group learning stories

[hotpies2006]

hi there i am new to learning stories and i was told by another group leader that when taking a photo of a group of children doing a particular activity of interest that you can write out the one learning story for all that were involved and photocopy it and put in their folders, is this right i thought you would have to write out individual ones for each child on their particular involvement, confused

[Lorina]

Hi Hotpies,

If you were to use a group learning story to put into each child individual folders, like you said you will need to write out individual ones for each child's involvement. The best way to get around it is when you do a group learning story, take individual photos of each of the children involved. You could use the same learning story as you did for the group BUT when adding to each child's folders add their own comments, their involvement, their photos around the group learning story, so it also focuses on their particular involvement.

I hope this clears up any confusion,

,
L.A

[hotpies2006]

thankyou again L.A

[hwalsh]

when i write group learning stories i ensure i had added comments or details for every child in the pictures, i also do individual learning stories for each child as well. as the files need to reflect the "learning" of the individual child. i often put the learning stories in the childrens pockets for the parents and i also do big displays in my room about what we are learning out

[Lorina]

Hi hwalsh,

Great idea about adding learning stories to parent pockets..

I also photocopy the daily diary and put it in each child's bag. Sometimes parents are too rushed to hang around reading the daily dairy.. this has been a great success as parents know exactly what their child did during the day and becomes a great discussion point at home.. I'm sure it would be the same for your learning stories!! I'm stealing that idea from you... ...

Cheers ,
L.A

[sue073]

hi all. i have been doing learning stories for about 8 months now and this is the way i have been doing them. my director hasnt pulled me up on it so i thought i was doing it right. now its coming to the end of the year and portfolios are just about completed. oh no really don't feel like re doing all that work.
a GL a work told me that was can just white out other childrens names and copy that for portfolios
i thought EYLF was all about less writing and work and more attention toward the children. this sound like more time for writing and less time for GL to spend with the children.this is why i stayed on as a GL as i thought i would get more time to interact but now im thinking its more work.
regards Sue

[Lorina]

Hi Sue,

Yes it's that time of year again where we are all trying to get portfolios completed! So just to clarify your dilemma is that you have added the same group learning stories for each child's portfolio? Did you do any individual learning stories? If you are using the same learning story for each child involved, what you can do is add a photo of a specific child and a brief description of the child's interactions during the experience... you can add this along with the group learning story.

Don't worry, I'm sure we can work something out without you having to do it all over again...

Cheers ,
L.A

[sue073]

thank for the reply L.A
when doing my learning stories about a group experiences i have added each children into the learning stories so i have a brief discription about what each children got out of the experience. all my learning stories have sequence photos as we do the activities. so i place those photos and write my story about what happen. so then if i had 5 chn in the group i write individual parts in the learning stories of them. so the parents understand what each child did. should i be writing individual analysis of the learning. im new to this all and im thinking im doing it all wrong. i have no links and im not sure how to link the program
cheers
sue

[Lorina]

Hi Sue,

It sounds about right... You are including a photo of each child and writing details about each individual experience within the one group experience... I think that's fine! There is nothing wrong with the way your documenting your learning stories, except that it is alot of work! The other GL's way of doing learning stories is another "shortcut" I guess in writing up learning stories. There is nothing wrong with it, however if you are adding this to a child's portfolio I think it's important to include some individual ones as well... so, don't worry as from what I read you're doing great!

Also in regards to linking EYLF learning outcomes, principles and practice you can just add these headings to the bottom of your learning story and add them in. Depending on the individual child's interactions during the experience the EYLF learning outcomes can differ for each child, based on what they got out of it.

I am currently working on designing a learning story template that you can use at your centre for individual and group learning stories. I'm also writing up a tutorial on how to write a learning story and what to include in relation to EYLF. I'll keep you updated once it becomes available...

Cheers ,
L.A

[sue073]

thank you L.A
sorry to be such a pain but I have another question? its like once I think I get it they change it again or another GL tells me differently we have a school teacher at work and Im alway going to her for advice. I was tell her about the changes and she agrees with me that a learning story is an observation and that we dont have to extra obs on the chn for development stages. is this right? and did development stages go out the window once EYLF came into it. well that the understanding I had.development stage are still there but we use the learning outcomes. principles and practice now. so anyway director want obs(without photo ) i really think she doesn't understand EYLF herself cause now she is telling me the learning stories are like a running record. Im getting more confused each day Igo to work and I'm told different ways. I get used to doing it one way and told i'm doing it wrong. I'm burning out and feel like leaving child care industry all together. please could you explain it in simple form.
thank
sue

[Lorina]

Hi Sue,

Yes, you are right a Learning Story is another form of documentation and you don't have to complete extra observations. For example: if you observe each child once a month, for one month you could do a learning story and for the other you could do a photo observation. My point is, this can also be used as an evidence tool to document children's learning. Also, developmental checklists has also been "thrown out the window" since we are now implementing the EYLF and like you said using the Learning Outcomes, Principles and Practices instead.

now she is telling me the learning stories are like a running record.

In a way a learning story is like a running record yet they are not the same thing. A running record is a very detailed description of behavior or an event, which is recorded as it happens. A learning story uses a story telling format instead of a typical observation record to capture the moment in greater detail. You can find examples of learning stories in the Educators Guide, which is available to download from this site in the following article: Understanding the EYLF

I'm trying to complete the Learning Story templates and how to guide over the next few days. I'm sorry it's taken awhile but I want to include the article along with the template so I could explain how to complete a learning story.

Don't worry... I understand how confusing this can all be but don't give up! From what I've read you are not doing anything wrong and I guess your director just prefers a different idea... It's alright, it will be ok!!

Hopefully this answers your questions,

Cheers ,
L.A

[Kellie Upton]

Hi Sue,
Running records you write specifically what you see the child doing. Eg. 'Sue used a pincer grip with her right hand to grab a pink small Feather'. Instead of Sue picked up a feather.
Running records add lots more details. Eg. 'Watch continuously for 5 minutes & write as much detail as you can. whereas learning story are like an overview of what has happened.Same as when you are summarising an event to a person. Key points like their comments,body language & interactions with others etc. Eylf is all about what a child can do: achieving or working towards not negative what they can't do. Hope this has not confused you more.