Blogging About Discipline Issues In A Kindergarten Classroom Continued

On Monday I blogged about discipline issues in kindergarten. Anne from  Life Is Good left a comment  about a child that injured my foot and asked me how children get that way. I gave that some thought the last two days. I tried to think of what, from my experience, causes a child to misbehave  in school in a disruptive and at times dangerous way. Was the child I blogged about born angry or did that behavior develop over time?  I am no mental health professional so I can only answer from a kindergarten teacher's perspective. 

Some of the reasons I feel that children misbehave in school are due to:

1. A lack of sleep: A sleepy child who hasn't had enough sleep can be cranky and irritable. I have had children come in and ask if they can take a nap first thing in the morning because a parent kept them out too late.
2. Lack of parental involvement: The child I blogged about on Monday came from a foster home. It was not the first one he had been in. Children need consistency and stability. Many children with a learning disability have supportive nurturing parents to serve as an advocate. It is the child who has an absentee or disinterested parent who I found often developed behavior problems if they had a learning disability.
3. Low self-esteem: The child mentioned above was covered with eczema. He did not feel good about himself.
4. Coming to school hungry: I have had children misbehave because they were hungry and had not eaten since lunch the day before. It is very hard to concentrate when your stomach aches from hunger.
5. High absenteeism: Children who miss a lot of days may often misbehave because they have gotten so far behind in their work.
6. Inappropriate curriculum: I blogged about this before. Too often school systems try to turn children into little robots, squeezing them into a cookie cutter curriculum. As a leftie, I remember what it was like in first grade to be in a classroom where everything was designed for a right handed person. My first grade teacher, Mrs. Smiley, used to pull my ear if I did not write with my right hand. Imagine how a child feels when he or she is not getting the curriculum fit that is needed.
7. Lack of a comprehensive evaluation: The bottom line is that  kids like the one I blogged about on Monday need a comprehensive evaluation. Often, children come into Kindergarten never having been to a therapist if they need therapy or having diagnostic testing and data completed. You can't tackle severe problems successfully without a comprehensive evaluation and good data.
8. Ineffective school administration or teaching: I guess it sound like the pot calling the kettle black but in all honesty, over the years, I attribute some of the blame to ineffective teaching or administration. I have blogged about it before and I will blog about it again. You can't fit children to the curriculum. You must fit the curriculum to children!

I haven't had a behavior problem in the three years I have been in my current school. When I was in the public schools, I did not have many children like the child I blogged about on Monday. Just one child with severe problems can wreak havoc until he or she gets therapy and an individual education plan.

For most children, I have found that if a child is interested in what he or she is learning, there will be a motivation and excitement to learn! My goal as a teacher is to ensure that no child gets left behind...for any reason! Do I always accomplish that goal? I give it my best effort!