Home Hot Topics Articles Directors' Choice Awards About Us / Contact Us Activities & Curriculum Activities for Outcome-Based Learning Arts & Crafts Music for Learning Recommended Reading Sharing Boards: What Do YOU Think? NEWSlink Current National News Conference Calendar Topics In Early Childhood Education Art and Creativity in Early Childhood Education Job Sharing Board State Licensing Requirements Stay Connected! Each month we'll send you an email filled with articles and ideas for your classroom. Subscribe Now Date: 1/22/2006 5:43:00 PM Author: Linda (t0good@webtv.net) Subject: Re: wow We have staff meetings where I make it CLEAR that I would never take anyone's personal products - but my teachers don't tend to bring in things. I purchase the items that the teachers need. They make their requests and i can honor almost all of their wishes - but I also get the extras or the givens - the crayons, papers, paints, etc... that everyone needs. They are kept in a supply closet that's supposed to be for everyone and I like to keep it unlocked so that as the NEED arises, they can go and get what they NEED. Most of the teachers respect that and can control themselves - but I have others that NEED to use to take extra before they're even Low on something! Those things cost me money. I can't have someone hoarding all the crayons, or colored pencils, etc. If I'm going by a room and you've got 15 old boxes of pencils only slightly used, why shouldn't I take out 10 boxes of the new ones when I saw a room a few back with no colored pencils in their art corner? Now I can take those new ones to where they can be appreciated by some child who didn't the option of using them yesterday? Another time I rearranged a room for a teacher was because she decided to put the tall shelves in the middle of the room, and had it set up so the kids had a very long runway looking space. That space was just screaming to the children - Run here! I spoke with her many times about it - especially after SHE complained about having to remind them constantly to stop running. I was also concerned that the shelves were no longer mounted to the wall. Then, over the course of the next week she had numerous incident reports over kids running in that space and crashing, getting hurt, etc, AND on one of the sheets, so wrote that it had a "domino" effect of kids falling into each other, the last one fell and hit the shelves which started to rock. I told her that day, she was to change the room to make it safer for the kids, or I'd change it for her. She NEVER changed it. It was in the best interest of the children that I change that setup, so that weekend I went in and changed it. She must like it, because there are no more incident reports coming and no more complaints about the children running around - Even better then that, though - the parents noticed the changes and complimented the teacher on it. I even had a parent say to me, "I really loved what she did with the layout of the room. Have you seen it?" I said, "Yes, she did a great job in there, didn't she?" The teacher was standing there, and she only blushed a little. She even found me the end of that week to thank me. She said her room is more organized now. No, I don't know everything, but it is my program and there are certain standards they must adhere to. I wont budge on safety. Another is ditto sheets and predetermined crafts. The ends don't always justify the means. Just because it looks the way the teacher wants doesn't mean it was done in the best interest of the children. Make your own scratch and sniff paint with the powdered no sugar drink mixs. 1 Tbs. of it with 1 Tbs. water. After the picture dries, they scratch their paintings and can smell it. Lots of fun Name: Email: Subject

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