Staff members offer a range of learning experiences and activities to infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children and you play a critical role in sharing feedback on what you see. As you respond to the scenarios in this activity, think about how you might support staff members in your program.

1. Riley, a new school-age staff member, is turning in lesson plans that look very familiar. You realize he is turning in the same lesson plans as Rick, a more veteran staff member in one of your other programs. This wouldn’t be a huge problem if Riley were doing what was on his plans, but he’s not.

   “Tell me about your lesson planning, Riley. How do you decide what experiences to offer? How do you individualize for children who need different experiences?”

   “I looked at your lesson plans when I came in this afternoon, but I didn’t see the science activity you had planned. Tell me how you decide what to do each day and how you use your plans.”

    

2. Trina loves her job as an infant- toddler teacher. You’ve noticed, though, that she seems to be relying on an endless string of “fun activities” rather than planning out learning goals for the kids. She seems to pull activities out of thin air without much forethought.

   “I can tell how much you love working with the kids. You’ve got such a great relationship with them. I spent some time watching the art experiences you offered today. Can you tell me about your goals for that activity? How do you document what children are learning?”

    

3. Madeleine has a page of address labels printed with each child’s name. She observes four children per day, so each child is observed once per week. During her observation of each child, she asks them to say the alphabet, count as high as they can, and identify colors. On each address label, she writes down what the child was able to do during her observation. She then transfers the label to each child’s individual record book.

   “During my visit today, I noticed how well organized you are. You had pre-printed address labels to make your record keeping easier. You also organize your data by child, so it is easy to find when you need it. What do you think we could do to make sure you’re observing other areas of development such as social skills? How about observing each child in natural situations?”

   “It is so important to collect information about children’s pre-academic skills, but it is also important to observe social skills and all other areas of development. How can we make sure observations are done in natural situations and cover several aspects of children’s development?”