Taking Note: Improving Your Observational Notetaking

by Brenda Miller-Power

Teachers need to be keen observers and notetakers as they assess how students learn. This practical guide will show readers how to dig their way through the mountain of paperwork before them and how to begin to keep thoughtful records of student learning. In a breezy, down-to-earth style Brenda Power invites you to try new notetaking strategies and shows you how developing this modest skill can help you organize your work and make you more efficient. In dozens of examples from teachers at all grade levels, Brenda offers helpful suggestions and strategies for everyone from the first-year teacher to the veteran classroom researcher. She takes you step-by-step through the process of examining existing notes, breaking old habits, managing time and materials so observations are possible, and coding notes for later use in assessment and research. Totally practical, every chapter in Taking Note is packed with ideas and techniques you can use to become a cogent, skillful, and accurate
Taking Note is a boon to any teacher and especially appropriate as a supplement to graduate or inservice courses in alternative assessment and teacher research.

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996