An observation is a note about what children did and said. You write it on the center iPad, and families never see it.

Write an observation

1. On Today, check that one room is picked, not All Groups.

2. Tap the children you watched. For the whole class, tap no one.

3. Tap Observe.

4. Under What did you notice?, write what you saw and heard. To talk instead of type, tap the microphone on the keyboard.

5. Add more if it helps. Then save it (see Save it below).

You can add any of these. All are optional:

• Add Photo/Video

• Add a quote, for something a child said

• What may be emerging?, for ideas the children keep coming back to

• Investigation, to link it to a longer project. Your school may call this something else.

Don’t see Observe? Ask your director.

A whole-class observation belongs to the room. It isn’t added to each child’s record. Use Featured children to show who took part.

A photo or video tagged with a child can still appear in that child’s daily report, once it’s approved.

Save it

Pick one:

• Save (top right) or Save as Draft keeps it as a draft. Finish it later.

• Save & Develop a Plan saves it and opens Develop a Plan. Write your Possible next steps, then tap Save.

Save & Develop a Plan needs a note under What did you notice? first.

Cancel throws away what you wrote, without asking. Tap Save if you aren’t done.

Draft, Saved or Developed

Each observation has a label:

• Draft: not finished. Tap it to keep writing.

• Saved: done, but it has no plan yet.

• Developed: it has a plan. You can use it in your lesson plan.

Each label has its own tab: Drafts, Saved and Developed.

Find your observations

• On the iPad: tap More, then Observations. No More tab? Tap Manage, then Observations.

• On the web: in Staff OS, go to My Room > Observations. In Admin OS, go to Learning > Observations.

You write and change observations on the iPad. On the web you can read and archive them.

Develop a plan later

• A draft: tap it, then tap Save & Develop a Plan.

• A saved one: open it, tap ⋯, then Develop a Plan.

To change a plan, open the observation, tap ⋯, then Edit Plan.

Use an observation in your plan

When you add an activity in Lesson Plans, pick the observation under From an observation. Its next steps are added to the activity’s Individualization notes. Families never see those notes.

Only developed observations from that room, from the last six weeks, show up there. A teacher or assistant sees only their own. An observation saved under All Groups has no room, so it won’t show up.

Archive an observation

Archive takes a saved or developed observation off your lists. Nothing is deleted, and you can bring it back.

• On the iPad: open it, tap ⋯, then Archive. To bring it back, open the Archived tab, open it, tap ⋯, then Restore.

• On the web: in My Room > Observations, open it and press Archive. To bring it back, choose Archived, open it and press Restore.

Don’t see Archive on the iPad? Update the Bloomily Center app.

Teachers archive their own observations. Directors and the office can archive anyone’s.

A draft can’t be archived. Swipe it left and tap Delete, or touch and hold it. Delete removes it for good.