Simply Documenting our Learning

I thought I'd share with you a very simple documention panel I recently put up on a part of the bulletin board in the classroom.  Documentation boards can be as simple as mine (shown below), or extremely complex.  Mine is really just bare bones.  I've documented what we have been doing in relation to exploring the outdoors.  This just includes a few activities.  Many documentation boards will cover entire weeks or months of a project or topic study. 

I've used photos of the children engaging in several different activities and have added photos of the things we saw while outside.  I have kept the words to a minimum on this board.  The two panels that have descriptions basically explain that we have taken several nature walks and have followed this up with activities such as the bagel bird and squirrel feeders.  The second panel explains several of the things we worked on while exploring the snow (such as balance!). 

I seem to have better luck by keeping these boards relatively simple and uncluttered.  The children seem to notice and point to photos more when there is not a lot of type around the photos.  While parents tend to be drawn in by the photos of their little ones, and then will read the short descriptions of activities and the learning involved.  Since most of the children in my room are not yet using language, photos of the activities their children are engaged in at school are even more important for parents!  This truly is a visual trip "to school!"