Settling In a New Group with a New Teacher

[teresamc]

Hello!
I left the position I was in last year and had been looking for another then last Friday I was offered 2 in one day! The first was going to be a temporary job and I didn't know about the second then so I took it and then that afternoon I was offered a permanent position. After discussing things with my recruitment lady (who rocks!) we decided it would be best for me to do just 3 days in the temporary place then have the Australia Day holiday and take Friday off to visit my new Centre and tie up any loose ends in the rest of my life (like boys in new grades at school etc). Then I will start in my permanent role on Monday.
This week has been very educational. Obviously I was new to everyone, there have been several children each day who are transitioning to this 3-6 room and quite often they are moved back to where they came from or to the older room by morning tea time dependent on numbers. The roll for the room isn't always helpful because of all the last minute changes. So I have been letting the other staff sort out who is going where and just working with whatever children I have in the room. It seems to take a really long time each day to get every child into the right room because it seems as if when a child is missing they just assume that he/she is absent and don't go looking for them. It is all made more "fun" by the fact that is started raining heavily in Brisbane yesterday afternoon and it hasn't stopped yet. There may be more organization going on that I don't know about and there is certainly nothing I can do to influence the situation in three days but I have been trying to consider things from the child's point of view and to think about what I need to do in my new permanent role.
So I am thinking about two things and I would really value some input from those who have been there, done that (because as you may remember I was a primary teacher and I'm still quite new to childcare):
- How to get myself established as the teacher for the room with as little disruption and as much positivity as possible?
My thoughts:
In my last Centre I wrote a letter to parents about myself on the first day so they knew a bit about me as soon as possible.
I thought about making a little poster with a picture of my family, my dog, my knitting etc.
Obviously I will sit down with the assistant and find out as much as possible about what has been going on and what has worked well but I 'm hoping I don't forget anything important.
I'd like to take something to give the children on my first day - either something for the class or something for each child - obviously not food - but something that gives them the message that I am glad to be their teacher.
- How to get children who have recently changed rooms, especially if large numbers of them have changed, to settle happily into a new room with new routines and a new teacher?
My thoughts:
Teaching routines right from the start in a way that they are made really explicit for new ones but not boring for the veterans.
Simple way of getting their attention - 1,2,3 eyes on me isn't working where I am, they can't follow a clapping pattern and I don't have a bell. What about hand raised and they copy or turning light on and off.
Making up rules in a simple positive way. eg: "Treat our friends kindly" rather than "No hitting, kicking or punching"

So if anyone has any thoughts on all this please share. Oh and to add to the mix most of the children where I'm headed are from non English speaking backgrounds.

[Lorina]

Hi Tess,

How exciting...Starting a new centre… It can be hard at the beginning to adjust to your new environment, especially if there is so many changes going on but hopefully it doesn't take too long to get the children sorted into their correct rooms. If the children are transitioning why can't they just stay in the 3 - 6 room for the entire day? If it's because of numbers, shouldn't the children be only moved if there is availability? There is no point moving children back and fourth to confusing for them and for you… Anyways, just see how it goes it should work itself out.

How to get myself established as the teacher for the room with as little disruption and as much positivity as possible?

I like the letter idea… It's a nice way of welcoming families and also a way to introduce yourself. With your poster idea maybe you could get your assistant to do one as well and you can both make a poster or collage of the things you each enjoy. You could also include photos and pop it up as a display under a title called "Your child's educators are" you could also include your teaching philosophy (if you have one) and short/long term goals for the children in the room (using the EYLF Learning Outcomes). Obviously you will have to introduce yourself to the families and on afternoon pick ups it's also a good idea to have a chat to parents about what there child did. Especially if they were involved in any special event or expereince. Also it's a good idea to go through the routine at the beginning and see if anything needs to be changed.

I'd like to take something to give the children on my first day - either something for the class or something for each child - obviously not food - but something that gives them the message that I am glad to be their teacher.

I have an idea for this… Why don't you get each child/family to plant a flower in a pot and put it in the garden or front of the centre. You could get some small flower pots that each child could decorate (you could even send the flower pot home for the family to decorate together). In the flower pot add a paddle pop stick with the child's photo and throughout the year each child has to look after their flower just like you are looking after them. Then at the end of the year the children take their fowers home.

How to get children who have recently changed rooms, especially if large numbers of them have changed, to settle happily into a new room with new routines and a new teacher?

Since the beginning of this year I've had about 4 children transition from the nursery and a lot of new starters. Like you already mentioned teaching the routines right from the start is important. I normally verbalize what is happening next and during transitions because for the little ones it can be a little confronting and confusing (for e.g. "ok everyone let's start packing away, then we are going to wash our hands and sit at the table for morning tea. After morning tea it's outside play". I often prompt the children to remind them what is happening next. For the veterans of the room I use them as my big helpers and ask them to look after one of the younger ones (my room is from 2 to 3 1/2 yr olds). A simple way of getting attention is to sing something like "Everybody do this do this do this everybody do this just like me" (along with an action). Another way is to simply say something like "everybody put your hands up, tap your shoulders, stamp your feet, pat your head, touch your nose, eyes on me, ears open and lips closed" LOL… Remember that you will have to go through the initiation process where the children will test your limits to see what they can get away with… It's normal… With the rules it's a good idea to use colour coded cards and get the children to make the rules up with you. For e.g blue rule - keep hands to ourselves. Red rule - we help to pack away. Using a lot of visual representations will also help.

Ok that's all I can think of now… Hopefully this should help you with some ideas…

Let me know how it goes and best of luck,

Cheers ,
L.A

[teresamc]

Thanks for your reply LA!
I loved the flower idea but I always worry about those sorts of things because what happens to the kids whose flowers don't make it? I did have a "measuring" idea that would just be a start of year thing and that would be the "measure" the children with streamers and then use these with flowers heads to make a display. It would be really cool to save these and then do it again at the end of the year to show "look how we have bloomed in kindergarten."
I thought back to the issues we had when my youngest did day care and I remembered that we could never keep track of who was in the room and Daniel could never remember their names. I thought I'd make a little laminated card for each child to take home with my photo on it and just the words: My teacher is Teresa (or Miss Teresa if that is what they say) and that would be helpful for knowing who I was etc.
I've written a very simple philosophy this morning and I'm going to dig out the letter I used for the last Centre.
Tomorrow I'm off to visit my new Centre and get prepared for Monday.

[JacksonBrowne]

Hi Id love to know how it is all going with you teresamc... im in a very similar situation, primary trained now Diploma trained authorised supervisor in a new centre! aaagghh, one week in and I feel overwhelmed trying to work out routines, transitions etc to a bunch of kids who haven't done these things in the 6 weeks the centre has been opened! i like the coloured cardboard rules idea, I do however find the notion that I am meant to purchase or make a whole bunch of resources like this rather daunting - with the hours Im working Im flat out cooking tea for my kids let alone go shopping and then make things ready for the next day!

[teresamc]

I've been there since January 30 now so I'm in week 7 and it is only really now that I am getting into a rhythm of how I do things. I am exceedingly lucky to be given 5 hours of programming time each week which is usually an hour a day. I am still struggling with getting things done because there is so much I want to set up in the room as well as the every day stuff. I routinely get there an hour before my shift starts each day but sometimes I am asked to start work then if someone is away which means I finish earlier but I miss out on prep time.
I'm really happy with the things we are doing with our group and I have got them much calmer and into a routine but it is exhausting.Very, very long days and by the time I get home I'm flat out doing homework with my youngest and dh usually ends up cooking.

[Lorina]

Hi Teresa,

Thanks for updating us on how your going at your new centre... You are pretty lucky to have so much programming time available to you even though that there may be times where you don't get it... Trust me when I say this, cherish all the time you get off the floor so you can prepare your room. I also feel so exhausted when I get home from work...since the new regs and eylf came into place it feels like more and more work I have to do during the course of the day! Glad to hear that the children are much calmer and settling into a routine. Don't forget to share the work load with staff in the room with you, gives you an opportunity to focus on what you need to do!

Cheers ,
L.A

[teresamc]

Thanks LA,
I have a fantastic assistant who really keeps everything running smoothly and I know she is going to be a great help when it comes to putting things in portfolios. I have found that I have to be ready with things for the floats/relief staff to do when they are in our room during rest time because at the moment all but one of the children sleep on most days.