Observe children participating in several different activities and document what you see. Carry index cards and a pen in your pocket during the day. When you notice a child working on a particular developmental skill, pull out an index card and write down what you see. Write down the words the child uses to describe what he is doing, as well as other relevant information. Do not rely on your memory and write down the interaction later in the day. At the end of the day, look over your index cards and copy your observations in neater handwriting. Create a file for each child and place the index cards in the child's file. If you observed an activity with more than one child, be sure to write an index card for each child involved. Save these anecdotal records and use them when creating progress reports for children.
Take digital pictures of activities throughout the day. Take pictures of several different large group, small group and individual activities. Use the index cards in your pocket to document the activities you have taken pictures of and a few quick words that explain why you chose to take a picture of the lesson. At the end of the day, print the pictures you would like to use when creating assessments and progress reports for preschoolers. Place these pictures in the children's files.
Create developmental portfolios for each child. Developmental portfolios are a documentation of a child's progress throughout his preschool year. This should be an ongoing project, not one that you can expect to finish in an afternoon. Gather the pictures and anecdotal records in the child's file. Use the pictures and observations that best represent a child's progress in learning a particular preschool skill, such as fine motor control. Create a scrapbook page by including your pictures and observations as well as any other evidence you have gathered. Place the scrapbook page in a clear sheet protector and add it to a binder. Be sure to create a separate binder for each child in your preschool class.