14. Have you tried to give single children/groups special tasks around the classroom, caring for the flowers, to help younger classmates and so on. "We really need your help today!" can be a nice welcome phrase to a child: - )
15. Do you give the children something nice to look forward to? (That's a very different thing than the covered threats that some teachers use: "If you don't listen, you will not get a candy..." I wouldn't listen to such a teacher - I'd go and play! I don't belive a teacher saying such things has anything to tell me that I do not know already - even if I was three years old! Handing out candies is not a way to get children interested in you! Sharing a piece of interesting knowledge with them, though, can be made into a GREAT ADVENTURE!!! : - )
16. Do you keep your promises to them? Promises are keepsakes!
17. DO YOU TRY TO NOTICE AND SOLVE CONFLICTS BETWEEN CHILDREN AS SOON AS THEY OCCUR? "Free play" should be supervised closely but discreetely by teachers so that fair rules are kept and up-held. Neglecting these things will most likely create problems in class sooner than you think!
18. Do you show every single child in class that you care for him/her? EVERY DAY?!
19. Do you let the children play out-doors enough? Many children need to move around quite a lot in these ages!
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21. Do you give the children a mix of nice well-known things that they are familiar with and like + a daily little dose of exciting new thoughts? : - )
22. Back to the usual stuff - still concidering what's mentioned above, these basic things cannot be left out of our list: Should you change grouping of children to make things work better?
23. Can you think of any individual problems that the child might have that make it difficult for him to adapt to normal class behaviour? (MBD, some sorts of untreated allergies + the usual things.)
24. Has the child got anything in his social background that makes his adaption to normal class life difficult?
25. Does the child need special help, provided by professionals within or outside the school orginazition? This must not be over-looked as an option. A child who needs help should get it too!
Handicapped children can sometimes be integrated in usual classes. That's nice! As a teacher you simply concentrate on developing his healthy sides: - )
Do you have any comments? Tell me!
Helene Ibrahim