Reflection – Storytelling 

 Challenge & Selection 

 Storytelling is an essential tool that I and many of our staff use at work . I work at a 

 daycare center in the infant / toddler wing ( 4 months – 2 years old ) . The preschool wing makes   up the other half of the first floor of the building . We have many children raised on the infant   side that funnel into the preschool program once they are of age . Most of the kids that come in   have parents that work from 7am-6pm , so they spend a good majority of their time with us .   This means it is imperative to be patient , understanding , and flexible . Sometimes , we will have   children that may throw temper tantrums , act out , or display some other type of “ problematic ”   behavior . In the infant wing , it is easier to address such issues because our class size is   significantly smaller ( our ratio is 1 staff member per 3 children ) . However , class sizes are larger   on the preschool side ( typically 6 - 8 children per staff member ) , so it can be more difficult to   address individual concerns . 

 I had finished my shift one day and decided to visit the preschool side before I left . I 

 found two of my coworkers visibly frustrated with one boy in particular and I asked one of them   what was going on . She informed me that the boy had been hitting his classmates , calling   people names , and not listening to any of the female teachers ( he would listen to the male   teachers , though ) . Instead of addressing his individual needs , my coworkers were becoming   irritated with him not listening and would repeat themselves over and over . He was slipping   through the cracks . 

 I decided to use the Storytelling tool to help deescalate this situation . The Storytelling 

 tool is essentially conveying a message that has logic . Often , it is used to create a sense of   connection and unity . Storytelling creates a cause ; this cause has a larger purpose . For this   particular situation , I used the Storytelling tool in order to gain a sense of comradery with my   coworkers and for emotional connection- to open their hearts up a bit more to other things   that may be going on in that little boy ’s life . 

 Application 

 I shared with my coworkers the story of a little girl I used to work with who had 

 displayed similar problematic behavior . One day , I was told to come to the preschool side to   speak with a little girl ( will refer to her as “ Jane ” ) that used to be in my class when she was an   infant . Her preschool teachers informed me that she had been acting out , hitting others , and   refusing to participate in class activities . I ’ve known Jane since she was four months old and   found this behavior out of character for her . I was also aware of the fact that Jane ’s dog had   died about a week prior to this behavior . I had spoken to her father about it a couple days after   it happened ( it was sudden and not of natural causes ) . Jane was very close to her dog- the first   animal sound she ever learned was a bark . Her father showed us pictures of Jane riding around   on her dog ’s back and of her crawling next to him on the floor . I had a suspicion that perhaps   Jane ’s poor behavior was due to her coping with her dog ’s death . Children do not grieve the   same way that adults do- their brains can not process heavy emotion like that for long periods 

 of time . That ’s why you will find them upset and angry one minute , and then up laughing and   playing the next . They grieve in spurts .        Insight / Approach 

 After I told my coworkers this story , you could see the anger and irritability slowly 

 vanish and in its place were empathy and sadness . The Storytelling tool was incredibly effective   for this because it gave my coworkers a deeper understanding of what these children go   through and how they process / deal with things . It reminded them that children are still people   ( not just sweet , and loud , little energy balls ) . Children are far more observant than we give   them credit for , and they feel so strongly . They need us as adults to show them appropriate   responses to various emotional situations . One of my coworkers sat the little boy down and   they talked for a while . Turns out , the little boy was angry at his mother because she was   having another baby . From there , my coworker was able to talk with the boy about his feelings   regarding the situation and what they can do from there to make things work in class . That   individual attention was just what he needed , and it made class easier for everybody . 

 Next time , I would definitely reuse the Storytelling tool . I find it to be such a necessity 

 when trying to connect with someone on a deeper level , or to get someone to understand a   concept . It worked well this time and I ’m happy to have had it in my mental toolbox . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Reflection – Storytelling 

 Challenge & Selection 

 Storytelling is an essential tool that I and many of our staff use at work . I work at a 

 daycare center in the infant / toddler wing ( 4 months – 2 years old ) . The preschool wing makes   up the other half of the first floor of the building . We have many children raised on the infant   side that funnel into the preschool program once they are of age . Most of the kids that come in   have parents that work from 7am-6pm , so they spend a good majority of their time with us .   This means it is imperative to be patient , understanding , and flexible . Sometimes , we will have   children that may throw temper tantrums , act out , or display some other type of “ problematic ”   behavior . In the infant wing , it is easier to address such issues because our class size is   significantly smaller ( our ratio is 1 staff member per 3 children ) . However , class sizes are larger   on the preschool side ( typically 6 - 8 children per staff member ) , so it can be more difficult to   address individual concerns . 

 I had finished my shift one day and decided to visit the preschool side before I left . I 

 found two of my coworkers visibly frustrated with one boy in particular and I asked one of them   what was going on . She informed me that the boy had been hitting his classmates , calling   people names , and not listening to any of the female teachers ( he would listen to the male   teachers , though ) . Instead of addressing his individual needs , my coworkers were becoming   irritated with him not listening and would repeat themselves over and over . He was slipping   through the cracks . 

 I decided to use the Storytelling tool to help deescalate this situation . The Storytelling 

 tool is essentially conveying a message that has logic . Often , it is used to create a sense of   connection and unity . Storytelling creates a cause ; this cause has a larger purpose . For this   particular situation , I used the Storytelling tool in order to gain a sense of comradery with my   coworkers and for emotional connection- to open their hearts up a bit more to other things   that may be going on in that little boy ’s life . 

 Application 

 I shared with my coworkers the story of a little girl I used to work with who had 

 displayed similar problematic behavior . One day , I was told to come to the preschool side to   speak with a little girl ( will refer to her as “ Jane ” ) that used to be in my class when she was an   infant . Her preschool teachers informed me that she had been acting out , hitting others , and   refusing to participate in class activities . I ’ve known Jane since she was four months old and   found this behavior out of character for her . I was also aware of the fact that Jane ’s dog had   died about a week prior to this behavior . I had spoken to her father about it a couple days after   it happened ( it was sudden and not of natural causes ) . Jane was very close to her dog- the first   animal sound she ever learned was a bark . Her father showed us pictures of Jane riding around   on her dog ’s back and of her crawling next to him on the floor . I had a suspicion that perhaps   Jane ’s poor behavior was due to her coping with her dog ’s death . Children do not grieve the   same way that adults do- their brains can not process heavy emotion like that for long periods 

 of time . That ’s why you will find them upset and angry one minute , and then up laughing and   playing the next . They grieve in spurts .        Insight / Approach 

 After I told my coworkers this story , you could see the anger and irritability slowly 

 vanish and in its place were empathy and sadness . The Storytelling tool was incredibly effective   for this because it gave my coworkers a deeper understanding of what these children go   through and how they process / deal with things . It reminded them that children are still people   ( not just sweet , and loud , little energy balls ) . Children are far more observant than we give   them credit for , and they feel so strongly . They need us as adults to show them appropriate   responses to various emotional situations . One of my coworkers sat the little boy down and   they talked for a while . Turns out , the little boy was angry at his mother because she was   having another baby . From there , my coworker was able to talk with the boy about his feelings   regarding the situation and what they can do from there to make things work in class . That   individual attention was just what he needed , and it made class easier for everybody . 

 Next time , I would definitely reuse the Storytelling tool . I find it to be such a necessity 

 when trying to connect with someone on a deeper level , or to get someone to understand a   concept . It worked well this time and I ’m happy to have had it in my mental toolbox .
### Output: 