Chat Transcripts

Topic

Chat Session 4

Date

2025-07-01

Group ID

0

Course ID

299587

User List

Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)Soutthivong, LoriStudenski, Elizabeth{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}
User Timestamp Message
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}06:49:50 pmHappy July!! And welcome to our final chat for this class!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}06:56:23 pmPlease have your final assignment with you so we can share a few thoughts from that!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:00:09 pmHi Charlee and Lori!
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:00:19 pmHi!
Soutthivong, Lori07:01:00 pmMy computer crashed and is in the shop. I am on a loaner, and it is slow.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:01:04 pmLooking forward to the 4th of July? Holiday? Something fun? Day off!
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:01:42 pmYes definitely! We are closed the 3rd as well so it will be a nice long weekend.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:01:46 pmAh, the computer crash! Boo! Hope it is back soon! And that you do not lose any of your great thoughts!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:02:09 pmYes, nice long weekend! Hope the weather is nice!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:02:53 pmCharlee - my Dad's name was Charles and he used to call me "Little Charlie". So fun that you are Charlee!
Soutthivong, Lori07:02:56 pmThey said they can save my drive I hope
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:03:22 pmHi Elizabeth!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:03:33 pmHope so Lori! 🙂
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:03:35 pmNice! I'm named after my Great Grandpa Charlie.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:03:53 pmFun, Charlee!!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:04:07 pmShall we get underway? *
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:04:15 pm*
Soutthivong, Lori07:04:19 pm*
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:04:39 pmThese four weeks have flown by! So exciting to get to know you all and hear about your roles and organizations where you work!!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:05:57 pmLet's start out with a few thoughts from some of our articles this week. My good friend Pam Boulton from Wisconsin wrote "The Childcare Director: Not Just Anyone Can Do That Job"
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:06:17 pmWhat thoughts did you identify with from her article? *
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:07:22 pmThat a director wears many hats and it is easy to become overwhelmed by it all.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:08:02 pmYes, Charlee, I like the point about the very diverse set of skills that we use!
Soutthivong, Lori07:08:19 pmthe points she made about how hard it is to do, say, hear, and see the things as a director I agree with all of them
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:08:26 pmAnd yes, keeping all the skills juggling all at once!
Studenski, Elizabeth07:09:17 pmShe points out that going from in the classroom to supporting the classroom takes time and extra training. It was brought up here how you have to a boss not a peer with coworkers
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:09:46 pmWe can all be strong advocates and help people see the many skills and attribtutes that go into successfully leading an early childhood program!! We manage an entire educational program and staff while running a business!!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:10:50 pmSo true Elizabeth! No peer group makes networking so valuable! Do any of you belong to a Directors Group - either in person or online?
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:11:26 pmNo, but I do work with several others on our admin team that have been directors in the past.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:11:56 pmThat helps Charlee! Many directors are a management team of one!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:12:18 pmI think that Think Small still offers some directors groups
Soutthivong, Lori07:12:57 pmNo but I am interested in joining one
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:14:10 pmA couple of our articles touched on the fact that with the director role being so challenging and sometimes isolated, feelings of inadequacy and burnout can certainly occur. What do you see as situations that might lead to directors feeling this way?*
Soutthivong, Lori07:15:57 pmLong hours and lack of support.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:16:07 pmfor sure, Lori!!
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:16:47 pmSome situations that can lead to that are when you are not spending any time doing things for yourself and you work many long days, lack of support, feeling like you are constantly putting out fires
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:17:15 pmAs you think of possible causes, what do you see as potential solutions for directors to try to put in place to avoid feelings of burnout or failure in the role? *
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:18:21 pmDefinitely, Charlee. Not feeling like you are having time to do what is important either for yourself, your family or your job! Been there! 🙂
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:18:56 pmI think having a mentor helps. Trying to allocate time during the day to get outside or take a break helps,
Soutthivong, Lori07:19:10 pmImprove work life balance. Have the staff start taking on more responsibilities
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:19:30 pmOne resource I have found really helpful is having a great administrative assistant, even if only part time. Someone who can field questions, help stay organized, manage some of the paper work.
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:20:06 pmYes, having someone else to help field questions is very helpful
Soutthivong, Lori07:20:11 pmAnd yes that is my down fall I need to start taking a break.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:20:16 pmYes, great points! A mentor, outdoor breaks, elegation, planning time and tasks!
Studenski, Elizabeth07:20:22 pmdelegation of tasks, having a mentor or team to check in with and bounce ideas off of
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:21:03 pmIn our business we can often take stroll through the playground, still be overseeing and also enjoy the outdoors and the children!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:21:25 pmI used to visit the infant room sometimes for a break!
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:21:54 pmYes, I rarely take a break. I took one yesterday and sat outside for lunch. It was wonderful.
Soutthivong, Lori07:22:27 pmMy break time is usually giving the staff a lunch break
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:22:39 pmI have also found that the art of making a good list of tasks really helps. Then you can start checking them off and not have each one keep popping back in your head!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:23:18 pmYes, giving others a break certainly happens! Even a ten minute walk is incredibly refreshing!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:24:38 pmLet's move on to share a bit from our professional development plans that you have created for your final assignment. Please share one area that you have targeted to learn more and how you plan to do that! *
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:26:15 pmPlease make sure you have created a document that you can save. It's rare, but people have typed into the final assignment upload and lost their work! Never want that to happen to you! To you can upload your file or cut and past it into the assignment box. Either one works!
Studenski, Elizabeth07:26:43 pmdo you have a specific format you want it in?
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:26:50 pmBe sure to do that by Thursday! Since that is a holiday, maybe you want to just do it tonight!
Soutthivong, Lori07:27:44 pmI want to work on my communication skills, I need to set my goals and stick to a time line. I am also going to ask my old highschool language teacher to mentor me.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:27:50 pmYou will use you Management and Leadership self assessment and then follow that format to fill in your target areas and add your learning plan. Can all be on the one document
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:28:35 pmInteresting idea Lori! People are using really honored to be asked to mentor!
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:28:54 pmOne I chose was to set business and personal priorities. I need to take time for myself and not feel like I always need to be at work. I need to not feel guilty for taking time off.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:29:49 pmSo true Charlee! Organizing so you feel that you are doing "enough" and freeing yourself for life's other priorities!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:31:15 pmIf you have any trouble uploading your file, feel free to attach it to an email and send it to me. Just want to make sure that it gets here so you receive credit for our class!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:32:38 pmSince you have shared many important comments in this class about prioritizing, making time for yourself, etc. I would like to share a quick exercise that many have found to be really helpful! e
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:33:27 pmWe will start it now and you can complete on your own time. This is just for you - don't need to send it to me. It is called the To-Be list!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:33:42 pmWe all make To-Do lists, right? Have lots on it!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:34:24 pmMaking a To-Be list is really valuable! Think right now about some things you might put on it! I want to be....
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:35:40 pmI often hear things like "a supportive leaders", "an engaged parent", "a friendly person", "an effective communicator". things like that
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:36:01 pmDo you have one you can share now? *
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:36:31 pmI want to be better at delegating tasks.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:36:38 pmI also hear fun ones - a great piano player, a lover of dogs!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:36:47 pmThanks Charlee!
Studenski, Elizabeth07:37:33 pmI want to be a resource for other teachers
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:37:37 pmWhen you have created your list, then start comparing the things that are important for you "To Be" with your daily and weekly activities!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:38:09 pmYou may find that you are making time for some of the things on your list and maybe some are not receiving enough time! That happens pretty often!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:39:02 pmIt is when we have things that are really important to us and find that we are devoting time and effort to them, we can easily become frustrated, feel like we are working so hard but not accomplishing what is important!
Soutthivong, Lori07:39:22 pmI want to be a ... It all depends on what day it is.
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:39:27 pmDo you see how you can work on this? Might it help you?
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:39:50 pmYes, I feel like doing that exercise will help realign priorities
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:39:55 pmVery true Lori! We will have many on our list and not necessarily work on each one each day!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:40:53 pmI hope you will take a few minutes to do this - so many people have found it a fairly easy and insightful way to look at their priorities and make a plan to spend time on what is important!!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:41:13 pmYou can do this with your co-workers, your family, anyone!! 🙂
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:42:22 pmSo, we have a few minutes left! It can be valuable to think about the parts of our role that bring us joy, light us up and help us feel the sense of accomplishment!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:42:44 pmLet's each share one or two things that we do in our work that bring joy to us!!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:44:04 pmI will share mine too! I love to inspire Ah-ha moments in the directors I work with! Whether in person, online or through writing, I just love to help leaders thrive!!
Soutthivong, Lori07:44:11 pmTalking with the children reading a book to the Preschoolers blowing bubbles for the toddlers
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:44:37 pmYes, bubbles with toddlers! A grand joy!!
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:44:43 pmWhen the kids see me and either have a story or want a hug or high five, when I can help a teacher with a problem or can provide them with either prep time or an extra staff person to alleviate some stress
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:45:40 pmYes, remembering to feel the joy from the children can bring us back to remembering why we do all this important leadership and management work - so the joy can happen!1
Studenski, Elizabeth07:46:03 pmBeing outside as much as possible. Learning about nature and the natural world around us
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:46:18 pmMaybe that is a great note to end our class! Keeping in mind the mission of our work and why it is so important!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:46:45 pmI have really enjoyed working with you these weeks - thanks for bringing so much experience and joy to us!!
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:47:02 pmThanks Karen!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:47:06 pmI will look forward to reading your final PD plans!
Studenski, Elizabeth07:47:26 pmthank you for hosting
Soutthivong, Lori07:47:42 pmThank you
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:47:50 pmI hope to see you in another class! We have a brand new class coming in August on The Joyous Organization! I will send you the info!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:48:03 pmEnjoy your holiday!!! Good night!
Howell, Charlotte (Charlee)07:48:19 pmYou too!
{Foster-Jorgensen, Karen}07:48:36 pmThanks! Have fun!!