Teachstone's guest bloggers come from many backgrounds including teaching, education policy, and research. If you are interested in writing a post please fill out the form on our guest blog application page.
I started out thinking I would write about how CLASS can help children who have challenging behavior, and then the thought occurred: that while yes indeed, I am helping children with difficult behaviors, I’m actually using CLASS to take away the focus from the child having the challenging behavior and instead, placing it on the teacher who sets the environment for the child.
Through daily language interactions, bilingual parents permanently shape their young children’s cultural understanding by embracing not one, but two cultures. Adapting to a second culture isn’t easy for anyone—especially young children, as their language skills are still developing.
I’ve been in the field of early childhood education for over 35 years and absolutely LOVE the CLASS tool. I wish I had CLASS during my years as a teacher and director of ECE programs. I am grateful to have the CLASS tool now to express my continual love for ECE and the importance of great teaching in the early years of children's lives.
As a parent you don’t get a written handbook or manual on how to raise your children. Becoming a parent is a scary thing! There are so many "what ifs" and "how tos." And if you’re co-parenting, there are different parenting skills and techniques–sometimes you see eye to eye and sometimes you’re not only on different pages but in completely different books.
I have been a CLASS observer and trainer for several years now and I’ve been thinking about the concept of “drift.” Drift happens to people who have passed the reliabilitytest, but over time they start scoring subjectively—they let their biases affect the data.
¿Sabías que CLASS se utiliza en más de 30 países alrededor del mundo? Estudios a nivel mundial han demostrado que CLASS es una herramienta válida en diversos contextos culturales. Nos da gusto lanzar un blog internacional llamado Punto de Mira, el cual está dedicado a destacar el uso global de CLASS. Si vives fuera de los Estados Unidos y te interesa compartir la experiencia de tu implementación de CLASS en nuestro blog, por favor, contacte a Lorena Sernett, gerente de cuentas internacionales de Teachstone.
Did you know that CLASS is now being used in more than 30 countries across the globe? Research studies worldwide have already shown that CLASS has been validated in varying cultural contexts. We are excited to launch an internationally-focused blog on CLASS use around the world called Country Spotlight. If you live in a country outside the United States and would like to submit a blog about your CLASS implementation, please contact Lorena Sernett, Teachstone's international account manager.
You may have noticed the increase in interest in early childhood education (ECE) programs on a national scale. Finally! The topics of child care and ECE have come up in election speeches, legislation, news articles, blogs, and social media on a regular basis. States are using Race to the Top and other funding, as well as adding early learning standards and quality improvement systems (QRIS), with many requiring programs to participate to receive funding. Early childhood educators are being required to go back to school and increase their education for Accreditation or QRIS systems.
When my team and I got on the plane to return home from Chicago after attending the first InterAct: A CLASS Summit, we felt a renewed sense of excitement.
When I was in middle school and high school, I frustrated teachers at every turn. I had plenty of ability but wasn’t motivated to put forth much effort and was the source of constant behavioral issues. I would trade stories with my friends, and it was clear that everyone knew I was as big a problem in the classroom. I always wondered, "Why do I never receive a referral when my friends often do?" I now realize the answer may have been in the mirror the whole time: my skin tone.
