Educators Best Practices

EDUCATOR BEST PRACTICES

Plan for positive outcomes, plan for the needs of children and youth
according to their personality and developmental needs and be aware of
the emotional environment and interest level of the children in order to
intervene before play deteriorates.

ALL EYES ON US: Remember that at any moment of the day, there are eyes on us, watching how we operate our programs and interact with the children and each other. Keep in mind the perceptions of your actions from the points of view of parents, children, the school and our communities.

BUILD MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS: Every child needs a champion. Focus on developing a positive relationship with every child. Building a relationship will help with behaviour guidance and promote the “Family Feel” we promote at TOPP KIDS. PROJECT A CHEERFUL ATTITUDE: Be enthusiastic and have a sense of humour. Let everyone appreciate the funny side of things.

COMMUNICATE CLEARLY: Make requests in clear, precise terms, in keeping with the child’s developmental level.

MENTOR FIRST: Our role as mentors and educators is to help GUIDE children to find the right solutions and to understand how to appropriately react to their feelings and each other, NOT to always tell them what to do. Build a relationship, then trust, and your own leadership and guidance skills first. We are here to help them learn, not tell them what to do.

OFFER CHOICES: These choices must be realistic, acceptable to you and clearly understood by the child.

BE FLEXIBLE: It’s acceptable to change your mind. Rules can change if it’s sensible and appropriate and they do not contravene prohibited practices.

POINT OUT NATURAL CONSEQUENCES: Clarifying natural or logical consequences can help children and youth develop understanding and self – discipline. Engage the child in determining the consequences when appropriate.

GIVE PRAISE, COMPLIMENTS AND ENCOURAGEMENT: Praise people for what they accomplish, whether directly or through non- verbal means like a smile, a nod, and a pat on the shoulder. Sincere praise and compliments can reinforce the children and youth’s feelings about themselves.

DO NOT REINFORCE INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR: This behaviour could include yelling, swearing
or bullying. Ignore this type of behaviour if possible, but when necessary intervene.

PROVIDE TIME FOR REFLECTION: When a child demonstrates the need for personal time, for reflection or to cool off, allow him or her opportunity to do so.

PROMOTE DISCUSSION: Let children and youth “own” their own problems. If they are in a dispute, help them talk and listen to each other. Team Members in dispute are encouraged to use the conflict management guidelines starting with the Share fearlessly policy.

RECOGNIZE YOUR OWN ANGER: Learn to recognize your own anger. Figure out where it’s coming from and express your feelings rationally and appropriately. If you cannot do this, then withdraw from the situation until you are back in control of your feelings.

USE YOUR TOOLS: Throughout your growth as a professional educator, and through this training you will gain what we call “TOOLS for your TOOL KIT”. These are defined ways (or tools) to deal with scenarios like behavior guidance and skill building.

BEST PRACTICES, ALWAYS: As an educator, you should always continue to seek and learn what are the best practices for any scenario. This is how we maintain the best programs-focus on BEST PRACTICES!