Interactive Rule Board - Preschool Classroom Management Idea
"A picture is worth ten thousand words." With my (Kayla's) preschool class at church, this seems to be right on target. As a new teacher, paired with an even newer assistant teacher, we had grand ideas that our beginning of the year talks about the displayed church approved rule sheets would get our kiddos' attention, effectively squelching any desire to misbehave in the classroom or during chapel. However, it hit me later, after continued behavioral infractions, that the students weren't actually connecting with the printed rule sheets or even with my attempts to verbally 'review the rules'. Don't get me wrong, my kids are smart and they know how they're supposed to behave in chapel. What they needed was a way to take ownership of the behavior expectations.
Enter the above poster. I didn't want to continue simply reading at them; rather I wanted them to participate in the process. So I added some graphic "cues" and the results were great! Each class, on our way to chapel, I invite the kiddos to read the poster with me. For some, who haven't had much experience with reading, this is a huge achievement and you can tell they get a boost of confidence! I have noticed that there is most certainly a difference between simply hearing something versus reading it yourself; participation invites connection! At some point, I'm sure we'll be able to skip the poster, but I find they behave so much more respectfully when they have a fresh reminder of what is expected of them.
[On a side note ~ one little girl's father was late picking her up and, after she had assisted me where she could in my post-class clean-up, I encouraged her to visit the library or select a puzzle to do. On her way, I noticed that she'd stopped by the new poster and was reading it to herself! How adorable is that?!]
