Tom Callahan
- Apr 28, 2021
- 3 min read

Better Communication Helps Teachers Do Their Jobs Better

Just like G.I. Joe said, “Knowing is half the battle.” By keeping information available at teachers’ fingertips, Child Care Seer helps them focus on their students.

How Automation Gives Managers Time to Spend with Children

A daycare center director is a little like a general, coordinating regiments and supplies and answering to civilian authorities. She runs her little army like a well-oiled machine, keeping everyone safe and operating at top efficiency. In this analogy , her teachers are her foot soldiers, working in the trenches every day.

A soldier doesn’t need to plan strategy, but she does need to be perfectly clear on exactly what her role is in the operation and when and how she is to execute it. Communication is key. Likewise, for a teacher, the more clarity she has on her assignment, the easier it is to execute and the more successful she will be.

That’s where Child Care Seer comes in, a new daycare software management program that’s in use at Callahan Learning Center. Among the many benefits Child Care Seer offers is a high level of communication between program managers and staff. Program manager Karen Iman has found that in addition to helping her run the center in myriad ways, Seer helps teachers in their jobs as well. “Teachers don’t have to rely on a paper printout of a schedule, or waiting for an email to let them know about a schedule change,” says Inman. Nor do they have to wait until they show up at work that day and adjust to changes on the spot.

Instead, teachers create their own account with Seer and can log in to view the schedule at any time at home. If the program manager needs to change something with teachers’ schedules, Seer sends them an email notification so they know about it before coming in to work. They can see their room assignment, what students they have, and when their breaks are. Teachers can come in to work with a calm, clear headspace, ready to focus all their attention immediately on their students. Inman remarks, “Now that we’re using Seer, no one ever says, ‘I didn’t know.’”

More than anyone else in the center, teachers must deal with a constant barrage of stimuli generated by their small charges. They must have an overall plan of where they’re going in the current activity, but be able to respond moment-by-moment to things that come up. Knowing in advance exactly who will be in their room, such as a child coming in for a drop-in visit, allows them to be free to focus on caring for children. “Seer allows the daily functions to run much more smoothly by preparing teachers in advance,” says Inman.

Without this kind of communication, a teacher feels caught off-guard by being pulled suddenly to give another teacher a break, and may not fully attend to details and changing circumstances in the room. Knowing exactly where and when she’s changing positions allows for safer, smoother transitions.

Teachers at Callahan Learning Center also check their schedules on Seer throughout the day at several points. In the morning, when they report to work and check in at the kiosk, Seer informs them of anything that they might need to know for that day. Teachers also have tablets in their rooms in which they check in and can view Seer there as well. They can check it on their phones at lunch or on breaks, and don’t have to wait for the program manager to find an opportunity to tell them verbally about a change or to send them an email.

Seer also allows teachers the ability to see their schedules well into the future, which Inman says enables them to plan ahead. They may decide to begin a new class project on a day that a new student is starting, for example. Or a day that a student is dropping in might be a good time to take a break from a long-term project and do something special. Child Care Seer, the best daycare software on the market today, helps them to know, and knowing is half the battle.