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Read the following stories and teacher reflections from Matthew Lawrence, and use the Reflective Questions on page 8 to deepen your own thinking and shape your teaching practices.
Telling someone "You are bad" has been spreading through our group of 3-year-olds. They regularly use this phrase when there is a tense moment between them, such as when one child doesn't let another child into a game or share a toy.
One morning, I announced that it was snack time and that smoothies were on the day's menu. Whether or not to eat snack is a choice in our room, and the children know they might miss out on snack if they don't come when it's time. This particular day, many children dropped their individual activities to come to the snack table, while other children chose to continue playing. A short while later, Emily decided to pause her game, come to the table, and have a smoothie. When she arrived, there was just a little left. Seeing this, Sawyer immediately wanted to have more, and he attempted to grab the pitcher. But Emily was quick enough to get to the pitcher first. Sawyer got close to Emily, pointed at her, and yelled, "You are bad! You are bad!," and burst into tears. Then Emily, too, burst into tears and fired back, "No, you are bad!"
Another incident involving Emily occurred when Opal caught a glimpse of Emily and Yveline in the loft window, playing with baby dolls. Opal put her book down and headed over to the loft. As she reached the top of the loft stairs, Emily announced, "No, you can't come in!" Opal tried to...