Educators learning about CLASS® are asked to narrate their actions and sportscast their children’s experiences in order to support and encourage healthy language development. Hearing this, many may wonder, “Will people think I’m weird if I start talking to myself in the classroom?”
The answer is no. Self- and parallel talk are beneficial strategies for educators to engage in because they strengthen language rich environments and enhance vocabulary development, all while supporting effective relationship building between teachers and children.
In self-talk the educator intentionally describes what he or she is thinking, seeing, hearing, touching or doing. In other words, you're linking words to actions: “I’m giving each of you a handful of animal crackers. I am placing the crackers in a pile in the center of your napkins.” You're saying these words as you actively pass out the snack, making words like, “handful,” “placing,” and “pile” come alive for the children.
Self-talk is NOT simply using “I” statements, such as, “I am going to tour the zoo tomorrow and I will feed a giraffe! I love giraffes.’” Why would statements like this be less effective? In this example, a child may not know know the word “tour” or "giraffe.” These words are said in an abstract way and not made concrete by mapping them to what the child can currently see or experience.
In parallel talk, the teacher links words directly to children’s current actions or experiences. For example, “You are holding the zipper and zipping your jacket all the way up to your chin.” Educators using parallel talk become a sportscaster, narrating a play-by-play account of what the child is seeing, feeling, or doing, making words personalized and meaningful.
Parallel talk is NOT simply using a “you” statement, such as, “You did a good job painting your picture.” Why? Because this comment refers to something that happened in the past and does not promote the more powerful connection between a child’s real-time experiences and the language that describes these moments in rich, memorable detail.
Take the first step by selecting one part of your daily routine when you can begin to narrate what you and your children are doing during an activity. Try modeling their behavior while describing your actions and pausing for their response, whether it be verbal or non-verbal, and then continuing on with this cycle of communication.
Build relationships! Engage shy, quiet, or non-verbal children by joining them in play and describing both of your actions in a conversational way, focusing on the child’s interests, without adding the stress of asking questions or expecting verbal responses. The child will be exposed to personalized language in a relaxed setting and your relationship will be strengthened by sharing an enjoyable activity together.
Educators should use these strategies in a back-and-forth, conversational way, being careful not to bombard children with details. While maintaining the flow of communication, frequently pause so that children may join in, either verbally or non-verbally.
The purpose of these strategies is to expose children to meaningful language and enhance language development. To increase effectiveness, there should be no requirement for children to respond to or to imitate what is being said when providing self- and parallel talk.
As you practice mapping actions with words, it will soon become a more natural part of your daily routine and both you and your children will enjoy the benefits of enhanced communication in your classroom.
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Originally published October 18, 2021
There is always an opportunity for interaction. Some opportunities are easily recognizable: times of play, free choice, centers, small group. We often see teachers engaged in activities alongside children during these times or hear questions being asked. Other opportunities might be a little less obvious. These are the times of your day that you might see as mundane moments that merely require your supervision or monitoring. The times where you’re going through the motions. “I’m doing this thing so I can move on to the next thing.”
In a previous blog, colleague and early childhood environment extraordinaire, Heather Sason, discussed how your classroom environment can help promote effective teacher-child interactions. In this blog, I propose we explore some of the often overlooked times in your day that are ripe for interactions with children and that do promote exploration, learning, and development!
Originally September 15, 2021
How do you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? I posed that question to a random selection of contacts via text message. What did I discover? Everyone in my sample group spreads on the PB first, then the J. There are a variety of ways though to apply the jelly, but in my random group, the jelly always comes second.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches make me think about Behavior Guidance, a dimension in the CLASS® toddler observation tool. Especially the first two indicators of behavior guidance: proactive and supporting positive behavior. Proactive is the peanut butter! It goes first. That layer of peanut butter is the base for the jelly, which promotes positive behavior.
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.
Imagine you’re a cook in a restaurant. It’s what you do every day, you are passionate about it, and consider yourself pretty darn good at it. One evening, the owner of the restaurant decides he is going to attend a meal “as a guest” and is served one of your featured dishes: chicken pot pie. You emerge from the kitchen, excited to find out what he thinks, and his response: “Taste this. What would you do differently next time?”