Journal 5

Staff meetings are very important. It reminds staff what is expected of them, and that they can rely on each other and their supervisors for support. Any issues in the center can be addressed at the staff meeting, and it helps keep open communication and respect among everyone. Staff meeting give everyone a chance to exchange and voice ideas they may have for upcoming curricuilum, and for supervisors to update employees on any new changes that will be implemented in the center.


                                           STAFF MEETING AGENDA                                       December 1, 2012
6:00-6:30 Discussing Agenda
6:30-7:00 Open Discussion

TOPIC-Daily Schedule

1. Naptime:

• Please remember daily cleaning needs to be done during this time. Please check your daily cleaning sheet and remember to initial when each task is completed.
• Keep visiting over cubbies with other staff to a minimum. This is time for children to have a quiet peaceful environment.
• Curiculum planning is encouraged at this time. This a great catch up period for you to go through your resources and finish up lesson plans to be submitted for approval.

2. Circle Time:

• Circle Time is scheduled to start at 9:00 each morning. Please remember to have all activities ready and in your circle time area at 8:50 so you allow enough time for cleanup and transition from free play.
• Please remember to include the weekly letter, number, color, and value into your circle time!
• Some fun activities to help you get through circle time can include making charts and graphs relating to the theme, flash cards, name games, mystery box,& letting children pick their favorite song to sing.

3. Large Group:

• Large group play can be challenging at times. Remember to keep calm and take control of the situation.
• Some fun ideas are doggie doggie wheres your bone, hot potato, excercises/stretching, I spy, &parachute play.

* Everyone is doing a great job in their classroom. Remember to keep positive attitudes, and offer suggestions to other co-workers! We are here to help! Any resource or curriculum related books are in the office and can be checked out for use as needed. We appreciate all of your hard work and dedication to our facility!

Journal 4

Dealing with people is just a normal part of my job. Learning to handle the way people think they can treat or speak to me, is another. Learning to speak to people is a very vital important part of everyday life. I wonder if some people have ANY manners at all. I mean really, "where you born in a barn" doesn't seem like such a bad question for me to ask sometimes. But I love my job and try and remember that for sake of my bank account I need to maintain my calm and not have my self proclaimed "dragon moment" that I really want to unleash on these people who are supposed to be raising our future generation. I am sure I am not always at my best when conversing (god knows, we ALL have our moments) but there are a few things I always try and remember. Eye contact, body language, remembering names, and keeping complaints to a minimum are some very important things when speaking with anyone.  When someone cannot remember my name, or can not make eye contact with me, I feel very unimportant and unheard. Eye contact shows that you are genuinely listening and interested in what I have to say to you. When you can not remember my name I feel like I have not ever made an impact on your day (which is very important to me). Another peeve of mine is coming to me with a mountain of complaints all the time. Remember I deal with little people all day long! They have no patience, little manners, and a very big need for all of my attention, so please remember that you are past that phase in your life and just take a breath and come at me calm when you have an issue. I generally listen when parents are complaining to me and when it becomes excessive and I have been unable to speak, I apologise and tell them maybe they need to search out other centers if they are so unhappy. This generally makes the parent step back for a moment and puts their attitude in check. I always sandwich complaints with compliments no matter who I am speaking to. (It really does work on almost everyone.) The thing that bothers me the most is when parents come in on their cell phones or purposely avoid me or my other staff members. This lets me know for a fact that you do not care about how your childs day went. I f you can not even say hello to the teacher who cared for them all day or greet me so I can remind you about hat day on Friday you have made your message quite clear. There are 24 hours in a day, surely that phone call can be held at anonther moment in your day. Being respectful is one of the most powerful tools a person has to be sucessful in creating and maintining relationships with other humans.

Journal 3

   In the peanut butter scenario, I would let the paretns know that we must follow all posted rules, no matter the situation in an effort to keep all the children safe.  I would apologise and help the parent think of an alternative snack to bring so that the situation would be fully resolved. I would also remind the parent that even the smell of certain items can trigger an allergic reaction for some individuals.

   In the  shift scenario I would speak with all teachers privately and explain the other teachers situation and my dilemma.  I would allow her to leave if everyone agreed to giving up their early shift so she could be with her family. I would also remind the other staff that we are all in the situation at some point and we all need to try and be respectful of our work family and help each other out when we can.

   In the lesson plan scenario I would acknowledge that the teacher used my lesson plans in a positive way, such as saying how I would love to hear any ideas she might be able to add to OUR existing lesson plan. I would be cautious of what information I told her and if she it was becoming a problem, I would go to my director and let them know I do not mind sharing all of my ideas and plans, but I also do not want to be discredited for the amount of work I put in to my students and class room.

   In the angry parent scenario, I would immediately apologise to the father and tell him that it is required that I write up all accidents or incidents I am aware of.  I would let him know that I never heard or saw any pinching. I would also let him know that I will be very aware that someone has pinched and that I will fix the situation.I would also let him know that I will talk to the child and find out who and let her know what to do if she is hurt by a "friend" in class. Lastly I would let the father know I will tell the director of the incident so that they could be aware also.

Journal 2

        In the childcare business, I frequently interact with many different individuals.  Parents, grandparents, guardians, children, colleagues, state workers, delivery personnel, corporate, superiors, are just a few.  It is important for me to always try and be professional when dealing with others. This demonstrates that I take my job seriously and am dedicated to my position.

        In a situation with biting, I always think it is important to let the parent know that the child who did the biting had to acknowledge that biting was/is not the acceptable way to handle whatever the problem was. I also believe that parents of the "victim" appreciate when the parents of the "biter" are notified.  We adhere to a biting policy that is a written policy which states that once biting becomes an issue with a child, steps are taken to try and get the behavior controlled. This lets parents know that biting can be a serious issue if not taken care of properly.

        I visualize my business as a high quality, educational facility that offers the best to my students, teachers, and families.  I consider myself an affordable childcare center. I do not have the cheapest rates, but the care and educational opportunities that are offered are far above average.  My staff is qualified and competent and adhere closely to all state and national guidelines.  Although academics are a priority in my facility, we also recognize the importance of learning through play. We offer a mixture of hands on learning through games, songs, activities, and other stimulating opportunities.  We provide a curriculum for teachers to use which we put together from our knowledge of early education and other websites and development books.  We do however encourage teachers to implement their own ideas and activites. Teachers submit lesson plans each week and they are able to implement their own ideas pending approval from their supervisor.  The strengths of my center are professionalism, dedication to families and children, and knowledge of childrens development.  I believe that the facility could improve on our communication between staff, and sharing ideas between classes. I believe everyone should be a team player and help each other out.