Hailey Carr
April 19, 2016
Guiding Children’s Behavior

Guiding Strategies Observation

I noticed throughout the day, one of my co-teachers uses many guidance strategy tools in order to keep the day flowing smoothly. One day, we were all going to be getting ready to go outside and play, since it was sunny and warm. My co-teacher, who works with the preschoolers, begins to get her children ready to go outside first, since most of them are able to get dressed by themselves. One of the children begins to grab everyone’s boots and coats and throw them into the center of the rug. My co-teacher sees this, gets down at the child’s level, looks him in the eyes, and says, “Why don’t you grab your boots and coat instead? Your friends are able to find theirs when they have finished using the bathroom.” This child then said, “But I can’t find them!” So my co-teacher then said, “Well, have you checked in your bag? I think I see a sleeve sticking out.” The boy looked up at her, smiled, and went and found his boots and coat and proceeded to put them on. My co-teacher then proceeded to tell the children to sit down on the rug and wait for their names to be called to line up at the door to go outside. When one of the children tried to go before their name was called, my co-teacher explained to him, “I’m sorry, but I did not call your name yet. You need to wait until you hear your name before you may line up.”
One thing I really notice, if the use of clear positive directions, especially when it comes to transitions – this one in particular, where you have many children trying to get themselves ready to go outside and work off some energy, and some children can become anxious while waiting for their peers to finish getting themselves ready. She uses clear, positive directions in order to let the children know what their jobs are and what is expected of them in any