Running ahead: Critical Reflection 3 1

Critical Reflection 3

Anahi Toledo

HD 426

July 4, 2018
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The classroom plays a key element when it comes to children’s behavior. A teacher's

greatest tool to prevent behavior can come from classroom ideas and hacks. As chapter 7

explained, “Prevention is the best form of interventions” for any teacher. Not having to deal

with negative behaviors would be a utopia for some teachers, but in reality it is not always

possible; however, if a teacher uses preventive techniques the behaviors can significantly

diminish. A negative behavior is hard to predict because it can come from many things. A

teacher has to be very reflective and attentive to children in order for her to read the signals.

Most of the time preventive strategies are simple and quick. Some strategies include having

enough material, having things available for children to play, and even setting up simple rules

and songs for children to keep up with the schedule. Preventive strategies are effective when

they start early in the program, when they are continuous, appropriate, useful in a variety of

settings and real life examples (Kaiser, 2017, p. 120). A teacher can know if their classroom

arrangement is well done if the students are mostly engaged and are playing without too

much help from the teacher. The teacher can then observe and asses better the students and

find the key moments in which she can intervene to promote greater understanding and

learning of the child’s interest.

Teachers greatest way to arrange classroom in to have it child-centered. The best

method to do this is to fully think of children and how they respond and react to things. The

colors can set up an ambiance, so teachers should make it colorful and inviteful. The

arrangements of the areas is also key and the transitions within the curriculum. In order for

teachers to have more controlled transitions, the arrangement of the quiet areas and loud areas

is very important. This goes hand-in-hand with making the child feel welcome. This is very

important because it makes the classroom more inclusive just from the start.

When working with children who have high functioning Autism, ADHD and/or ADD, and

Oppositional Defiance Disorder behaviors teachers should always remember that not only
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them are special, but every child is and every child has their specific time to meet their

milestones in development. Something that I found in chapter 11 of the book is the

truthfulness of not only is anti-bias curriculum based on not being racist or sexist, but it has to

do with being equal with any child, even if the child has a special disability (Kaiser, 2017, p.

224). The book states that if the curriculum is based on fitting of the children then it will

work regardless of the culture, language, or disability. Also, something very important is that

I learned that teachers should try to model and teach these special children how to control

their emotions in order to help them calm down better in episodes of distress. Accepting

differences of children and being mode reflective in our teachings can help manage negative

behaviors.
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References:

Kaiser, Barbara, et al. Challenging Behavior in Young Children: Understanding, Preventing,

and Responding Effectively. Pearson, 2017.