Teaching students to make good choices is HARD! Students need to learn how to make good choices just like they need to learn their letters and numbers. Social development directly affects ALL other areas of learning. One of my main goals for students is to be happy, confident learners who can solve problems and work collaboratively with others. Being able to make good choices when they are alone and interacting with others is a BIG part of that. In 4K, I am using Red/Green choices, a framework that teaches self-awareness to manage responses to situations. We will make a chart of behaviors typically observed at school and sort them into red and green choices. It is important to break down how to make a to make a good choice with visual supports and simple language. I introduce green and red choices over several days. It gives us an opportunity to have an open discussion about them. Students can ask questions, reflect and talk about them. I introduce a few choices at a time, not all at once. I explain the choices in concrete terms. I want them to understand what the choice is, what it looks like and what it sounds like.
WHY? Talking about the why is higher level thinking. It makes students think about how someone else feels which is something that preschoolers don’t often do.
They are egocentric and focused on themselves at this age. How does making green choices make YOU feel and make OTHERS feel? When you make a red choice, how do YOU feel? How does it make OTHERS feel? What other things can happen when you make this negative choice?
If there is a reoccurring problem, we will have a class meeting to talk about the red choices students are making and what green choices they could make instead. I will also communicate with the child's parent as warranted.
WHY? Talking about the why is higher level thinking. It makes students think about how someone else feels which is something that preschoolers don’t often do.
They are egocentric and focused on themselves at this age. How does making green choices make YOU feel and make OTHERS feel? When you make a red choice, how do YOU feel? How does it make OTHERS feel? What other things can happen when you make this negative choice?
If there is a reoccurring problem, we will have a class meeting to talk about the red choices students are making and what green choices they could make instead. I will also communicate with the child's parent as warranted.