Winter has been interesting. Beautiful at times, very cold, dreary, cozy, and fun. Not living in snow for 30+ years I have mostly enjoyed it. Heck i got a 5 day weekend out of the deal! I have watched way too much Olympics, movies and eaten and drunk too much too. Can really understand those poor russians. Got to say the cost of heat is prohibitive. I am currently on hold with the power company trying to figure out how i could possibly have a $360 energy bill for 3 weeks when I keep the house between 60-65 degrees, it s just me and I don't have a big footprint. Crazy. I turned off the hot tub and drained it as soon as the bill came in, very sad as that was one of the big plusses of the house, bbut hey, I gotta eat!
Work is good, i still really like my team and the agency is really awesome. Wish i were busier, but beware what you ask for. I do have 3 centers I am mentoring for quality improvement, and am just getting up to speed on those. I am getting mentor training, 3 all day sessions in Richmond. They are interesting and mostly helpful. My favorite part is that i get to have dinner with my nephew and his wife, Ben and Laura, and they are so fun to hang out with, lots of laughs.
For some reason this site is not allowing me to correct my spelling mistakes except id i delete the whole mess. Iwill try to go back and edit after i post. It is behaving funny and I am not sure why. I am writing from my office as i am the only one in my dept today and I really have very little to do. Spending quite a bit of time watching Pharrell "I'm Happy" videos and have to admit to being addicted!
Charlottesville has an abundance of great food. It is really amazing how many extraordinary restaurants there are. I thought we were so spoiled in N. Cal, but believe me you would all be very impressed with the quality of food here and the restaurant scene. I have gained 10 # since I moved here! EEKs!
I am on facebook again, and am enjoying it more this time round. Staying in touch is important to me, I do miss all of you.
Spring is just around the corner and i am very much looking forward to the warm weather. My neighborhood is great for walking, lots of loops to do and fun houses to check out! Very friendly. As some of you might have read on facebook I have met a childhood friend who lives around the corner! We are walking and getting to know each other again. Amazing. What I will say is that people here don't share nas much. Two people knew that she lived here and knew that we had known each other from childhood, one of them my own sister, and neither person connected us or shared that info with either of us! That is weird to me, and i doubt that would happen in California.
Well that is it for today. xx
Friday, February 21, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
New news 1/20/14
I don't think many of you are actually following this, but nevertheless it is my way of staying current and documenting my east coast adventure.
My new job with Children Youth and family Services is wonderful. I really like my coworkers and my supervisor. They are very smart, funny, engaged thoughtful women who are truly dedicated to early education. My supervisor is a LCSW, one of my coworkers is an Infant Toddler Specialist and the other was a director and teacher for a long time like myself, with a BA. I am the only one of the team with an MA.
My job title is Child Care Quality Educator and as such I will eventually be assigned to some number of child care programs to coach, mentor and train staff working on their quality improvement plan. The centers join the program voluntarily and receive an initial star rating based on scores using the CLASS tool and ECERS (environmental raring scale). They are rated on various aspects of the program including policies, classroom environment, staff qualifications, materials, teacher child interactions, routines, and curriculum. Probably more areas also, I am just learning!
In February I will be going to a 3 day mentor training to learn what that looks like here in Virginia. This is all part of the Virginia Star Quality Initiative, a state wide program for improvement of early childhood programs, licensed and family based. In march i will go to a 3 week training to become a Star Quality Rater so i can go into centers and rate them. I will not rate the centers I will be mentoring, but rating other centers. This is paid for by my agency with hotel and food! I will be an independent contractor and get paid separately for rating.
For my own centers I will take the ratings and help the program develop a quality improvement plan and then mentor them in meeting their goals for improvement. This is a 5 star scale, and there are very few 5 star rated programs here.
It is an amazing agency as well. The ED is a very professional and smart woman as are every other employee I have met so far. The agency has many different programs for children and families, I will attach a link so you can check it out if you want.
www.cyfs.org
What I really like is the dedication, the integrity, transparency, and positive climate of the office, and agency as a whole. People are smiling, working, interacting, sharing, and they all go home at 4:30. It is a very family friendly agency and employees are respected and treated as professionals. YES! My work day is 8:30-4:30 with some evening staff trainings I will do, but that time is comped later so I can leave early or take a long lunch (which is paid hour btw)! Love that. The office is very quiet on Fridays as many folks work a 30 hr week and others seem to find a way to take the day at home working or otherwise off!
People have commented on how quickly I have built my life here. Reflecting on that I remind them that I have been crafting this for 5 years with very clear intentions and a vision of what i wanted for this next stage of my life. The universe clearly was paying attention and when i made the leap of faith, there it all was just waiting for me. Not to say it is all perfect!
Financially I have taken a hit, I broke my wrist and it is still sore after a lot of typing, but getting stronger. I moved again from a sweet little tidy apartment to a house which was filthy when I arrived. It is now sorted, but it is weird to be living in someone else's house with their stuff. I have put away a lot, but much remains and my style is very different. Regardless, my animals now have easy access to the outside, I am only 5 mins from work and grocery, and have a lovely neighborhood with lots of trees to walk in! Not complaining. It is cold, but I like it, it has snowed, but no blizzards, it has rained a lot and I am grateful.
Beginning to make friends, have a regular Saturday walk partner, Robbie, who is a friend of my sisters I have know for years. Went to an hilarious play with my supervisor, Dirty barbie and other Girlhood Tales. A one woman show about growing up with an alcoholic mother in the south during the late 70's-80's, in a family of four. Very familiar material to say the least! Crazy funny, tragic, and poignant. Miss going out dancing and listening to music, but that too is very available once I have some funds!
All in all I am happy and content and feeling very lucky.
I don't think many of you are actually following this, but nevertheless it is my way of staying current and documenting my east coast adventure.
My new job with Children Youth and family Services is wonderful. I really like my coworkers and my supervisor. They are very smart, funny, engaged thoughtful women who are truly dedicated to early education. My supervisor is a LCSW, one of my coworkers is an Infant Toddler Specialist and the other was a director and teacher for a long time like myself, with a BA. I am the only one of the team with an MA.
My job title is Child Care Quality Educator and as such I will eventually be assigned to some number of child care programs to coach, mentor and train staff working on their quality improvement plan. The centers join the program voluntarily and receive an initial star rating based on scores using the CLASS tool and ECERS (environmental raring scale). They are rated on various aspects of the program including policies, classroom environment, staff qualifications, materials, teacher child interactions, routines, and curriculum. Probably more areas also, I am just learning!
In February I will be going to a 3 day mentor training to learn what that looks like here in Virginia. This is all part of the Virginia Star Quality Initiative, a state wide program for improvement of early childhood programs, licensed and family based. In march i will go to a 3 week training to become a Star Quality Rater so i can go into centers and rate them. I will not rate the centers I will be mentoring, but rating other centers. This is paid for by my agency with hotel and food! I will be an independent contractor and get paid separately for rating.
For my own centers I will take the ratings and help the program develop a quality improvement plan and then mentor them in meeting their goals for improvement. This is a 5 star scale, and there are very few 5 star rated programs here.
It is an amazing agency as well. The ED is a very professional and smart woman as are every other employee I have met so far. The agency has many different programs for children and families, I will attach a link so you can check it out if you want.
www.cyfs.org
What I really like is the dedication, the integrity, transparency, and positive climate of the office, and agency as a whole. People are smiling, working, interacting, sharing, and they all go home at 4:30. It is a very family friendly agency and employees are respected and treated as professionals. YES! My work day is 8:30-4:30 with some evening staff trainings I will do, but that time is comped later so I can leave early or take a long lunch (which is paid hour btw)! Love that. The office is very quiet on Fridays as many folks work a 30 hr week and others seem to find a way to take the day at home working or otherwise off!
People have commented on how quickly I have built my life here. Reflecting on that I remind them that I have been crafting this for 5 years with very clear intentions and a vision of what i wanted for this next stage of my life. The universe clearly was paying attention and when i made the leap of faith, there it all was just waiting for me. Not to say it is all perfect!
Financially I have taken a hit, I broke my wrist and it is still sore after a lot of typing, but getting stronger. I moved again from a sweet little tidy apartment to a house which was filthy when I arrived. It is now sorted, but it is weird to be living in someone else's house with their stuff. I have put away a lot, but much remains and my style is very different. Regardless, my animals now have easy access to the outside, I am only 5 mins from work and grocery, and have a lovely neighborhood with lots of trees to walk in! Not complaining. It is cold, but I like it, it has snowed, but no blizzards, it has rained a lot and I am grateful.
Beginning to make friends, have a regular Saturday walk partner, Robbie, who is a friend of my sisters I have know for years. Went to an hilarious play with my supervisor, Dirty barbie and other Girlhood Tales. A one woman show about growing up with an alcoholic mother in the south during the late 70's-80's, in a family of four. Very familiar material to say the least! Crazy funny, tragic, and poignant. Miss going out dancing and listening to music, but that too is very available once I have some funds!
All in all I am happy and content and feeling very lucky.
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