Manager vs Coach

Becky's goal is strictly business. She wants to make sure that things are done and that there is something to show. She does not care much about how it is being done or what is going on in the classroom. Rather, she wants to see what is written down and expects that everything is going well. It is all about looks rather than action for Becky. For staff development, Juanita is scared to tell her director anything because she is afraid of getting in trouble. That probably means she feels intimidated by her superior. Becky also makes Juanita feel like she is not competent because her students are not going by the schedule that she has posted. To get things done, she has one on one meetings, which are more intimidating and she just talks to Juanita about things that she is doing in the classroom that is on paper, but does not help or put any input about plans and concerns.

Yolanda's approach is coming into the classroom where the staff that work in the classroom are. She shares pictures and is excited to give input on things that she observed. She gives support on ideas and is excited to learn about what the children are learning in the classroom and what seems to be the interest of the children. She mentions anything that may trigger what may be the reason why the children are interested in moving. Also, she makes sure that the staff feel comfortable and asks for their opinions and ideas about how they could encourage and promote the children's development rather than just giving them answers.

Becky is more demanding and wants things in order, Yolanda is more encouraging and wants to have the teachers think and work together.

a welcoming director..?

I have experienced two different types of directors in my preschool career. The first director I worked for, she was always not "there," she always forgot things and was quite unprofessional. The other director I had was very in the way, demanding, and bossy. She made us feel like we were being attacked all the time and under the radar. She was quite rude to parents, it also caused parents to pull their child out of the preschool because they did not like her. Now, the director that I work for is not always there because she has other work to do also. So it is quite different. The structures in the preschool are also different too.

The preschool I am at now is okay with children being part time, coming in at any time, and leaving early in the morning too. It is quite different for me because I am used to structures and not just going with the flow like now. But I also think it is because I am still learning how to be a good teacher, that I am having some problems. 

As a director...how would you structure your preschool? Would you make it strict and have it full-time only? With mandatory 8am attendance? It is quite difficult to think about things like this because a director needs to consider to community and the parents that she is catering to.

Assignment 5, 6, & 7

Assignment 5:

I don't think that I would have thought of something like that. It seemed amazing to be able to experience something like that in the early childhood field. Our version would be a parent teacher conference with the child's parent, and it is mostly to talk about where the child stands. I am currently going through conferences with my parents and I rather hear what the parents have to say than what I have to say. It would be great to have meetings like this where all the staff and family could come together to help plan something for the child that everyone agrees on, because for one thing, just because I am the teacher, the children in the other classes also play with the child and the teacher should know the plans and ideas that are set for the child. Working with the other teachers is a great experience for everyone because they get to feed off each others ideas and get different professional pointers. How often do we get to actually talk to parents and share experiences that we enjoyed about the child? We only get to do it briefly with the parents during the day at pick up and drop off, or share one or two during our conferences. We often forget about the child's individuality, and that they are special in their own way. To have a meeting with a small ceremony where we focus on the child and how they brought everyone together, is a great thing. I would understand that it is quite difficult to do that for every child, which is probably why we do not do that for all the children. Also, I feel that if we were to have something like this, it is because the teachers may be having some concerns about the child's development and performance at school. Is it in the culture that the staff and the parents have meetings like this? How would you go about this for all the children in your classroom? Or would you only be doing this for the children who teachers have concern for?

Assignment 6:

In my program, the parents sometimes stay with the children for a few minutes before they leave. We have couches for the parents to read and hang out with the children or other parents. Although we encourage the parents to come early so that the child can get all the learning experiences they can get, which is mostly during the morning, we try to help the children go through transitions as best as possible. An experience that I am going through right now is with a child that is not in my class. However, his class and my class play together when dad drops him off. Dad would sit with him on the couch for at most, 5 minutes (child's choice), and when the time is up, I would come and pick him up. We would say bye to dad and then go feed the fishes that are in my classroom and then go to the bathroom, then outside to play. So far, he hasn't thrown a tantrum like he used to where he would be screaming for a long time and continuously ask for dad. Now he gets through the day well and plays with the children and is very happy. As much as possible, I try to encourage the parents to come into the classroom and look around, check out the artwork on the wall, and ask questions. We have times where the children are playing and 10 minutes before the school closes, we tell the children that it is time to clean up and read a book or puzzle until mommy or daddy get here. That is our way of telling the children that mommy and daddy is coming. We also try to tell the distressed children that the teachers are staying with them until their mommy or daddy comes, so they do not have to be scared at all. We also encourage the parents to call if they are going to be late, so that we are able to tell the child that their mommy or daddy will be a little late, which gives a little ease to them.

Assignment 7:

I thought of myself as an enthusiast, the reason is because I am so willing to try different activities. Although I am a perfectionist too, I like things to do perfectly, and sometimes it gets frustrating because the children do not do what I want, which I can't help. I do not force my children to do the activities that I plan for them because I want to give them that choice to say no. If I were to ever be a director, I think I would want to try to be an architect because they build so many amazing buildings with great foundations. They also have intricate thought out plans and have to think about the product as a whole. I would try to take classes and go to as much workshops to help build myself as a professional director because early childhood education is changing everyday and new techniques and methods are being discovered.

An Equal Triangle.

I know that this may not be relevant to what we are learning now, or it may be. But today I had a really tough day at work. It was also hard to not be able to talk to my fellow teachers about it because we all have our own worries to think about. Also, it is hard to not have a set limit for certain things because there is still a lot of figuring out to do. I have a child that could possibly have behavior problems, it is hard to deal with in the classroom because he gets impulsive and aggressive. He is also at the toddler stage of development, but he is older. The first time this happened, it wasn't so bad. The story was, my co-teacher who I work closely with between our two classrooms was on a trip. So during nap time, I was not able to be with the child. The schedule was really different and I was not around the child much for the two days. One of the days was Friday, after nap time, I went to check on him because mom emailed me and told me that she would be picking him up early. He was awake, so I got him up to go to the bathroom, after that he was acting weird. He did not want me anywhere near him and he would scream. It carried on to the weekend, and when we were back at school on Monday, he was still the same. It was very frustrating, especially when my assistant is not there on Mondays. I had a hard time trying to discipline him and keep him in the classroom. He would also hit me and run off constantly. This mood went on for a few frustrating days. After, he started slowly talking to me again then forgave me. 

On Thursday, I was sick so I was not able to come into work. I then returned on Friday. However, he was starting to act strange again and did not want to be near me. I figured it was because he was mad at me for not being there on Thursday. I was trying to get him to go to his mat for nap time, but he refused. As we were sitting and listening to story with the Pre-K children, both my co-teacher and I gave him many warnings about how he would have to leave if he starts playing with the toys because its story time. After the last warning. He fought with me and made a commotion about leaving. I had to physically pick him up and take him out of the classroom, he then was able to hit me on the face a few times. That really frustrated me, but I took a breath and calmly but firmly told him "Please do not hit me, you are hurting me and it makes me sad." He felt guilty after awhile, but he still was not listening to me. Today was the first time ever since I started in the preschool field, even as an aide, where I thought I give up. My friend then sent me this quote, and it has stuck to me all day.

Some of you ask how I would create an work environment where my staff would never feel attacked or targeted like how I was. I simply feel like no workplace should ever be that way, but unfortunately,  there are. I feel like there are people who just take authority in a different matter, and how people take what you say is something to consider. Sometimes, what you think is funny may be offensive to others. Which is why it is important to get to know each staff member and be professional at work because we never know what could be offensive to a person. I would love to have a great support system for the staff. Where the staff feels comfortable discussing work related issues to each other and provide feedback and help. I am lucky that I do have that, but sometimes I do feel alone. With the three sides to the triangle, they are all equally important, but they all somehow tie into each other. 

I know I am not ready to run a preschool, I am still figuring out how to be a teacher. We all make mistakes and I think with a good support system and good communication, it would slowly work out. In the ECE field, there are always something different that happens and everyday is a surprise. So as a director, I feel that it is important for them to be prepared for anything to happen!

Am I ready to be a director?

When I was thinking about how to categorize the situations into the three different areas of the triangle, I just couldn't figure it out. I wanted to be able to categorize them, but they all seemed to fit together in the same areas and the same suggestions came up, even after I reread all the characteristics for each side of the triangle. Am I the only one that is having this problem? I feel like the role of managing and overseeing would be the easiest side of the triangle for me, because it is more about dealing with the business side of the preschool, where I plan training courses, meetings, and evaluate the staff. That part is easier because it is somewhat more set in stone than the other two sides. In the book it states "your managing and overseeing role has limitations when it comes to applying what is known about adult learning theory and effective staff development work." That is very true because if a preschool was more about paperwork, then it would be a business rather than a preschool. I would not know how the staff run the classroom and not know much about the children and the way that the staff teach, which would cause me to be stereotypical and go based on research and what is expected in the children through studies. Without the other two sides of the triangle, I would not be able to make the program a program about the children and the staff. However, the managing and overseeing side is important because it is the foundation to what the staff do with the children because I plan training classes for the staff, what they learn in the training will be applied to the children, so it is important to know the children well and get insights from staff member, which means I need to form bonds and be in the classroom.

"If supervisors can just get their staff to remember all the regulations and guidelines, or if they purchase a research-based curriculum, they will have a quality program." Directors who believe that if they train their staff enough or if they buy expensive and well noted handbooks, it just takes a lot of time and is very useless for the program and the staff. Learning how the staff teaches and how they work in the classroom is important because it can help you build a program that is fun for the staff and the children. It makes the staff feel important, because they are, they are there to teach the children to their best potentials. With being able to show the staff that their teaching style is important to you, then it makes them feel like they are doing well and you are willing to work with them. "Adult learning theory suggests that as a director you must be mindful of the family and cultural backgrounds and the life experiences that the staff bring to your program." With the different cultures and the different backgrounds that the staff have, there can be many different ideas and thoughts that come with it, which is great because not everything will be one-sided. Staff are more willing to work together when everyone is eager and come with different ideas, which they can bounce off each other. I feel that this would tie together with the building and supporting community, because with everything together, support for the teachers will make them feel comfortable and willing to explore outside of their comfort zone.

I think that the most important thing is to build a strong bond with the staff to make them feel comfortable, and to base the program off the values and the teaching styles of the staff, also to avoid bias because we want to make all families and staff from different backgrounds to feel comfortable. It is just important to me to make sure that my staff feel welcomed and work well together because if staff members do not work together than it just becomes a and environment for everyone.