Leadership

Morning Sandy,

Leadership... not only tricky to define but also to work towards. Leadership when effective can take on many possbilities, open many doors and empower teams and teachers to work together to achieve amazing outcomes for teams, children and families.
Im sure that you have read lots about Leadership and have also in your teaching career come across a range of leadership styles(some effective and sadly others detrimental).

Below is an excert about the benefits of collaborative leadership- enjoy.

A recent issue of the Harvard Business Review (July 2011) focused on "collaboration." In discussing how life for a collaborative manager is different, the magazine noted...

"In the old world of silos and solo players, leaders had access to everything they needed under one roof, and a command-and-control style served them well. But things have changed: The world has become much more interconnected, and if executives don't know how to tap into the power of those connections, they'll be left behind.

"Leaders today must be able to harness ideas, people and resources from across boundaries of all kinds. That requires reinventing their talent strategies and building strong connections both inside and outside their organizations. To get all the disparate players to work together effectively, they also need to know when to wield influence rather than authority to move things forward, and when to halt unproductive discussions, squash politicking, and make final calls.

"Differences in convictions, cultural values, and operating norms inevitably add complexity to collaborative efforts. But they also make them richer, more innovative, and more valuable. Getting that value is the heart of collaborative leadership."

Supprting Statements

Morena Sandy,
Thank you for continuing to post learning stories that document your practice as a teacher. These Learning stories illustrate that you are able to observe children and assess the learning that is occuring through out the day.
Can i please request that with ever post you have a linking statement- it is these linking statements that document why you have added a post, and how you will adjust or alter you practice. We want to be able to see your progression and growth as a teacher, rather than a collection of learning stories.

kia Ora

Joann

I used play dough to teach and communicate the action song "I'm Selling Lollipops!". The toddlers love songs about '....animals, themselves, or their friends, and some rhymes and jingles..".Such songs are good in supporting children's acquisition of language.Singing simple songs like this, in which the words of the song match the actions helps them to learn the meaning of the words.

This learning story was also answering the question"How can we support early literacy in Toddler room?". It also reminded me of Rahmats learning story in our books "Kei tua ote pae' where the child was using his cultural tools (snakes), familiar part of his home life to connect with his early literacy at the centre to communicate his knowledge and skills. In this learning activity I was supporting social and communicating skills which are important in developing early literacy. I also posted this learning story on the centre's blog to inform parents and other teachers at the centre that cultural based resources such as dolls, phones give children a basis for literacy learning. We now have a lot of these ( cell phones) in our room which have been donated by the parents and most of the children enjoy using them in their pretend play.

Transitions

Morning,

Below is a snippet from an article on transitions, and the effect they can have on the classroom and childrens ability to follow through and develop interests. happy reading.....
Joann

In their Exchange article, "Eliminating Transitions," which forms the basis for the newest Out of the Box Training Kit, Barb Gallick and Lisa Lee make a case for keeping to a minimum the number of transitions children confront in early childhood classrooms:

"Picture a group of children in the block area who have spent 15 or 20 minutes building an elaborate car wash. They have just gotten to the point where they will be using cars to develop a story and act it out when the teacher says it’s time to clean up for snack. Of course, after snack there’s group time and then the class will be heading outside. Are these children also wishing that they could have had an extended time to relax and focus on enjoying their car wash and the dramatic play possibilities? Do they also feel like they have no control over their schedule?

"Having a daily schedule that creates routines for young children is an essential part of an early childhood classroom. Evaluating the daily schedule on a regular basis is an integral part of creating a quality program that meets the needs of both the children and adults who ‘live’ in the classroom each day. We would suggest that you look (with a critical eye) at your daily schedule once a year to determine whether it works for the group of children currently enrolled in your classroom. One of the most important things to consider when reviewing your schedule is the number of transitions that occur throughout the day.

"Transitions tend to be some of the most difficult and stressful moments in an early childhood classroom. At these times teachers often find themselves dealing with more challenging behavior s and feeling more like police officers than nurturing caregivers. If you are feeling uncomfortable or frustrated during transition times, that is a sign that your current schedule may need to be revised to better meet the needs and developmental levels of the children in your care."