I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asked me to explain what my company does. I get so excited and I start off with something like this: “Oh, we create professional development programs for teachers that are based around this assessment tool called CLASS (the Classroom Assessment Scoring System), which is all about observing how teachers interact with the students in their classrooms. You know, like, are the teachers maintaining a positive climate? Are they really clear in how they want their students to behave?”
. . . and I’ve just gotten a glazed-over look from whomever I'm speaking with. My excitement for CLASS results in too much information being thrown at them way too fast.
Luckily, you can prevent that look with these three free resources to share with your CLASS Observation trainees who are learning about the tool for the first time.
What Is CLASS? Info Sheet
The What is CLASS? info sheet is the essential guide to CLASS. It’s one page, is easy to digest, and answers questions like, “What does CLASS even mean?” and “Where did CLASS come from?” For someone who’s never heard of CLASS or who isn’t interested in an overwhelming amount of research, this resource is ideal. Bonus: this handy guide is now available in Spanish, too!
What is CLASS? E-book
A one-page guide is great for someone who’s never heard of CLASS, but what if you have a trainee who's also an instructional coach and she's dying for more on the subject? Send her our e-book, Why CLASS? Exploring the Promise of the CLASS. This little book has 27-pages covering topics like brain development in young children, research context for CLASS, and how CLASS improves child outcomes.
I love it especially for all the easy-to-skim charts and quotes worthy of updating my Facebook status: “Did you know that we acquire 85% of our intellect, personality, and skills by age five?!” Good stuff.
Effective Teacher-Child Interactions Video
Maybe you have a trainee who wants to learn more about CLASS, but they just don’t have time to sit down and read through a 27-page e-book. That’s fine, too. Just send her this 5-minute video called Effective Teacher-Child Interactions. In the time it takes to make a fresh pot of coffee, the video covers the three areas of focus in the pre-K CLASS tool and how it measures quality interactions. Plus, I’m a sucker for any footage of cute kids in the classroom.
Of course there are so many more free resources on our blog, in our webinars, or in the research summaries, but you can save those for later! I’d love to hear your thoughts. What resources do you get excited about? What are we missing from our free resources? Let us know in the comments below!
