Teach English in Xipeng Zhen - Chongqing

Discipline in the classroomI have worked with children for many years. I was an Au pair and I am currently a Kindergarten teacher. Over the years I have had encounters with good children, naughty children, rude children, over active children, etc. The list can go on and on and on??? Over the years I had to figure out for myself how to deal with these different types of behavioural patterns. And believe me it was not easy. You as a caregiver or teacher must have lots of patience to deal with these different types of temperaments. In my personal experience I had to remove myself from a situation at times because I felt like I was going to kill some of the kids I worked with. The naughty kids I can handle but the rude kids drive me batty. I sometimes wished I could have washed their potty mouths out with soap. Just kidding, that?s not allowed. Basically, I had to come up with ways to deal with children who have bad behaviour. Here are some tips that helped me along the way over the years: 1. Have a good behaviour chart. This chart has the child?s name, the days of the week and the weeks in the month/year listed. Explain to the children that if they have bad behaviour you will write their name on the board. If the child?s name is on the bored more than three times for the day then they have bad behaviour for that day. If they had bad behaviour for the day you put a squiggle by their name or if they had good behaviour you put a sticker by their name. At the end of the week you have prize day (a little toy, candy or something small to give them). You count each child?s stickers and squiggles for that week and write the number of stickers in the last column. The children who have four or five stickers receive a prize and the children who have less than that receive no prize. Encourage the bad behaviour students to have better behaviour for the following week. 2. The three warnings method. When the child has bad behaviour, reprimand his/her behaviour. After the second warning explain that he/she has one more warning left and that there is a consequence if you give him/her the third warning. If this behaviour persists you give the child his/her punishment. For example, silly corner, sitting alone in a section of the classroom, name on the board for behaviour chart, etc. Never make idle threats for the children will just take advantage of you. 3. I noticed that shouting never works. Remain calm, take a deep breath, go to the eye level of the child, use a calm and rational voice. Ask the child if what he/she did is good behaviour or bad behaviour, explain why the behaviour is bad, explain that this action of bad behaviour has a punishment and he/she can choose the form of punishment, give three possible punishments that he/she can choose from and act on it immediately. 4. Classroom helpers. Place all the children?s names on the classroom door. Everyday choose two or three children from the class to have duties for that day. For example, hand out stationery, worksheets, line monitors, etc. At the end of the day give the helpers a sticker as a reward. Children love having responsibilities in the classroom. 5. Compliment good behaviour and don?t only focus on bad behaviour. If the naughty student does something good, make sure to compliment him/her on the good behaviour as well. This encourages the child and makes him/her feel proud of the good they do. It shows them that you not only notice the bad but you notice the good as well. In conclusion, I found that these tips worked for me. I am not saying that they will or will not work for you but I am giving you a guide line to help you along the way in your teaching journey. Always remember, ?Knowledge is power?.