Coping with the Bad Days

Like adults, pre-k students have good days and bad days.  How we as teachers deal with the latter can significantly impact our relationships with individual students, their academic and social growth, and our overall classroom culture.

Just as we differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all students, we must also individualize our approach to motivating them.  Karen, though upbeat and highly participatory throughout the day, periodically comes to school in tears, clinging to her grandmother.  She is quite comfortable using writing and drawing as a creative outlet, so  I suggest that she write a note or paint a picture for her grandmother during choice time.  This helps her remain connected even when she cannot be with her family.

Her grandmother and I have also worked on stressing responsibility with Karen.  I thank all of my students for being responsible when they correctly follow our morning routine as they enter.  Karen’s grandmother and I use that same terminology when we are trying to stop her from crying.  This process usually takes a few minutes.  She then calmly puts away her belongings, washes her hands, and is eating breakfast with her friends in no time.

Awana occasionally comes in sobbing and lethargic, particularly if she has been absent or we are returning from the weekend.  If she says anything, it’s usually a very quiet, “I want to go home.”  Her mother is not nearly as present or supportive as Karen’s grandmother, nor does she use writing and art in the same way as Karen.  She does, however, respond well to good old-fashioned hugs.  I usually ask her how she feels, let her know how I would feel, remind her of our classroom routines, give her a hug, and send her on her way to “have fun and learn with her friends.”  Kevin or David sometimes chime in with their own hugs and a “We missed you when you were out, Awana.”

Aniyah often arrives late and upset about something that happened with her brother on her way to school.  Despite our daily “fresh start,” she sometimes carries over some baggage from behavioral problems the day before.  I am quite familiar with her affinity towards cheer leading and use this knowledge to motivate her.  I often greet her with a cheer to her name or ask her to help me out with a cheer for one of her friends.

Understanding and effectively addressing mood fluctuations is an important part of my job, and through this process my students gain self-confidence and the trust in me they need to be engaged members of the classroom community.  When we as teachers succeed in this role, disruptions to the class are minimized and children are less likely to use negative behavior to get attention.

Bad Behavior Solved, Not Made, in High-Quality Pre-K

I was concerned last week when a recent report linking child care to later behavioral problems in children grabbed headlines.  I can only imagine the guilt that parents who have children in such programs felt upon hearing this news.  But the reality is far from the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” picture painted in the media.

High quality pre-k offers the chance for young children to learn how to express themselves appropriately in a wide range of social interactions, how to solve conflicts with peers, and how to function productively in a structured school environment.   

The first thing my children learn is how to follow set routines.  Many come in without any previous childcare experience.  Their first week behaviors have included children leaving the class to run down the hallway laughing and screaming and others simply wandering the classroom unresponsive to my efforts to give directions.  I consistently implement classroom procedures and routines designed to make the students capable of working on their own and with others. 

By the end of September they could do everything from sitting on the rug to disposing their lunch tray.  They also knew what would happen if they did or did not follow our classroom rules, why it was important to follow the rules, and how to “use their words” to solve conflicts.  Their awareness of what to expect, desire to receive positive praise, and investment in our “we are all friends” classroom culture curbed negative behavior.  Moreover, our emphasis on the rationale behind wise choices such as peaceful conflict resolution made our teaching more lasting. 

Parents can certainly also teach their children about solving problems and behaving appropriately.  Yet pre-k offers the opportunity for young children to practice these strategies with a large and diverse group of their peers on a daily basis.  Kevin, aka “the anti-sharer,” who frequently threw temper tantrums when he did not get a turn at something, frequently exhibited similar behavior at home.  Pre-k gave Kevin the chance to practice working out problems with other children, a skill that will help him in school and at home.  Moreover, we used our knowledge of his learning style based on our extensive anecdotes to develop an outlet for his negative energy and an opportunity for him to take ownership of the solution within the context of our daily routines.    

High-quality pre-k offers high-quality teachers focused on analyzing student behavioral problems and implementing enduring solutions. Without such attention, I could see the problems getting worse and producing the kind of results captured by this latest research.  For me, this study and my experiences are a call for educators, parents, and policymakers to support efforts to make all early care and education programs high quality.       

The Rehabilitation of an Anti-Sharer

“And chances are if the mouse asks for a glass of milk, he’s going to want a cookie to go with it.”

Ahh, the end of story time, right after lunch and before nap-time…a time when most of the children are relaxing, flirting with the decision to crash prematurely on the rug before retiring to the comfort of their individual mats, or contemplating the complexities highlighted in the literary masterpiece just presented to them, in this case the enigmatic cyclical nature of Laura Numeroff’s classic, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Yet, for Kevin, this point in the day used to be filled will anxiety, frustration, and sometimes pure anger if he was not chosen to help me pass out the mats.  Not anymore.

Unlike the other children, our key phrase –“Oh well, I’ll get picked next time.” –did not work for Kevin.  Ms.  Morrison and I decided to individualize our approach to Kevin’s struggle with taking turns and build on his visual learning style and interest in taking on greater responsibility.  Each day, after we complete our post-story discussion, Kevin walks over to Ms. Morrison’s table and figures out who should have a turn to distribute the mats by reviewing a list of his classmates who have helped over the course of the past two weeks.  He then announces the person picked for the day to the entire class.  Since we have developed the system Kevin has not cried or thrown a tantrum once during this transition time.   

We still have some difficulties in other parts of the day; for instance, if he doesn’t get picked during a discussion or game on the rug.  Yet the intensity of his responses has subsided, and he is better able to manage his anger without much direct attention from me.  He will sometimes turn his back to the group to weep silently or just breathe deeply.  He either comes back to the group on his own in a few minutes or responds to me praising others or engaging him with an interesting activity.  He even occasionally uses our “Oh well” message.

We have certainly made progress in working with Kevin and understanding how to continue improving his behavior in the future.  His ability to stay focused and calm even when he is not chosen or he does not get what he wants will undoubtedly help him grow both academically as a learner and socially as a member of our classroom community. 

A New Year: Pre-K 114's Resolutions for 2007

In my classroom, setting and working tirelessly toward goals are crucial to our overarching theme of going from “good to great.”  I set goals for my students, use data to assess our progress toward those goals, and design lessons based on those analyses.  Likewise, I aim to instill in my students the importance of reflecting about areas in which we can improve and addressing those areas in order to grow as learners.  I also want to invest families in this process in order to ensure that a goal oriented mindset stays with my students after they graduate from pre-k.   

As part of our celebration of the New Year, we made resolutions with our families.  Each student received a note and blank resolution card the first day back last week.  Students returned the cards after coming up with a resolution with family members at home. 

2007 New Years Resolutions

Tyrone and his mother:
Our goal is to read more words and count more numbers. 

David and his mother:
Our goal is to read two books every night and find more words and letters.

Sierra and her family:
As a family our goal is to spend more time reading and sharing our thoughts.

Derrell and his mother:
Our goal is to improve Derrell’s writing of letters.

Tyrique and his mother:
Our goal is to strive for the best together.

Awana and her mother:
Our goal is to identify numbers and the alphabet and to work on writing Awana’s first and last name.

Karen and her grandmother:
Our goal is to read one new book a night and write down two new words out of the book. 

Fuquan and his mother:
Our goal is to read a book every night. 

Kevin and his grandmother:
Our goal is to help Kevin read a book until he understands how to read alone.

Jeffrey and his mother:
Our goal is to learn how to tie our shoelaces. 

Ravon, his mother, and father:
Our goal is to sing more songs together such as “The Wheels on the Bus.”

Students as Teachers: An Amazing First Day Back

"Happy New Year!" I exclaimed to each of my students as they walked in today. In the past, this week back after the holiday break often proved somewhat hectic, with many of the children getting back into the swing of our daily routines. This year's return is shaping up differently. Here are a couple of highlights from the first day back:

• While I planned to review our "talk it out" approach to conflict resolution later in the week, the students independently devised their own scenarios today. As part of our introduction to a three-week exploration of winter, I showed them two bears: one fully dressed for winter and the other wearing only a tee-shirt. After we passed them around, I asked them what they noticed about the two bears. Samar responded, "That bear with the jacket hit the other bear with a block." We then began discussing various ways we could respond to such a situation. The students came up with everything from apologizing and telling an adult to getting another block the two bears could share. We ultimately did talk about and explore winter throughout the day, but the teachable moment involving the bears was particularly valuable because it derived from student interest and demonstrated their deepening understanding of how to solve conflicts.
• After reading the poem "Chicken Soup with Rice" for January, we laced up our make-believe skates and tried pretend skating while sipping our own soup in the auditorium. We discussed potential dangers such as: "wind that could blow leaves in your soup" (Kevin); "rain that could make the soup taste nasty" (Derrell); and, "snow that could make the soup cold" (Sierra). As we skated around the auditorium, we managed to escape a wolf "hiding behind a tree" (Jeffrey), but suddenly a dragon appeared. We just started exploring snow and ice today, so, like any good pre-k teacher with Greek roots, I had to use a bit of the Socratic method. After breaking it down with detailed questions, we figured out that the fire from the dragon would melt the ice, causing us to have to swim back to our classroom instead of ice skate. As Ravon said, "Whew, that was a close one."

Not Your Grandmother's Scantron: Assessments in a Pre-k Classroom

The first years of school are far too critical to waste time on ineffective strategies. Accountability in pre-kindergarten programs is therefore vital to the academic and social growth of our youngest learners.

The word "accountability" may conjure images of standardized exams and hours of tedious test prep—not exactly what we would deem appropriate for a four year old. So what do assessments and accountability look like in a pre-k classroom? Well, despite the obvious attraction of handing a multiple choice test with fifty rows of neatly curved "a to e" oval bubbles to a four year old, the reality is that assessment in pre-k just isn't that easy. Yet that doesn't mean accountability in pre-k is or has to be non-existent.

Four year olds don't always show you what they know. Their moods, interests, and developmental stage can affect their performance on a day to day basis. And if they do demonstrate growth in a particular skill area, they certainly do not all do it in the same way like drawing a picture or responding to questions orally. But if you watch and interact with them everyday, all day, while taking anecdotes and collecting work samples, you can have the data needed to chart growth, design properly differentiated lessons that meet the needs of all learners, and hold programs accountable. My students' words, actions, drawings, and singing are my "a, b, c, d, and e" answers.

Take Tanasia, for example. For the first two months of school she spent the majority of her day either bawling and asking, over and over, "When is my mommy coming?" or in a state of total silence. Our one-on-one interactions often incited desperate pleas for her mother. Then, in early October I began to observe her making connections between the print around her and her friends' names during choice time. That is when I knew not only that she was starting to adjust and build relationships, but that she was picking up on basic literacy skills. She would point to letters on labels in Dramatic Play and say to her friend Karen, "Look, it's the K like in your name." If I confronted her with a barrage of letter identification questions, she would clam up and start to cry. I began to address more and more of those skills during choice time where she felt increasingly comfortable.

One of my students last year struggled with letter identification but masterfully used movement to act out stories or create his own. My extensive anecdotal notes reflected these weaknesses and strengths. I consequently decided to address the latter with the former by working with him one-on-one to create movements for each letter. We waddled like penguins for the letter "P," made elephant noises with a long trunk for the letter "E," and so on. I recently met up with him down the hall in his kindergarten class, at which point he pointed out a letter and made the movement we had devised.

My recent analysis of the anecdotal notes revealed that Kevin (aka the "anti-sharer") is a visual learner. Stay tuned for a post focusing on how my aide and I teach the fairness of sharing using a visual approach that puts him in charge.

The Horror of Sharing

Sharing space, sharing time, and sharing attention can be quite difficult for many adults…imagine teaching how to accept those realities in life to four year olds!  For my student Kevin, who exceeds most of the other children in academics, the idea of sharing is, simply put, horrifying.  He breaks down in tears when he doesn’t get picked for passing out the mats or if another child wants to play with the toy of his choice.  As an only child being raised by his grandmother he is not accustomed to sharing with other children.  Yet now, as a member of our classroom community, he faces thirteen peers, each with an equal right to the same toys and attention he seeks to hoard for himself. 

My aide, Ms. Morrison, and I, consistently remind the class of the fairness and value of sharing.  As the wise philosopher Dr. Pooh once said, “The more you share with others, the more they’ll share with you.”  We do not give in when the anti-sharers cry.  We provide plenty of opportunities for students to have special jobs and to explore our materials.  We also facilitate discussions between classmates focused on how we feel when our friends don’t share.  And yet, Kevin’s tears and wailing keep coming. 

Last week we tried to invest the whole class in our sharing goal by introducing a message they could send to each other and themselves: “Oh, well, I feel sad, but I’ll get picked another time.”  Results?  Too soon to tell.             

Class, Say "Hello" to Our Special Guest... the Blogosphere

Welcome to Inside Pre-K and thanks for visiting! On this blog, you can read about what's going on, day to day, in a real pre-kindergarten classroom, namely my own. I'll be your host/blogger, Sophia (a.k.a. Ms. Pappas). You can learn a lot about me here, but today I want to introduce you to a few of the 14 amazing four year olds in my class this year. You'll soon meet them all. (Note: Their names have been changed to protect their privacy and security.)

• Tyrone - or Doctor Smith, as we call him in Dramatic Play - has a strong foundation in basic literacy knowledge, but he was not very invested in the class at the beginning of the year. His attention span was shorter than most of the children during circle time, and he was often sitting and looking around the room, not participating with the other children or listening to me. He is showing improvement, though, and has since responded positively to activities like singing songs about his classmates and more hands-on tasks.
• Kevin came to school with a strong math and literacy foundation. He picks up on new academic concepts quickly and constantly participates in class activities. Socially, however, he has struggled and frequently cries when he does not get picked for something or has to wait his turn. He is the only child in his household, which may account for some of the difficulties.
• Karen arrived in my class with a strong academic foundation, but until coming to school she did not have much contact with other children. She had been only around adults for most of her early years and initially displayed a hesitance to interact with the other children. From day one, she has followed directions and been focused and actively engaged in whole group activities. She has made real progress since September in smaller group interaction and now frequently reads, shares, and plays with her classmates.

I also am fortunate to have a teacher's aide, Ms. Morrison, who has been working with young learners for more than 20 years. Her experience is very helpful to me, and so is yours. Whether you're an educator by profession, a child's first teacher (a.k.a. a parent/guardian), or just curious about pre-k, I hope you will comment on this blog and tell me and other readers your thoughts and questions about pre-k.