Behavior management help!!
I am a first year Head Start teacher (3-4y/os). I have a degree in elementary education and experience with infants and toddler as well as a year of elementary school experience. Preschool has been a different beast for me. Between all the assessments I’m required to do on all my kids and being new to it, I feel like I’m drowning. I have a hard time with getting my students to listen to me when I speak and to take me seriously. The strategies I use now work for a good portion of my students individually but not as well for the whole class at once. We are told to not say “no” and to use positive phrasing as well.
My TA has much more life and teaching experience than I do and I already feel like I rely on her too much. I’ve been told that I have a “spaghetti noodle backbone” and that I still need to “find my teacher voice”. I’m so stressed because my students come from low income backgrounds and some have trauma at this young age already. I want to be their safe person, but I also need to get though curriculum, rules and have them engaged. Any advice? 😭🫠