I feel that I’ve come a long way in changing the direction of how I feel about what I want to do with myself for the rest of my life.
I started this class hoping to find out what kind of a person I am. I used to think that I didn’t know very much because I didn’t have the same skills as, what I thought, most people that are getting jobs in the business or medical field of work had. But, as I’ve gone through and taken the steps through this career and major course, I’ve found that “medical”, “business”, or “education are just words that generalize the large expanse of careers that go into those fields. I never saw this new way of thinking until I met with a Career and Academic Counselor. We did the personality assessment and found that I really do like working with kids, just like I thought at the beginning, but I prefer working with infants, toddlers or preschoolers as opposed to teaching older grade school students. So, I would like being a daycare specialist better than an elementary teacher.
The job shadowing experience really made it all come together. I was able to visit a daycare and go around to each of the different ages of children. I spent most of the time with the infants and toddlers, because I felt energized and happy with how easily it came to me to nurture and play with those little kids.
I learned that the most schooling that I would need for that career is a certificate of a child care specialist.
My next goal, after finishing my General Degree, is to enrich my career as a full time Mother and Homemaker. I want to take what I have learned from this class about myself and help my own children find their way in life. I want them to have good decision making skills, have goals for their personal as well as their occupational futures, and learn good networking skills while they are young.
Later in life I would like to take the skills that I have and get a career outside of the home. I’m glad that I was able to find a career that fits me, when I didn’t think that there was any. Plus, I have the skills to do it again if I change my mind later. Knowing what you want, who you are, and that these can always change seems to make life a little simpler.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Decision Making Model
1. What is my goal?
Finish my Associate of Science degree by December 2010.
2. What are my options?
What am I going to do with my kids during school?
• Have my children in daycare while I go to conventional classes.
• Have my husband watch the kids while I go to weekend classes.
• Have my Mom watch my children while I go to conventional classes.
• Take online classes so that I can be at home with my kids more and only have a babysitter sometimes.
How am I going to pay for this schooling?
• Get a job during school and pay my own way, with kids in daycare.
• Try to get a scholarship.
• Apply for financial aid and hope that it is enough.
What will I do for transportation?
• Utilize the bus system.
• Get a second car.
• Carpool with another student in my area
• Have my husband carpool with a co-worker, so I can have the car.
• Drive my husband to work on the days that I need the car.
3. What do I know already?
• My Mom has volunteered to watch the kids while I go to school.
• My income for the past couple of years has been pretty low, so I should at least apply for financial aid.
• I want to be with my children as much as possible, so I need to find out more about distance education.
• I will need to find out more about on-campus requirements before I can make a decision about how much, if any, transportation time I will need.
• I will need to find out how much school I have left.
4. What could be the consequences of going back to school?
Good consequences:
• Give myself a sense of accomplishment by finishing my general degree.
• Show my children the importance of getting a good education.
• Broaden my future career opportunities.
• Enrich my mind.
Bad consequences:
• Not having as much family/social time, because of school obligations.
• Have to put school as a top priority, instead of house maintenance or personal hobbies.
5. My action plan:
• I met with an academic advisor and found out that I needed 43 credit hours to graduate with my Associates Degree.
• I met with a distance education advisor to learn how to accomplish these types of classes.
• I then decided that I could make my degree in three semesters if I stuck to the plan of 14 credit hours the first semester, 13 credit hours the second semester, and 15 credit hours my last semester.
• I would only need transportation for the first block of the summer classes and test dates for the other semesters. This works with one car and a motorcycle.
• My Mom would watch the kids on days that I needed to be at school.
• I have to schedule time everyday for school.
• I have to keep up my grades.
• I post my action plan and goal to the front of my fridge to help me remember that it is all worth it.
Finish my Associate of Science degree by December 2010.
2. What are my options?
What am I going to do with my kids during school?
• Have my children in daycare while I go to conventional classes.
• Have my husband watch the kids while I go to weekend classes.
• Have my Mom watch my children while I go to conventional classes.
• Take online classes so that I can be at home with my kids more and only have a babysitter sometimes.
How am I going to pay for this schooling?
• Get a job during school and pay my own way, with kids in daycare.
• Try to get a scholarship.
• Apply for financial aid and hope that it is enough.
What will I do for transportation?
• Utilize the bus system.
• Get a second car.
• Carpool with another student in my area
• Have my husband carpool with a co-worker, so I can have the car.
• Drive my husband to work on the days that I need the car.
3. What do I know already?
• My Mom has volunteered to watch the kids while I go to school.
• My income for the past couple of years has been pretty low, so I should at least apply for financial aid.
• I want to be with my children as much as possible, so I need to find out more about distance education.
• I will need to find out more about on-campus requirements before I can make a decision about how much, if any, transportation time I will need.
• I will need to find out how much school I have left.
4. What could be the consequences of going back to school?
Good consequences:
• Give myself a sense of accomplishment by finishing my general degree.
• Show my children the importance of getting a good education.
• Broaden my future career opportunities.
• Enrich my mind.
Bad consequences:
• Not having as much family/social time, because of school obligations.
• Have to put school as a top priority, instead of house maintenance or personal hobbies.
5. My action plan:
• I met with an academic advisor and found out that I needed 43 credit hours to graduate with my Associates Degree.
• I met with a distance education advisor to learn how to accomplish these types of classes.
• I then decided that I could make my degree in three semesters if I stuck to the plan of 14 credit hours the first semester, 13 credit hours the second semester, and 15 credit hours my last semester.
• I would only need transportation for the first block of the summer classes and test dates for the other semesters. This works with one car and a motorcycle.
• My Mom would watch the kids on days that I needed to be at school.
• I have to schedule time everyday for school.
• I have to keep up my grades.
• I post my action plan and goal to the front of my fridge to help me remember that it is all worth it.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Goal Sheet
Action Plan/Goal Setting
1. Short Term Goals:
• Finish General Associates by Dec. 2010
• Have a 3.0 grade point average or higher
• Make one half hour study time everyday per class that I’m taking in addition to normal school work time.
2. Midterm goals:
• Learn Less-stress strategies to be a better “Me”.
a. I will accomplish this by reading some how-to books on how to manage my stress better. Then I will put the teachings into action and keep trying until I get a handle of it. (This could turn into a very long-term goal.)
• Potty train my two year old by the time he is four.
a. First we will start with no bottoms at all to see if we can make it to the potty. Then once we get that down we will try training pants. In that period we will only do it at home. Once we have making it to the potty while pulling down training pants for a couple of weeks, then we will try going on the potty when we go places. After he has gotten over the fear of going potty on other potties, we have to get to the point of him going potty without being reminded. That part might always be a work in progress, but he will have made it to the potty.
• Organize a joy school co-op.
a. Talk with other mother’s in my area that have children the same age as mine about having preschool in their home. Each mom in the group would take a day to teach the preschool aged children a different subject in their home. I will then proceed to make a start/end date, calendar to keep track of dates and times of who is teaching what, where, and when, and gather supplies for myself.
1. Short Term Goals:
• Finish General Associates by Dec. 2010
• Have a 3.0 grade point average or higher
• Make one half hour study time everyday per class that I’m taking in addition to normal school work time.
2. Midterm goals:
• Learn Less-stress strategies to be a better “Me”.
a. I will accomplish this by reading some how-to books on how to manage my stress better. Then I will put the teachings into action and keep trying until I get a handle of it. (This could turn into a very long-term goal.)
• Potty train my two year old by the time he is four.
a. First we will start with no bottoms at all to see if we can make it to the potty. Then once we get that down we will try training pants. In that period we will only do it at home. Once we have making it to the potty while pulling down training pants for a couple of weeks, then we will try going on the potty when we go places. After he has gotten over the fear of going potty on other potties, we have to get to the point of him going potty without being reminded. That part might always be a work in progress, but he will have made it to the potty.
• Organize a joy school co-op.
a. Talk with other mother’s in my area that have children the same age as mine about having preschool in their home. Each mom in the group would take a day to teach the preschool aged children a different subject in their home. I will then proceed to make a start/end date, calendar to keep track of dates and times of who is teaching what, where, and when, and gather supplies for myself.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Job shadowing
• Jamie Koyle, Child Care Specialist
• Kids Count Daycare; 519 North Main St. Spanish Fork, Ut.
1. What skills or prerequisites are required?
High School Diploma, Be certified in CPR and First Aid.
2. How do you handle unruly children?
Time –out for older children and space or distraction away from the problem for younger children.
3. What is your routine on a normal day?
Check-in, clean-up after breakfast, change diapers, play with toys, go for a walk, play outside, eat lunch, do naptime and clean up, do a structured activity, and then play with the kids until parents pick-up.
4. What’s been your worst day?
Having to change a lot of poopy diapers, everyone had runny noses, and the kids were cranky.
5. What types of hours are required? Do you come in early or stay late often?
A full time employee works 9 hours, with a 1 hour break. With infants you are required to keep a baby book to keep track of diapers, naps, feedings, or anything that looks unusual about the baby. This is checked at the end of every day.
The only employees that come in early are the cooks to get meals ready.
6. Do you spend a lot of time outdoors?
Depends on the weather, but they try to have the children out in the fresh air as much as possible.
7. Do all employees help each other or is everyone assigned to different age groups or projects?
Everyone has their own assignments, but they still have some knowledge in all areas in case they are needed.
8. How is illness handled with so many children? How do you stay healthy?
Kids can come with a cold, but they are sent home if they have diarrhea, fever of 101F or are throwing up.
Many employees have excellent immune systems by being around children so much, but they also use hand sanitizer, plus rubber gloves when they do anything with sick children or diapers.
I found job shadowing very helpful. I was able to see what type of environment the employees work in, how employee and parent interaction is, how much work it actually is and I learned that I enjoy caring for the infants and toddlers the most.
I would love to pursue this career. I felt energized instead of bored or discouraged. This is the type of job that I would be willing to go to more years of school for or even just volunteer. I liked the kids and the kids liked me.
• Kids Count Daycare; 519 North Main St. Spanish Fork, Ut.
1. What skills or prerequisites are required?
High School Diploma, Be certified in CPR and First Aid.
2. How do you handle unruly children?
Time –out for older children and space or distraction away from the problem for younger children.
3. What is your routine on a normal day?
Check-in, clean-up after breakfast, change diapers, play with toys, go for a walk, play outside, eat lunch, do naptime and clean up, do a structured activity, and then play with the kids until parents pick-up.
4. What’s been your worst day?
Having to change a lot of poopy diapers, everyone had runny noses, and the kids were cranky.
5. What types of hours are required? Do you come in early or stay late often?
A full time employee works 9 hours, with a 1 hour break. With infants you are required to keep a baby book to keep track of diapers, naps, feedings, or anything that looks unusual about the baby. This is checked at the end of every day.
The only employees that come in early are the cooks to get meals ready.
6. Do you spend a lot of time outdoors?
Depends on the weather, but they try to have the children out in the fresh air as much as possible.
7. Do all employees help each other or is everyone assigned to different age groups or projects?
Everyone has their own assignments, but they still have some knowledge in all areas in case they are needed.
8. How is illness handled with so many children? How do you stay healthy?
Kids can come with a cold, but they are sent home if they have diarrhea, fever of 101F or are throwing up.
Many employees have excellent immune systems by being around children so much, but they also use hand sanitizer, plus rubber gloves when they do anything with sick children or diapers.
I found job shadowing very helpful. I was able to see what type of environment the employees work in, how employee and parent interaction is, how much work it actually is and I learned that I enjoy caring for the infants and toddlers the most.
I would love to pursue this career. I felt energized instead of bored or discouraged. This is the type of job that I would be willing to go to more years of school for or even just volunteer. I liked the kids and the kids liked me.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Mock Interview
a. Who did you interview with and what is their job title?
Amber Collins, Career Counselor for Humanities, Social Science and Arts
b. What was the most useful about this experience?
She gave me a lot of pointers on how to relax and that it is better to be yourself than stuttering to try and be more professional.
c. What was the most difficult question you were asked? Why?
"Tell me about yourself"; I had a hard time thinking of professional things about myself right off the top of my head.
d. What advice would you give others preparing for the interview?
Be yourself, you usually will show more unique qualities to get you the job if you aren't trying to conform to what you think they need.
e. Name at least three (3) things you learned.
I relax and interview better when I don't feel like I need to remember the script I wrote the night before.
An interviewer can decide whether they like you or not from the moment they see you.
It is best to leave your thank you note in their mailbox as you leave instead of mailng it.
f. Name at least three (3) things that can be improved on for your next interview.
I need to sound more confident about myself when I tell about things that I'm good at.
I could take some notes with me so that I don't have to remember the questions that I wanted to ask them and I can have their answers on paper to remember.
I can reword my sentences to have my answers sound good for the companies needs as well as my own.
Amber Collins, Career Counselor for Humanities, Social Science and Arts
b. What was the most useful about this experience?
She gave me a lot of pointers on how to relax and that it is better to be yourself than stuttering to try and be more professional.
c. What was the most difficult question you were asked? Why?
"Tell me about yourself"; I had a hard time thinking of professional things about myself right off the top of my head.
d. What advice would you give others preparing for the interview?
Be yourself, you usually will show more unique qualities to get you the job if you aren't trying to conform to what you think they need.
e. Name at least three (3) things you learned.
I relax and interview better when I don't feel like I need to remember the script I wrote the night before.
An interviewer can decide whether they like you or not from the moment they see you.
It is best to leave your thank you note in their mailbox as you leave instead of mailng it.
f. Name at least three (3) things that can be improved on for your next interview.
I need to sound more confident about myself when I tell about things that I'm good at.
I could take some notes with me so that I don't have to remember the questions that I wanted to ask them and I can have their answers on paper to remember.
I can reword my sentences to have my answers sound good for the companies needs as well as my own.
Star Stories
1. Give an example of what teamwork means to you.
• As a manager for McDonald’s, creating teamwork with the other employees was essential.
• Getting food orders out in a precise and timely manner took a lot of effort.
• I switched some employee’s positions to better suit their qualifications.
• Communication flowed and orders were getting out. Employee’s work better when they are doing things that they are good at.
2. Give me an example of a major challenge that you faced, and how you went about addressing the problem and how it worked out.
• As a mother of two small children, it is very hard to find time for yourself.
• I was getting very physically and emotionally fatigued, and knew that I had to find some kind of retreat.
• I sat down with my husband and discussed the problem. We both decided that we would each get two nights a week to ourselves while the other person watched the kids, then make one night for family, and one night without the kids for us as a couple.
• This gave us both a retreat to rejuvenate ourselves and be better parents for our children.
3. Describe a past goal and how you achieved it.
• I wanted to be able to have my children wear new cloth, “Green” diapers, but didn’t have the money to buy them.
• I had to find some way to get some more money or find a way to make the diapers myself to bring down the cost.
• I shared my problem with friends on Facebook and one was able to direct me to a person that had the pattern to make my own diapers.
• I was able to make my own diapers and save money, as well as help take down the amount of waste our family produces.
• As a manager for McDonald’s, creating teamwork with the other employees was essential.
• Getting food orders out in a precise and timely manner took a lot of effort.
• I switched some employee’s positions to better suit their qualifications.
• Communication flowed and orders were getting out. Employee’s work better when they are doing things that they are good at.
2. Give me an example of a major challenge that you faced, and how you went about addressing the problem and how it worked out.
• As a mother of two small children, it is very hard to find time for yourself.
• I was getting very physically and emotionally fatigued, and knew that I had to find some kind of retreat.
• I sat down with my husband and discussed the problem. We both decided that we would each get two nights a week to ourselves while the other person watched the kids, then make one night for family, and one night without the kids for us as a couple.
• This gave us both a retreat to rejuvenate ourselves and be better parents for our children.
3. Describe a past goal and how you achieved it.
• I wanted to be able to have my children wear new cloth, “Green” diapers, but didn’t have the money to buy them.
• I had to find some way to get some more money or find a way to make the diapers myself to bring down the cost.
• I shared my problem with friends on Facebook and one was able to direct me to a person that had the pattern to make my own diapers.
• I was able to make my own diapers and save money, as well as help take down the amount of waste our family produces.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Cover letter & Resume
Heather Dillingham
735 West 200 South
Payson, UT 84651
(801) 465-0155
Dear Director of Such and Such Daycare Center,
Being a full time mother and having been a shift manager for a restaurant has given me good skills of organization, time management and communication to go along with my love for kids.
I also have profound writing and typing skills that have been refined by college literature, philosophy, humanities classes, and doing reports as a manager.
To add to all this, I am a highly motivated, upbeat person that always loves to learn new things.
I know that these skills will help me keep your day care in good order, as well as help nurture the lives and creativity of the children in your daycare. I look forward to meeting with you in person to further discuss my qualifications for this position.
Thank you,
Heather Dillingham
Heather Dillingham
735 West 200 South ◊ Payson, UT 84651 ◊ dilly2004@gmail.com ◊ 801-465-0155
Objective
• An entry-level position as a child care worker
Interest
• Loves to work with kids.
• Excellent time management and people skills.
• Self-motivated and upbeat.
Experience
• Homemaker, September 2005-
• Southgate Hardware Cashier, July 2005-September 2005
• Payson McDonald’s Restaurant Shift Manager, October 2004-July 2005
• Ephraim McDonald’s Restaurant Worker, January 2004-December 2004
• Being a mother and a restaurant manager, before that, has given me good experience on how to work well with others, as well as, how to keep everything and everyone running smoothly.
Education
• High school diploma
• Graduating with an Ass. of University Studies in Dec. 2010
Strengths
• Great people person keeps situations under control and problems resolved quickly.
• Learns quickly and easily.
• Always trying new things.
735 West 200 South
Payson, UT 84651
(801) 465-0155
Dear Director of Such and Such Daycare Center,
Being a full time mother and having been a shift manager for a restaurant has given me good skills of organization, time management and communication to go along with my love for kids.
I also have profound writing and typing skills that have been refined by college literature, philosophy, humanities classes, and doing reports as a manager.
To add to all this, I am a highly motivated, upbeat person that always loves to learn new things.
I know that these skills will help me keep your day care in good order, as well as help nurture the lives and creativity of the children in your daycare. I look forward to meeting with you in person to further discuss my qualifications for this position.
Thank you,
Heather Dillingham
Heather Dillingham
735 West 200 South ◊ Payson, UT 84651 ◊ dilly2004@gmail.com ◊ 801-465-0155
Objective
• An entry-level position as a child care worker
Interest
• Loves to work with kids.
• Excellent time management and people skills.
• Self-motivated and upbeat.
Experience
• Homemaker, September 2005-
• Southgate Hardware Cashier, July 2005-September 2005
• Payson McDonald’s Restaurant Shift Manager, October 2004-July 2005
• Ephraim McDonald’s Restaurant Worker, January 2004-December 2004
• Being a mother and a restaurant manager, before that, has given me good experience on how to work well with others, as well as, how to keep everything and everyone running smoothly.
Education
• High school diploma
• Graduating with an Ass. of University Studies in Dec. 2010
Strengths
• Great people person keeps situations under control and problems resolved quickly.
• Learns quickly and easily.
• Always trying new things.
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