Guest Posted September 18, 2013 Posted September 18, 2013 Hi everyone... I could just cry. I've never had such a boisterous class like this, they are so fast and clumsy and are dreadful at listening, following instructions - e.g tidy up! I know it's so so early but I'm already feeling like I'm failing Am I missing a trick or two? I have stickers and raffle tickets to reward those who do. we have just implemented a walking safely chart, the person whose name appears most frequently will win a prize perhaps weekly, we have a thinking chair for time out, we have a toy dog who goes home for sleepovers each night with children who have earned it-tho this hasn't started yet. I just wondered if I'm missing/forgetting a useful strategy? I'm going to allocate tidying jobs but when I did this last year it didn't seem to take off. Any suggestions welcomed!! X
Susan Posted September 19, 2013 Posted September 19, 2013 Emma, you must keep it easy for yourself or you will not be able to keep up with the demands of all your charts etc let alone the teaching. One of the most difficult/ challenging classes I ever had, I established a whole class reward to work for and then had a very simple smiley face/ sad face hanging where I could easily reach it and the children could see it. IF and when something happened that I was trying to discourage, which was mostly about listening or not! I would make a big show of turning the face to sad. If the behaviour improved, than I would reverse it to happy with the objective being that we kept our face happy all day. The behaviour did improve although they were never easy and after our first treat, they were pleased to announce to me that they no longer needed to be "good". Make your expectations achievable in small steps and appropriate and you will see results but it wont necessarily be easy or quick. Tackle the things that matter and ignore those that dont so you feel better too. Be consistent. Use photos of the children themselves performing tasks in sequence and display them if you can or need to. Build time in to reinforce your expectations to establish routines etc every day at appropiate time ie before tidying up etc. Dont expect children to remember after the first explanation. Allow them lots of time to do what you ask and then increase the pace. Use circle times to talk and model what you want. Hope things improve for you soon. Take care of your self!
sunnyday Posted September 19, 2013 Posted September 19, 2013 Hi Emma - I have nothing useful to add - but I'm sending you a virtual hug........I'm sure everyone has experienced that 'utterly defeated' feeling at times - it will get better - the only way is up! :1b
Guest Posted September 19, 2013 Posted September 19, 2013 Aw thank you so much Susan You've really helped, you're absolutely right about not giving myself too much to keep on top of. Thank you for your suggestions, will definitely try those and think about small manageable steps. Think I'm just feeling the pressure already, knowing where they've got to get to. I feel better now though, a problem shared and all that
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