There's always one, right?
She's been at the center since it opened, I swear. She acts older than dirt and crotchety, but she's great with the infants. The parents LOVE her.
The former director deferred to her, a LOT.
The staff went to her, a LOT.
She has the mentality of 'in my day..' and refuses to listen to ANYTHING that means she would have to change.
I IMMEDIATELY laid down the law- 'all regulations MUST be followed." No, babies cannot sleep anywhere but flat on their backs. Nothing in cribs. I even removed the ENORMOUS amount of 'baby equipment'- none had been checked for recalls or washed in who knows how long, all were shared among all babies and we DO NOT need to 'put the babies up' all day. Every time I walked by the room, all babies were IN something. NONE were free to explore/move. There were 4 swings, 4 exersaucers, bouncy seats, high chairs, etc. I changed the decor. It was a GARISH magenta. It's now a muted blue. The battery operated toys are gone. I replaced with muted soft surfaces, bars to pull/stand on, mirrors at eye level, soft blocks, board books and tactile toys. Each baby has their own crib-labeled.
The infant teachers hate me. The woman who is the 'lead' infant teacher (we don't have such titles, sooooo whatever. She refers to herself that way) snickers at staff meetings and new trainings, offers 'comments' that are unhelpful and in such a snarky tone that it's obvious she has contempt for me/the changes. AND, she's infecting my staff. The girls in the infant room were so excited for new space, new ideas, better training, wages, etc. and now they're ALL becoming just like her. I'm getting stink eye by parents of infants! One came to me with 'concerns' about the changes. FTM, of course, and I gave her some literature to read about motor development. No, your 5 month old can learn to sit up WITHOUT the aid of an exersaucer. The mom kept saying "XXX said...."
The toddler, SA classrooms? NO PROBLEMS. Seriously, they're all jumping in feet first with my ideas, they're giving me great feedback and suggestions, and the change in the program is incredible! The staff no longer looks lethargic and the children are happier, engaging, and the parent feedback? great.
I sat her down in my office this morning, and needless to say we didn't get far.
She's 56 going on 6.
The owner and I sat down and made an actual employee handbook, and she has been written up formally as of today. She has two more write ups in a 90 day period. She won't make it. She told me today that the other infant teachers WILL leave with her. The director is panicked, but we have floater staff now (yay me ) and I/owner/PT staff from other rooms are capable of filling in gaps without it being a crisis if every single infant teacher leaves TODAY. So, try me? How she feels she is superior and irreplaceable? idk.
I won't even go IN depth into the preschool rooms. The K readiness program was a JOKE. A developmentally inappropriate, teacher-led, child-hated JOKE. Worksheets for ONE HOUR in the AM and ONE HOUR in the PM. That was TWICE the amount of outside time a FT kid was getting. The prek teachers ARE more flexible with working WITH me though, they ARE listening to PROVEN research and statistics, there IS an open dialogue, we DID hire more staff to be able to DO a child led, play based curriculum. But they are dealing with the parent-aftermath.
Parents sent their child to a 'preschool' to 'learn' ya know? I just spent the rest of the day working from home answering parent emails. Time to set up an open house and get parents on board!
But that infant teacher is a THORN IN MY SIDE.
She's been at the center since it opened, I swear. She acts older than dirt and crotchety, but she's great with the infants. The parents LOVE her.
The former director deferred to her, a LOT.
The staff went to her, a LOT.
She has the mentality of 'in my day..' and refuses to listen to ANYTHING that means she would have to change.
I IMMEDIATELY laid down the law- 'all regulations MUST be followed." No, babies cannot sleep anywhere but flat on their backs. Nothing in cribs. I even removed the ENORMOUS amount of 'baby equipment'- none had been checked for recalls or washed in who knows how long, all were shared among all babies and we DO NOT need to 'put the babies up' all day. Every time I walked by the room, all babies were IN something. NONE were free to explore/move. There were 4 swings, 4 exersaucers, bouncy seats, high chairs, etc. I changed the decor. It was a GARISH magenta. It's now a muted blue. The battery operated toys are gone. I replaced with muted soft surfaces, bars to pull/stand on, mirrors at eye level, soft blocks, board books and tactile toys. Each baby has their own crib-labeled.
The infant teachers hate me. The woman who is the 'lead' infant teacher (we don't have such titles, sooooo whatever. She refers to herself that way) snickers at staff meetings and new trainings, offers 'comments' that are unhelpful and in such a snarky tone that it's obvious she has contempt for me/the changes. AND, she's infecting my staff. The girls in the infant room were so excited for new space, new ideas, better training, wages, etc. and now they're ALL becoming just like her. I'm getting stink eye by parents of infants! One came to me with 'concerns' about the changes. FTM, of course, and I gave her some literature to read about motor development. No, your 5 month old can learn to sit up WITHOUT the aid of an exersaucer. The mom kept saying "XXX said...."
The toddler, SA classrooms? NO PROBLEMS. Seriously, they're all jumping in feet first with my ideas, they're giving me great feedback and suggestions, and the change in the program is incredible! The staff no longer looks lethargic and the children are happier, engaging, and the parent feedback? great.
I sat her down in my office this morning, and needless to say we didn't get far.
She's 56 going on 6.
The owner and I sat down and made an actual employee handbook, and she has been written up formally as of today. She has two more write ups in a 90 day period. She won't make it. She told me today that the other infant teachers WILL leave with her. The director is panicked, but we have floater staff now (yay me ) and I/owner/PT staff from other rooms are capable of filling in gaps without it being a crisis if every single infant teacher leaves TODAY. So, try me? How she feels she is superior and irreplaceable? idk.
I won't even go IN depth into the preschool rooms. The K readiness program was a JOKE. A developmentally inappropriate, teacher-led, child-hated JOKE. Worksheets for ONE HOUR in the AM and ONE HOUR in the PM. That was TWICE the amount of outside time a FT kid was getting. The prek teachers ARE more flexible with working WITH me though, they ARE listening to PROVEN research and statistics, there IS an open dialogue, we DID hire more staff to be able to DO a child led, play based curriculum. But they are dealing with the parent-aftermath.
Parents sent their child to a 'preschool' to 'learn' ya know? I just spent the rest of the day working from home answering parent emails. Time to set up an open house and get parents on board!
But that infant teacher is a THORN IN MY SIDE.
Comment