Record the time and place of your observation.
This interval should take ten minutes.
Record your observations on the first two thirds of your notebook paper. Then, on the last third of the page you will have room for your subjective interpretations of what you “think” you saw and heard.

What do you see?
What do you hear?
Be objective in your language. Do not use words like shy, aggressive, hyper, funny, happy. Use words that describe the action. For example: She walked quickly across the room with hands in the air above her head. Her hands waved from side to side. Her mouth was turned up at the corners and she made a noise that sounded like “ yeah, yeah, hooray.”

Then, on the last third of the page, think about what you “think” you saw and heard. Now, you are able to use more subjective descriptions. For example: John appears to be shy in this situation. He is not interacting with the other children.

At the conclusion of this half hour observation, take the time to go back across your notes. Make a final summarizing comment that captures the entire observation. For example: Suzie appears to be comfortable during center time. She smiles often, talks with peers and shows some leadership qualities.

At the conclusion of the eight observations, you must go back and reflect on all of what you saw and heard. The summarizing comments you made at the conclusion of each observation will be of great benefit. Now, draw a word picture of the child you observed. Do not use the child’s name. However, it is not enough for you to just describe what you saw and heard. You must relate your observations with standard benchmarks for child development. Refer to your Age/Stage Profile. For example: "Emily appears to be a typical seven-year-old. In observations two, four, five and eight she . . . . This is consistent with seven-year-olds who like to . . . . ."