Reducing the call of, "Teacher . . . Teacher" in early childhood settings

     Anyone who works in early childhood settings knows the call of "teacher  . . ." seems to always come when you are in the middle of something you can't walk away from. (Sometimes I swear young children have a radar)  Now, in my previous setting, I worked with 2-3 other teachers. I could easily make eye contact with a coworker and get help.

     In my current setting, I may or may not have an assistant to help me. And I have consistently had issues with a problem escalating before I could intervene. When you work with little ones all day, you start looking for solutions  . . . yesterday.

    I was looking through my go to articles and books on behavior and stumbled and cross this gem.

Http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2011/03/why_preschool_shouldnt_be_like_school.html

     It's long, but here's a summary. Children who are taught exactly how to do things make fewer attempts at problem solving. When teachers present toys and offer minimal assistance, children make significantly more attempts to solve problems on there own.

   This led me to wonder how broadly I could apply it in my setting. Would it work for solving problems like a dispute over toys? A little one who always forgot that he could reach the light if he got the stool? I had to test it.

    I took notes over a week and I discovered my biggest problem was, of course, disputes over toys. So I used two tools (A solution cube and a sand timer) and started my test.

     Solution cue cards: I cut them out, put them on a square tissue box, and covered the sides with
clear contact paper.

http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/ppt/solutkitcuecards.ppt

     So week 1 was "guiding" week. I had done some direct teaching with the solution cube so the kids knew what it was, but the kids were still asking for my help far more often than they were working it out.  Each time a conflict came up, I asked the kids questions (at their level) with the cube nearby.  "she wants a turn. What should we do?"  This got the kids looking at the cube and thinking about options.  And I'm happy to report, two weeks in, there are far less cries of "teacher" over toy disputes.

     I was able to apply this same strategy with two kids who call me into to help them turn reach the light multiple times a day. (There is a stool) As soon as I changed my behavior from showing them how to put the stool in place to asking each time, "what can you use to reach the light?" I stopped getting called to help with the stool.

     I am all for using strategies that make my job a little easier and help young children become critical thinkers in the process. ;-)