Teaching with CLASS®

By Teachstone Inc.Education

Teaching with CLASS® episodes

June 06, 2023Concept Development During Science and Beyond
Today’s episode of Teaching with CLASS® is led by guest host Emily Simon. In today’s conversation, you’ll hear from Lexi Alexander, an applied developmental psychologist who specializes in early learning. She has extensive experience, both as a classroom teacher and mother herself, as well as having co-led the Early Science Initiative, a system of professional learning and family engagement focused on using early science as a driver of high-quality teaching and learning, over the past 10 years.
Listen to the episode to learn more about concept development during science and why it shouldn’t be confined to science-specific blocks of the day. In this episode you’ll learn about the power of surrendering power and control over thinking to children, building on children’s innate curiosity, and implementing concept development across the day.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
[00:00:21] Today’s guest host, Emily Simon, and guest Lexi Alexander
[00:01:25] What teachers are already doing in class to support concept development
[00:03:55] How to start giving children control
[00:06:23] How teachers can leverage and build on innate curiosity for concept development
[00:11:10] How to support science learning and concept development across the day, not just during specific times of the day
[00:16:35] How to give children space to think and come up with answers themselves
[00:19:12] Planning specific science blocks that are developmentally appropriate and encourage critical thinking
[00:22:22] How it looks to your own power and control to children
[00:26:30] Key takeaways from this episode: curiosity, shifting focus on how you view the world, embody what it means to be a scientist
Resources
Emily Simon
Lexi Alexander
31 min
May 23, 2023Welcome to our CLASSy School
What does it look like for CLASS® to be fully integrated into the curriculum? How can coaches get educators excited about that, and what impact does it have on the lives of children? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Lisa Howard and Britney Blackman from the New E3 School as they talk about their CLASS curriculum.
Listen to the episode to hear what Britney and Lisa have to say about how CLASS is helping and impacting their students, how educators who have never encountered CLASS before are transformed by it, and how parents and families get involved in what the school is doing.

Topics Discussed in This Episode
[00:01:07] Today’s episode is about supporting educators with a curriculum designed with CLASS in mind, making friends with data, and how US coaches can support educators
[00:01:58] Introduction to Lisa and Britney and their roles
[00:05:32] How CLASS is helping and impacting the students Britney and Lisa are working with today
[00:09:28] The transformation period of a person who’s never worked with CLASS being exposed to the program
[00:12:46] The impact Britney sees on the lives of the children
[00:14:58] How children’s behaviors shift as a reaction to adult behaviors
[00:19:51] How to get an educator excited about CLASS
[00:23:32] How to involve parents and families in the process
[00:27:50] Understanding what educators went through during COVID
[00:31:50] The importance of taking a long view
[00:33:05] Giving yourself grace and space to grow.

Resources

Britney Blackman
Lisa Howard
35 min
December 20, 2022The Mid-School-Year Reset
Are you where you thought you’d be by the end of 2022? Is it where you wanted to be by this time? How are things going in your classroom? During this season, we’ve brought you conversations with people who offer their perspectives that may give you new ideas for things to try out in your classroom, ways to enrich yourself professionally, and inspiration to take care of yourself. In today’s episode, we’ll look back over the previous podcast episodes of the season and ahead to the coming year.
Listen in to take a walk down memory lane as we remember the things we learned talking to Mr. Chazz, Marnetta Larrimer, Jacob Stewart, and others!
Topics Discussed in This Episode
[00:01:19] The season kick-off with Mr. Chazz
[00:01:39] Deirdre Harris with team vision and planning
[00:02:09] Managing thoughts and behaviors with Dr. Angela Searcy
[00:02:37] Observation day with Marnetta Larrimer
[00:03:25] Classroom setup with Alisha Saunders-Wilson
[00:04:10] Learning about advocacy with Jacob Stewart
[00:04:54] Teacher influencers Miss Redacted and Mrs. Frazzled
[00:05:15] Looking forward to next year: goals and special occasions
[00:07:58] Re-establishing and reconnecting
[00:09:03] Avoiding burnout and moving forward
Resources
Kate Cline
11 min
November 17, 2022The Role & Responsibility of the Teacher Influencer
TikTok influencers come from a variety of backgrounds, but some of the popular influencers out there are teacher influencers. What are the responsibilities of teacher influencers, and what’s their role in the current conversations about education?
In today’s episode, we listen in as Marnetta Larrimer talks to Arielle, a teacher known on TikTok as Mrs. Frazzled, and Miss Redacted, a teacher influencer who left teaching. The two of them host a podcast together called Teacher Quit Talk. Listen to the episode to hear their thoughts about what’s controversial on TikTok – it’s not what you might expect – what the role of social media influencers is when it comes to their impact on diversity and equity, and what some of the inequities that occur in school are.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
[00:00:22] Teacher influencers and their role in the conversation on education
[00:00:54] Miss Redacted’s introduction
[00:01:22] Arielle, aka Mrs. Frazzled’s introduction
[00:02:10] The responsibilities of teacher influencers
[00:04:34] The most controversial Tik Tok, given the current climate
[00:08:22] The role of social media influences on the topic of diversity in education
[00:13:09] The Addison Rae controversy
[00:17:12] Equity projects that Miss Redacted and Mrs. Frazzled are involved with now
[00:17:15] Student equity by region
[00:20:35] How inequity is insidious
[00:22:10] How social media influencers are impacting the teacher shortage
[00:26:20] What to say to teachers who decided to stay
[00:29:36] What policymakers and lawmakers should listen to and what they should do
[00:35:06] How they feel about not coming back to teaching in the fall
Resources
Marnetta Larrimer
Mrs. Frazzled
Miss Redacted
Teacher Quit Talk
40 min
October 13, 2022 Respondiendo a Comportamientos Desafiantes: Rabietas, Crisis, Morder
Los comportamientos desafiantes son incidentes muy frecuentes, especialmente en niños muy pequeños. Es importante estar preparados para abordar estos incidentes de la manera apropiada para poder darle a los niños las herramientas que le permitan interactuar con su entorno, autorregularse y construir un autoconcepto positivo.
Para hablar de todos estos temas, tenemos a Sandra Ampudia. En este episodio, Sandra nos comparte algunos conceptos básicos sobre el comportamiento, el aprendizaje y algunas estrategias para abordar los incidentes dentro del salon de clases.
[01:10] Conociendo a Sandra
[03:04] Saber identificar los incidentes de conducta
[08:15] Como manejar un incidente de conducta
[15:22] Que hacer cuando un niño muerde a otro
[19:42] Guiar el comportamiento con frases positivas
[28:29] Los sentidos en el aprendizaje
[34:01] Resumen de la conversación
Recursos
Conecta con Sandra en LinkedIn
Conecta con Monica en LinkedIn
National Association for the Education of Young Children
Zero to Three
Center of the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
Únete a CLASS Learning Community para continuar la discusión con miles de educadores.

41 min
September 29, 2022Classroom Teams: Handling Sticky Situations with CLASS®
To be an effective educator and classroom presence, the adults have to work together as much as or more than the students do. Classrooms work best when co-teachers understand each other and work together. How can educators ensure that they’re in sync with each other, and how can CLASS® help?
In today’s episode, you’ll hear a fun conversation between Kate Cline and return guest Deirdre Harris. Learn about parallel processes for adult behavior, making a lesson plan with other team members, and how team agreements can be made to improve the way the classroom runs and ensure a shared vision.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
[00:01:20] Thinking about sticky situations in the classroom
[00:04:00] Parallel processes for adult/adult behavior
[00:06:15] Planning a lesson plan with feedback from other team members
[00:08:05] Making the lesson plan visible
[00:09:20] Quality of feedback
[00:11:43] How team vision can lead to team agreements
[00:15:00] Documenting a shared vision
[00:17:23] Focus areas for the agreement
[00:17:44] Adding expectations
[00:21:33] Why adding signatures matters
[00:22:23] How to handle a lead teacher whose approach you disagree with
[00:26:55] Getting on the same page as a co-teacher
Resources
Kate Cline
Deirdre Harris
30 min
September 08, 2022Advocacy for Educators
As an educator, how are you using your voice? Not in the classroom but outside of it, to make a difference for the educational system, your students, your colleagues, and yourself as well. Advocacy plays an important role in bringing education into the spotlight and making sure that educational issues get the attention they deserve. And as an educator, you are in the primary position to know what you need in classrooms, schools, and districts, as well as for your own life and well-being, so your voice is an important one.
Today’s episode is about advocacy for educators and how educators can participate in it. You’ll hear from Jake Stewart, the Director of State Government Relations at the Early Care & Education Consortium. In today’s podcast, he discusses his journey from the classroom to his current position, what the starting points of advocacy are, and what topics teachers should be looking for.

Topics Discussed in This Episode
[00:01:25] Introducing Jake Stewart
[00:02:06] How Jake got to where he is now
[00:05:12] The starting points of advocacy
[00:08:04] Whether one teacher speaking up makes a difference
[00:10:29] How to help teachers participate
[00:12:01] Who keeps track of calls and letters
[00:15:08] What to do when an educator doesn’t feel knowledgeable enough about the subject to speak up
[00:18:12] What educators need to both teach and support themselves
[00:20:58] Current hot topics that educators should be looking out for
[00:25:43] How to find out about things happening at the local and state levels
[00:29:00] The importance of advocacy at the state level
[00:30:20] Good times to speak up
[00:34:18] Worries about speech that gets teachers in trouble
[00:38:01] Other ways to get involved
[00:40:28] Making the most of this point in time
[00:42:56] Why informal advocacy can be a game-changer
[00:45:48] Jake’s big takeaways for listeners

Resources
Kate Cline
Jake Stewart
51 min
August 11, 2022Setting up your Classroom for Success
Setting up a classroom for a new school year can be exciting! It’s hard not to get excited at the prospect of a fresh start. But that doesn’t mean you always know what’s best to do. How do you set up the classroom to facilitate a successful year?
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Alisha Saunders-Wilson, a Teachstone CLASS® Specialist who has experience coaching other teachers in many things, including setting up classrooms. Listen in as she and Kate discuss classroom organization, behavior management, what materials to put out and when to rotate them, and what to do when materials are sparse.

Topics Discussed in This Episode
[00:01:20] Introducing Alisha
[00:02:14] What excites Alisha about setting up a new classroom in a new school year
[00:02:46] How Alisha came to the ECE field and what she does with teachers these days
[00:04:04] What to keep in mind when it comes to classroom organization
[00:06:07] Questions teachers should ask themselves about behavior management
[00:07:29] What and how many materials to put out
[00:08:40] What to do if the children aren’t engaging with a particular set of materials
[00:10:27] Setting up the classroom with emotional support in mind
[00:12:53] What to do when you notice negativity popping up in a space
[00:15:07] What to do when materials are sparse
[00:17:24] Rotating materials
[00:19:03] How classroom setup supports things like language development and problem-solving
[00:22:09] Three major takeaways from the conversation
[00:23:48] Encouragement for classroom teachers

Resources
Kate Cline
Alisha Saunders-Wilson
26 min
July 28, 2022 Integración del Aprendizaje en Programas Basados en el Juego
El aprendizaje por medio del juego es una herramienta que permite a los educadores facilitar el interes y la atención por parte de los niños. Obteniendo así mejores resultados en el contexto de un acercamiento flexible de la enseñanza.
En el episodio de hoy, tenemos con nosotros a Maria Cristina Caro, quien es consultora en el espacio educativo en edades temprana y quien además de tener una brillante trayectoria en el espacio de la educación tiene también una formación profesiona excepcional.
Escucharas la conmovedora experiencia de María Cristina Caro en el mundo de la educación desde una edad muy temprana, así como también muchos consejos sobre cómo y por qué utilizar el juego como vehículo del apredizaje.

[01:06] Introducción al juego como vehículo de aprendizaje.
[03:04] Conociendo a María Cristina Caro – Una historia realmente inspiradora
[07:00] Ideas para iniciar el aprendizaje por medio del juego
[08:53] El interes y la atención como fundamento de los programas basados en el juego
[11:37] Desarrollo de una enseñanza mas intencional
[15:20] El rol de la flexibilidad y la creatividad en la enseñanza
[18:55] Los niños aprenden en el contexto de las relaciones que tienen con los adultos

Conecta con Monica Nassif-Puyol: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-pujol-nassif-974b68189/
Únete a CLASS Learning Community para continuar con la conversación con miles de educadores
22 min
July 14, 2022What to Expect When You're About to Be Observed?
The idea of being observed while performing a job can make anyone feel a little nervous. But understanding what CLASS® observations are really about can help teachers relax and approach their classrooms with the same skill and attention they normally do.
Marnetta Larrimer is today’s guest. She’s an early education professional and trainer who is currently a Professional Services Manager for Teachstone. In her conversation with Kate today, she’s going to talk about what a CLASS observation is all about. Listen to the episode to hear what she has to say about what she would be doing while observing a classroom, who she’s paying attention to, and what happens after an observation. The answers you hear will help you feel more confident the next time you’re being observed.

Topics Discussed in This Episode
[00:00:35] What a CLASS observation is all about
[00:02:48] What a CLASS observation actually is
[00:04:01] What to expect during a CLASS observation
[00:06:10] What Marnetta would be doing during an observation, and for how long
[00:07:58] What Marnetta’s doing when she’s coding
[00:08:54] What Marnetta is looking for from different age groups
[00:10:03] If there’s a team in the classroom, who is Marnetta looking for
[00:14:08] How a teacher and her team can prepare for an observation
[00:19:23] What would happen if there were an accident or something extreme that happened during an observation
[00:21:45] What happens after the observation
[00:24:25] What Marnetta would say to encourage a teacher

Resources
Kate Cline
Marnetta Larrimer
30 min

About Teaching with CLASS®

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Explore topics that are important to you while getting tactical strategies you can implement right away in your classroom! Each episode dives into a specific aspect of teaching and offers short, helpful strategies you can add to your practice.

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Teaching with CLASS®

Teaching with CLASS® episodes

About Teaching with CLASS®