We all have good intentions at the beginning of the nursery year to keep a tidy desk, sort and file things away and keep on top of all that paper work. But one week into the term and it gets busy. There are other priorities, and somehow we just never get around to it. The same goes for children's computer work. A child produces a good drawing and you decide to save it. How? Where? What filename? 'Oh... just save it in the My Documents folder for now and I'll sort it out later!', you say.
This is a good time to get your ICT organised. We write up our registers and make class lists, peg and tray names, so why not make named digital folders for each child's computer work?
The first thing you need to do is find the My Documents folder. On most PCs this usually appears as an icon on the desktop screen. If you can't find it, double click My Computer, then the (C:) drive. Double click on the My Documents folder. Now we need to make the folders. Click File-
New- Folder. A new folder will appear in the My Documents window. While it is still highlighted, delete its label, type the name of the first child (you can use capital letters and spaces), and press enter. Folders can also be renamed at any time by clicking the right mouse button over the folder and clicking Rename. So that's the first one done! All you need to do now is repeat the process for all your children.
What children's work will you keep? You need to be selective. Initially you will want to save some baseline work, perhaps a couple of pictures drawn with an art program, some early attempts at finding letters on a keyboard - work that will provide a reference for you later in the year. Then choose to save work that shows some progression. Just be sure to work out a naming/dating system.
Explain to the children that you will be saving special pieces of work and encourage them to request work for saving that they are proud of. And remember, you can also transfer photographs taken with a digital camera into children's folders.
One final word of warning: pictures drawn with art software are large and will soon fill up your hard drive, so choose carefully.
