Anecdotal Record Template

An anecdotal record is a type of document that is used by teachers for keeping track of observations about their students. In order to document a child's work, a form with space to write down the materials the child was working with is used. This form also includes teacher observations of what they did, and what they said while they were working. A copy of these reports can be made to send home .

Anecdotal records are written notes based on observations of a student's actions and behaviors while that child participates in various activities during the school day. An anecdote is a brief description of a specific event, and in the context of a learning environment this can include specific documented examples of how a child demonstrates how he or she accomplishes academic tasks. The documented anecdotal record should be based on the educator's personal observations of learning activities, and should always be written in a positive tone.There are several constructive benefits of generating an observation-based anecdotal record for individual learners, to include documenting students' progress toward educational goals as well as noting any potential barriers to progress. The record can serve as a documented artifact to demonstrate the child's academic growth to parents during parent-teacher conferences, as well as becoming as an important component of that student's academic record.Planning is a key component for the successful utilization of anecdotal records. A student will participate in many activities throughout the day, so in order to include relevant observations in the record, an educator should first determine relevant content and process criteria to be observed. Those criteria are then written on an anecdotal report form, which creates a basis for observations.Then, as students demonstrate behaviors related to the defined criteria, the educator will write comments in the appropriate section for each criterion, as objective evidence. As opportunities for documenting observations will not always occur on the same day, anecdotal records will often be generated over the span of a few days, as a teacher has the opportunity to observe behaviors that are appropriate for the document.When utilized correctly, anecdotal records can be a useful tool in documenting and reporting a student's progress, as well as in identifying areas where correction or additional improvement is needed. And pre-prepared, online anecdotal record templates are available to help facilitate the preparation for using the records, making it as easy as downloading and printing the form.