I've come to this community for help before, and thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

Quick background on me: 25 years of working with children, 10 years doing 1:1 therapy with autistic children (all under age 5), babysitting, and professional nannying. Halfway through a master's in early childhood special education and doing a practicum at a Headstart this summer. I have been in many daycare classrooms as a 1:1 for a child on the spectrum, but have not been a classroom teacher myself.

Situation: I really like the teacher I've been assigned to, even though she does things differently than I would. I have been somewhat disappointed that I'm not seeing a lot of "teaching" and am seeing more "managing." Our ratios are high (often 3 adults and 7 children), and I had hoped to see more positive behavioral supports and use of visual supports, but it mostly just run of the mill herding kids. The behavioral side of me is itching to put some plans in place and it is hard to sit on that. There are a lot of transitions and a lot of time spent waiting, which we just went over last semester as being things to avoid. But I get it- real life is different, and these folks work hard for very little pay and love the kids. They're good people and the culture at the center would wear on anyone. Furthermore, I have no idea how much support they do and do not get from the administration. My classroom teacher has a great attitude and I'm grateful to be in her class. From what I've seen of other teachers, she is the best toddler teacher at the center, hands down.

Today we had "water day" which is when all the toddler classrooms (1.5 yrs-3.5 yrs) come out to a fenced in parking lot (no shade) and play in tubs of water (and puddles) with water toys. It's a nice activity. My issue is that a few of our kids were hesitant to join in today, and one in particular (2.5 years) has made it clear on previous occasions that they do not like to be sprayed with the hose. They cry, run away, and are afraid to rejoin the play time. One of the other kids (very likely ASD) who liked it last time, was having a rough morning and wasn't into it initially. A few of the teachers are "aggressive" with the hose. They spray kids, or dump water on their heads, with no warning and no regard as to whether or not the child is enjoying it. When kids cried the adults laughed and said things like "You're fine, it's only water" or "You liked it last time!" Sometimes they laughed and continued to spray them even after the child was crying and trying to move away. Coming from a special education background, my inclination is to ease into something like this slowly, taking into account a child's cues, because big sensory experiences like this can be overwhelming for young children. I think it's ok to stand at the edges and watch for awhile, and come in slowly as you're ready. I stood out like a sore thumb asking kids if I could pour water on them and saying things like "I hear your no." My classroom teachers weren't as aggressive as some, but did eventually spray and dump water on kids who weren't super into it as well. The general attitude seemed to be "Sure, they're freaked out but it gets them into it and then they're happy and playing so it's all good!" I was really angry by the time we were done. Am I overreacting?