speak for themselves, a title seems completely unnecessary?
Also, when we link an observation to the EYFS it appears we can only link it to an age range and not a statement which i tend to prefer...

[moggy]

Obs title- I just use a word or two, like 'In the woods', 'Wellies on!', 'Washing hands' etc. Makes it easier to find again when you glance down the list and just makes it nicer for parents, makes it into a little story for them.

You link first to an Area by clicking on PD, PSED etc, then the Aspect by selecting the age band, then you tick the box by the relevant statement- BUT you do not have to tick a statement if no particular statement matches the obs, you can just leave it as an Aspect/age-band assessment.
And you can assess against as many Areas/Aspects as you want for any obs.

[mama2three]

Im just doing the trial too after the whole orbit debacle , must say i like it so far. The support seems very quick too. I quite like the ob titles. I haven't worked out where or how to incorporate my own next steps yet though.

[moggy]

Im just doing the trial too after the whole orbit debacle , must say i like it so far. The support seems very quick too. I quite like the ob titles. I haven't worked out where or how to incorporate my own next steps yet though.

Most people just type their own next steps as part of the obs, ie: 'Johnny was doing xxx today and for the first time he xxxx by himself. Next steps: Try to xxxxx and xxxx'. That way they are there with the obs they relate to, parents see them and you know they have seen them.

The whole next steps system on Tapestry is not perfect. You can set them in a Report, if you do a termly or biannual report, but for short term mini-next steps I like to do the above.

[mumofone]

Obs title- I just use a word or two, like 'In the woods', 'Wellies on!', 'Washing hands' etc. Makes it easier to find again when you glance down the list and just makes it nicer for parents, makes it into a little story for them.

You link first to an Area by clicking on PD, PSED etc, then the Aspect by selecting the age band, then you tick the box by the relevant statement- BUT you do not have to tick a statement if no particular statement matches the obs, you can just leave it as an Aspect/age-band assessment.
And you can assess against as many Areas/Aspects as you want for any obs.

Dont you need a copy of EYO open when you link to an age band - I dont get how we know off by heart which age band our observation statement matches without an age and statement there for us to choose......does that make sense?!

[mumofone]

Dont you need a copy of EYO open when you link to an age band - I dont get how we know off by heart which age band our observation statement matches without an age and statement there for us to choose......does that make sense?!

ARGH please ignore this comment!!!!!!!!! Worked it out - DOH!

[poppy321]

I've been using tapestry for about 4 months now. My parents really like it and seem to log on very soon after I've done any observations.They also leave some really nice comments so feed back is definitely better than my old journal system.
I got a bit obsessive at first and was spending too much time trying to make sure I had covered every area over a period of time so that this was reflected in the analysis and tracking. I'm much more relaxed now though and don't take it all so literally. I.e if there isn't an observation in literacy and the tracker might say the child is therefore trailing in that area, I don't worry about it as I know I do plenty of literacy, I just haven't recorded an observation for it using tapestry yet. The system can obviously only work with the info. You put on if,so it might not give a totally accurate picture of a child's progress!
I've also found its much quicker to use post its and take a photo during the day that I can use to jog my memory when I do perhaps 3 or 4 on a per child at the end of week.I write them up using my laptop but then find uploading a pic or video is so much quicker using my phone. Anyone else got helpful hints they have discovered after using tapestry for a few months?

[mumofone]

I've been using tapestry for about 4 months now. My parents really like it and seem to log on very soon after I've done any observations.They also leave some really nice comments so feed back is definitely better than my old journal system.
I got a bit obsessive at first and was spending too much time trying to make sure I had covered every area over a period of time so that this was reflected in the analysis and tracking. I'm much more relaxed now though and don't take it all so literally. I.e if there isn't an observation in literacy and the tracker might say the child is therefore trailing in that area, I don't worry about it as I know I do plenty of literacy, I just haven't recorded an observation for it using tapestry yet. The system can obviously only work with the info. You put on if,so it might not give a totally accurate picture of a child's progress!
I've also found its much quicker to use post its and take a photo during the day that I can use to jog my memory when I do perhaps 3 or 4 on a per child at the end of week.I write them up using my laptop but then find uploading a pic or video is so much quicker using my phone. Anyone else got helpful hints they have discovered after using tapestry for a few months?

thanks for sharing poppy, good to know others experiences.

[poppy321]

Also meant to say that if you can't find a statement that really fits your observation, then just tick what area of learning u would say it demonstrates and move on to pick out more statements from the characters of effective learning.

[mumofone]

Do parents get alerted each time I make an observation and send to their journal?
Also, how do you download a copy of their journal or see all their observations in one go, it all looks a bit bitty on mine at the moment!

[moggy]

Do parents get alerted each time I make an observation and send to their journal?
...

Control Panel - Settings:

Relatives Settings-
Permissions-
Allow notifications to be sent to relatives.

[moggy]

[QUOTE=...
Also, how do you download a copy of their journal or see all their observations in one go, it all looks a bit bitty on mine at the moment![/QUOTE]

Control Panel - manage children -
Next to child's name - wheel icon - Export Journal to PDF

There are various options, just play with them until you get what you want (like the layout, photos, page numbers etc)

Seeing Obs: Children - click on child -' view journal' is the easiest way to see all the Obs, well as many as will fit on your screen anyway, and then just scroll down for more.

[mumofone]

Thanks Moggy, thats great :-)

[mumofone]

Control Panel - Settings:

Relatives Settings-
Permissions-
Allow notifications to be sent to relatives.

will they be alerted for previously entered obs once i change this or just any new ones dyou know?

[moggy]

will they be alerted for previously entered obs once i change this or just any new ones dyou know?

I think once you change the setting it works for the next obs to come along.

[mumofone]

I think once you change the setting it works for the next obs to come along.

cool, thanks moggy :-)

[mumofone]

Is there a way we can add observations from home (what parent have told us) at all? I know my parents wont do it so i'd like to.....

[moggy]

Is there a way we can add observations from home (what parent have told us) at all? I know my parents wont do it so i'd like to.....

Yes, just add it as a new obs like any other, but you can title it something like 'At home...' and in the text you can write 'mum said ...' or 'in the daily diary, dad noted that...'. It will be labelled as being added by you rather than parent but nothing you can do about that.

[mumofone]

Yes, just add it as a new obs like any other, but you can title it something like 'At home...' and in the text you can write 'mum said ...' or 'in the daily diary, dad noted that...'. It will be labelled as being added by you rather than parent but nothing you can do about that.

Thanks moggy, what about sharing the LJ with another setting the child attends, is their a way to do that at all?

[mama2three]

not officially. But i asked the question on their contact page and she sent me a link on how to do it by adding the other school as a relative. I would email them.