Center directors, owners, site supervisors, Head Start managers, and coaches… 

What if we’ve been leaving critical elements out of how we all think and talk about “challenging behavior” in early childhood programs in 2024? 

What if, to empower teachers for challenging behavior success we need to rethink things and step into a new kind of leadership in this area?

Teachers today - at least in the U.S. - are charged with more responsibilities than ever before. 

In early childhood these responsibilities can include…

Are you seeing more severe challenging behaviors in your program…from more children, more often…than ever before?

Do some of your long-time staff members say that the challenging behavior strategies they use just don’t seem to work like they used to?

Do you find yourself with the same children in your office - or walking down the hall to help - day after day, week after week…because teachers are at a loss of what to do?

Yet, when you, a coach, trainer, or specialist suggest new ideas some (many? most?) teachers seem to dismiss the ideas as unrealistic or something they’ve already tried?

Learning that circle time is not the best way to teach preschoolers changed my teaching. 

As you know many preschoolers (especially these days) resist coming to the rug, have trouble sitting still, roll around on the rug, interject “off topic” remarks or otherwise interrupt our plans.

It turns out that developmentally this is to be expected of 2-5 year olds.

But yet you may be required to hold these large group experiences.

Or, at the very least it’s customary in your program, center or school.

So what’s a teacher to do!?

I’m so excited to speak with you today.

If you’ve realized you’re in “reactive mode” with challenging behaviors…

(You feel like you’re putting out fires when it comes to behaviors in your classroom and you haven’t consistently been planning ahead to prevent repetitive behaviors.)

And, you’ve DECIDED to get out of reactive mode…..

If you feel like you’re putting out fires when it comes to challenging behavior you might be in “Reactive Mode”.

The biggest question I get about this is: How do I get out of reactive mode!?

Great question.

In my experience - based on when I was a preschool teacher and with what I see with our TCB Teachers’ Club members - the path to getting out of reactive mode is threefold.

Are you seeing challenging behaviors during transitions and large group times? 

• ignoring you or running around during clean up time

• refusing to come to large group

• verbally interrupting you or rolling around during story time

• power struggles that escalate to aggression stemming from scenarios like those above 

If so, I gently ask, could you be in ‘Reactive Mode’ when it comes to challenging behaviors at transitions and group times? 

If so: No shame. No blame. 

It happens to the best of us! It’s easy for this to happen. 

What does “reactive mode” mean?

During the years that I worked as a floating Preschool Special Ed Teacher, I realized that many early childhood teachers in a wide array of settings - from child care centers, to Head Start, to private or faith based preschools, to public school preK classrooms - were struggling with challenging behavior.

You are certainly not alone if this is you.

Let’s talk about the large group teacher-led experiences in your classroom…

Large Group. Group Time. Circle Time. Morning Meeting. Story Time. 

Remember I said in the last blog that NOW’s a great time to start thinking about your classroom transitions?

Well, it’s arguably just as important to start thinking about how your large group, teacher-led experiences went over the past year (and back in Aug/Sept when you had a new group)....

Sometimes in the hecticness of a school year it’s easy to just fall back on “the way we’ve always done it”.

BUT have you considered that making a few simple arrival time tweaks can catapult you and your class into a more regulated, engaged, joyful start to your year?

That’s because how our morning goes…often dictates how our day goes.

And, even if children and families arrive dysregulated and frazzled, you as the teacher are in a position to provide the environment, interactions and activities to set everyone up for a great day.

It’s not easy.

But it CAN be done!