wow what a shift this year

[Zoe Girl]

So I am feeling such a shift this school year in how my work is viewed and our overall department relationships. I am on a communication task force that has been very important and I hope we can have a big impact. If nothing else we are a group talking about some serious problems in a positive way, so I can both talk about what needs to change but not get sucked into negative gossipy stuff. I am doing some things different, I am putting tasks that go back to administration as more of a priority, and letting my families deal directly with the finance team (they have also changed to a new set of people and I am not getting complaints from parent either so it goes both ways). I have received great feedback on my work, and I am working about 50 hours a week right now with just basics really. I told my sup at our regular meeting that I am getting it done and I am really tired, and she was nice about it.

So here is the coolest news, one of my ways of feeling valued at work is having someone notice what I am good at. You can't really make that happen so when it does it is great. Recently I have had some shout-outs for a way that I do one process in my program. It has to do with what the students do right after school for snack and then to be sorted into different after school activities. There are some issues with our state childcare agency if we do not do this well and my inspections have always gone off without this being any issue. So I have been asked (3 supervisors agreed) to visit another site 1-2 times weekly in December to help them set up a better system and monitor it. I am feeling pretty darn awesome!

[rodeosweetheart]

Fantastic! It is great to have your hard work and good ideas recognized. You are really making the best of a difficult situation,,and transforming the world around you. Yay you!

[razz]

Well done!

[SteveinMN]

Good to hear about the positive changes!

[Teacher Terry]

So happy for you!!

[Selah]

Good for you, Zoe Girl! I'm glad your coworkers are not only paying attention to what you do well, but also taking the time to tell you about it. So many workplaces have the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality, which means they only call you out when things go wrong, and otherwise, ignore you. That gets old really fast. Well done!

[Zoe Girl]

We are having a shift, What you describe Selah has been the last year. I am hoping it will last awhile since we have had quite a lot of changes over the last few years. I also found out that the person in charge of the site I am going to visit probably doesn't work with us anymore, I have had some concerns about her site and actually we made a report in a previous summer program.

Meanwhile I met with my job coach and we looked over the performance improvement plan and I think that it is already considered completed.

[Williamsmith]

Do you get a bonus near the end of the year for the levels of accomplishment at different sites? If so, does it come from the overseeing agency and is there a significant amount of government funding for your organization?

[freshstart]

this has turned around remarkably, yay you! You sound like you are in a much better place, too.

[Zoe Girl]

Do you get a bonus near the end of the year for the levels of accomplishment at different sites? If so, does it come from the overseeing agency and is there a significant amount of government funding for your organization?

No bonuses, is that a thing? We are grant funded and part of the school district. I am pretty sure the taxpayers would have a serious issue with bonuses.

[ToomuchStuff]

No bonuses, is that a thing? We are grant funded and part of the school district. I am pretty sure the taxpayers would have a serious issue with bonuses.

This is about communication, correct?

Maybe you should communicate, with some of the organizations, that received bailout money and their CEO's received bonuses.

[Williamsmith]

This is about communication, correct?

Maybe you should communicate, with some of the organizations, that received bailout money and their CEO's received bonuses.

The reason I mentioned this is that in my community the state audits and oversees the disbursement of funds to non profit organizations (rather large ones) who run before school, after school and preschool and toddler child care programs. Part of these evaluations includes attaining meritorious levels of excellence. With these levels, come more grant money and a certain amount is a bonus for the site director responsible for maintaining or improving their childcare level. That bonus can be between 2 and 3K. I don't know that taxpayers realize this.

[Zoe Girl]

That is not anything I have ever heard of before. I am one of 20 very similar sites, our program has another 30 sites with licensed childcare but differences in size or age of children. I work for the largest school district in Colorado. Going out on my own for a bonus, or to get a grant or anything would be a very big deal. I am working within the existing system, like how people here suggested I shop at WalMart because that is what our department does rather than trying to change everything. I am not sure if Colorado has this bonus program but it would be decided by state licensing inspectors and/or the department of education. We already work closely with them, all the data flows back and forth, they make decisions on the disbursement of grant money, there is an extensive quality improvement program I have been part of for over 4 years now, but I am also one of many doing the same thing.