myTeachstone

Teachstone has long been an advocate of using CLASS in a variety of educational settings. We're proud to now have two case studies about family child care (FCC) settings!

I lived in rural Japan for three years. While there, I became very accustomed to ordering the same types of entrees at restaurants due to my limited ability to read menus and my unwillingness to eat foods outside my comfort zone. So imagine how overwhelmed I felt when I returned to the States and had to decide on one entree amid pages and pages and pages of delicious options. It took a few weeks to learn how to navigate my way through these endless options without wanting to close my eyes and blindly point while ordering my meals.

If you've ever been through a CLASS Observation training, you are probably familiar with the graphic below. Research tells us that improving teacher-child interactions is a process that includes many pieces. 

The first step is to identify a teacher’s strengths and opportunities for growth, which can be done through a CLASS observation. Once you have this data, you can share it with teachers through a formal report, a face-to-face conference, or a feedback session. You’re off to a great start, but now what?

It’s been a while since we shared what’s new in myTeachstone here on the blog. You’re in for a treat! Here are a few highlights from the past winter!

Are you looking to hone your myTeachstone skills? Are you new to myTeachstone and wish to learn more about how to use the system? Has it been a while since you had your introductory walk-through call and need a refresher on using the system? 

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then we have a solution! Starting in March 2017, we will be holding regular calls to help you understand, or re-learn, how to use myTeachstone. These webinars will give you the foundational skills you need to become a myTeachstone pro. 

The first three calls of each month will be role-specific. Starting in April, we will also offer special topic webinars with deeper dives into specific features like Teacher Groups, Teacher Surveys, or Reporting.

Take a minute to think of your coaching toolbox. What are some of your go-to questions? Go ahead and list a few.  

Now reflect on those questions.

Okay, it’s a little late for a new year’s resolution. But, let’s face it, we’re all just finally back to full speed after the holiday break. Let’s make a resolution to actually use the data we are spending all this time and energy collecting!

You’ve trained observers who collect reliable CLASS data. You can run reports on your CLASS data. You’ve learned how to use data to tailor professional development in myTeachstone (see: Data Courses). But how do you show you are improving teaching practices? 

If you haven't already heard, we've recently added a brand new CLASS-aligned content series to myTeachstone, all focused on supporting dual language learners (DLLs). 

As there are quite a few resources, we created this guide to make these new CLASS professional development resources as accessible as possible! Below, you'll find detailed information about each type of resource and how to use it to maximize your teacher support! 

I am excited to announce a new myTeachstone content series to help teachers support dual language learners (DLLs). We created this content because users have been telling us for years that they would like to learn more about DLL teaching strategies aligned with CLASS professional development. We also wanted to show how these teaching strategies are aligned to effective CLASS interactions.

Becoming a myTeachstone expert starts with spending every day in the system--and no one knows more about spending time in myTeachstone than our trusty account management (AM) team! I recently spoke to our resident experts to understand common challenges around using myTeachstone and heard one topic come up again and again: Reporting.