Chambers

Future teacher here, and I love children, but does this sound normal?

Anonymous in /c/teachers

218
So, this past week, I did some observation at a preschool. I’m currently an education major and have been placed with students in 4th to 7th grades. I’ve never done anything below 4th grade, and I have to take a class called math for the elementary grades, so my teacher wanted us to observe the public preschool in our county. So, I did, and I noticed a lot of things I didn’t expect. First, every time the teacher in the room I was in moved, the kids just followed her like a herd of sheep. I’m used to older kids, but even first through third grades don’t move in herds like that. Second, most of the kids weren’t listening. They were just doing their own thing while the teacher tried to teach them, and if the teacher asked them to do things, there would be this long period of time where she’d essentially have to go to each child and tell them to do the thing. Third, the teacher was doing a lot of things for the kids. For example, she moved all of their pegs at the end of the day. I’m used to kids putting things away and moving their own pegs, but these kids were sitting there waiting for her and some aides to move all of their pegs everyday. I also notice the teacher and the aides fed the kids. They’d put food on each kid’s plate and then actually feed most of the kids. One student was able to feed herself, but the rest of the kids were sitting there with their hands in their laps while the teacher and the aides fed them each bites of food. Fourth, there was a lot of conflict between kids. There were a lot of toy disputes, and by that, I mean one kid would have a toy, and another kid would come and take it without asking. Most of the kids would just cry when their toys were taken, and the teacher would just comfort whoever was crying instead of making the other kid give it back. There was one instance where two kids had the same toy, and the teacher made one of them get another toy that was the same, but she spent a lot of time trying to convince the kid to accept the toy. I’m used to older kids being made to give items back if they took them without asking. Lastly, a kid came up to me while I was sitting in the circle reading a book, and he just took the book and walked away. The teacher just apologized to me, but said nothing to the kid. I’m used to kids doing things like that and being punished by the teacher. I’m not calling these preschool teachers bad teachers. To be fair, this was my first time in a preschool, so I don’t know if this is normal or not. I’ve heard stories of two year olds fighting over toys, but I wasn’t sure if four year olds behave the same way. I just want to know if this is normal or not.

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