What do you do with a bunch of unruly preschoolers?

Question

I am a preschool teacher (4-5 yr old Pre-K class) and I have a particularly difficult group right now. There are several rowdy boys (6-7 in a class of 18) and they set the tone for the class. I am not able to use "peer pressure" or positive reinforcement methods with them because they do not respond. They don't care if I say "Sara is sitting nicely." It doesn't make them want to do it. I can't sit there and wait for them to be quiet, because they never will. They will just keep playing and running around the room. They hit each other, make messes and refuse to clean them up, use potty language in the classroom, run away from me, the list goes on and on. I am a teacher with 14 years' experience and have never had a group that didn't respond to ANY of the recommended discipline and guidance techniques. It's very frustrating- I feel like I'm not teaching anything because I'm spending most of my time redirecting the class. Any hints or suggestions before I lose my mind?

Answer 1

I'm sorry you are having a tough time. You probably are not teaching very much since both you and the other children are being so distracted. Just tell yourself that this is affecting everyone, and it is okay to just STOP teaching if you have to, in order to deal with this situation. You might even have to go back to the beginning and re-establish your role, the rules and consequences. Pretend it's the first day of school again.
Here are some general ideas that have helped me:

1. Find out what they want and take it away:

Do they thrive on attention from you? Don't give them any. When you have to discipline, be as calm and discreet as possible.

Do they thrive on attention from each other? Separate them. See if your director or another teacher can take a child when he is particularly unruly. Then AS SOON as you see a negative behavior--remove them from the classroom.

Do they want control? Give them choices that YOU can live with. For example, if they use a bad word, say, "Do you want to say that again using nicer words, or do you want to sit by yourself? (If they won't sit by themselves, unsupervised, don't give them that choice. Maybe they could go sit with another teacher instead.)

2. Make sure they understand what will happen if they misbehave. Give them predictable consequences. For example, when they make a mess, don't let them do anything until it is cleaned up. You might have to go to extremes to let them know that you are serious. If it is outside time, have your director or someone else sit with them in the classroom while they clean up instead of going outside. If it is time to go home, leave the mess and make them clean it up the next day, first thing.

3. Just remember that you cannot control what these children do. Only they can control their behaviors. Your job is to set it up so that they WANT to behave nicely. Make life miserable for them if they are bad, and glorious if they behave.

4. Be as predictable and as consistant as possible. Once you know they understand the consequences, don't let them get away with anything! The phrase, "If you do that again..." should never leave your mouth. Get them on their first offense.

5. Hang in there! It may seem like an overwhelming challenge right now, but it will get better little by little. Take it one day at a time--even one situation at a time! Remember they have to re-learn what to expect in your classroom. Focus on the most distracting or dangerous behaviors first (like hitting or running away from you). Take time to think about what your consequence will be and then just wait for it to happen. They'll learn.

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 2

Have a sticker system where all the class start with 5 smiley faces and can add to them or lose them as the day goes on (or if they are very badly behaved start again after break and lunch. If the lose all their smiley faces they miss play time or some other immediate punishment every one who gets more than ten gets a sticker to wear. The person with the most gets a big badge to wear home that says 'Star of the day'. Fix it so different children get the star of the day. Really try to give stickers on your chart as much as you can, you have had lots of experience you know children respond to praise but at the moment a counter-culture has grown up where they are getting their 'praise' from the unruly group. I agree that lots more PE might help. Boys mature later and need far more exercise than many people realise. As a class project I would do healthy eating and get every one to keep a food diary for a week. Have a look at what your 'bad boys. eat for breakfast. We once improved a child's behaviour by suggesting she didn't drink coca cola for breakfast!

Answer 3

Time to request a parent teacher meeting. Since the boys don't seem to respond to any possitive reinforcement, have their parents observe their behavior. Or at least come to an agrement on how to handle it. We have students that misbehave write standards. These could be classroom standards. Another suggestion is try and find out what interest them (ie pokemon, digimon etc) Try and establish a reward for good behavior or don't allow them to partisipate in a special class event. Does your school allow you to refer these students to another room for a bit? I know we tried this at our school and with some students it did work. I am sure if you communicate with the parents you'll discover something that can help. Or, try assiging the responsibilities. Like drawing the art work for the bullitin board. Maybe you need to discover a way to refocus their energy. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 4

my preschool sends what we call sad notes home to the parents explaining the dicipline problems!and to back that up in case the child throws it away they also have a special place in their folder for the teacher and parents to send notes back and forth.if that doesnt work set up a teacher parent conference.for the mean time set up a time out place in the class room where the student has to sit facing an empty space with something blocking the sight of the class and blocking the class from seeing him sorda a make shift wall!if thatdoesnt work send them to the office!

Answer 5

This can be very frustrating. If I were you, I would focus them on activities that "wear them out" physically. Kids have so much energy bundled up that it's like torture for them to have to sit and focus on being quite, or sitting nicely. Once their physical energies are spent a little bit, they should be more cooperative.

You might also want to focus your "problem group" on class room leadership. In other words, involve them in being your "helpers". This puts them in the position of accountability without spotlighting their disruptions.

Answer 6

Theoretically sure. But you'll be able to consume plenty much less meals in case your most effective consuming junk meals for that quantity of energy. Youll commonly be hungry rather mainly so one can lead you to consume extra. I perfer to consume healthful meals that you'll be able to consume alot extra of so your fuller longer.

Answer 7

seperate them one by one they will leave the room. You dont sound like you know what your doing.