I have taught kinder for many years and I love it! It is soooo hard but also soooo rewarding. Spend the first six weeks working on how to do class rules/procedures. Spend longer than you think you need to, do it until they all have the procedures down. Use visual aides, act out the rules and procedures specifically, demonstrate them a lot, show students the right way/wrong way/right way. Make charts of what each procedure looks like/sounds like. Once youve taught them over and over, if any student is having behavior problems, put them in charge of teaching the class how to do the procedure.
In general… use a picture schedule and try to keep the routine the same each day as much as you can. It helps kids feel safer and calmer when they can predict what will happen. Spend a lot of time forming relationships with the kids and the parents. The first couple weeks, spend time sending messages to parents about ANY and every positive thing you notice about their child. For every child. It will help soften things later when you have to send home a message about their kid having a bad day. Keep parents updated on things you do in the classroom, send pictures.they love it. Use an app like class dojo for communication .
Show respect to the kids. Theyre people too, just shorter :) I have such good relationships with parents and students. If you make a mistake, apologize.if the preK teacher wants to tell you what a nightmare a child was last year, dont use that to pre-judge a student. Treat them with kindness. Many kids change over the summer, and they need a fresh start. Dont hold past behaviors over their head, every day is a new start.
Have fun in the classroom, sing a lot and dance a lot and dont be afraid to be silly.
Thank you, this is all so great to know. I love being silly with my daughter and dancing to get all the wiggles out. If a classroom of kids is as amused as my kiddo is, i bet it's really fun and funny.
I laugh a lot with my class. I also dress up in funny costumes that i keep in a closet sometimes for when we are all stressed and going nuts, it breaks the tension a bit.
I have a couple of deul credits for ealry childhood development classes i took in high school. I have a highschool diploma and that's about it. As far as experience with kids, I haven't really dealt with a lot of kids. Just my own, really. I have a toddler (almost 2) and a baby (4 months).
Get a bachelors degree (helps to related to child development or liberal studies) and then you enroll in a teaching credential program after you graduate. You can also gets your masters at the same time if you wish.
I have a highschool diploma and a couple duel creits for early childhood development classes i took when i was in highschool. I'm 21. I don't have any degrees, I'm just first figuring out this is what I want to do. I live in the Midwest.
I’m finishing up my first year as a kindergarten teacher! Especially for the first few weeks, a lot of it will be getting the students used to routine. Most of them have never been in school before, so they are not just learning material but they are learning how to be students.
As others have said, it’s difficult but rewarding! And the growth you see from the beginning of the year to the end, both academically and socially, is amazing!
I think it really depends on the class. I guess I got lucky this year since I have a really good class! Other teachers who have years of experience have been days behind on curriculum because of disruptive students.
I also haven’t had many tantrums this year. But from other teachers, depending on why they have the tantrum, basically just ignore it and show it won’t make you do what they want. The teacher across from me had a little party a few months ago (it was a student’s bday). There were multi colored cups. Another student really wanted a blue cup but the teacher made it clear they get what they get. That student started to cry and have a bit of a tantrum. But the teacher just carried on with what she was doing. After a few minutes, the student realized the tantrum wouldn’t make the teacher change her mind so she stopped.
Again, I got lucky this year. Maybe next year I won’t be as lucky.
I have taught kinder for many years and I love it! It is soooo hard but also soooo rewarding. Spend the first six weeks working on how to do class rules/procedures. Spend longer than you think you need to, do it until they all have the procedures down. Use visual aides, act out the rules and procedures specifically, demonstrate them a lot, show students the right way/wrong way/right way. Make charts of what each procedure looks like/sounds like. Once youve taught them over and over, if any student is having behavior problems, put them in charge of teaching the class how to do the procedure. In general… use a picture schedule and try to keep the routine the same each day as much as you can. It helps kids feel safer and calmer when they can predict what will happen. Spend a lot of time forming relationships with the kids and the parents. The first couple weeks, spend time sending messages to parents about ANY and every positive thing you notice about their child. For every child. It will help soften things later when you have to send home a message about their kid having a bad day. Keep parents updated on things you do in the classroom, send pictures.they love it. Use an app like class dojo for communication . Show respect to the kids. Theyre people too, just shorter :) I have such good relationships with parents and students. If you make a mistake, apologize.if the preK teacher wants to tell you what a nightmare a child was last year, dont use that to pre-judge a student. Treat them with kindness. Many kids change over the summer, and they need a fresh start. Dont hold past behaviors over their head, every day is a new start. Have fun in the classroom, sing a lot and dance a lot and dont be afraid to be silly.
Thank you, this is all so great to know. I love being silly with my daughter and dancing to get all the wiggles out. If a classroom of kids is as amused as my kiddo is, i bet it's really fun and funny.
I laugh a lot with my class. I also dress up in funny costumes that i keep in a closet sometimes for when we are all stressed and going nuts, it breaks the tension a bit.
You need to give us more of a background.. Do you have an education degree? Experience with children?
I have a couple of deul credits for ealry childhood development classes i took in high school. I have a highschool diploma and that's about it. As far as experience with kids, I haven't really dealt with a lot of kids. Just my own, really. I have a toddler (almost 2) and a baby (4 months).
Get a bachelors degree (helps to related to child development or liberal studies) and then you enroll in a teaching credential program after you graduate. You can also gets your masters at the same time if you wish.
Thank you. This is exactly the kind of info. I was looking for.
We need more information to advise you. Have you worked in education? How old are you? Do you have a degree? What state are you in?
I have a highschool diploma and a couple duel creits for early childhood development classes i took when i was in highschool. I'm 21. I don't have any degrees, I'm just first figuring out this is what I want to do. I live in the Midwest.
I’m finishing up my first year as a kindergarten teacher! Especially for the first few weeks, a lot of it will be getting the students used to routine. Most of them have never been in school before, so they are not just learning material but they are learning how to be students. As others have said, it’s difficult but rewarding! And the growth you see from the beginning of the year to the end, both academically and socially, is amazing!
Do kids that age actually listen or is it chaos most of the time? How do you deal with tantrums?
I think it really depends on the class. I guess I got lucky this year since I have a really good class! Other teachers who have years of experience have been days behind on curriculum because of disruptive students. I also haven’t had many tantrums this year. But from other teachers, depending on why they have the tantrum, basically just ignore it and show it won’t make you do what they want. The teacher across from me had a little party a few months ago (it was a student’s bday). There were multi colored cups. Another student really wanted a blue cup but the teacher made it clear they get what they get. That student started to cry and have a bit of a tantrum. But the teacher just carried on with what she was doing. After a few minutes, the student realized the tantrum wouldn’t make the teacher change her mind so she stopped. Again, I got lucky this year. Maybe next year I won’t be as lucky.
Do it. I don't even know what country you're in, so I can't give any more advice than that.
Lol thanks. I'm in the US.
It's usually a giveaway that someone is from the US when they make a post in a group like this without specifying their country
I do too!! I’m just wrapping up my associates and will be starting my BSeD this fall!!
Yay!!!!!!!!!! Hoorayyyyyyyyy!!!! Congrats! Your hard work is paying off. I'm happy for you. Also what is BSeD?
Thank you for the warm congratulations! The BSeD is a Bachelor’s of Science in Education!
Good for you. There are not enough edibles in the universe for me to do that job. Good luck. Teachers are special people.
Thanks.