http://www.pre-kpages.com/discipline/
Rules and Behavior
It is important to have visuals in an early childhood classroom as a reminder. I made this rules chart using clip art and poster board. It is posted on the wall in several locations in our classroom so we can refer to it when necessary. I feel it is extremely important to keep all classroom rules positive, notice how I have not included the word “don’t” in any of the rules. Our rules include:
- Helping Hands
- Listening Ears
- Quiet Voices
- Looking Eyes
- Walking Feet
How do you introduce the rules to the children? At the beginning of the year, on the very first day and every day thereafter, we review the rules carefully as a group. I begin by asking the children “Does anybody know why we come to school?”. After a few responses (usually not correct ones) I prompt them and say “We come to school to LEARN.” Next, I tell the students that learning is like “getting smart” (they usually understand that much better) and in order to learn we have to follow some rules; this is when I introduce the rules chart with pictures. I tell them that there are five very important things we must do in order to learn and I say the rules out loud as I point to them on the chart. The next day when I ask these questions a few more students will be able to answer them, and finally after several days everybody should be able to answer the questions. After the initial few weeks of this type of review I switch to having our Leader of the Day (LOTD) point to the rules on the chart and the Leader says them for us or picks friends to say each one. This process helps the children internalize and take ownership of the rules.
Another great way to introduce the rules is to read from the series of books titled The Best Behavior series. For large group time I like to read Listening Time, I read this book every day in the beginning of the year before every large group lesson. There are others in this series that address behaviors such as sharing, cleaning-up, kicking, hitting, biting, and unkind words.
Do you use a specific method of discipline or classroom management? Yes, our district advocates the use of Love and Logic. I think Love and Logic works very well with this age group, however it does take a lot of patience and typically a more experienced teacher to make it work. I have seen many new teachers become easily frustrated and give up on Love and Logic too quickly. Love and Logic works by making the child responsible for his or her actions, giving the child choices to make and then helping the child follow through. Love and Logic does require a little “tweaking” to make it work in an early childhood setting, the examples in the book are all geared for older students.
Do you use Time Out?
No, I use a method called “Safe Spot” instead of Time Outs. The Safe Spot idea comes from Dr. Becky Bailey‘s Conscious Discipline book. If a child needs time away from the group he or she can go to the Safe Spot to help understand and regulate their emotions. Using a Safe Spot is more positive because it helps the child better understand his or her emotions instead of just punishing the child for making poor choices. In the Safe Spot we teach the child how to problem solve and make better choices.
The items in our Safe Spot are:
- Soft stuffed animals for hugging if we are sad
- Books from the Best Behavior series (listed above)
- Wave bottle (has a very calming effect)
- No more tears magic sprinkles
What about rewards, prize boxes, or treasure chests? No, see the answer above. Rewards and prize/treasure chests are expensive! I would much rather spend my money on instructional items for the classroom and not junky trinkets that will become lost or broken within 5 seconds, often resulting in fights or tears. Also, what are we teaching children by giving them rewards when they “behave”? They are being rewarded for doing something that they should be doing anyway. The biggest reward they can receive is the gift of learning how to make their own choices and the good feelings that come with choosing to do what is right for the sake of doing the right thing.
I’ve seen the treasure chest in your classroom, what do you use it for? I admit, I do have a treasure chest but I don’t use it for behavior, I use it for special occasions. For example, our students must have a monthly fire drill that is often terrifying for little children the first few months of school, many of my students do not speak English and they will cry and scream when they hear the loud noises and flashing lights. Although we practice and model, model, model what to do in a fire drill, the unknown is still very scary for four year olds so I allow them a trip to the treasure chest after each fire drill. They are also allowed a trip to the treasure chest on their birthday. The day after report card day our students must return their report cards *signed by the parent* and it is often quite a difficult task. The parents often don’t look in the backpack or check the folder so it is up to the child to remember to get the parent to sign and return the report card. If they return their report card signed they get a trip to the treasure chest. This year I added a new criteria for the treasure chest, never losing or breaking your ID badge. I had several students who took excellent care of their ID badges and never lost or broke them so they received a trip to the treasure chest, I think it’s important to instill a sense of pride in taking care of your things.
If you don’t use behavior charts, tickets, stoplights, or prizes then how do you get them to behave? This is a question I am asked frequently by visitors and the answer is both simple and complicated at the same time. First, I establish mutual respect, then I spend lots and lots of time modeling how to make good choices and role playing different scenarios in the beginning of the year. The modeling and role playing is very time consuming but really pays off in the long run. If you want your students to share then you have to invest the time in the beginning teaching them how to share. If you want your students to clean-up on cue then you have to take the time to teach them how to do that too. We cannot take simple things for granted, everything must be taught, modeled, and role played with this age group to ensure success.
How do you get your students to respect you? I use techniques from Conscious Discipline to create a “School Family” where the students feel connected to one another and the teacher. Establishing this family unit really helps diminish behavior issues.
What do you do when you’re trying to read a story and they just can’t sit and listen? Before beginning any group activity such as a read aloud I always review the rules first. You don’t always have to use the rules chart, I also made individual cards for the pocket chart using the same pictures we used for the poster (see resources section at bottom) and amend the rules a bit to fit with a read aloud. Our read aloud rules are: “Eyes on the reader, ears listening, hands in your lap, criss-cross applesauce, quite as can be” I hold up each card and we review each rule out loud as it is placed in the chart. This will eliminate most problems before they begin, however if anybody needs a reminder I use a Love and Logic technique and say “Oh, how sad, I will continue reading when everybody is ready.” and I put my book down and fall silent gazing into space quietly. This works like magic! Don’t give in and make eye contact, don’t signal anybody out by name, just sit quietly. Soon they’ll all be staring at you and you can begin reading again. In the beginning the pauses may be as long as 30 seconds to one minute, but soon they will only be a few seconds in length. Consistency is the key with this technique, it may not work like magic the very first time you use it, but persistence pays off.
I think this technique sure beats the old “Be quiet!” “Stop it!” and “Sit down!” technique.
