I yell. I yell out of frustration a million times a day. I come from a long line of yellers-my dad, my mom, my grandfather, etc. Unfortunately, when it comes to the preschool classroom, yelling gets you nowhere.
It not only makes you look bad in front of colleagues and parents, but it either has no effects on the kids or it shows them just what kind of teacher you are. Kids need respect especially at the preschool age. One way they learn respect is seeing it modeled in their teacher. If you are yelling, what do you think they will do as well when someone takes quittheir toy or favorite blankie?
What is the solution? The solution lies in getting to know the kids and using encouraging positive reinforcement. The toddler and preschool years should be the most enjoyable years for a child. The worse thing a teacher can do is turn their classroom into a military base in an effort to control kids.
Preschool kids are out of control and it is a teacher's job to teach them control. How is it done? Children act out for a variety of reasons and the first step is figuring out why a particular child is acting out.
Children act out to obtain attention, power, revenge and/or because they feel inadequate. Our job as a teacher is to be aware of a child enough during the day to stop these feelings before they are out of control.
This is done through positive reinforcement. Great teachers try to never use words or phrases such as"
Don't
Quit doing that!
Right Now
I want
Stupid
If you don't
Instead of singling kids out for misbehavior a teacher should reinstate rules for everyone. For instance, instead of saying "Sit down, Sohie." A great teacher would say, "We all sit down to eat our lunch."
Or instead of saying, "Don't throw the macaroni!" Say, "The macaroni needs to stay in the sensory table so all our friends can play nicely."
Your tone and pleasantry will make a difference on how the classroom in ran. If you are tense and easily frustrated, so will your class be. Enjoy each other and teach the children to do the same.
Always redirect when a child gets impatient by finding another toy or complimenting the child on waiting so patiently for his turn. It is important to continually point out the good in the children each day. No one likes to be singled out even as adults in a negative way.
Finally always plan, plan, plan and then plan some more. If you know that Cole and Brian both really love to play busses, make sure you have more than one bus and plan for them to spend extra time in the center. If you know Zack likes to knock down block towers, don't put him with the perfectionist kid who gets upset when their tower doesn't stay up.
Know your kids and plan activities that they like to keep them busy. When all else fails and the day seems to be going in a downward spiral, break out into song for your instructions. It will change up the routine for the kids and amuse them at the same time.
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