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Positive Environmental Factors:

1. The weather is calm and clear which is very favorable for outdoor play.

Negative Environmental Factors:

1. Centre was short staffed (2 ECEs were only available for the day).

Contribution to the behaviors observed:

1. Charlie’s lack of sleep lead him to be hyperactive throughout the day.
2. The children were impatient and excited for the outdoor play which resulted in difficulties in following the instructions.
3. Since the center was understaffed, i became difficult the 2 ECEs sometimes to handle the kid’s behaviors and be calm as needed to be as they were also exhausted.

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• I expect the children to listen to me at once and act upon which does not happen always. If a child does the same every day or more frequently, I would act more strict and let them feel I am not happy with their behavior.
• I expect the kids to control their emotions rather than crying or being loud. I might give them time to console themselves rather than talking through.

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• By using a visual timer, it made the kids including Charlie to understand that it is time to movie from one activity to another which establishes routine and structure. When a clear constant structure is followed it makes children like Charlie to feel secure and less anxious.
• Even if it was challenging to deal with Charlie along with other children, the 2 ECE’s were calm and patient which would make the kids to feel safe and be calm.

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• It is most likely expected the boys to be more active and loud in expressing themselves while the girls are expected to be calm and quiet and to keep to themselves.
• It is most likely that the boys will be treated a bit more strict and stern assuming they are aggressive and girls more tenderly.
• It is also expected of girls to be more obedient and to adhere to instructions.

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• Get more staff, so that they could be more attentive towards children and be relaxed themselves which will not lead them to exhausted and stressed with children.
• Contact the parents even if it is not in person to let them know what their child is going through outside of the house and to make them understand of what changes would be good for the kid. For instance if Charlie’s in my Center I would contact the parent even on phone and discuss what could be done.
• Have more activities planned in case if children are restless and is having more energy. 

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Relationships with children;

• The direct engagement with children and the educators worked well. For instance when Reagan was crying Jessie approached and spoke to understand what is wrong and helped with the art project.
• Use of positive self talk strategy at the center to regulate their ability to understand and improve the emotional intelligence.

Opportunities to improve:

• Improve and go through the strategies used to address children’s certain behaviors. For instance changing the strategy used to stop Fern from biting which was effective previously with another kid.
• Stick to a consistent routine to make the children feel secure and to build trust.

Relationships with families;

• Jessie has build trust with the parents over the period which is the foundation for better communication.
• Appreciating parent’s effort to support their children and accepting the recommendations from the educators.

Opportunities for improvement

• Allow the new staff to interact more with the parents and to involve them in the discussions with parents to build trust with the parents.
• Communicating the staff what is expected of them when it comes to parent interactions which would result in smooth operations.

Relationships between staff;

• Jessie trying to involve the other staff in planning the day and decision making would make them feel included and respected.

Opportunities for improvement

• The staff training on team building and professional development can be held to help the new staff to improve themselves which will allow the center to retain staff for a longer period.

How may improving these relationships impact behaviour in the centre (and how it is approached)?

• When trust between the staff is enhanced it would allow them to take the lead and solve problems effectively and communication among one another would be more trusted.
• By implementing strategies to cater individual needs of children could lead to a more peaceful and a less stress environment for both children and the staff.

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Fern’s biting incident was misunderstood and the strategy used was rather depending on a prior experience than focusing on Fern and what must be going through with them.

Fern’s behavior could be indicating the need for attention from the staff, parents or the peers. Also such behavior might indicate the child’s frustration or a certain feeling that cannot be expressed in words.

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By panning to involve Terry in communications with parents and inviting both Blaire and Terry for a reflective meeting to discuss about the children’s behavior and the approaches that could be followed shows an opportunity to build consistency in approach between staff members.

• When there is a consistency in approach between the staff members, it can create an environment that is predictable to children which will improve security and trust.
• When everyone responds in the same way for a particular behavior, it makes it easier for the children to understand between what is encouraged and what discouraged of their behavior.

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• Jessie can offer constructive feedback to the coworkers by observing the interactions they have with the children and the parents.
• Conduct more reflective meetings with the staff to discuss about the success and the challenges they go through each day and to get suggestions on improving the strategies used.

During the early years of my career, a senior colleague was helping me to improve my project management skills that helped me to be where I am today. Learning from them helped me to take the lead in a center, plan the day and to be more confident on complex circumstances and projects.

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• When the outdoor play was not possible, the staff switched to indoor motor activities which allowed the children to be engaged and maintain some sort of consistency in the routine which made the children to expend some of their energy rather than been restless and creating behavioral issues.
• Encouraging Amari to participate in group activities made her feel belonged and would prevent children from feeling excluded and isolated among the peers. 

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• When Shiloh expressed how they were disgusted with the way Sage ate the banana, it was a good opportunity to help both the children to make them understand that the same thing can be done in different ways and the way how things are done could be different from person to person. 
• The drum play and the blocks being knocked created a noisy environment and the educator addressed the kids on how to play without making such big noises and what the consequences will be if this behavior is continued.

What would you have done to give yourself a moment to regulate?

Step away for a minute or two and get a coworker to handle the children until I am back. Use this time to either wash my face to freshen up or do a breathing exercise.

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Talk through with the children about how everyone would love to be included and how it could be an enjoyable experience to have everyone along the way. 

Plan more activities that could be done as a group and include those children who are often excluded.

• Being othered/excluded can lead to low self esteem and might make the child feel unwanted. This could lead the child to withdraw from social situations and might lead to be scared to speak in public.
• Could lead to anger and frustration.

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When Shiloh said that it was gross the way how Sage eats the banana the educator was compassionate and showed empathy by responding that everybody has their own way of eating and all of such ways are good. By responding Shiloh was made to understand how important it is to respect others ways and Sage felt comfortable and happy.

Being passionate and showing compassion will lead the children to learn how to manager their emotions and how to express them in a good way. Also it builds trust among children that would lead for better communication.

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