It is important to help staff members reflect on the learning experiences they provide. These questions can help you talk to staff members and Training & Curriculum Specialists as they plan for experiences and activities.
Assessing
- How do you keep track of each child’s progress?
- Tell me about your portfolios.
- How do you figure out what each child needs?
- How do you use the information from our program’s screening or assessment tools?
- What types of evidence do you look for of learning in your classroom/program?
- How do you think (child’s name) is doing? What makes you think that?
- Do you have any children you’re concerned about?
- Do you have any children who seem to learn new skills and ideas immediately?
- Can you walk me through how you assess learning on a typical day?
- How do you talk to families about assessment?
Planning
- I noticed your records show this child hasn’t learned (a particular skill). What experiences do you think we can offer him to help?
- What has worked for (child’s name) in the past?
- What types of learning experiences have you already tried offering? Were they successful? Why or why not?
- What resources do you need?
- What are the children interested in right now?
- How are you incorporating children’s home culture into your plans?
- What ideas make you the most excited?
- How can I help?
- How will you make sure families and the program are aware of your plans?
- How do you get input from others about your plans?
- How does your team work together to plan?
Doing
- How did the activity or learning experience go?
- What would you do differently next time?
- What information were you able to gather about children based on this experience?
- What do you know now that you didn’t know before you implemented that plan?
- Which children seemed to “get it”? Which children still seemed to need more help? What can we do with that information?
- What are your next steps?
- What will you share with families about what children did today and what they learned?