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Chapter 5 Planning Programs that Prevent Discipline
Problems
Quote of the Day #1: You can discover more about a person in
an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
Plato
This chapter focuses on planning programs that prevent
discipline problems. I consider myself a "constructivist teacher".
I think students learn best when the information is meaningful to
them and the process engages their curiosity and exploration. I
want to encourage students to explore ideas and develop them,
rather than just acquire information. Practicing is one helpful way
we improve our skills. "We all get better at what we practice." is
one of the quotes I use to guide myself and the students I work
with. Therefore the assignments in the classes I teach tend to
emphasize actual real work or situations with children, so you can
try out new ideas or improve your current approach.
Constructivists align themselves with Piaget and believe
children are active learners; they learn more by “doing” than by
just “hearing” or just “watching”. For many Child Development
college students, this will be a comfortable perspective. For
others, it may be a little different from what you remember as a
child or thought teaching was going to be. When I was growing up,
we had very little interactive schoolwork. It was mostly the
teacher at the board with all the students watching him or her as
we were told us about something. Then we would be given a written
assignment to do at our desk – such as to fill out a worksheet or
take a quiz. Fortunately, by the time my children were in school,
this had changed significantly. Classrooms were more active, with
children experimenting and working in small groups to figure out
answers to problems.
It is faster to cram information into our brains by just
listening, but it does not last as long as when we take the time to
really manipulate or explore. In this age, when information is
changing so rapidly, and when virtually everything is available at
our fingertips, I believe it is less important to memorize facts
(which will soon change) than it is to be able to observe, predict,
analyze and draw accurate conclusions. Would you rather have people
be able to solve global warming or to recite the planets in the
solar system as they memorized them in third grade? Should we
require children to memorize the bill of rights or to be able to
evaluate which ones apply to particular circumstances?
Thinking along these lines, HOW we teach is more important
than WHAT we teach. How we teach will help children develop skills
for thinking and creating for the rest of their lives. What we
teach is likely to be forgotten or outdated in a short period of
time. Constructivist teachers are working more for students to gain
thinking skills than for them to acquire information. A side
benefit is that when children are actively engaged, they are far
less likely to create problems or situations in the class which
require direct discipline.
Transitions are times when children move from one activity or
space to another. In a typical child care day there are generally
more than a dozen transitions. Successful teachers (and parents!)
plan transitions. They give warnings and follow routines. They have
fingerplays, songs, and stories readily available so children do
not have to wait with nothing to do. Put index cards with words, or
a list to remind you in your pocket. Keep books or other materials
in a good location near normal transition locations. Every day,
plan how you will help children make transitions. Many teacher sing
clean up songs or directions or always start circle with a familiar
song. Music can be a wonderful aid during transitions.
Lines: Teachers can avoid a lot of problems with young
children by avoiding “lining up”. Lines are un-natural and cause
discipline problems. If adults are going to move from one room to
another, we do not line up to do it. We gather in small groups, or
clusters, or walk separately to our destination. I would rather see
children learn to walk on the right to avoid crowding the space and
to walk without disturbing others than to walk in a straight line.
Straight lines are a military model for marching soldiers and
rarely necessary for children. Movement activities such as hopping
like a bunny, or playing at being a “choo choo train” can be good
methods when children have to go from one place to another.
Assignment
10.1 Real Materials
The textbook discusses the importance of using natural or real
materials that are meaningful to children. For this assignment,
create a list of "Real Materials" that might be included in the
following centers. Remember that these must be natural
materials.
Science
Mathematics
Blocks
Literacy
Art Home
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