Liberal Practices From A Southern Teacher
Iâm fortunate enough to have some pretty understanding coworkers but I tend to be slightly more liberal than most caregivers in Texas. A few of my classroom behaviors however continue to turn a few heads- donât worry, none of them are harmful to the kids or their development. Theyâre just part of my teaching style.
âPre-K Pauseâ is something I picked up on TikTok from âMr. Williamâs Classroomâ and my kids LOVE it. As a teacher of three, four, and five-year-olds, I do a lot of methods to regain the attention of the kids. âPre-K Pauseâ and â1, 2, 3, eyes on meâ are our personal favorites.
I wonât bore you with process versus product art but if youâre curious, I encourage you to do some research as itâs a very interesting topic. As a result, I almost never do product art (except for special occasions) and instead do almost exclusively process art. Why? Because itâs easier for me to step back and allows me the freedom to move about the room instead of having to âhelpâ them through their art. I also donât require the children to work on their art for a certain period or cut them off after a certain period.
As Much Free Time As Possible
Kids need structure, obviously, but they also need unstructured time to play, work out scenarios, and practice skills. Not to mention, theyâll practice skills youâre teaching (and retain them better!) when theyâre in control of when they practice.
Playing outside is fun, yes, but taking small new activities like coloring or books to read outside makes being outside even more fun and more exciting. These activities are optional among children but can add a sparkle of excitement.Â
Discipline That Puts Them In Control
When I can see that one of my kids needs a small break from our circle time, story time, or just to simply walk away from a situation, I put the child back in control. âYou can come back when youâre ready to listen.â Giving them the power to come back to a situation puts them in control, and gives them a moment to identify how theyâre feeling and start to connect the feeling and action.
Careful Language and LOTS Of Questions
As you can imagine, if a child doesnât understand why theyâre in trouble, they canât fix it. The fix is (thankfully) very simple; ask them. I talk to the kids one-on-one after an incident and have them explain to me what they did to see if they understand why it wasnât acceptable. We also make a plan for better behavior next time.
We use terms like âkind listeningâ and âgood choicesâ to help them later transition into kindergarten classes. We regularly review the meanings of these terms so they have a clear understanding of expected behaviors.
Threes, fours and five year olds tend to have a lot of disagreements. Instead of jumping in with the solution, I aim to guide them along to a natural solution that they come up with. It often goes as this,
I aim to be extremely mindful of language and word choices in my class, partly because our school is highly LGBTQ+ friendly, but because it creates an inclusive environment for the children and families. We use âgrown-upsâ in place of âparents'', and gender neutral pronouns as much as possible. In fact, we were wearing crowns one day and a young girl said, âIâm not a queen, Iâm a king!â
Free Social Experimentation
I donât hold my students to stereotypical gender roles. Boys are invited to play in home center, girls are invited to play with trucks. This is occasionally met by confusion among parents but once I explain that boys playing with dolls means theyâre learning to be dads, uncles, grandpas, cousins and future caregivers, and discover a general understanding of infant care, parents become more accepting.
I donât have any restrictions on dress up clothes and encourage all children to experiment accordingly. Sometimes, disagreements over whose turn it is to be âmommyâ or âdaddyâ come into play and I help them find a solution which often involves them taking turns playing the role of âmommyâ or âdaddyâ (meaning even the boys can play âmommyâ!)
I tell the children in my class just about everything that is scheduled to happen including if Iâll be out, where Iâm going if I have to step out of the room or if an event was canceled or moved to another day. Being transparent with the children helps them feel like they know everything thatâs going on, gives them an idea of whatâs going to happen, and helps them feel less in the dark on a day-to-day basis.
In a world of adults that struggle to control their emotions, itâs never been more important to encourage and teach children emotional regulation. We use a âcalm down cornerâ to give them a soft space to work through big emotions like anger, frustration and a general need for calm. I take a corner of the classroom, add a soft rug, some pillows and a few sensory bottles for the perfect âcalm down cornerâ. It takes a bit of time for children to understand itâs not a center to play in but a place to go for a few minutes when they need it. They naturally begin to phase out the corner as they mature.Â
Thereâs no such thing as an emotion thatâs not okay in our room. I tell students that itâs okay to feel angry, sad, disappointed, frustrated, happy, excited, scared, or anything theyâre feeling. Emotions arenât bad, just the negative actions that accompany them. Kids often tell me if theyâre angry at me for holding a boundary and I remind them itâs perfectly fine to feel that. Iâm here if they need help with it.
Do you have any practices that give you weird looks? Let me know!
