Welcome to the simulation titled At-Risk for Early Childhood Educators. This is a transcript of the simulation designed for screen readers.
In this simulation, Jackie Torres, who works with early childhood professionals, discusses handling challenging behavior, identifying students who may need more support, and bringing up concerns with caregivers.
The movie begins by fading in on Jackie Torres standing on an abstract background.
Hi. I’m Jackie Torres, and I work with early childhood professionals to support children’s mental health and development. I got into this field because of 10 years teaching young children. It’s such a rewarding and demanding job--they’re doing so many things for the first time. We’ve all learned to expect and manage behaviors like tantrums or arguments. But we also see some behaviors that are challenging to manage. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t always know what to do when a child was cursing at me or throwing chairs.
Over time, I’ve learned more about what causes difficult behavior, and it’s almost never because they’re a “bad kid.” They don’t want to feel out of control. Instead, they’re feeling overwhelmed by an underlying problem, like a developmental delay, mental health issue, or stressful home environment. It isn’t our job to diagnose children, but we can identify who might need help and we can be part of the larger “village” that supports them. Helping students in small ways can make a big difference for them, and it makes our classrooms run smoother.
Let’s talk about how to tell which children might need more support. There are three things to keep in mind: look for patterns of negative behavior, look for changes in behavior, and trust yourself to know when something is off.
Think about a time you were concerned about a student. What made you concerned? Children who need extra support can show a wide range of behaviors, and they aren’t always what you think. Here are three children I’ve worked with:
Tommy was hitting, but I noticed a pattern of transitions triggering the hitting. It turned out he had issues hearing. Children have trouble expressing frustration. Instead, they might act out in a way that seems unrelated to the issue.
Reneė was toilet trained and suddenly started having accidents. This was a change in a developmental milestone. It turned out her dog had died and she was extremely upset.
And I worked with Annie, who was very quiet and kept to herself. It was easy to overlook her because she wasn’t disruptive--but I trusted myself that something didn’t feel right. Turns out she’d seen violence in her neighborhood and was having a hard time coping. In each case, the caregiver had critical information--like Renee’s dog. Or the caregiver was a critical part of addressing the problem--like Tommy getting a hearing aid and Annie seeing a psychologist. A few quick conversations with caregivers can save us a lot of time, work, and stress.
Day-to-day, there are lots of chances for us to connect with young children, help them manage their emotions, and build relationships with their families. The relationships children have at a young age lay the foundation for how they go on to build relationships of their own. And the relationships you have with them have a lifelong impact on their development.
You can find more information about child development and warning signs in the Resources section.
Now, you’ll take on the role of a teacher, Kelly Greene, and practice building relationships with virtual students and caregivers. You’ll choose what to say and decide what approach to take. You’ll get pointers along the way, and at the end, you’ll see how you did overall. Let’s get started by talking about Eli, a student in your class.
Ms. Kelly and her co-teacher Ms. Zoe have 20 students in their class.
One of your students, Eli is four and very social. But sometimes he has trouble regulating his body. When Eli is excited or frustrated, he can get too close to his friends’ faces and hug them tightly. You’ve noticed a pattern: sometimes that results in Eli accidentally hitting or kicking them.
During circle time today, you were reading a book about whales. Eli got very excited and wanted to get closer. He started waving his arms and stomping his feet, accidentally hitting his friend Marcus. Marcus wasn’t hurt, but he was upset and shouted: “Eli pushed me!” Now everyone is looking at Eli and Marcus.
Now let’s look at two example interactions. Ms. Kelly’s goals are to help Eli regulate himself and to refocus the class on the activity.
First, let’s look at an interaction that goes poorly. Jackie Torres, the coach, will chime-in from time to time with observations and advice.
ELI: Marcus, I can’t seeeee!
MARCUS: No, get out the way.
ELI: I wanna see!
MARCUS: Hey, Eli hit me!
KELLY: (thinks to herself) Okay, things are starting to escalate...what should I do?KELLY: Eli, you need to calm down.
ELI: But I wanna see it!
KELLY: You’ll see it if you just calm down.ELI: (screams)
KELLY: All right, everyone, it sounds like we’re very excited -ELI: I didn’t hit Marcus!
KELLY: - we’ve got to stop and pay attention -ELI: It’s no fair, no fair!
KELLY: It’s clear we’re not ready to learn about the ocean - we’re going to stop for the day.ELI: No!
KELLY: Yes, we’re moving on -ELI: I wanna see the book, it’s not fair!!
Now let’s look at an interaction that goes much better.
ELI: Marcus, I can’t seeeee!
MARCUS: No, get out the way.
ELI: I wanna see!
MARCUS: Hey, Eli hit me!
KELLY: (thinks to herself) Okay, things are starting to escalate...what should I do? Okay, last time Eli had a lot of energy, we had to stop what we were doing and I don’t want that to happen again... but before I jump in, I really need to check in with myself. Okay, I’m just going to take a deep breath so I can calm myself down, a deep breath in...and out....whew, I feel much better. And breathing might be a great way for all of us to calm down together.COACH: By taking a moment to check in with yourself, you unlocked more ways to manage the class.
KELLY: It’s important that we all feel comfortable. Let’s remember all the different ways we talked about sitting, there’s criss-cross applesauce or having our legs out in front of us. And don’t forget, you can stand if your body would feel more comfortable that way! Now, everyone think, is my body comfy? Am I far enough away from my friends? Can I see the book?ELI: I can’t see.
KELLY: We want to make sure we can all see! So, Eli, if you can’t see, what if you stood?ELI: I don’t wanna stand.
KELLY: Okay, do you want to scoot so you’re closer to me?ELI: Okay.
COACH: You provided Eli with choices. This empowered Eli to practice finding what works best for him when he’s feeling upset.
KELLY: All right, we’re almost ready to learn about whales - let’s count down from five and we’ll begin again - and Five, Four, Three, Two....one. Good, we’re nice and calm. I see that we all have calm bodies so it looks like we’re ready to keep learning about the ocean.