Preschool, Expectations & Consequences

Observations

-All assistant teachers arrived on time.*

-Teacher was very exact about how class should be handled.*

-Not allowed to scold, punish, or correct in stern voice? Interesting...*

-Students begin to enter classroom with their parents. All students seem pretty happy until they see our new faces. Some students are more welcoming than others. Many stay away..

-As we begin the activity, students get more comfortable with new teachers. Some smiles!

-Circle Time is very hectic. Not much order, students jumping out of their seats, a lot of calling out, hard to make much progress. Are students learning much?*

-Snack time WAY more orderly than circle time- maybe students were hungry? 

Observations and Notes

-I've highlighted a few of my observation points to talk a bit more about in detail. I loved that the teacher was very exact and specific about her expectations for the class and how it should be run. It set a great tone for her new assistant teachers (us), and we knew what was expected of us which then provided little room for failure (providing we followed the rules). I was a bit taken aback about consequences and how the school views them. From my previous experience, I believe that expectations should be set for the faculty as well as students. Though the students in this class are quite young, I think more would be covered if more rules were put into place. In my opinion, "Jake, why did you decide to hit Mark?" shouldn't be the way we handle a hitting conflict. Jake should be told why hitting Mark is wrong, explain that it shouldn't occur again, and then have Jake apologize. If it did occur again, in my opinion, Jake should have a time-out or not be allowed to participate in snack time so that he understands that what he did was wrong, and it isn't allowed.

Since many expectations weren't set for the students, Cirlce Time was a complete disaster! Students refused to sit in their assigned spots, many weren't listening, and the students who were trying to pay attention were having extreme difficulty. I strongly believe that there should have been expectations set in place along with small consequences to run a tighter ship. 

Thoughts on expectations and consequences for young students?