Windows on Learning: Documenting Children's Work (Early Childhood Education Series) [Paperback]

Judy Harris Helm (Author), Sallee Beneke (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0807736783 | ISBN-13: 978-0807736784 | Publication Date: December 1997

This book presents an approach to thinking and communicating about documentation. The authors studied documentation in their own urban school and from a number of early childhood programs including the schools of Reggio Emilia. The result is a framework, a collection system, and display methods that work in U.S. schools. The book shows how documentation can reconcile demands for meaningful, engaged and intellectually stimulating learning experiences with demands for accountability. Methods are applicable to many different curriculum models, including thematic teaching and the project approach. The book first presents a framework of three windows as a way to think about the power of documentation. Then a variety of ways that documentation can occur is presented in a documentation web with five types of documentation. A chapter for each type of documentation shows how it can be collected, analyzed, and shared. The book features extensive examples of children’s and teachers’ work in urban, rural and suburban environments. At the end of the book is extensive documentation of the Mail Project, one project in an urban prekindergarten program for children at risk. The web is segmented and applied throughout the mail project documentation so the reader can see how the different types of documentation were used to capture the learning that occurred in this outstanding project. A companion book "Teacher Materials for Documenting Young Children's Work" also available on Amazon.com provides forms, schedules, and display ideas for implementing the ideas presented in "Windows on Learning". A section of "Teacher Materials" lists course objectives with coordinated readings in "Windows" and assignments for incorporating documentation into assessment or curriculum courses or during practicum or student teaching experiences in early childhood education.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This lively, informative book poses a remarkable challenge to teachers to grow themselves while growing young children. Being creatively accountable is hard work and the stories told here describe the work, how it's done, and its joyful rewards for teachers and children. --Elizabeth Jones, Pacific Oaks College

Provides a set of windows on children s lives and describes how teachers can enter into those lives and enrich them through high-quality teaching. The authors have created an inspiring volume, a challenging set of ideas, and an invaluable resource for early childhood educators. --Samuel J. Meisels, University of Michigan

[A] thoughtful, up-to-date guide to assessing and documenting children s work...The authors give clear, practical advice on how to collect, analyze, and display children s work in meaningful ways. --Scholastic Early Childhood Today (review of first edition)

Provides a set of windows on children s lives and describes how teachers can enter into those lives and enrich them through high-quality teaching. The authors have created an inspiring volume, a challenging set of ideas, and an invaluable resource for early childhood educators. --Samuel J. Meisels, University of Michigan

[A] thoughtful, up-to-date guide to assessing and documenting children s work...The authors give clear, practical advice on how to collect, analyze, and display children s work in meaningful ways. --Scholastic Early Childhood Today (review of first edition) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Judy Harris Helm, Ed.D. began her career teaching first grade then taught 4 year olds, directed, and designed early childhood programs and trained teachers. She served on the Task Force for the design of the Valeska Hinton Early Childhood Education Center eventually becoming Professional Development Coordinator for the school. She now assists early childhood and elementary schools in integrating research and new methods through her consulting and training company, Best Practices, Inc. (website: bestpracticesinc.net) She is past state President of the Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children. She is co-author of Windows on Learning: Documenting Young Children’s Work, Teachers College Press, Columbia University. She is also co-author with Lilian Katz of Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years and co-editor of The Power of Projects: Meeting Contemporary Challenges in Early Childhood Classrooms. Her work has been translated into three different languages and she provides consultation and training throughout the country.

Sallee Beneke has been active in early childhood education for over twenty-five years. She has been a center director, master teacher, prekindergarten at-risk teacher, early childhood special education teacher, and head teacher in several child care centers. Ms. Beneke is currently a kindergarten teacher in Princeton, Illinois. Ms. Beneke is author of Rearview Mirror: Reflections of the Car Project and co-author of Windows on Learning. She graduated from Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and completed her graduate work in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois.

Kathy Steinheimer is a teacher of 3- and 4-year-olds at the Valeska Hinton Early Childhood Education Center, in Peoria, Illinois. She has worked in a variety of settings including private child care and hospital child care. She completed an undergraduate degree in accounting but found that her real love was working with children and after several years in child care continued her education, completing both elementary and early childhood certification requirements. Ms. Steinheimer most recently completed a master’s degree in counseling.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Teachers College Press (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807736783
• ISBN-13: 978-0807736784
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Judy Harris Helm, Ed.D. helps schools integrate research through her consulting company, Best Practices, Inc. She is a national and international speaker and trainer on best practices in education. She has authored seven books in five languages on project work, documentation and assessment, and public relations for schools and centers. Dr. Helm provides support and design consultation for early childhood and elementary schools and has most recently served as principal design consultant for two new birth-8th grade 21st Century Learning Centers and an inclusive early childhood center. In addition, Dr. Helm has authored several articles on classroom environment.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Windows On Learning" is strongly recommended as a resource for any educator, October 5, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windows on Learning: Documenting Young Children's Work, Second Edition (Early Childhood Education Series) (Paperback)

Now in a newly expanded and updated second edition, "Windows On Learning: Documenting Young Children's Work" is the collaborative work of educational consultant Judy Harris Helm, educational resource specialist Sallee Beneke, and classroom teacher Kathy Steinheimer (Valseka Hinton Early Childhood Education Center). "Windows On Learning" provides teachers with a proven method for collecting, analyzing and displaying children's work at school. Instructions are provided that will easily enable principles, curriculum coordinators, and Head Start personnel how to develop children's portfolios to share with parents or for assessing children's academic performance. Replete with examples, illustrations, and basic information on incorporating standards into documentation, "Windows On Learning" also discusses how to analyze and talk about documentation in professional learning communities and teams. There is even cogent information on preparing teacher portfolios. Of special note is the "Movie Theater Project, a literacy-rich project from an inner-city pre-kindergarten classroom. "Windows On Learning" is strongly recommended as a resource for any educator involved with documenting the academic and classroom performance of children preschool through second grade.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Guide Book!, August 20, 2006

By 

lovnlife (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Windows on Learning: Documenting Children's Work (Early Childhood Education Series) (Paperback)

This book is a very useful tool for learning different types of documenting techniques. There are pictures, graphs and examples of documenting a child's work. It's worth buying if you are going to be working in a classroom!

2 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Review, September 28, 2005

By 

Sharon Cruz (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Windows on Learning: Documenting Children's Work (Early Childhood Education Series) (Paperback)

Not a very good tool unless you have other supporting data to aid with this book. Nothing new. Not worth it.