Tell us about your background.
I’ve been in the ECE field for over 12 years. I am a UC Boulder graduate, where I studied psychology and sociology. I worked in the children’s center and found my passion there for early childhood education. I became a teaching assistant after graduation and eventually worked at the Boulder Journey School and Open Air Academy. I’ve now been at the JCC for 4 years, 2 of them as a teacher and the rest as the assistant director of education.
Why do you enjoy working with children and educators?
I see the beauty in supporting and partnering with our teachers and children. I love to be a part of the journey everyone is on – both the children and adults. It’s an honor and privilege to see how children grow and change, including everything from watching an infant take their first steps to observing a teacher supporting a child with challenging behavior have a breakthrough. We’re on this journey together and it’s just so much fun!
What would you share with educators new to the field?
In grad school, we had this project where we interviewed families and learned about their lives prior to becoming parents. I think of that project frequently and how we look at and understand one another. We forget that we’re all wearing different hats and I would remind new educators to see the whole person and to try and understand their perspective before jumping to conclusions. Teaching is tied to the heart and full of emotion so it’s important to take time to understand other perspectives in order to make yourself a better teacher and person.
What have you learned about yourself through Reflective Supervision?
I’ve found Reflective Supervision to be super helpful in managing children and working with adults. It gives me time to process conversations and provides a space to think about how it went, did it go the way I wanted it to go and did I get the other person’s perspective. Having dedicated time to practice that and think through situations has been invaluable and makes me a better assistant director. It’s also nice to hear stories from other directors and know a lot of the pain points are universal and hearing others process their journeys helps me reflect on how I would handle that situation. It’s an important part of my month!
(The overall aim of Reflective Supervision is to partner with supervisees in order to improve practice, thereby increasing the quality of early childhood services to young children and their families.)
