Joey the Dragon

Joey is a little boy whose two teachers often find him challenging. They have a class of 12 children who are 3 – 4 years old. Most of the time, Joey does not want to participate in any activities the teachers have for the class each day. He wants to play with the trucks in the block center, because that’s his very favorite thing to do. If he is told to come over to the rug area for group time, or if he is told to come over to the table for an art activity, he yells, “NO!!!!” and starts to breathe very heavily. He says he is a “big dragon” and will breathe fire everywhere if the adults try to make him move from the area.

Joey’s teachers don’t really enjoy him. They will often argue with him for a few minutes and then just give up and ignore him, allowing him to continue playing with the trucks in order to avoid a big disruption. They don’t feel that Joey’s parents would care if they were to call them in and talk to them about Joey’s behavior and attitude, so they have not reached out to them.

Look back through the course and review the content you’ve explored so far. What concepts and strategies did you learn about that could help you in responding to the following questions?

1. What are two (2) reasons Joey is likely behaving the way he is?
2. What should the adults do first, in order to help improve Joey’s attitude?
3. Identify 3 – 4 strategies Joey’s teachers can implement to help improve Joey’s behavior.
4. What are your thoughts on this situation, in general, that aren’t included in the previous questions?

In a 1 – 2 page paper, written with proper spelling and grammar, address the items above. Your paper should include the question number and the question, followed by your written response. Be sure to cite any resources you use and put them in APA format.