Workshop Time!

If you read my last post, then you'll remember that I was put in charge of leading a half day workshop on staff development. Now, this isn't exactly my training or expertise, but with the help of the Kendalls, some online resources, and recalling some of my management classes from school, I did my best to put forth a follow-up workshop. I'll have to admit, it was a bit intimidating to watch 35 facilitators and staff of the Amy Biehl Foundation file into the giant meeting room at the office. Maybe this had something to do with the fact that I was the youngest one in the room...not to mention that I was the only non-Xhosa speaker...or had only been with the organization for 3 weeks...or.....OK, enough with the excuses--I was given a task and I had to just swallow any insecurities I had and go for it. There was no way they would care about anything I had to say if I didn't come across confident. So, after the first half of the meeting (which was all held in Xhosa) it was my turn to step up and give my input.

Surprisingly, I think it went off quite well! I spoke about the importance of setting goals and how they need to reflect the long term vision of the organization, but also be specific and measurable for short term motivation. At times, I felt like the crazy motivational speaker in Little Miss Sunshine, but the facilitators seemed to really engage and take to heart my crazy words. ABFT is undergoing a lot of changes and we are working on a lot of quality assessment things right now so this couldn't have come at a more relevant time. The facilitators all set goals for their individual centers as well as personal goals to achieve in the next year. I'm excited to hang up the posters of what they did on the walls like a proud teacher :)

I guess this strike is turning out to be a positive thing for the organization. It has given us time to step back from the busy-ness of running our programs and really look to see how we can improve as a whole. Hopefully the teachers will be back to the schools next week and I can actually start teaching the kiddos again, but until then, I'll just sit tight and do my best in the office. It's been cold and rainy this whole week so I really don't mind being inside while winter shows it's face outside. I'm pretty content to watch from my office window :)