If I was a preschool teacher

Let’s say you have been reflecting on your first few weeks as a preschool teacher. You often find yourself asking yourself things like, “Is this child just grumpy, or is there something more going on?” “Why aren’t the children cooperating?” “How can I manage this negative behavior that is occurring? Is there something more I can do?” With that in mind, consider the scenarios in Part A and Part B.

Part A

Three-year-old Tommy is crying and upset because he can’t draw a truck like Sam’s.

For this scenario

Determine the cause of the behavior. Provide one (1) supporting fact to justify your answer, citing your source.
Develop a guidance approach that you might use to address the cause of the behavior. Provide one (1) supporting fact to justify your approach, citing your source.
Part B

The block area is a popular area within the classroom. By the time clean-up arrives, nearly every block is on the floor. As clean-up is announced, children move to other areas, refusing to assist in clean-up of blocks.

For this scenario, describe

two (2) possible causes
two (2) possible guidance strategies. Justify your strategies.

ANSWER

If I was a Preschool Teacher

Part A

Kids cannot possess the same abilities or even personalities, and it is a typical trait. Every kid is different and unique in their way. Most people may not understand this, but this is the beauty of it all. Being a preschool teacher, it is more of an obligation to better the skills and shape these kids’ character. However, it is crucial to understand everything about the kids before you can help them do this. Other kids are born artists, while others get to learn the skill in due time. While others are born artists, others discover their way to the world of arts and become experts in what they do. Just like other kids perform better than others. However, some kids can learn and acquire skills faster than others. Also, kids could be performing poorly or acting out because of external factors; matters outside class. It is just how nature balances out. Kids who are not good in one area could be better in another. It is possible to come across other kids who are weak in all or most study areas and even in extracurricular activities. Just like that, other kids tend to be emotionally more substantial than others. However, as a preschool teacher, it is essential to be concerned when a kid gets emotional because they cannot accomplish a given task and the other kids.

In the case of Tommy and Sam, so many assumptions can be drawn to justify the circumstances. It could be, Tommy performs better in class than Sam and expects to be better than him at everything else. As a result, he is disappointed Sam came up with a better drawing than he did. On the other hand, it is also possible that Tommy loves Trucks better than Sam and expected to come up with a better illustration of a truck. The only way a teacher can be sure of whether a kid getting emotional is natural or influenced by external factors is to confront the kid and talk it out of him. External factors are matters outside of school. However, because they are kids, I believe talking keenly to a kid can shed some light on the situation. However, whatever you do, it is essential to keep the kid knowing that she is capable. Children lack emotional intelligence and are incapable of managing their emotions (Batool & Hayat, 2018). Children cannot be punished and should be shown kindness at all times, and as their teacher, one should be flexible and try to get to the root of the matter.

Part B

It is common for kids to try and evade responsibilities whenever they get the chance. As opposed to that, you will observe that kids want their freedom, and if not followed closely, they may do things they are not supposed to do but fail to do a single something they are obligated to do. In a school setting, kids always want to mingle with their friends and play all sorts of games. Most of these games occur at the block, making it the most favourite spot for the kids, especially when they are just expected to hang out. Sometimes the play is too much, and by the time it is clean up time, all the students are tired and choose to leave instead of staying for the chores. For that reason, students will be observed to lack the motivation of performing the cleanup and disappear from the block area immediately clean-time comes up.

Another possible reason for students leaving the block area when the clean time comes up could be basic negligence. Some students may decide to leave the block area, expecting other students to step in. Still, sometimes that becomes the mentality of every student who is willing to clean up become inadequate for the entire activity. For some, this could be a habit they pick from home. In other family settings, the kids are not introduced to any responsibilities and have to extend that habit to school. These kinds of students do not feel obligated to perform any duties assigned to them and sometimes influence other kids into doing the same.

The first recommended strategy towards ensuring kids is performing their duties as required is to ensure they are well motivated. Any motivation always gives rise to positive results, especially for kids (Nurra & Oyserman, 2018). The kids need to be kept on their toes thoughtfully without being scared off. Understandably, kids may lack self-motivation by themselves but putting in place motivations like gifts depending on the level of cleanliness maintained by a given group. The other strategy could be establishing a workable timetable and allocate time for cleanups, probably before playtime at the block, to avoid the tiresomeness that comes with playtime making it hard for the kids to perform their clean up duties. Or rather, playtime can be split to ensure there are breaks within the play to avoid being extremely tired when it is time for cleanups.

References

Batool, S. S., & Hayat, F. (2018). Construction and validation of emotional intelligence scale for children and adolescents. Pakistan Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 16(2), 17-26.

Nurra, C., & Oyserman, D. (2018). From future self to current action: An identity-based motivation perspective. Self and identity, 17(3), 343-364.