Today....

[stacysmacy]

So today I had the class to myself for about 45 minutes. Now, granted they think that Miss Crook is playtime... I had to get strict or I was going to lose control. But I never screamed. I raised my voice and entered a tone that I didn't think would exist until I had children of my own blood.... but it happened. I regained control. This goes back to

Comments

[capesanblas]

yelling has it's places in education somtimes. For example, when a child is repeatedly hitting another child or throwing blocks at another child, yelling to surprise them into stopping and listening is useful. It is important to remember, however, that when being yelled at children hear nothing but the tone of voice. If you want to convey information, you have to drop your voice back down to normal talking.

In my classroom, if one kid calls out an answer, everyone calls out an answer. The only way I can make sure some of the kids are understanding what I'm talking about is to institute a hand raising policy. The main reason I do it is because we're in preschool and all of them don't understand taking turns talking. So many good answers get lost in the shuffle because I can't hear them, you know? That's my take on it. Of course, there are always activities that are okay for folks to yell out answers. What we are working on with my 4 year olds is determining when it's okay to blurt and when it is better to raise.