At some of our recent Lunch and Learns, Affiliate Trainers indicated that they would be interested in learning more about their fellow ATs and the kinds of things they are doing with the CLASS outside of training. In response, we are introducing a new feature we are calling our “Affiliate Trainer Spotlight!” We agree that it would be a fun for all of us to learn more about our Affiliate Trainers and the kind of work that they are doing to promote the use of the CLASS in their communities. If you would like to be featured, or if you would like to nominate a colleague for this spotlight, please get in touch with us at contact@teachstone.com.
Today’s spotlight is on Kari Price from Lincoln, Nebraska.
She is a Program Evaluator at the Department of Education and Child Development at the Munroe-Meyer Institute, which is a part of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The Institute contracts with a variety of educational initiatives to conduct outside evaluations of the efficacy of their programs. Their clients range from early childhood programs, to elementary and secondary schools, to after-school programs.
Kari is a certified observer on all age levels except Infant and is an Affiliate Trainer for Toddler, Pre-K, and K-3. In her day-to-day work life, Kari conducts a variety of assessments including the Environmental Rating Scales, child assessments, and of course, the CLASS. She codes video from tapes that are sent to the Institute and writes detailed reports that programs use to develop professional development programs for their teachers. In addition, she is the K-3 anchor for their coding team and mentors observers to ensure that they maintain a high degree of reliability.
I caught up with Kari at our Regional Training in San Antonio where she was attending the Toddler TTT. When I asked her what she liked about being an Affiliate Trainer, Kari stated that she loves training on the CLASS because it takes her back to her days as a classroom teacher. She said that were she to go back in time to the classroom knowing what she knows now, she would have been an even better teacher!
What is Kari’s advice for new trainers? Prepare, prepare, prepare! If someone asks a question that you cannot answer, be honest with him or her and do the research in the manual. She also advises new trainers to recognize that what they are doing is important. She said, “We have an awesome opportunity, so do it [train] with a smile and have fun!”
