Chapter 2: Collecting Evidence

Introduction

This chapter introduces you to several important topics that you will be utilizing throughout the class. In order to be considered a high-quality program or classroom, a teacher must observe children on a regular basis to provide documentation to share with parents, administrators, and outside agencies like a state and local department of education. Various methods will be introduced to you here and expanded upon in upcoming chapters and sections of this book. It will take time for you to learn how to avoid errors in the observation process and write objective versus subjective observations.

This chapter will introduce you to these concepts. It is essential to recognize your biases, as you observe. You want to be sure you are being fair and equitable to all children in your classroom or children you are observing. As you become more aware of any bias you might have, you will be able to interpret and evaluate children’s behavior more accurately. Lastly, there are some ethical considerations and do’s and don’ts that all teachers and observers of young children must abide by.

The Key To Intentional Teaching