The Story of Learning

The Story of Learning

Documentation in your program.

Documentation is learning made visible.

A hundred ideas explored, a hundred discoveries achieved, a hundred languages communicated. During your day’s program there is a vast array of wonderful moments happening and relationships building in your classroom; some moments captured, and some moments escaping. 

When documenting in your program it is important to ask yourself some key questions in order to effectively showcase the wonderful moments happening in your classroom.

Ask yourself these questions: (from Learning Together with Young Children. A curriculum framework for reflective teachers by Deb Curtis and Margie Carter)

What is the Important Story to Tell?

The Child’s Story – what the child did and said.

The Learning Development Story – What the child was learning.

The Teacher’s Story – What you are thinking.

The Family’s Story – What ideas does the child’s family have/share about this.

Documentation comes in many forms.

Documentation can include showcase of artwork, panel boards, photographs, documented brainstorming, key project components, presentations, video, booklets, and many varying combinations of those mentioned and more. As classroom collaborators the teachers and the children can decide together how best to showcase their learning.

Documentation, much like the discoveries being documented, is a collaborative act. Ask your co learners and coworkers to offer feedback on your documentation, share your ideas and excitement with them, and in return share in theirs. As we work together to document our learning stories, we give new life to our programs and our profession.

Remember that these moments are meant to be shared, enjoyed and celebrated with each other. Together you have learned and explored, you have come to realizations and developed or confirmed values; this is why we take pride in our work and make visible the story of our classroom; the story of learning. 

Stay tuned for examples of group and classroom documentation in an upcoming post. 

Introducing Color

Often when we are exposing children to artistic exploration we begin with color. We start with color because it is the easiest for us to identify and reiterate in every day conversations. Often we find ourselves able to confirm lessons learned about color in daily observations relating to the clothes we wear, the the things we see, and even the food we eat..
When introducing color to children, just like introducing any complex concepts, the key is to do so in small steps with age appropriate activities. You wouldn't try to explain intensity to your 14month old but that doesn't mean you won't be able to explore it.
Before we look at practical applications let's explore those key points relating to color.

Color

Color is an element of art with three properties:

1) Hue, the name of the color, e.g. red, yellow, etc. 

2) Intensity or the purity and strength of the color such as brightness or dullness. 

 

3) value, or the lightness or darkness of the color.

 

The Elements of Art and Design

The elements of art and design are a fabulous way to organize your artistic explorations. While each element is quite extensive it can also be broken down into it's simplest form and explored through a variety of mediums.
A root knowledge of these elements will emerge as you build a library of artistic experiences.
These are not boundaries or guidelines but affirmations of  your discoveries.

• Line
• Shape
• Form
• Color
• Texture

(size, value, and direction are also elements that can be explored through the five listed above)
In subsequent posts we will explore each of these topics in a little more depth before we apply them to practical explorations.