AnonyMouse_38073 Posted November 25, 2012 Posted November 25, 2012 Hi i work in a preschool and wonder if u could help me please. I am CACHE Level 3 qualified and have had several issues with my learning journals and now have been told i have to do them with another colleague because of my spelling punctuation ect. But i have never had problems before and i am not dyslexic i have mild learning difficulties i do however feel discriminated against and feel that if there is such an issue then i should stop being a key person as my confidence is non existence atm :-((
AnonyMouse_19762 Posted November 25, 2012 Posted November 25, 2012 Hi sadie Didn't want to just 'read and run' Sorry to hear that this has been handled in such a way that your confidence has been dented.......but could you try this way of working for a while and see how that goes.........having a Key Person role is so much more than just producing Learning Journals and I think it would be such a shame for you to give up on that........ Learning Journals that are sent home to parents are representative of your workplace and as an owner/manager I wouldn't be able to accept mistakes either...... Sorry Sadie - probably not the answer you were looking for...... Good luck with it all :1b 1
AnonyMouse_38073 Posted November 25, 2012 Author Posted November 25, 2012 Hi No i understand that but my journals don't normally have problems they haven't given me the chance to show i can do it on my home. Yeh i know a key person dose have more responsibility's but we don't get to do any thing where i work :-((
AnonyMouse_534 Posted November 25, 2012 Posted November 25, 2012 I am a manager and if someone is having these difficulties then I would suggest to try typing the observations. That way word can check any possible mistakes. We now use Tapestry but I go through and check all the posts going out to parents. It's not a huge issue to change some of the posts. You do need to have an honest chat with your manager to see if there is anything else that can be done.
AnonyMouse_64 Posted November 25, 2012 Posted November 25, 2012 Hi sadie19, I'm sorry that your confidence has been knocked. Sometimes a manager may need to bring up subjects like this and it can be quite difficult to do so without hurt being caused. I would certainly speak to your manager about how it's made you feel so that she is aware how demoralised you are feeling. I'm slightly confused by your initial post - you say that you have had several issues with the learning journals but later say that you haven't had problems before? Could it be that there has in the past been issues but the matter not tackled before this time? In a previous post on the forum you stated that your spelling wasn't the best. Do you think that deep down you realise that this is the case but are unwilling to admit it because you are feeling hurt by the way this issue has been handled? All of my children have dyslexia in differing degree's but spelling is that one thing that they all struggle with. One of the issues with my son in particular was that he was unaware of how bad his spelling was because he really couldn't look at his work and identify where he had made mistakes. To him when he looked at a word it looked 'right' and sometimes even with the correct spelling in front of him he had trouble seeing what the difference was between what he had written and what was right. For this reason he was supplied with a simple word processor for his school work which made a huge difference to his written work. It was quite hard for him to see all the mistakes laid out in front of him initially but it did help him to see that he had an issue and realise that it was something that he needed to address. It may be that your manager is hoping that your colleague will mentor you and help you to improve on your spelling and grammar over time, and that perhaps the hope is that with this support you will be able to go back to completing them independently in the future. It may also be worth discussing with your manager if there are any other steps that can be taken to aid you in this area. For instance, as Lou has pointed out, it may be that you could type up your entries instead which would enable you to use a spell checker There may be words that you misspell which come up frequently and if you are able to identify these you could keep a list of the correct spelling to refer to whilst completing the journals. Good luck, I really hope that this turns into a positive experience for you and that one day you will look back and realise it helped motivate you to change something in your life for the better. 1
AnonyMouse_20948 Posted November 25, 2012 Posted November 25, 2012 I would also hope that you could be honest with the parents of your keychildren and let them know the things you are finding difficult - they will understand about spelling mistakes. I know this could be difficult for you - there are some parents at my setting that my dyslexic staff will not show her own writing to, and I or another colleague rewrite her reports for them. However, that doesn't stop her from being a good keyperson! Good luck! Jo
AnonyMouse_2732 Posted November 25, 2012 Posted November 25, 2012 Hi Sadie, It is possible your Manager is trying to be supportive and to help you with these little problems - for this reason I agree that you need to speak to them asap, to explain how this has made you feel and also to discuss the whole business. Like Beau, my son is dyslexic and really couldn't see the extent of his spelling problem until he began using a computer to complete his work at college. The difference this made to his written work was amazing, underlining his basic intelligence and skills in a way that hadn't been clear before. I agree that typing may help you. I realise it may be difficult to approach your manager, but if they are worth their salt they will listen to and work with you to address these issues. Good luck and please let us know how you get on. Sue
Guest Posted November 25, 2012 Posted November 25, 2012 As Beau suggests, you could keep a list of correctly spelt commonly used words and also have a small dictionary to hand when writing journals. I am sure this will boost your confidence. Even with spellchecks sometimes you can get the wrong spelling which would not be flagged up, so I am not sure typing/word processing them would necessarily be the answer. I have staff who make spelling mistakes and now that we have a dictionary there are fewer errors. Good luck!
AnonyMouse_534 Posted November 26, 2012 Posted November 26, 2012 Sorry Phoebe not fully clear on the typing solution. If work has been typed out some of the spelling is picked up by word but it is also easier for other people to help you proof read rather than have to rewrite the whole observation by hand. It is about finding an easier way forward for all involved. I have successfully used this method.
AnonyMouse_38073 Posted November 26, 2012 Author Posted November 26, 2012 Thanks all what frustrates me most is when there check them they change what i write n i kno what i write is fine. i just think if offsted came in n as people keep telling me they ask u about the journals n its not gunna be my work anywhere xxx
AnonyMouse_13453 Posted November 27, 2012 Posted November 27, 2012 Could you write what you want to put in the journal in 'rough' and hand it to someone else to check for you? You could do that at home perhaps and when it's checked you could copy it in the journal carefully. That way, it's your words, just with the right spellings. I also have issues with staff who have problems spelling, and I'm quite happy with this method. I don't mind who checks it, just that it's right, as it reflects badly on us as an educational establishment if we can't get it right.
AnonyMouse_64 Posted November 27, 2012 Posted November 27, 2012 ....... when there check them they change what i write n i kno what i write is fine. This is where your main problems seems to lie. You clearly think that what you're writing is okay but your manager does not. I think you need to clarify with your manager exactly what it is that is not 'right' about it - you can't be expected to improve upon your written work if you have no idea what is wrong in the first place. I do think though that you need to be open to the fact that perhaps your writing is not as good as you may believe and be prepared to take on board what you are being told and work out how you can make it better. 1
SueFinanceManager Posted November 27, 2012 Posted November 27, 2012 Your post made me smile as it reminds me of messages my teenage children write and they use abbreviated text/social networking text spelling all the time. I think people today are kind of bilingual in the sense that we all understood what you said in your post however there are places when that abbreviated form is not appropriate and if you are using that at work that might be the issue. I am often taking my daughter to task in written work over her lack of punctuation and use of capital letters as so often the predictive text functions she uses on phones, ipads and even laptop corrects her mistakes without her really acknowledging the correction and so when she writes an essay without the correction facility in place all the grammatical errors show up. As others have said try and pin point the issue as it would appear it is not your knowledge just the way it is presented 3
AnonyMouse_38073 Posted November 27, 2012 Author Posted November 27, 2012 I have spoken to my manager who hass said to me "what i have writtain is correct and fine its just the punctuation and literacy side of things) but the other member of staff is correcting it.
AnonyMouse_2732 Posted November 27, 2012 Posted November 27, 2012 Have you mentioned this aspect to the Manager?
SueFinanceManager Posted November 27, 2012 Posted November 27, 2012 I have spoken to my manager who hass said to me "what i have writtain is correct and fine its just the punctuation and literacy side of things) but the other member of staff is correcting it. There you go....you know your stuff but just need to present it in a different way. It is so easy to write in the 'modern' abbreviated fashion but I am sure with a little help your knowledge will soon be presented in a more professional style 1
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