Early Childhood - Connecticut State Department of Education

Decisions About Practice Chapter 3
• Provide a schedule that allows for active
and quiet, individual and small-group, indoor
and outdoor, independent, child-directed,
teacher-initiated and adult-directed
activities.
• Plan each day’s schedule to include opportunities
for learning in physical, social,
emotional and cognitive areas.
• Plan transition times to avoid children moving
in large groups or waiting for others.
• Monitor and adjust the daily routine to
create a comfortable, unhurried pace.
• Post a typical schedule for parents and
visitors.
• Create visual reminders (photos, drawings)
of the day’s sequence for children and
review it with them daily.
• Plan ahead. Be prepared for the unexpected
in the daily routine, and be flexible.
• Develop routines with children. Provide
signals and warning times so they can easily
participate in transitions.
• Allow time for children to assist one
another and develop independent learning
behaviors.
• Provide opportunities for self-selected
activities that promote independence and
decision-making skills.
Administrators
• Organize a master schedule for all classes to
ensure that each group has planned times
for common spaces.
• Review each class schedule with the
teaching team and provide suggestions to
ensure that group size, type and tempo of
activities are varied throughout the day.
• Allocate personal and planning time for
teachers.
• Help teachers develop systems for observing
and recording children’s progress.
• Work with faculty and staff members to
create community guidelines for outdoor
play and use of equipment.
• Develop emergency procedures with staff
input. Include information on first aid,
notifying parents and completing accident
reports. Provide training in first aid and
CPR.
• Provide playground guidelines to substitutes.
• Inform parents about playground safety.
41
ESTABLISHING A POSITIVE
CLASSROOM CLIMATE
Children often behave in certain ways as a means of
accomplishing a desired goal. Such goals include:
• getting attention;
• avoiding an activity;
• showing an emotion;
• gaining acceptance; and
• feeling competent and powerful.
Children’s behaviors may be explained as a
result of examining their circumstances. For example:
• the physical environment is unfamiliar, restrictive
or lacking in stimulation;
• materials are insufficient or lacking in variety;
• the child’s basic needs may be unmet because
of feelings of inadequacy, abuse or
hunger;
• curriculum and behavioral expectations are
inappropriate and frustrating; or
• cultural and family values may conflict.
Children also may attempt to communicate a
message with their behaviors. For example:
• This is too difficult;
• I don’t understand;
• I want something;
• I don’t know how or don’t want to wait; or
• I need attention (Strain and Hemmeter,
1997).
Once teachers determine what a child is trying
to communicate or achieve, they can better intervene
and, more importantly, examine how to prevent
the behavior in the future. The key to prevention is
knowledge, which must be gained through observation.
Careful observation and note taking should answer
the following: What takes place prior to the unwanted
behavior? What is the unwanted behavior? What
takes place as a result of the behavior? This method of
observing the antecedent, behavior and consequence is
often referred to as “ABC analysis” (Bijou, Peterson and
Ault, 1968).
Close examination makes it possible to reshape
the environment and anticipate so that a plan can be
created to intervene prior to the undesired behavior.
If it is not possible to intervene, an alternative is to
change the consequences following the behavior, and
teach the child a more appropriate way to achieve the
desired goal. For information on maintaining a positive
classroom environment, please read Chapter 10 of this