AnonymousAsCanBe

My co-workers tell the children to "hit him back" when one child hits another in an argument. They tell the kids that they have permission to "hit him back" when a child reports the hitting incident to the preschool teacher. What do you think about this? If you were with kids on a playground and a child came to you and said, "We were messing around and I got into his face and he just hit me!!" Would you say, "Go over there and hit him back."

Sometimes I really, really, really want to reply to a text message but my employer has a "no cell phone use" policy. I would like to hide a blue tooth under my long hair and reply to a text message verbally via my blue tooth. Is there a way I can do this so my employer won't be likely to see me using my phone? I know that there are apps that convert voice to text, but I don't know about how to use a blue tooth with a hand device such as an a

Android or a Blackberry. I don't know that much about all the current apps that are available. Thanks.

I was wondering which stage of the "terrible two's" is the worst. I've been working with kids who are going to be three sometime in March through May. These kids have been just awful to work with! Are these children the most difficult to manage because they're a little older than "two and a half?"

My brother's daughter text messages all the time. She's an introverted, pretty, athletic 16 year old girl. She's very popular with the boys because of her looks and confidence. My brother said that she texted 10,000 messages one month during the fall months. I don't know if this was on a weekend day or during a school day, but I believe it was on a weekend day where she had all day to stay on her phone. Is this excessive text messaging? At Christmas, my family spent a few hours with their family and I noticed that my niece was on her phone text messaging constantly. She never looked up to smile for me when I was taking pictures. Is there a way to "broadcast" a text message to a big group of friends simultaneously? If there is, maybe that's how she managed to rack up so many text messages. I don't know anything about text messaging except the absolute basics so I really need your advice on figuring this thing out. I'm worried that my niece may be doing some harm to herself emotionally with all this texting, texting, texting. She just got her drivers license plus a new car. I'm worried about her texting and driving. What do you think about this situation? Is she a text messaging addict????

I recently became employed as a preschool teacher (4 year old children). I work in a very nice parochial preschool and nursery program associated with a K-8 parochial school. There is a long term employed African-American woman working next door in the three year old class. She never went to college and learned to do what she does by "on the job training". She's a preschool teacher for a class of kids ages 3 1/2 to 4 years. She likes to think of herself as "strict" and "old fashioned". She posted a roster of "rules" right by the door for the parents to see. The headline is "Classroom Rules". She listed, 1. No hitting, 2. No biting or slapping 3. No playing guns or shooting guns, 4. No being mean in class, 5. If you get something out you have to put it away, 6. Put things back where they belong, 7. Don't be too loud, 8. No fighting, 9. Flush the toilet after you use it, 10. Wash your hands after using the toilet 11. If you are told to do something, you do it. ...there were a few more rules on this handwritten roster, but I didn't have a chance to read the rest. This was all written on a bright yellow piece of paper and posted next to the light switch at adult eye level for the parents to see. What do you think about this "list" of rules? I think that the lady sounds really scary and I don't think that the director has seen this roster. What do you think I should do about this? I'm worried that if I mention this roster to the director, she'll kn ow that I'm complaining and she might think that I'm a trouble-maker. Don't you think that "classroom rules" should be approved by the director prior to posting them? This is in a classroom of three year old preschoolers so the list had to have been written for the parents. What are your thoughts on this troubling subject? Am I making a big deal out of nothing?

I have been working with Head Start preschools for a number of years and I have noticed a disturbing trend; the staffers do not know how to write or speak in proper English. A manager wrote a note on a child's portfolio and it read, "This child like to be call JJ not Jeffrey". The manager also wrote, "He cry cause he mad". This was an individual in management with Head Start. When this manager wrote a review for me, I could barely understand it. She told me that, "I need to work most closely to the person who I am supposed to be working with." I almost wanted to laugh. My question is this, "Is the requirement to write and speak proper English optional in the workplace today?" I love the English language and I try my best use proper grammar when I speak and write. I don't see why these preschool teachers and center directors shouldn't be required to speak and write in good English as well.

What is the difference between these two disciplinary styles? I'm familiar with the Assertive Discipline by Lee and Marlene Canter, but I am not familiar with Conscious Discipline. I am interested in researching effective styles for the preschool classroom.

There are many Head Start schools in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Do you have any ideas on how we can make these schools any better so that the children will succeed in the primary grades? I would love to hear from Head Start volunteers, mothers who have kids in Head Start, and from preschool teachers. The current research indicates that Head Start has not helped children to succeed in school. Head Start may not be giving these kids any kind of advantage over other kids who did not attend preschool. Your thoughts, please?

I work at a federally funded preschool and some of these old-fashioned African-American working poor teachers will tell the kids that their mothers are going to spank them. These teachers will say, "Well Jamal...since you ain't behavin' , I'm gonna have to tell yoe Momma and she's gonna spank ya since you been soooo bad today." These threats are really troubling to me since we have a strict policy that no spanking is permissable anywhere in the school and no where on the grounds. Why are teachers (this is a federally funded preschool) still talking about spanking to these children? I think that no one should discuss spanking on property or off and that includes interactions with parents while at church and in social gatherings. What do you think about the policy of spanking and talking about spanking?

I'm a new graduate and I work in a Head Start program in an elementary school. The kids are required to attend a P.E. class that is down the hall from our classroom and they work-out with a P.E. coach. He has the kids doing jumping jacks, stretching, hand push-ups, and arm circling. The kids don't like the boring exercises and are acting out. The coach got mad at me because I said that the kids in Head Start are supposed to be involved in playful exercise routines, such as bunny hopping around the room and other enjoyable exercises. This coach was blowing his whistle and ordering my ADHD three year old kids to sit in the corner desk in Time Out as punishment for "disrupting the class". The kids didn't like this mean man and they didn't enjoy the callesthenics. Now the coach has complained to my lead teacher that I'm "trying to take over his class". The coach wants me to stand in the back of the room so that he can stand front and center and coach his P.E. class. These are three and four year old children in a poverty stricken small Deep South town. Most of the kids are not socialized properly and have never been to a preschool or structured infant-toddler program. This all seems so wrong to me. I've heard that the students are required to attend a P.E. class instructed by an elementary school P.E. teacher so that Head Start will pay the school a fee-per-student for these services. I would rather teach the kids P.E. myself in my own classroom and I would direct it in an enjoyable manner. My lead teacher said that we're not allowed to do that since the school wouldn't receive their fees for the P.E. education services. Please advise.

I am a brand new graduate of an Early Childhood Education degree and I completed my two semesters of student teaching at a state-of-the-art Head Start program. Everything was great last year. Now I'm in an elementary school based Head Start and it's a terrible school in a poor, violent area. A parent-volunteer was assisting me with the kids at nap-time and her ADHD disruptive kid would not lay down for nap. She came over and slapped him across the face and it made a loud "smack". The kid cowered on his cot and sobbed until he dozed off. The lead teacher was not in the room at the time, but came back just a few minutes later. The child had a large, round, red mark on his right cheek when he woke up. My lead teacher commented about the child's red face and I said that I wasn't exactly sure why his cheek looked that way since the room was so dark at nap time. The problem is that I did not actually see the mom slap the child across the face since the room was very dim at nap time. The Mom said that her son must have slept on his cot "wrong" and that's why his cheek was so red. I told the Lead Teacher that I'm sure that the mother hit her child across the face, but that the mother blocked my view partially when she was hanging over her kid and the room was very dim. My lead teacher said she would "talk to the mom about the incident". I'm worried that nothing will be done. Should I call Child Protective Services? My lead teacher doesn't want me to write up a report until she speaks to the mother. I'm worried that this is a cover up. This school is the only elementary school in the entire county that failed the No-Child-Left-Behind testing during the 2008/09 school year. It's a terrible, low-performing, awful school. What should I do? The staff at the school don't like me since they know that I have alot of education and I have been observing so many infractions that could get the school in trouble. I'm a new graduate and I've never been inside a school that is this dysfunctional. I suppose that I've led a waaaay too sheltered life and I've never been assigned to a poverty-ridden community school. Please advise me.

My dad has Satellite TV with this old remote control. I bought a second remote control so that I could mute the TV and change the volume. I did not program it to operate the satellite function. Now the other remote does not work. Did my new remote "nullify" or "cancel out" his old remote? My dad is pretty irritated that his remote won't work anymore. The original Direct TV remote broke down a couple of years ago. The main reason why I bought a second remote is my dad starts talking over the TV and I hate it when the TV volume is on at the same time. Did I screw up my dad's precious satellite TV?

I know that NAEYC has a Code of Ethics for early childhood educators, but is there an even more specific list of attributes that a toddler teacher should have? I've been some toddler teachers who treat their two year old classrooms like their dealing with a pac of Pit Bulls. These women are sooooo mean! They make empty promises and they dish out lots of empty threats. They are definately committing acts of emotional abuse on these little ones. It's just plain wrong! Is there a list or code of conduct?

Ok, I've been told that potential employers really hate it when a resume is more than one page. Because of my various certifications/degrees and the fact that I've a CAZILLION JOBS my resume is going to have to be a page and a half. When it's one page it looks like I don't have any experience. I'd like your input. This is a resume for being a preschool teacher in a private school or Head Start center. I listed alot of details about my recently acquired ECE degree and my student teaching experience. I've done a big career move and have switched from business (office management) over to education. Please give me your input on the "one page resume" rule. Thank you!!!

I feel terrible. I just moved to this farming community in a rural part of the county and my cat broke out through a window screen. She is two years old, has her claws, and she's spayed. She's been an outdoor cat since I've had her so she knows how to hunt birds and mice. I'm hoping someone will write me some reassuring advice that she's probably ok in the Great Outdoors. I'm going to put flyer's with photo's out tomorrow and I'm going to take out an ad in the paper. I'M WORRIED SICK!!! I'm hoping to read some kind words and no sarcastic remarks from people who hate cats. Thank you.

Does anyone agree with me that Adam Lambert would have won A.I. if he had managed his private life more effectively? He shouldn't have posed for those guy-on-guy photo's and he shouldn't have dressed in "glamour-drag" for the Zodiac Show. Adam should have hired a publicist ten years ago and should have followed the publicist's's advice. I never saw pics of Elton John and Freddy Mercury kissing guys back in the 1970's and that's probably why they sold lots of albums back then. Same thing for in-the-closet-still Michael Jackson. What's your opinion on this subject?

My sister is mentally ill and won't clean her cat litter box regularly. If she does clean it, she leaves the cat litter in an open trash can where the fumes just fill the air with a horrible smell. Isn't this harmful to the cat and my sister to breathe? Any advice on how to scare her into taking proper care of her cat? I'm thinking about taking the cat away from her if she continues to neglect the kitty's basic needs. Thanks for any advice you may be able to offer.

Please help me make a list of values, job responsibilities, and personality qualities that will help preschool teachers be the best they can be. I'm workiing on a list for the burnt-out, old-school, aging teachers who prefer to scold, intimidate, and threaten instead of practicing positive guidance NAEYC approved techniques. Please help me since I need something to bring to the school director. My lead teacher is an former Catholic Nun who left the clergy to teach 3 and 4 year olds. She'd hit them if she could get away with it, but since she can't hit them, she scolds and scares them to death. HELP me with this list please!!! Any books you can suggest for me to read? I'm walking on egg shells around this lady and my stress level is off the charts!

I'm a student teacher for Head Start Federally Funded Preschool. We have 20 kids in the class who are age three and four. There are 15 four year old kids and 5 three year old kids in the class. The lead teacher usually uses a scolding, negative voice with the kids. If she's mad at a child for misbehaving, she'll use a very sharp, scolding voice and will really hammer on the kid and sometimes the children will put their heads down on their laps and will cry their eyes out. She is so mean to these kids! Everything I've read states that the rules are Positive Guidance and Positive Discipline!!! Can anyone offer me any advice on how to deal with my lead teacher? I want to help and learn, but I'm morally and ethically conflicted over the wrongs being committed in this classroom. HELP!!!!

I'm a student teacher assigned to work in a Head Start classroom with a lead teacher and an assistant teacher. The assistant teacher is a bilingual woman who assists with the Spanish speaking kids. Well, my teacher has a terribly harsh vocal tone. She scolds way too long over insignifant errors in judgement (kicking another child under the table during small group activities) and she uses a sharp, loud voice. Some of the kids have hidden under the table when this teacher berates them and some other kids have put their hands over their faces and have cried and cried. This woman is scaring the children. I thought Head Start was all about positive guidance and not about screaming at the kids? Any thoughts on this???