TIPS for writing narrative records

Write fast—
create a personal shorthand system, such as:

• abbreviate words (“dev”= development, “teach int” = teacher initiated,)
• leave out vowels  (so, plygrnd= playground,)
• use initials  (DD for child’s first and last name, S/E= social/emotional, C =child and  T= teacher, or DPA= dramatic play area.

However you abbreviate, just be sure you’ll understand it later!

Record regularly—daily if possible—
this can happen only if you find a method easy to do while teaching, such as:

• Index cards or a small notepad, kept in your pocket or another handy spot, for quick notes (for example, a card with each child’s name on it).
• Sheets of mailing labels, attached to a clipboard.  Later, you can peel and add to child’s records.  Or use a roll of regular masking tape the same way.
• Notebook or daily log sheet for each child that is accessible easily.
• Large sheet of paper, posted on the wall, for quick scribbling.

Remember to keep respect for confidentiality in your method.

Use the right tense --write in the present tense when recording as an event occurs, but leave some spaces in case you want to add a remembered detail later.  Use the past tense when writing anecdotes after the fact, and fill in details as soon as possible while your memory is still fresh. Correct verb tense makes it easy to differentiate notes taken during the observation from those recorded afterwards.

Label records—to simplify finding and organizing data, mark with the child’s name, date, developmental domain, topical area, skill or focus behavior.

Keep opinions separate from facts--It can be especially difficult to keep observations objective when writing narratives.  Your ideas and opinions can be very useful in the assessment stage, but be sure to keep them distinct from your actual data.  I find it is easiest to create a separate space for your interpretations and other subjective thoughts, as in this simple example:

Observed (objective data)		Thoughts (subjective ideas)
Saw EJ do ___, ____, and say ____, etc. Later he pushed Maren when…		Teacher seems to give attention only when he’s misbehaving seems more sad than mad.