Journal 9

Aggressive Behavior
All children need to be able to participate in planned activities and be able to follow simple directions. As with all aggressive behaviors parents are notified with each incident. Aggressive and hurtful behavior includes, but is not limited to: biting, hitting, kicking, pushing, and pinching. Such behavior is not appropriate. We will use every appropriate method to help children control their:
Step One: Teacher/Director Coaching the child and contact with the parent.
Step Two: Director, Teacher, Parent Conference make suggestions.
Step Three:Second Conference at which time the parent maybe asked to find alternate childcare.
Any or all of the steps may be skipped or omitted as deemed appropriate, based on the extent of the aggressive behavior and circumstances.

Journal 6

1.       The director showed a lack of communication between the parent and the teacher. She should have discussed the importance of keeping confidentiality.

2.       The teacher in no way should be gossiping about the children in her care. That is wrong and is teaching the children that it is ok to talk about other people.

3.       I do believe that there should have been a meeting between not only the parent and director but the teacher as well.

4.       The director teacher and parent. And possibly hold a staff meeting to discuss the importance of keeping all children’s personal business confidential.

5.       I do feel that a talk with the other children about a new student coming into the classroom would have been good. It would have prepared the class as a whole for a new face. The teacher could have gone over things that the children could have done in order to make the new student feel comfortable and welcome.

6.       I think that it would have been easier for him if the teacher would not have made him feel like an outcast from the beginning. She could have allowed him to eat his sandwich and have him Elmo during naptime so that he would feel more secure within him new surroundings. If the sandwich and Elmo were not allowed this is another issue that should have been discussed between the parent and director before enrollment.

7.       I don’t think it is professional to gossip about the children that you care for. We as teachers do not know all of a child’s past and we are not here to judge. We are teachers because we have a passion for children which includes seeing all children succeed.

8.       If this happened in my center I would possibly fire the employee but would definitely hand out written warnings to each employee that was involved.

9.       I would sit down with the teacher and parent to discuss all issues and assure the parent that her child would be well taken care of and that we as a whole were going to do whatever it took to make her child feel comfortable and welcome within the classroom.

10.   If I was the parent I would be furious I am not sure what I would do probably withdraw him from the center and find somewhere else to take him.

Journal Entry 7

The most important reason why your appearance matters is for you yourself. When you know you look good you tend to feel better about yourself which spikes your confidence which can be helpful in the workplace. You shouldn't dress for the position you have, you should dress for the position you want. The way you look or dress is how you present yourself to the world. A person who dresses well is much more likely to be respected and taken seriously. You should dress appropriately when you want a job, or have an interview just dress nice to look the part.

Journal Entry 5

God’s Creation’s

Mandatory Staff Meeting!!

Communication skills between Coworkers and PARENTS!

1.       Develop effective was to communicate with our coworkers. Possibly set up a box to drop comments, concerns or ideas into either with a name or anonymous. The box will be checked every Friday by me (director). Which I will review over the weekend and Monday morning all issues, concerns, or ideas with be addressed individually and as a whole.

2.       Welcome parents into the classroom at drop off and pick up. Get them involved! Help parents to be active in the classroom. Show them what their child has been working on. And address any questions or concerns that they may have.

3.       Cell phones!! Absolutely NO cell phones in use in the classroom. Please turn all phones on vibrate. NO calls should be taken inside the classroom unless it is an emergency! If you need to answer because of an emergency please ask the director or assistant director, to come and step in your class so that you may take the call.

4.       Music in the classroom! The only music that should be played inside the classroom around the children is kid friendly music. Please nothing else!

I feel that staff meetings are important because it opens up the floor for all workers to ask and address any questions or concerns that they may have. It also allows the director to provide any necessary feedback to employees. It also helps employees with resources needed to take additional training.

Journal Entry 4

When someone address me without calling me by my name I at times can be offended. Depending on how long I have known the person or how many times we have met in the past also plays a big role. When meeting a new person I try and look for little things that can be helpful in remembering their name. I think it is also important to become familiar with our coworkers and the parents whose children we care for. It shows the parents that they are recognized. When a person gives me the “cold shoulder” I feel ignored and feel as if what I am saying does not matter to the person I am talking to. I expect for the person that I am talking with to be respectful of what I have to say and provide me with their full attention. Eye contact is very important to me. I feel that keeping eye contact with the person you are talking with shows that person that you are listening and that you have their full attention. I would also be offended if a person only communicated with me by greeting me with complaints. Regardless of the work I am doing (good or bad) I appreciate the feedback whether it be the negative or positive. When receiving negative feedback I try to take into consideration the other persons point of view. I then like to reevaluate the situation and go back and make any corrections. It is always exciting to receive positive feedback but I always keep in mind that I am able to move forward and do better with any negative feedback received.

Journal Entry 3

page 18 #1
I would handle this situation by asking the parent to bring something else. I would explain to the parent that even though none of the children may be allergic. I would explain to her that my concern is that even though a child has had nuts before does not rule out that later on they may develop an allergic reaction. And that it's best to not even risk a child's safety.

#2
I would have a sit down meeting with this teacher and explain to her that I have taken her circumstances into consideration but in order to treat each employee fair I will not be able to give her the early shift every Friday in the summer months. I would explain to her that when hired on she knew the schedule she would be working and agreed to the hours. I would also let her know that if another employee is willing to trade shifts with her on occasion that this would not be a problem as long as I am notified ahead of time.

Page 22 #1
I would take a minute to think about the situation. I would then bring it to the director or assistant directors attention letting them know what she had done. I would want to have a sit down between the co worker, myself and director explaining my frustration. I would tell the co worker that what she did was wrong that if she would have asked for my help that I would have been willing to work with her and maybe we together could have started planning lessons together.

#2
I would inform  the father that I was paying attention and never noticed that his daughter was in any kind of distress during the day. That if I would have seen or noticed what had happened that I would have immediately filled out an incident report talked with the child that had pinched his daughter and would have also talked with the parent. I would also assure him that I would pay closer attention to his daughter and contact him about any incidents regarding his child.

January 31

Page #2 Identifying Your Audiences

Currently the people with whom I frequently interact with are my husband, and children. If I were within a childcare setting the people that I would interact with most I think would be first the children. Then would be the parents. Also the director, assistant director, and fellow co workers.

Page #4 Additional Conversation

I think that the incident reported to the parent and the letter that was sent out is sufficient.

Page #9 Define Who You Are

1. One day when I open a center of my own. I visualize my center being ran and maintained by quality childcare professionals. This means that I would like to see my center staffed with workers who have education and  knowledge on children's growth and development.
2. I do not currently have a center of my own. In the future I would like to be able to offer he highest quality of care to the children at affordable prices. While still being able to offer employees adequate pay with  hopes of keeping my employee turn over rate low.
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. I want for the strengths of my center to be in all of my employees. I want for them to feel happy and comfortable in the environment with hopes that they will be able to provide the children in their care the best quality of care that they can.
6. In all reality I believe that no matter the star level of the center or even the employees working there all  employees continue to educate themselves on children and their development.