Houston, I think I may have a problem with my documentation practices - in that, I think I'm documenting TOO MUCH.
I have successfully filled up the memory of three of our school's iPads - I am constantly going back over pictures and either deleting them or uploading them to the cloud.
Collections of photos currently on iPads, 1, 2 and 3. A problem you say.....nnnaaaaah....ok maybe.
What am I doing wrong?
Do I wonder too much?
At this point, I don't really know our learners at all and here are just a few things that I'm wondering:
The Making Learning Visible Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education produces several documents to help beginning through the different processes of documentation. They state we should begin with a focussed question in order to limit data collection and sharpen analysis. But in my case, I don't see how I can refine my questions? I need to know all of these things in order to be prospective about what we should put into our makerspace! Or, could I refine these questions in direct relation to what we are exploring that day? Or, should I only focus on a few questions per day? Surely I can't answer ALL of these questions in one sitting anyways! (What a smorgasbord that would be!)
Perhaps, another one of my problems is that I'm trying to document the learning done with every class that comes through the learning commons - and that would total .... um.... 20 classes? Ok, it's becoming a bit clearer now.
Maybe I don't need to extensively document similar learning experiences done by all of the classes at each grade level, but take a sampling of a few to help guide my process. But... I am often worried that if I don't document each class, that I'm not being open to the experience and will miss learning.
Should I shift the focus to sometimes taking notes as well? Or, is this something that I will develop over time? I'm sure as I get to know the learners over the course of the year - I won't feel the need to document every little thing....right? Really, can documentation be like black pairs of pants? You can never have enough?
I think in this case, though I can. I won't be able to wear all these pair of pants - something has got to change.