A Guide to Documenting Learning

"In Documenting Learning, the authors seek to qualify, rather than quantify, what contemporary learning is all about: looking for, capturing, reflecting, sharing, and amplifying the learning that is taking place. In this text, they break down these actions and how they apply to before, during, and after learning moments and describe a new way to approach contemporary work and self-determined learning."

-- Michael Fisher, Author and Consultant

"I love the idea that students can be aware of their learning. It can be documented, reflected on, curated, and shared in order to garner feedback and that the student owns the learning every step of the way."

-- Kathleen Rodda, Literacy Coach Affiliation

"This book touches upon information that would be useful to any school system because it scaffolds ways that educators can help students make their thinking known, which will only improve their future reasoning skills."

-- LaQuita Outlaw, Principal

"Educators trying to create compelling learning experiences confront the daunting challenge of content coverage requirements and expectations of teaching to the test. Students and their thinking are often invisible as the only representations of learning made public are marks and rankings. Silvia and Janet take the inspirational Reggio Emilia approach and scale it into new contexts to create deep learning experiences for today’s learners, with an eye on the future of learning as well."

-- Cameron Paterson, Head of Learning and Teaching

"This book will become an important guide for schools and educators to have on their shelves. The content is original, highly organized and presents many new ideas on documenting learning. It takes what is happening in the world of teaching right now and elevates it to a coherent pedagogical process. The graphics are a fantastic resource."

-- Andrea Hernandez, Educational Consultant

A Guide To Documenting Learning is a practical book for educators that asks the questions, "What is learning? How do we look for, capture, reflect on, and share learning to foster meaningful and active engagement?"

There are lots of useful teachings, resources, and scenarios no matter what age group you work with or what educational setting you’re in. The book could truly apply to kindergarten teachers, right up to adult learners. The concepts covered would be priceless for administrators who are looking for ways to improve their school as a whole. This book should also be required reading for all pre-service teachers. 

The whole concept of what it means to be literate has changed since most of us were at school ourselves. Students (and adults!) now need to do a lot more than read and write in order to be truly literate. This includes being able to communicate and express ideas in a variety of ways -- using all sorts of digital tools, video, audio, hyperlinked writing, social media etc. This book breaks down exactly how to do that to ensure our students can thrive in a global community.

What I loved about this book is there are lots of ideas for tools mentioned, however, it is more about the processes than specific tools. The learning comes first. The QR codes and companion website bring the book alive—there is extra information and a challenge etc. on http://www.documenting4learning.com. This could be ideal if a group of teachers wanted to study the book together.

A Guide To Documenting Learning is not the type of book you read once and put away. You could definitely dip back into it regularly throughout the school year for new ideas and inspiration.

-- Kathleen Mo