By: Karissa Arce
Writing feedback to the parents can be challenging – the thesaurus is my best friend every report making season, especially when I am running out of words. Writing a feedback or an observation report is one thing, how to write it is another thing. We have to keep in mind that whenever we are writing our observations and it’s for the parents, we should maintain objective writing. Mainly because we want to create a picture on how the student is during our class without including our personal assumptions, and second, we don’t want the parents to feel like we are judging their child. Remember, observation reports aim to describe, not to conclude. We want whoever is reading it to make their own interpretation based on the descriptive narrative you have given them.
Writing reports is a skill that needs consistent practice and mindfulness. (Sometimes, I envy those teachers who use numeric evaluation for preschoolers because it’s easy in so many ways. I have never experienced that in my years of teaching.)
I will be sharing some tips on how to make reports based on the given details. Keep in mind that the goal is to write objectively so that when we pass it on to parents or to others who will be reading it, it will recreate the scenario. And that this goes across the board, regardless of the level or age of students you have, reports are supposed to be objective and not based on your interpretation. Unless you are being asked to give an evaluation BASED on your observation. Remember this phrase: observation reports aim to describe, not to conclude.
1. Describe what happened
Say you are teaching kindergarten students and 2 of your students got into a fight because one wanted more blocks while the other one did not want to give his blocks. Eventually one of them got hurt. It all happened during snack time, and you were there when it happened. You are writing an incident report that will be given to the parents and for the school record. Observe how I write it down:
During snack time Hiero and Rocco finished eating early. Rocco went to the blocks area and pulled out the tray of wooden blocks. Hiero joined Rocco and they started to talk about what they would build. Rocco suggested dividing the blocks and Hiero agreed. Rocco was building a tower while Hiero was building a train. Hiero ran out of blocks. Hiero picked some blocks from Rocco’s side. Rocco saw Hiero and Rocco told Hiero not to get from his blocks. The teacher reminded both Hiero and Rocco to play nicely, use kind words to communicate what they want and respect each other’s response. Hiero told Rocco that he needed more because he wanted to make his train longer. Hiero asked Rocco several times, but Rocco said no. Rocco told Hiero to give him the blocks. Hiero was holding some blocks in his hand when Rocco tried to pull the blocks from him. Both were exerting effort into pulling the blocks until Rocco lost his grip which resulted for Hiero’s hand to bounce back with pressure on his face specifically on the lip area. The pressure was strong enough to create a cut on Hiero’s lower lip. Heiro was given some first aid afterwards – cold compress to prevent his lip from swelling and bleeding. After tending to Hiero, the teacher processed to them what happened, the cause and effect and came up with an agreement on how they will handle that kind of situation next time if it ever arises again.
*Notice that in this report, the progression of the incident was described and how it was dealt with after. Pay close attention to the part where they were having a tug of war. Instead of saying “grabbed” I used the word “pulled”. By saying grab, I am interpreting the action. By saying pull, I am describing the action. When you make reports, as much as possible, you describe the action or what happened instead of writing your interpretation. Don’t worry if your report gets long, focus on describing what happened.
2. Write actual responses/questions
The scenario, you are doing a reading and comprehension class. The routine is you work with 2-3 students at a time. They read to you the given story and you ask questions afterwards. You have a student that takes time to respond. What you usually do is you rephrase your questions a couple of times until you get some answers. This is how I write my report:
After reading the story “The Sandcastle”, the teacher asked Livia “What do you think Kipper used to build his big sandcastle?” Livia sat quietly and did not respond. The teacher then asked the question “If you are going to build a sandcastle, what will you use?” Livia continued to stay quiet and did not give any response. The teacher tried to ask another question, “Have you been to the beach before?” and Livia said “yes, I went there with my family when I was still little. My dad made a sandcastle, he put sand all over RJ and RJ was just laying on the sand. It looked like a mountain then we put a pink flag on top.” The teacher then proceeded to ask Livia questions regarding their beach trip while connecting it to the story they read. Livia was able to give some of her ideas about the story. Towards the end Livia said, “My dad will not win because Kipper’s castle looks nicer.”
Sometimes, some teachers will say “Livia had a hard time answering the questions.” When you say that, you are interpreting the situation. In what way? Because some students, they need to start from basic questions and then you expand into a more complex one – you scaffold your question to help them be guided. It might look like they are having a “hard time” but they don’t know what you are asking them because to them it doesn’t sound clear. When you put that into writing, including the actual responses and questions being asked creates an image of you guiding the child and the child processing their response. So if you can, avoid using “they had a hard time.” Instead, you can say “they encountered some challenges” and then proceed with talking about what it was and how it was solved through describing the steps taken.
3. First time meeting? Describe both sides.
Let’s say, a parent recommended you to another parent as a tutor for their child. They required you to submit an observation report to them because they were interested to know about your input to their child. Here’s an actual report I made a couple of years ago:
For the first few minutes of our meeting, I introduced myself to Caylee. I told her that I am more comfortable being called Ysa rather than Miss Ysa or Teacher Ysa. I also asked her how she wants to be called and at first, she just smiled. Sensing that she is still conditioning herself in front of me, I told her that I can give her 5 minutes to make herself ready and then we will proceed with the getting to know activity. After 5 minutes, I asked her again the same question and this time she was able to respond. Towards our session, I learned that Caylee likes to play animal crossing and she likes to collect plush toys. She also showed some holiday photos and shared some stories related to the photos she showed. She asked me several questions like; “Where do you live?”
“Do you like the color of my house?” “When is your birthday?” “Do you like McDonalds or KFC?” and many more getting to know questions. Towards the end of our first meeting, I told her that I enjoyed listening to her stories and that I look forward to our next meeting.
I wrote this report and forwarded it to the parent. Did you notice that I did not use the word “shy” to describe how the child was during the first few minutes of our meeting? Aside from that word being basically an interpretation, the word “shy” is usually being viewed in a negative way. Let’s refrain from using the word “shy”, instead let’s say “the student took their time to feel comfortable with the presence of an unfamiliar adult. As soon as they felt ready, they started to interact.” By saying this, it helps spread awareness that some people regardless of their age need their space to be ready and that is totally okay. It’s not that they are shy, it’s just that they feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed and by having this knowledge, we can be more understanding and give them the space they need.
Basically, what you need to remember when you are making reports, is that you focus on describing what happened rather than writing your interpretation. This will save you trouble in the future. Observation reports and Evaluation reports are not the same. It can be challenging at first because this is something that might be new to you. Regular practice and applying this to your daily life (if you can) is the best way to grasp this kind of skill. And if you are not sure, you can always ask another person to read what you wrote – after all, a fresh eyes’ input can be helpful, one way or another. Hope this helps!