Blog: Crissy Harris
Article: The Habit of
Kidwatching
Taking
time to sit back and just observe students can be difficult. Often times as a teacher, I feel as though I
should be constantly working with a group or rotating around to each group to
make sure that they are all on task and learning, however; I lose the
opportunity to just sit back and watch the students learn. Kidwatching can provide valuable insight into
how my students are learning and how on task their behavior is. I like the article states that, “It is giving
voice to students who might otherwise be silent.” Many times I feel as though I don’t really
get to know some of my quieter students since I am so outspoken. By kidwatching I am able to see how all of my
students are learning and to comment on the successes on some of my more quiet
students that don’t always speak up in class.
The
idea of keeping a clipboard with quick anecdotal notes is really useful since
the classroom is often a busy place. I
like that it provides ways to write down quick and concise notes about the
children and how it emphasizes that these anecdotal notes don’t have to be long
and drawn out. The examples that it
provides are easy to follow and replicate in the classroom and gave me a better
idea of what the author was looking for when she was kidwatching. These notes along with my individual reading conferences
should give me a better idea of what level my students are working are and also
their interests.
Now
that I have a better understanding of what to look for when Kidwatching, I
would love to see some examples of forms that other teachers use during
observations or conferencing. I think by
seeing some examples I would be able to develop my own form to best fit the
needs of my classroom.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand the feeling that to be an engaged teacher you need to be busy all of the time. I'm glad you spotted the value of kidwatching for getting to know your more quiet or reluctant learners. As a teacher, I didn't do enough kidwatching! I'm sure it would've benefited me to take more time to note what I was seeing instead of rushing to move ahead. I especially like that you thought of combining your anecdotal notes with your reading conference information. This will be a big help in getting to know your students.
ReplyDeleteAs far as coming up with a form to keep track of notes, we can definitely explore that at our coaching meetings!
Hi Crissy,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading how you tried out kidwatching with your third graders and enjoyed the time you took to learn about your students through observation. I am interested to find out what you learned and what that investment of your time and attention revealed to you about your students this year. I like Goodman and Owaki's idea of using a clipboard with a note sheet for quick anecodotal notes during kidwatching. I liked to use copies of my seating chart for kidwatching and socratic seminar so I could keep track of who was answering questions, who was participating, how, etc. This allowed me in a visual way to see data about engagement quickly and then to use it to guide my instruction. Thanks, Dawn