Objective: To develop and practice the skills required to observe, record, and summarize behaviours (both verbal and non-verbal). These skills will be required in the field in order to complete professional reports, with an emphasis on recording fact vs. interpretation.
Daily Log – 10 marks
Questions below – 5 marks
We will use an episode from the show “The Fosters” (available on Netflix) to observe and document the daily experience of a character named “Mariana Foster”. Please watch Episode 8 from Season 4 for this assignment. If you do not have access to Netflix, please connect with me.
This show is about a family with children who are biological, adopted, and fostered. We will “pretend” that the home is like a group home residence. Although there are several storylines in the episode, your focus should only be on Mariana and her interactions throughout the day. You should not document any of the other storylines for this assignment.The episode begins in the morning, goes through a day where she and her peers participate in a robotics competition, and concludes at home at the end of the day.
Pretend that you are a CYCP who is accompanying Mariana throughout the day – you work in the home, accompany her to school/the competition, and are back at the home in the evening. Observe and document Mariana’s behaviours and interactions throughout the day, writing a summary of her day for the assignment. Mariana should be named as your identified client or resident in the report; all other siblings or peers should be referred to with initials. Remember that this is a Daily Log and should be a summary of the important elements of Mariana’s day and interactions. It is not a “play-by-play” documentation of every scene and should not be a word-for-word recording of the episode. Imagine that you are a staff who is leaving your shift, and you need to document important aspects of Mariana’s day for the staff who is replacing you. What should they know about Mariana’s day?
Remember to focus on documenting and summarizing what you see and hear factually, not opinions. This Daily Log should be a factual summary of her day. Daily Logs are brief (generally 1 page, possibly 2 pages). Thus, you will need to be concise in your summary. Please use the Daily Log Form posted to this assignment. You can bump down as needed to create space for your summary.
Please see the Daily Log example about “Evan” for a sample.
A few notes:
- Mariana’s birthday is April 3, 2005.
- For our purposes, her Date of Arrival will be March 1, 2020. (This would typically be the date she came to live in our residence.)
- For the medication section, you can put that this is N/A.
- For family, you can comment briefly on any interactions she had with her foster mothers (and they can be named).
- You may insert a typed “signature” but do not leave this blank!
Don’t forget to respond to the questions below as well.
Please remember that spelling, grammar, and style will count!
In addition to your Log, answer the following questions as part of your assignment. Please elaborate in your responses.
- Based on what you observed, what assumptions mighthave been made about Mariana’s behaviours that someone might have documented as a fact, rather than as an assumption? Give one example of an assumption you made or could have made (i.e., something that you thought but didn’t write down) and explain the importance of recognizing this assumption.(2 marks)
- What did you learn about observation and documentation, as well as your own observation skills, from this assignment? Inwhat way could you improve? (3marks)
