Last week marked Teachstone's annual user conference, InterAct NOW: CLASS® Summit, where hundreds of education leaders, coaches, and teachers from around the country came together to network and learn from each other. The event kicked off on Tuesday, March 15 with a special announcement from Teachstone CEO, Dr. Bridget Hamre.
As we've thought about what we can do to show up differently in the world as aligned to our equity commitment, there's one thing we could do that would be the most powerful and most important—and that's really this revision to CLASS.
This summer, CLASS® 2nd Edition will become available and help the education field create a more equitable, accessible, and impactful path toward meaningful interactions. But before jumping into what all the exciting updates include, it's important to pause and reflect on the 15 years since Teachstone began serving the field.
And while we celebrate each one of those individual accomplishments, we recognize that we ourselves have room for continuous improvement efforts at Teachstone. Bridget joked, that, "As a good CLASS observer and rater, I think I'd say we're somewhere in the mid-range—probably around a solid 4."
In response to the need to make CLASS more equitable, easier to access and implement, and more impactful, Teachstone is rolling out CLASS 2nd Edition to the field this summer. These enhancements and tools were developed to meet the most urgent needs of the field while also maintaining the core structures of CLASS. With CLASS 2nd Edition, you can build on existing investments and infrastructure—paving the way for a seamless transition.
These updates include:
Learn more about the specific updates that will become available and more information about how CLASS 2nd Edition came to be by watching Bridget's full keynote from InterAct below.
If you're looking for a deeper dive into the updates and curious about how CLASS 2nd Edition is rolling out, we invite you to join us this Tuesday, March 29 at 3 p.m. ET for an information session. You'll hear directly from Bridget, as well as some of the team members who have helped envision and drive the changes.
Ready to move forward on your CLASS journey? Schedule a one-on-one consultation about CLASS 2nd Edition: Connect with our team today.
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Originally published March 21, 2022
In recent years, mindfulness has gained popularity in our society, including in the early childhood education field. In fact, recent research has shown that mindfulness has many benefits for young children, including supporting their self-regulation skills.
In this blog, we explore the importance of supporting self-regulation during the early years. We discuss self-regulation and its impact on children, not only during their first years of life but the benefits that stay with them in their adult life.
In addition, we define and explore mindfulness focusing on two developmentally appropriate mindful activities to support self-regulation in young children, which are mindful breathing & mindful yoga.
After a couple of very challenging years, bringing people together feels even more significant than ever before. That’s why we are excited to bring people together again to build connections, share ideas, and inspire each other at our 8th annual InterAct CLASS® Summittaking place in Miami, Florida, April 18-19, 2023.
We are back with another great episode of Impacting the Classroom. In this episode, our host Marnetta speaks to Keami Harris, the Chief Equity and Strategy Officer at the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, and Dr. William Johnson, the Director of Educational Strategy at the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund. Together, they dive into the history of early childcare and how to support a more equitable system.
You can listen to today's episode here or read the transcript below.
Can we talk about structure? When CLASS® entered my life, I was 20 years into my career in the field of early childhood education. What I remember most about that initial training, besides the nervousness about an impending reliability test, was a sense of relief. Structure, including state and program standards, curriculum, materials in the classroom, and approaches to childcare and pedagogy, had dominated my working hours. CLASS was a lot to learn, but for me, it was a breath of fresh air. Observing with CLASS meant I could set aside my obsession with all things structural, which encompassed my thoughts every time I walked into an early childhood classroom.