(music)
I think to have a successful day you really need to know your co-teacher or an assistant,
who ever is in the room with you and be able to communicate what you expect from them
and be open with them if something's not going the way you envision it or
you wish they were doing something different. I think it's important to say to them
"You know, I would really appreciate it if you helped them wash their hands while I'm on the carpet."
Because sometimes I don't think they're necessarily doing something to make your job harder, we just
have to communicate to make sure everyone knows what each other wants.
(Teacher’s communicating with each other)
Like before we go on break and the children are resting a little,
sit down and talk about how's your day going, whatever you learned today,
or are there any ideas you have for a lesson plan,
or the monthly lesson plan.
We'll talk about conferences that are coming up. Do you have any goals you have for a certain
child, or how do you think they're developing? We just
have them taking time out before we get into other stuff,
to sit down and talk to each other. So definitely communicating, that's the key.
If staff don't communicate with each other they can't work as a team
and they don’t. My staff are really wonderful
about coming in and not calling out for any little
excuse because they know they'll be letting the team down.
Child: Triangle. Female Teacher: You're making a triangle? Good for you. I’ve really wanted one.
Male Teacher: I’m going to give you a little bit so you can make the stem. Female Teacher: Did anyone make an oval pumpkin?
Mo and I bounce back off of each other constantly. He, just in general,
is always in good mood. So it's a great, great atmosphere all day.
So maybe if I've walked in, with having two children
whereas he does not, and I'm not in the best mood, as soon as I walk in
it's all gone. It's all erased, we are in our own world. So for eight hours
we just have great, great time. We both love what we do.
We work very well together and it just ends up being a
great atmosphere for everybody involved. But if it was someone that I didn't get along with quite as well,
which has happened, it's been ten years, it’s not a fun environment
necessarily for the children. You know, they thrive off of what's happening. If you're
good mood they know, if you're not, they know. It all comes back on them.
It bounces back off of them. Teacher: Ok, so were just going to count down
Teacher: and then we’re going to blast off. Child: Jump!
They don't have to be friends, but they have to be friendly with one another. You know, we
create the home away from home environment and we want the parents and the children
to feel that. The children are very intuitive so you want a good relationship with
those teachers. So get to know them, know their quirks.
If you see a co-teacher getting frustrated you can step in
and they'll do the same for you. So it's a give and take relationship.
Teacher: You're so sweet. Oh, almost.
We work so well as a team, and there is not anyone I could think of working,
being happier with. I think that
the entire place, our entire center
is based on a mutual respect for one another.
We communicate with each other, we see each other outside of
work. We have things that we get together
for. And we have the continuing education hours that we
attend or the classes that we attend and everything.
And I think a mutual respect for one another
and communicating about the children and all being on the same page
as far as how we want to nurture the them
and want to help them learn. We're all kind of just on the same page about that.
(Teacher talking to children)
We learn what each other's strengths are and what each other's weaknesses are.
We have here at the Child Development Center, this something I learned
a long time ago in Michigan when I was working with a group of people,
and we were in a toddler room and we had a code word that we said.
At the time, it was “Eiffel Tower”. Here we use “we need a drink of water”.
So if a staff members says "I need a drink of water”, that tells
the rest of us that that person needs a break,
whatever that may be. It might be a break from a child, it might just be
to get out of this room and breathe, whatever that is.
That's our code word. We know it. So if I'm in my office and I hear it, that's
the first thing I do is come out of my office and see how can I help that staff person.
And that collaboration makes
for a happier staff, I think.
And I think children know that. I think they know when you're happy being where you are,
then they will also be happy in the space that they are in. That roll modeling of that is really important.
Teacher: How does it make your tongue feel?
The teamwork, me and my assistant, we have a great teamwork. We are able to
bounce ideas off each other, work together. When I'm getting stressed
she can see it and she'll step right in and I do the same for her.
So we have that relationship where we can read each other and it's also not, I'm lead teacher, she's assistant.
We kind of co-teach and help each other out as best as possible. Which makes our room flow
extremely well, because we’re both there, we're both involved and we both
know what each other is thinking. So the teamwork really helps and it's even
a stress reliever, because I know I can count on her to be there when I'm just at my limit.
(Teacher talking to children)
You have to find the right team that matches. There are some folks that just can not work together.
But when I talk with my staff and my teams I tell them
working together as a team is kind of like a dance.
They have to know each other's movements, they have to know who
has the better strengths, where those strengths lie and how to best implement them
or utilize them. Just like a dance, there is always going to be a lead
and there is always going to be a follower. And
if they work in perfect unison, the dance is going to
look beautiful and the classroom is going to run beautiful. And so we,
using that image for my staff, they really take it to heart.
And if they have a bad day they'll even come and tell me, "Oh, our dance was really awful today."
Because they realize they were not in sync.
I think every daycare center goes through a period where you can find one
person that throws the whole chemistry of the daycare off. And we've had
some incidences like that. But right now
we have a very, very, very good harmonious center as
far as co-workers go. If they can't work it out together
as adults, then they come to me.
And I mediate with them. And we talk about what really the problem
might be, what are the underlying problems,
and where their strengths lie and how we can fix the problem.
Most times, if everybody sits down
and we can mediate and we can really discuss it, there's really never
a really big problem. If there ever is a really big problem, then we have to
find the solutions.
The main thing is knowing that everybody's there to do a job. Everybody is professional.
And whether you like everybody or not, you have to be professional.
(music)