Does anyone have any tips for gaining control in a class room of two year olds?

Question

I am a new lead teacher. This class has had high turnover of teachers. I love these children but am having a hard time getting them to follow my directions, however they listen to the teachers who have been in the center for a while. Any ideas?

Answer 1

I think the best way to gain and keep control over toddlers (aka mini tornado's)  is to have an established routine that is followed everyday. and if a child gets out of line there needs to be consequences for their actions....make up a big board with your classrooms rules and the consequences (make them easy to understand) on what will happen if they do not follow the rules...have the kids put in their input too.  you need to establish to the kids that you are the leader and what you say goes, if you are a softy and let one kid get away with it one day and another gets in trouble for it the next day you are not giving them a clear message and they will be confused.....kids take advantage of the "newbies" I have yet to meet a kid who hasn't tried it.....lol stick to your rules be consistent and they will come to respect you.

just my humble opinion and I would sit in on my son's early intervention preschool and saw how his teacher worked. the kids adore her...they have tons of fun, but yet they know they can't get away with anything either.

Answer 2

It's very hard overall to just control the whole classroom so small segments of trying different activities always help.  A big hit with my kids were animal cards and they would have to guess the animals and the sound they make.  They loved visuals - also - this sounds strange but I sang a song called Red & Yellow Pink & Green - I can paint a rainbow and I went around and pointed to the colors on their clothes when I sang the song - alot of stimulation at this age is what they need even though  you're drained at the end of the day!

Answer 3

This can be a very hard age to deal with but try several things and see what works best . Turn out the lights and say 1,2,3, all eyes on me and then tell the children what you need them to do . You should say things like Mary is being a good listener and reward Mary with a sticker  so that the other children see what type of behavior gets rewarded and what type of behavior doesn't , but don't always give the children something , sometimes just saying things like I like how Ben used his words when he wanted to play with Marys bear works . If there are some children that refuse to listen to you start taking outside time away from them or try time outs , talk to their parents or send them to the director . Try several things out and see what works best for your class

                                           - Good Luck

Answer 4

Flicking the ligths on and off gets old really quick (but the first couple of times it will get their attention). Ringing a medium or small bell proved most effective in my classroom.

Also, have them ALL follow simple instructions like "put your hands on your head, shoulders, waist....." and then move to the head.."put your hands on your ears, eyes, nose...." and finish with a soft voice with "hands on your mouth". Start with a loud voice and finish very quietly....it will get their attention.

Once they quiet down give your instructions and resume your work.

Hope it helps!

Answer 5

It sounds like you need to establish solid relationships with the children...then they will 'listen' to you.  Try to focus on building those relationships and not giving them so many directions.  Do things like praise...don't say 'good job' but say things like "Wow!  It's circle time and you came right to circle and sat down!  That's really following directions!"  Be VERY specific in your praise telling them EXACTLY what they did that was 'good'.  Also, try to enter their play and let them be the boss of the play.  Follow their lead and do not use this as 'quiz' time (e.g. 'what color is this?'  how many are there?  etc)  Instead, if you want to try to teach academics in play say things like, 'Could you hand me the yellow Leggo' or  "Let's find the big doll with the brown hair."  Finally, another great relationship builder is to just be a 'play by play' person to the child.  Simply describe exactly what they are doing without putting 'value' on it.  For example..."Oh..you're picking up the yellow crayon.  I wonder what you will do with that...Oh...wow...you're going back and forth on the paper with the yellow...oh!  You're putting it away, i wonder what is next..." that kind of thing...don't say "you're drawing a person" or any kind of interpretation...just describe what they are doing.  Once they like you and have a good relationship, you will be able to give directions that they follow.  Good luck.

Answer 6

Ok all you gotta do is say before you start " who ever does the best wins"and when thy are done you say aww it a tie or let some one win they love winning trust me my moms a teacher

Answer 7

Authority.  You don't want to be 'friends' with the children.  You don't want them to like you.  That out of the way, you need authority in the classroom.  They need to know you are the boss.  Continue from there.......

Answer 8

Try puppets.  

Start with a shy little bunny or kitten or puppy and hide the puppets face.  Tell them to come to the group quietly, because if they scare the bunny, for example, you will need to put him back in his box because he is afraid.  When they get quiet, which they will do, let the puppet stick out his head.  Let them take turns petting the puppet and then tell  them you will put the puppet where he can watch them do their activities.  If they start to get noisy or quit paying attention, tell them the puppet is afraid and will need to go back in his box if they don't get quiet.  If they make it until snack time let them feed the puppet pretend food.

For story time tell a story about the puppet (whatever animal it is).  Let the puppet whisper in your ear telling you to thank them for being so nice during his visit.

Bring different puppets occasionally.  (You can find great puppets at second hand stores.  Throw them in the washer and hang them up to dry.  Even the ones that say surface washable only do well as long as you don't put them in the dryer.  That mats their fur.)

Have fun with the children.  They know it is a game and it is not a real animal.  They like to pretend along with you.  

This will help the children get to know you and they will know that you are a fun person, but you expect them to listen.

Answer 9

My daughter's class uses a system of flicking the lights on and off.  They know that it is time to change activities and get quiet when the lights are turned on and of 3 or 4 times.  It seems to work.

Answer 10

If you went to school to be a teacher, shouldn't you know how to run a classroom???  Or can't you get some direction from the teachers who they do listen to?

Answer 11

Have you tried singing a song?

When i was in preschool my teacher would always sing a song she made up for sitting in circle, cleaning up or something like that, and it seemed to always work!

=D

Answer 12

Do some kind of annoying sound that everybody hates.  Like a high pitched whistle, or fingernails on a chalk board.  Buy one of those bells (u know, like if you go into a store and there's no one there, you hit that bell to alert the staff someone is there, it sits on the counter and for the life of me i can't think of what its called).  Let them know that if they continue to be rowdy they will continue to hear those sounds.