BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS
Boredom
1. Gifted children learn faster and complete assignments in less time than their peers. The Maclean County Unit 5 Gifted Program's website explains that, as a result, they spend a lot of time being bored in class. They may display aggressive behavior because they are frustrated by this boredom or they want to entertain themselves.
Defensiveness
2. Sometimes gifted children stand out in a crowd. They feel different than other children and may become the brunt of other children's teasing as a result. According to the National Council for Gifted Children, gifted children sometimes turn to aggression in order to defend themselves from other children.
Perfectionism
3. Some gifted children are perfectionists; others just like things to be correct and orderly all the time. The National Council on Gifted Children reports that when someone else makes a mistake, "[gifted children] may not be very good at discussing it reasonably and may get angry or anxious about it, particularly if they are perfectionists."
Misunderstandings
4. Gifted children do not always pick up on social cues. In a game with other children, they may take the play-fighting of the other kids to an aggressive level because they do not understand that they have crossed a line socially. The National Council on Gifted Children adds that, "sometimes gifted children fit in by becoming the class clown or they defend themselves by becoming aggressive or rude to other children."
Frustration Buildup
5. By the end of the day, a gifted child may have silently endured a variety of frustrations due to all the thoughts warring in her mind, her classmates' inability to learn things quickly, or even the mistakes her teacher has made. After dealing with frustration all day she may become aggressive.
Intervention
References
SOLUTIONS
Rewards
Rewards are always an excellent way to encourage behavior. Simple things can be extremely effective motivators. For example, you can give each student a behavior chart with space for stickers, and students can earn stickers for their charts by demonstrating appropriate behaviors. You can determine exactly how students earn rewards. Some teachers may give each student a reward at the end of the day for appropriate behavior, and some teachers may give rewards more arbitrarily, such as when a student displays a kindness to a classmate, when another teacher compliments your class' behavior.
Praise
Praise could be classified as a reward, but in early childhood classrooms, praise often functions as a classroom management tool on its own. Students crave praise from their teachers, and often praising one child for a behavior not only serves to reinforce that behavior in that particular child but also in other students who desire to be praised in the same way. Offering praise for an appropriate behavior also means that you will spend less time overtly asking students to do what you want. For example, if you observe a child sitting quietly, you may say, "I really like the way Emily is sitting quietly on the rug with her eyes on me. She really looks like she is ready to learn." In many situations, students will follow Emily's lead because they see that her behavior has earned admiration from their teacher.
Choices
Students in the early childhood classroom often feel like they have no control over their environment. Between parents and teachers, it seems like someone is always telling them what to do and when to do it. Showing students that they have control over their behavior in the classroom is a great way to encourage students to make the right choices. It is important to remind students of their ability to make choices, especially when you see that a student is not making appropriate ones. If you offer your students rewards on any kind of schedule (after special classes, at the end of the day, at the end of the week), make sure that students know that they have control over their behavior and that their choices determine whether or not they receive rewards at the scheduled time.
Engaging Students
One of the all-around best ways to control behavior in the early childhood classroom is to teach in a way that keeps students engaged in what you are teaching. By creating lessons that help all students to connect to the material, you decrease the chances that students will choose inappropriate behaviors as a means of finding other things to do instead of paying attention to you. Design lessons that engage as many learning styles as possible. Incorporate movement into your lessons when possible. Students in the early childhood classroom have seemingly boundless energy, and offering an outlet for that energy while connecting it to an important concept is a great way to make sure that the concept sticks.
Be Consistent
The most important rule of behavior management in the early childhood classroom is to be consistent. No matter which techniques you decide to incorporate into the management of your classroom, you must stick to the plan for it to work. If students observe that you are sporadic in your responses to inappropriate behavior, they will not be as dedicated to making the right choices. If you create and consistently implement an effective classroom management plan, your classroom will be a safe, welcoming environment where students are ready and excited to learn.
