Handling undesirable behaviors (part 3)

Posted on March 6, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

Thanks to many suggestions from readers and teacher bloggers … we are now up to our 3rd (and final … for now) post on strategies that teachers have used in their classrooms to handle undesirable behaviors. We started this series of posts in response to a question from a reader. You can view the original question, and Bill Corbett’s (Cooperative Kids) response in “Handling undesirable behaviors (PART 1)” … and other suggestions and tips from around the web in “Handling undesirable behaviors (PART 2)“. Now, we are onto PART 3, with a few other ways teachers have dealt with this issue …

Modeling Desired Behaviors

Kindergarten teacher Candy Lawrence from Auntie Annie’s Childcare blog uses PUPPETS as one strategy to model good behavior and help children problem solve:

In the case of group misbehavior, as with any other misbehavior, the first port of call is individual relationships with each child. The moment you start considering a group as a homogenous mass instead of the sum of its parts, you’re in trouble. Each child who’s ‘catching’ the misbehavior may have a different need, but I’ll put money on at least one or two of them feeling a need to be ‘seen’.

Puppet shows have been my go-to in this sort of situation. I work through the problem ‘remotely’, if you like, by making the puppet/s do whatever the misbehavior is, then I talk lovingly to each puppet about the problem. Nobody MOVES when I get puppets out… and the kids love to interact with them and help solve their ‘problem’.

Candy shares a link to her Behaviour management page, which lists various types of situations and links to suggestions.

Positive Behavior Charts

Kindergarten teacher Matt Halpern from Look at my Happy Rainbow blog shared his idea for a behavior chart:

Something I’ve used with lots of success is a Positive Behavior chart. I have three tiers (any three colors will do, but I steer away from red, yellow, green). Kids start at the bottom tier and when I see them doing something good (listening, sitting still, basically following the rules), I move them UP a tier. It’s kind of like the reverse of many behavior programs – you get moved for being GOOD. At the end of the day, kids at the top get a reward – I try to not use a prize box. Some rewards are: you get to pick your center first, you get to pick your playground equipment first, etc.). This works really well and helps me focus on the positive too. 🙂

Positive GROUP Rewards

At the child care center where I work, we have some teachers who are teaching their class about the concept of TEAMWORK. Rather than giving out individual rewards for good choices, they focus on the class as a whole and how they function together in certain situations. When the class works together to clean up or walk quietly down the hall; they receive a pom pom in their collective teamwork jar. When they have gotten enough pom poms to reach a certain level – the class gets a reward (such as pajama day or a special activity). When individuals or groups of children are not cooperating, the teachers address it and point out how it affects the wholeclass (team). This isn’t a “fix” for situations where individual children have specific needs that need to be met … but it is an important lesson for children to learn how their actions affect others, and this is just one way to help them learn that.

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Thanks to Candy and Matt for your helpful suggestions and links! And thanks to Miss Julia and Miss Jo at our school for the pom pom idea!

I’ve really enjoyed learning about each teacher’s own “bag of tricks”. Since not every tip/strategy will work in every situation or with every child (or group of children) – I feel it’s helpful to have a lot of different/varying ideas to pull from … and I hope you have found something that will be useful to you in your own teaching, either now or in the future.

Don’t forget to check out PART 1 and PART 2 if you haven’t done so already.

Do you have a tip or experience to share in relation to this topic? We’d love to hear from you! Please share your experience (or other questions) in our comments below or send us an email.

Handling undesirable behaviors in preschool

Posted on March 6, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

We had a question from a teacher who is looking for some ideas on how to handle challenging behaviors. Here is her question:

“At my school, children seem to be copying the wrong behavior from one another. Let’s just say, it’s not behavior that is desirable. I need to come up with a positive behavioral plan that HAS worked for others. Any suggestions?”

A great question! To provide some advice, we first turned to our parenting expert, Bill Corbett.

Bill’s response:

Without knowing the exact behavior, here is what I suggest. If the undesirable behavior is not offensive or disruptive to the class, the teacher should be sure not to give that child attention to fuel the behavior. The teacher should act as if it doesn’t bother her and she should put all of her attention on the children who are NOT demonstrating the behavior.

If the children are fascinated or amused with the behavior in question, the teacher should announce to the group of children (without using anger or excitement) that the behavior in question is not OK.

If the behavior is offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive to the rest of the class, there must be a consequence to it, such as removing the child demonstrating the behavior away from the other children, and accompanied by another teacher for a determined amount of time. If this consequence is used, the child must be removed quickly and without making a fuss over it. The accompanying teacher should not speak to the child, except to say (positively), “when you stop ___________, we can return to the classroom.” The activity for the child in that moment should not be fun or exciting so as not to motivate the child to continue the inappropriate behavior to get that special time with the teacher.

Thank you Bill for your advice! Want to read about some other ideas and strategies on this topic? Visit PART 2 and PART 3 of ways to handle undesirable behaviors in preschool.

Do you have a tip or experience to share in relation to this question? We’d love to hear from you! Please share your experience (or other questions) in our comments below or send us an email.

Bill Corbett is the author of the award-winning parenting book series, LOVE, LIMITS, & LESSONS: A PARENT’S GUIDE TO RAISING COOPERATIVE KIDS (in English and in Spanish) and the executive producer and host of the public access television show CREATING COOPERATIVE KIDS. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and provides parent coaching and keynote presentations to parent and professional audiences across the country. Images used here with permission from Bill Corbett.

Handling undesirable behaviors (part 2)

Posted on March 6, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

One of the reasons we started a blog to go along with our website, was to provide an open forum for teachers and parents to ask questions and share with one another. The other day we had a question from a teacher who is looking for some ideas on how to handle groups of who were copying undesirable behavior from one another. Here is the original question:

We thought it would be helpful to have a couple of blog posts that provide a list of different ideas/strategies that other teachers have used in their classrooms. We asked Bill Corbett (Cooperative Kids) to provide his suggestions on this topic in “Handling undesirable behaviors (PART 1)“. Bill offers some great advice in that article, so please check it out.

As educators, we all have certain strategies/practices that we use when dealing with behavioral issues. Sharing these strategies is helpful so that we can ALL have more ideas to pull from when faced with situations such as this. No one strategy will work in every situation/every child – so having insight from others to draw from is useful. So, we reached out to some additional teacher bloggers and our Facebook readers … and they so kindly shared their experience and suggestions in how to handle this issue. So, here is PART 2 on this topic!

“Conscious Discipline” and creating a “School Family”

Vanessa Levin at Pre-K Pages says … I use a combination of love and logic and “Conscious Discipline”. I avoid any punitive systems that call attention to misbehavior such as traffic lights and “pulling tickets”.

Vanessa shares her post on she handles Rules and Behavior in her classroom.

Consider the Environment

Early childhood educator, Barbara Street from For the Children blog shares her insight into looking at the classroom environment when looking at changing behavior.

I think the first step to consider is one many teachers don’t really think about. Instead of looking to the child and the behavior and trying to fix it, I believe the teacher should first consider the environment he/she has set up for the child: the physical environment, schedule, etc. Could those things be a contributing factor to the behavior? In other words, instead of asking, “What’s wrong with this kid, first ask, is there something I need to change to help modify the situation?” Some children have outbursts when not given large amounts of free exploration time or when the routine changes too abruptly. Some children behave inappropriately when the physical environment encourages it: large open areas encourage running and rough-housing, small and confined space make some children feel panicked. I know sometimes you can provide a virtually perfect environment and still have issues with a child, and often do, but think that is the place to begin searching for answers.

Thinking creatively

Sometimes, we REALLY need to think outside the box to come up with ways to handle undesirable behaviors in children. Educator Rick Ackerly from The Genius in Children says…

“In solving behavior problems, specificity is always critical and creative thinking is often necessary.”

Rick shares a post with an example of how one teacher did just that in “Don’t get Mad; Get Creative“.

Teamwork and random acts of kindness

Sharolyn shared this idea on our Facebook page:

I started in February a random acts of kindness board. I look for children helping or being nice and openly acknowledge it, write it on a paper heart and put it up on the board. This then encourages other children to do kind things and cooperate to get their heart on the board and it snowballs from there! Once we hit 100 we will java a healthy smoothy party.

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Thanks to Vanessa, Barbara, Rick and Sharolyn for your helpful suggestions and links! Want more? Visit PART 3 with some other behavior management strategies from teacher bloggers.

Do you have a tip or experience to share in relation to this question? We’d love to hear from you! Please share your experience (or other questions) in our comments below or send us an email.

Healthy Habits Start Early!

Posted on February 29, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

I have a pretty cool life. Everyday I get to run around and play soccer with kids anywhere from 3-5 years old. It’s full of laughs, little bumps, and those “kids say the darndest things” moments. Not a day goes by when I don’t sport a huge smile and big laugh. And its even more fun for the kids – and me – when they are running and active regardless of whether they ever play soccer again after I leave. I don’t worry about who is a “good” soccer player. I worry about who is a happy and healthy kid. To me, its all about giving them a positive experience with exercise and life through the lens of a soccer ball. Having said that, I have heard many comments from parents along the line of, “I just want my child do SOMETHING…anything besides sit in front of (insert electronic device here).”

Let’s face it, lifetime habits start early. And the older we get those habits are harder to break. Fitness and health habits can and should start young. Between video games and families who rarely eat at home anymore, children have a hard time staying fit and healthy. Junk food diets, sedentary lifestyle, and parents who work and are rarely home or involved in their lives have led America’s children down a spiraling trend towards childhood obesity. According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. The prevalence of obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 18.1%. Scary stuff. Obesity doesn’t simply affect children as they experience their youth, but will carry into lifelong habits and lead to the proliferation of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and other weight related syndromes. The best way to combat childhood obesity is to encourage parents to provide good eating alternatives for their children and to get kids off of the couch and into the park. Soccer, with its ease of play and lack of equipment, is a perfect sport to allow kids to run, jump and keep their bodies more healthy. Kids like to be active. I know this. I see it all the time. When they run, they smile. When they jump, they smile. When they fall down, they sometimes cry, but inevitably get up, start running and smile some more.

There is no question that childhood obesity is on the rise. Children are becoming less active and quite honestly, I believe technology is partly to blame. Well, I should say that technology is the root of the problem, but parents need to do their part to make sure that technology doesn’t overtake their children’s lives.

I see my own children having that pull to sit in front of the television or computer screen. Thankfully this past summer most of my children have been pretty active. They have spent a lot of time walking or biking to and from friend’s houses, to tennis courts, or just playing in the neighborhood. They spent time at the park. It is as much about the social and emotional outlets as it is the exercising. Think about it, they are being active, maintaining friendships, and establishing good habits without even realizing it.

It really does begin at home. Parents are the first example. If they aren’t active and all they eat is junk food, their children will follow suit. If you are a parent, you have no better reason to get started on a healthier path. You are the example to set for your children. Fighting obesity really must begin at home and start young!

Top photo credit: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Shannon Perry is the Soccer Shots Connecticut Director. Shannon is a former collegiate and professional player with 10 years experience working with children of all ages. Soccer Shots is a leader in youth soccer development for young children, and emphasizes both soccer skills and character development. Each Soccer Shots session is age appropriate, and incorporates basic soccer skills, vocabulary (word of the day), imaginative play, and coordination, balance, and agility development.

Expert on public speaking and presenting

Posted on February 24, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

We are pleased to introduce a new guest blogger, Charlie Margolis, to our site, who can share his expertise on public speaking and preparing for interviews and presentations.

Charlie Margolis is a veteran art educator, who taught in Newington’s middle and high schools for 35 years. During his career, he received multiple awards for teaching, community service and leadership; among them were the Celebration of Excellence, Newington Chamber of Commerce Public Service Award and the William P. Ward Award for Educational Development. He founded and directed the “Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors” Program, coordinated the Anti-Defamation League’s “World of Difference” cultural diversity program at Newington High and Chaired the Newington Youth Adult Council. Mr. Margolis served as Chair for the Review Committee for the Approval of State Teacher Preparation Programs. He is on the Board of the Directors of the Rob Branham Foundation, which provides assistance to victims of leukemia and other blood related diseases.

Presently, Charlie is Chair of the South Windsor Human Relations Commission. He was Poet Laureate of South Windsor and the author of the poetry book, “Class Dismissed: A Teacher Says Goodbye“, published by the Connecticut Education Association. Under Mr. Margolis’ leadership, South Windsor became the first community to publish a book of poetry, called “Voices“, entirely written by residents and former residents of the town.

Charlie is Executive Director of Interview Image Associates, LLC. The firm specializes in preparing political candidates, pageant contestants, job aspirants and college applicants for interviews, speeches and presentations. Charlie is a well known pageant interview coach, who has helped contestants win many titles and interview awards. He is the author of “Did I Really Say That?” The Complete Pageant Interview Guide.

As directors, teachers and early childhood professionals, we find ourselves in public speaking situations all the time, whether we realize it or not. Charlie is pleased to be a member of the SEEDS team, and will be happy to answer your questions about public speaking, interviewing

LAST “Heart Project” Giveaway win a printed copy!

Posted on February 13, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

It’s been a very successful couple of weeks! As of February 12th, this project has raised $1823.06 for the American Heart Association! That’s phenominal!

We are glad to be part of the LAST giveaway in support of “The Heart Project“! We are doing a collective giveaway for a printed copy of “The Heart Book”!

Want to enter for a chance to WIN one of FOUR printed copies of “The Heart Book”?

STEP 1: LEAVE US A COMMENT ON OUR BLOG as your first entry into the giveaway! Tell us what you love about the American Heart Association (tell us about someone you know that benefits from it, or just that they’re doing great and to keep up the work!)

STEP 2: Record your entry in Rafflecopter and unlock OTHER ways you can enter on ourThe Heart Book Giveaway Page! Enter for your chance to win from February 13-21, 2012.

So leave us a comment BELOW, and then CLICK HERE to go to our Giveaway Page!Good luck!

Exploring countries in preschool Italy!

Posted on February 9, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

For the past 3 weeks, we have been exploring other countries in preschool! Each classroom is focusing on a particular country – learning about its culture, architecture, climate, games, food, music and dance (among other things).

Then, the classes invite each other in and do a special activity (related to the country they are learning about) with the other class. It’s a wonderful way for the children to teach each other what they are learning about … and this way, each class gets to learn a little bit about each of the countries we chose!

First up … “Ciao Italy”!

We have a super creative-artistic staff member, and she (Ms. Martina) came up with a clever way to give the feel of the Italian culture before even entering the classroom. She made the white columns (featured in the picture above) from large cardboard cylinders which were placed in regular cardboard boxes (weighted down with blocks). The circular base and top of the column is made from paper plates and thin cardboard. Everything got duct taped together and painted white!

Here are just a few of the activities we did to celebrate Italy!

The children learned some Italian phrases (“Ciao”/Hello, “Buongiorno”/Good morning, “Grazie”/Thank you). You can find more phrases in Italian here.

We made the Italian flag out of crumpled tissue paper. (Good fine motor activity, as well as identifying colors).

The children danced the “tarantella” to some traditional Italian music. This was great to get the children to work together in a circle to do various aspects of this dance.

We played the Italian game of “bocce” (which was actually a favorite game of mine growing up with my family). With the kids, we didn’t focus on the points, just practicing throwing/rolling the ball underhand and trying to get it as close to the “pallina” (little ball) as possible.

We made cardboard and large paper PIZZAS (they almost look good enough to eat, don’t they?)!

We sorted and patterned with various types of pasta. Afterwards, we made some of our own creations with pasta and homemade play dough.

Oh yes … the highlight was squishing grapes with their FEET to make grape juice!! (Keep a basin on warm water and a towel for quick feet washing afterwards).

Share your favorite ITALIAN activity with us by leaving a comment!

“The Heart Project” Trunki Giveaway

Posted on February 8, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

Ok, now it’s our turn to join in the fun of co-hosting a giveaway in support of “The Heart Project“! Melissa & Doughave generously donated 2 of their Trunki luggage riding toys to be given away in support of this project! Woot woot!

The Trunki is a unique combination of a suitcase/storage bin and riding toy. Children can use the Trunki to pack their belongings or tote along their favorite possessions and treasures, and then hop on and go (see picture).

Want to see a video clip of the Trunki in action?

Want to enter for a chance to WIN a Trunki?

STEP 2: Record your entry in Rafflecopter and unlock OTHER ways you can enter on ourHeart Project Trunki Giveaway! You can also see the Trunki video clip on this page. Enter for your chance to win from February 8-14, 2012.

So leave us a comment and then CLICK HERE to go to our Giveaway Page! Good luck!

Exploring countries in preschool China

Posted on February 7, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

After our visit to ITALY … next up on our list of countries to explore … CHINA!

Another of our artistic teachers, Ms. Julia, made a cool dragon (featured in the picture to the left) that hung from the ceiling of the hallway. Other decorations included paper Chinese lanterns and fans that also hung from the ceiling.

Some of our Chinese culture activities

The children learned the “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” song in Chinese (we had someone come in and teach us!)

The children tasted spring rolls and egg noodles with soy sauce (yum, yum!) And they tried their hand at eating them with chopsticks.

We made Chinese paper fans with a symmetrical design pattern.

We wrote messages to our families and put them in fortune cookies we made using cupcake liners.

If you are looking for additional inspiration on children’s projects that have to do with the Chinese culture, check out our Pinterest “Chinese New Year” board.

Tell us your favorite preschool activity that you do to celebrate Chinese New Year or when learning about China.

“I have a dream” CD giveaway

Posted on February 7, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

We are super excited to offer our first giveaway in the new year! Popular children’s performer, DARIA is giving away 2 COPIES OF HER “I HAVE A DREAM CD”, just in time to celebrate Martin Luther King Day (January 16, 2012)!

OUR WINNERS ARE RORY H. & MICHELLE! Winners have been notified via email – thanks to all who entered and shared your dreams!

Daria’s “I HAVE A DREAM CD” was given a 2004 NAPPA award and includes some of her most popular songs in English, Spanish, Hebrew, Zulu and one song in the tradition of an Iroquois Native American chant. Included on this CD is her “I Have A Dream” song. Based on Martin Luther King’s famous speech, the “I Have A Dream” song has become popular in schools, classrooms and community organizations to celebrate this day across the USA. Readers can follow the instructions below for a chance to win your own copy of this CD, which would be a great addition to a classroom or home music library!

In addition, Daria is offering a free song download this month of the “I Have A Dream” song. EVERYONE can access a free MP3 download, lyric sheets, sheet music and even two beautiful mini coloring posters from Daria’s Parents Choice Award-winning children’s music website at:www.dariamusic.com.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

The SEEDS Network

Supporting Early Educators with Dynamic Solutions

Author Archives: The SEEDS Network

Handling undesirable behaviors (part 3)

Handling undesirable behaviors in preschool

Handling undesirable behaviors (part 2)

Healthy Habits Start Early!

Expert on public speaking and presenting

LAST “Heart Project” Giveaway win a printed copy!

Exploring countries in preschool Italy!

“The Heart Project” Trunki Giveaway

Exploring countries in preschool China

“I have a dream” CD giveaway