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Classroom Management for Preschool

Class norms

Starting the school year off right begins with having a good set of class norms, classroom procedures, quality transition plans, and reasonable expectations. A good way to create a safe environment and prevent some behavioral issues in the class is to have class norms. Many of our class norms come from the PBIS used at our school.

• I will be kind and courteous to others by always using proper language.
• I will keep hands, feet and objects to myself.
• I will respect and take care of school property.
• I will walk on the sidewalks and in the hallways.

Other norms we have for the classroom includes: having the students put their backpacks and things away in the cubby when they come into the classroom. Line up when we leave to and from the classroom. We use our inside voices and listening ears.

Procedures

Establishing good procedures helps to implement our class norms. Our procedures inform students how we would like to see class norms done. One of the procedures we have is for when students leave the classroom. Students are to put their name tag on a board we have near the door before lining up to go to recess, lunch, the library etc. Another procedure helps students practice taking turns. Students are to raise their hand if they would like to share their ideas during discussions. When we are walking in the hallways our procedure is to have the line leader stop at the end of the hall way or another specific teacher's door before moving on or turning the corner. We also have a procedure for the norm using inside voices. When students are conversing and the voice levels get too loud we ring a bell. When the students hear the bell they are to hold up their coyote ears. This is to remind the students to use inside voices.

How we teach norms and procedures

When teaching norms and procedures the first week of school we do a lot of modeling and chunking of instructions. For example, one of the very first norms and procedures we taught was how to put our belongings away when we arrived to class in the morning. The first day there is usually a lot of crying and time spent comforting students but we did take the time out to start setting the norms and procedures from the very first day. According to Van Alst there are essentially three steps for teaching procedures

1. Explain
2. Rehearse
3. Reinforce

To help explain our morning procedure we sang a song while we modeled putting our backpack and things away. We used a song to help us model this norm because for this age we knew using song would help the students learn and remember the norm and procedure. We rehearsed this norm everyday until the students got it and we still reinforce it when we see some students do the drop and run to the toy area when they come in.

The cubby song

We put our things away things, things away.

In our cubbies they will stay, they will stay.

We put our things away

so they'll be safe for the day.

Oh we put our things away, things away.

Students working on writing at the writing center.

Besides modeling and chunking instructions we also use many visual aids to help our young students, who are beginning to learn to read and write, learn and remember the class norms and procedures. For example we used pictures with words to help students remember to walk in the classroom, how to treat each other and where to do certain activities. Like writing in the writing center and not on the walls or the floor.

Managing Transitions

Transitions tend to be the more challenging parts of the day and can be frustrating for students and teachers. According to Butler & Ostrosky difficulty with transitions can occur for a number of reasons, such as when children are tired, hungry, confused, or not ready to end an activity.

In order to help make transitions smooth we have looked at some of the problems and used strategies to correct them. For example, during a transition from carpet time to recess some students were waiting a while for other students to line up properly to go outside. We have turned transitions into a fun time rather than a strict task of following rules. We play I spy and the color game when we are lining up in order to go to recess. This helps students move a little quicker to join the game and also gives students who are waiting something to do. Other strategies we are using are having materials set out and ready for the activity or lesson as well as setting a reasonable time for transitions to be complete. For example, art materials and writing journals are already set out for the day so that students can grab their materials as part of the transition instead of waiting for students to be seated and then gathering and passing out the materials. We also give advance warning of when a transition is going to happen. We give the "five minutes" call to let students know a transition is coming up. For slower moving students I go to them individually and announce their clean up time earlier than five minutes. I also ask them to help other students during transition times to keep them on track.

Setting High Expectations

Superhero number chart. Students can see how they are meeting the expectations through this number system.

We set high expectations for our students by modeling them everyday. At the beginning of the school year it is communicated to the parents and the students what the expectations are for the class. The first day we use pictures and modeling to explain our expectations. We show the students what we would like to see them do. For example, when writing in our journals we show the students examples of what we would like to see. We show that the writing is neat, that the paper is not ripped, and that the paper does not have erasure holes in it. We use examples throughout the school year of what we expect so that the students know and are able to be held accountable for meeting the expectations. We also follow a superhero number system so that students are aware of where they are at in meeting the class expectations everyday. Another strategy is to reward students for meeting the expectations. Like putting smiley faces on a students paper to show that they provided what the teacher asked for.

Limitations and Benefits of Strategies

The limitations of the class norms and procedures we use for preschool, for older grades, is the establishing and implementing of them. With the preschoolers many of the class norms and procedures are established by the teachers. Unlike older grades who will use collaboration of students and teachers to help create class norms and procedures. The benefits of the strategies like modeling and using visual aids for class norms and procedures is that it gives each student an opportunity to learn what will be expected of them in an easy to learn way. For older students this way of learning class norms and procedures may be too basis and create behavioral issues with students not feeling respected/ or treated their age. The strategies for managing transitions works for all grade levels. Giving warning signals and picture charts or written schedules helps students of all ages know what is coming next and allows students to better plan and prepare themselves for changes in instruction. For example, older students can benefit from having a clean up chime for science labs just as preschoolers can benefit from having a clean up chime to move from art to recess. One limitation of a strategy like having materials ready in managing transitions, for older students, is they are limited in their autonomy. For older students the gathering of materials for a science project or group project may be part of the class' high expectations and helps students feel like they are independent and can help manage their time during transitions. Students of all grade levels can benefit from the strategies of setting high expectations. When high expectations are set in the class and students are held accountable for meeting those expectations the students' performance is better. On the other hand a strategy like rewarding students for meeting expectations can be a limitation for older students in that they may not perform as well if they feel like they do not like a reward they received or they may chose to only meet the expectations if they feel like they will get a reward for it

Effectiveness of strategies

The strategies of modeling, using visual aids, and singing songs to learn and reinforce class norms and procedures helps to create a safe and equitable learning environment for all students. The strategies for managing transitions helps to cut down transition times which decreases frustration in students and teachers. Turning transitions into fun time with games or making an activity part of the transition process helps students stay engaged throughout the day and feel like they are part of a group when the transition is complete helps create a positive classroom climate. Lastly strategies like modeling expectations and holding students accountable for those expectations helps students use positive behavior and try their best to meet expectations. Rewards for meeting expectations can also motivate students to continue to meet expectations regardless of rewards which also helps to create a positive classroom climate. The use of all these strategies allows students to decide how they will contribute to the classroom environment and is aimed at all students providing a positive attitude to the environment.