Overstressed teacher needs relief?

Question

I teach Head Start in a poor, struggling city. I have 19 kids in my class. Many have issues. I feel that the "good" children are almost ignored because I am chasing the "bad" ones. I feel that the teacher in me is being replaced with a cranky "classroom manager". I just dont have time to individualize. I dont have time to give TLC. I have too many students, for one. Also, there are no teacher breaks AT ALL during the work day. Please help!

Answer 1

Let me first say commend you for the work that you do. It does take a patient and loving person for that sort of work. I'm not sure what to suggest for in the classroom, but it sounds to me like you could use a nice relaxing day to your self at the spa! Take some time out for you!! : )

Answer 2

I agree with everything "Wondering" said....very informative. I would like to add a few ideas for you. Can you get a volunteer to help you or can you see if Head Start will get a teacher's aide? By having 2 adults with that many children it would free you both to handle 19 kids!
My son is in Pre-K now through our public school system and they have 20 kids with 2 teachers. I know Head Start is funded so maybe talk to your supervisor.
I commend you on trying to teach them, it is a good thing that you are doing....even if it doesn't feel like it.

Answer 3

My sympathies- your stress is oozing through my computer screen right now. First, take a deep breath (or two or a hundred...) and remind yourself why you got into this job in the first place.

Then take the advice that has helped me tremendously: Until you get the behavior under control, don't even worry about the academics- you'll be wasting your time.

Since you are with the children all day, you'll need to start by having your own schedule and routine. Make a general plan for each day and post it in the room. Generally it works best to use 30 minute blocks for each activity. Use a combo of pictures and words for each activity (the clip art from Word is a great resource). Once you have a general schedule for each day (calendar, snack, reading, game, etc.) your planning will amount to simply choosing the specific activity for each area.

Don't worry about individualizing until their behavior is under control and they're used to your routine. For now, focus on building the idea that they are a class, a group, a team- which means they work together. Play games like "Hot Potato" and "Duck, duck, goose" and "Hide the Button" (choose a large button that the children take turns hiding around the room, while one other child looks for it. THe remaining students give clues like "getting hotter/colder." Anyone who says where the button is loses their turn.) Also, do simple craft projects (look online), coloring sheets, let them draw in shaving cream, etc. They'll build group understanding through these activities, and it helps with behavior because they're fun, so the kids won't want to miss them. When they're good at getting along with this kind of work, then you can move on to the academics.

As far as the students' behavior, remind yourself that they're not doing this intentionally. EVERY child wants to get your attention, and they'll get it one way or another. So, as hard as it will be at first, focus on giving positive attention- comment on the child who says "thank you," the one who is sitting in his chair, the one who is looking at you. It may take awhile, but little by little more of the children will realize that being good can gain your attention and will start to do what you've asked.

Of course, there will always be the more difficult ones for whom this won't work. For them, arrange for a system of consequences- when they don't do what you asked, remind them of what is expected and then give them a chance to comply or recieve X consequence (being removed from the activity for 2 minutes is often helpful).

In the same way, giving the students a physical object when they're being good can encourage good behavior. The simpler the better- a piece of paper witht their name on it can become a treasured prize. They can bring them home at the end of each day to share the good things they did with their family.

It will take time- but choose your approach and stick with it. Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. And give your attention to the good kids at EVERY opportunity. Many of the others will eventually follow suit.

Good luck!

Answer 4

The best and most overlooked way to improve classroom education of any kind is to introduce the use of board games. I have taught for over ten years all over the world, and only when I use board games do students voluntarily insist on extending their classes for two, three, even four hours. Not only that, but they then show the most rapid improvement.
Check out the following websites for some useful background info.

http://www.rpg.net/sites/edu/1-1.html

http://www.rpg.net/sites/edu/1-2.html

http://subscriptions.fasfind.com/wwwtools/m/208.cfm

http://www.gama.org/uploads/nS/XX/nSXX7lbqv9r-V1glq3UvQg/GinEBrochure1.pdf

Give it a try and you will be amazed. At least you will be helping to break the monopoly that the big textbook publishers have over the education industry.

Answer 5

post this again on Yahoo answers, I may be able to help or on www.earlychildhoodnews.com sharing boards. there are alot of head Start teachers on that site and they can help. the site has alot of info, too. sounds like you site is not following performance standards, let alone state regs on classroom size to teacher ratio. earlychiildhoodnews.com has a link to find out how many kids you can have by yourself. where are you teaching? what state? also look at the site to give ya ideas lessons linked to Head Start performance standards that really develop social skills and acedemics.

Answer 6

you dont say where you are but in most states and in the head start program as a whole(i worked for them too for 8 yrs.) there are supposed to be at least 2 adults (teachers or aids) in the room and at least one more other adult (parent or community volunteer) also most states have set standards that if you are working with children under the age of 5 years you can only have 12-15 by yourself and if they are under 3 the amount is even smaller. go to your supervisor or check out your state regulations and maybe contact your local liscensing organization.

while you are working on the above information, try praising rather than chasing....went thru a program that preached praising....even for very little things to start with and then making the rewards go further and further apart (i used stickers and stamps) and then built up to daily charts and then to weekly ones. each year it usually took about 3-5 weeks for all of the children to come on board and all of us were much happier. at first you may feel very much like you are sugar coating but it does work.

i used this technique with a class of 17 ...10 of whom were diagnosed with add or adhd and 12 of whom were boys, and with the exception of one child who had several serious disabilities all of them were on board within 4 weeks and our class was a joy to participate in each day and by 2-3 weeks all of the childrens parents were telling us that they noticied definite differences in their children for the good. and 3 sets of parents actually took their children to the program i had gone to and were very thankful to have been directed to it.
good luck and keep trying.

you might also want to add how long you have been teaching and what state or city you are in it would be very helpful for all of us answering your questions

Answer 7

I'd suggest having your students play a quiet game. You could try to persuade them by using rewards. Make them your helpers by giving them positions such as line leader, weather person, and lunch menu reader. Switch these jobs off every few days to make it fair.
You could try having students from local high schools come over and help/mentor the kids. It will give you the day off, and the kids will get to meet some older and positive influences.

Good luck and thank you for your incredible work!

Answer 8

See if you can find a senior citizen home nearby that can lend some volunteers to come help you. Sometimes you can find retired teachers. When you have volunteers, try to break into smaller groups and give some indiviual attention. Also try to build a team spirit among the class by starting a class goal- something they can all accomplish by working together.

Answer 9

they have teacher interns and teacher's aid's that can help.... check with the county for information, most colleg students that are studying to become a teacher have over 1000 hours to complete their courses... check it out [these interns do not get paid so you should not have a problem with having them in your class [ heat start should have more than one teacher for that many kids.. head start is a federal and state program so they need to do something about this problem...

Answer 10

I know about Head start policies.
YOu are suppose to have at least 1 aide with you at all times. You are suppose to have a lunch break and at least one other break.
Have you talked to administration about this?
They are violating laws for not having an aide in the class and also no breaks.