Teaching with CLASS®

Chazz Lewis is an educational specialist who “teaches teachers to teach” in a chain of child development centers. He works closely with schools, teachers, and children.  He earned his master’s in executive leadership at American University. Mr. Chazz envisions a world where most people wake up every day, enjoying the process of becoming the best versions of themselves. He’s also well known on Tik Tok, Instagram, and his own podcast Get Vocal.

In today’s episode, Mr. Chazz explains how he got into teaching, why he decided to teach young children, and what kept him teaching. He also talks about building a community in the classroom and being the community you want to build.

Here are some tips that Mr. Chazz shared:

• A classroom is a community. It’s important to think seriously about what kind of community I want to create in my classroom, and model it consistently. It all starts with me.
• A sense of belonging is important in a community. I need to make sure all children have a sense of belonging in my classroom. I need to find ways to connect with children whose behavior is a cry for support, instead of excluding them which destroys their sense of belonging.
• It’s okay to let go of being a perfectionist and be an improvenist instead.

This episode focuses on Regard for Student Perspective.

Topics Discussed in This Episode

• [00:00:26] Today’s guest, Mr. Chazz
• [00:01:36] Why Mr. Chazz decided to teach young children
• [00:03:54] What’s kept Mr. Chazz teaching
• [00:06:52] What it was like for Mr. Chazz when he started
• [00:10:01] Spoken word for the classroom
• [00:11:52] Building community in the classroom
• [00:14:30] Setting a tone for the classroom
• [00:24:33] How children can recognize insincerity
• [00:27:17] Being the community that you want to build
• [00:29:04] Encouragement for teachers

Resources

Kate Cline LinkedIn

Mr. Chazz LinkedIn

Mr. Chazz Tiktok

Join the CLASS Learning Community to continue the discussion with thousands of other educators. 

What’s the best way to teach empathy to an infant, toddler, or preschool aged child?

Joanna Parker joins the podcast to answer that question. Joanna has spent her entire career in early care and education. She’s worked with Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, early intervention, public PreK, and home visitation programs at the local, community, state, and national levels. 

Joanna explains that defining empathy in early childhood is all about understanding social-emotional development. Children will not display empathy the way adults do because they are still developing social-emotional skills. But educators can instill foundational skills for children to build upon as they mature. 

Here are Joanna’s 3 strategies to foster empathy in the classroom:

1. Positive climate: being in tune with children, respecting children’s emotions and needs, support friendship skills creating a sense of belonging and community
2. Teacher sensitivity: being responsive to children, narrating what children are feeling (emotional literacy) and explicitly individualizing
3. Regard: child focus and choice, providing opportunities for independence and autonomy promoting a sense of being capable and competent

Joanna also shares:

• Ways empathy begins to appear in those early childhood years 

• Strategies to help toddlers build friendships

• Tips for educators to ensure that they are modeling acceptance and eliciting other perspectives throughout the day

This episode focuses on Responsive Caregiving, Behavioral Support, and Emotional Support.

Resources referenced in the episode:

• Boy calming brother 
• Theory of the Mind with Alan Alda 
• Yale Infant Cognition Center - Can Babies Tell Right From Wrong?
• Brené Brown on Empathy
• Watch Mamie’s 3-year-old daughter teach her sister how to meditate, a skill she learned at preschool. 

Join the CLASS Learning Community to continue the discussion with thousands of other educators. 

Burnout is at a whole new level within the last couple of years. Anyone who is a stakeholder feels certain levels of burnout, and there isn’t a magic cure or quick fix. On this week’s episode of Teaching with CLASS®, our guest Colleen Schmit returns to the podcast to help educators recognize and work through burnout.

Colleen shares these tips on combating burnout: 

1. Focus on your why: Write your why on a sticky note where you will see it, feel it, and remember it. If you didn’t love what you do, or have interest in what you do, you wouldn’t keep showing up, and this job is challenging! Physically, mentally, and emotionally, so being grounded in your why can really help get through the day-to-day. 
2. Find your people: find positive people who will support you! Surround yourself with positivity and people who will empathize with you. Be mindful of who you are interacting with and how you’re responding. 
3. Focus on joy and relationships: One of the biggest perks of working in early childhood education is that you get to work with young children, have fun, and be silly. You get to go and focus on joy and building relationships. Sometimes it is more important to pause your lesson plan and go with what you know works, or what should be addressed at that moment. Relationships impact all of the learning outcomes you’re trying to achieve. 
4. Put yourself on the list: There is no program or regime for self-care, it is different for everyone. It can feel difficult to make time for yourself, but just do your best to be mindful of the things that will take care of your physical and mental health. It all boils down to things that you do to take care of you in a way that makes you feel more like yourself. Also, if you aren’t engaging in self-care, don’t be too hard on yourself. Be gentle with yourself and do what you can to prioritize your needs.
5. Advocate for yourself and your students: It’s not just about being a voice for the voiceless of your children, but also yourself, the families, your co-workers. It’s a big job, but when you are advocating for everyone but yourself, you will burn out.

Learn more about combating burnout on our website:

How I Found Joy in Teaching after Losing Focus on What Matters

Interactions at the Heart of Healing - A trauma-informed CLASS® professional development series

More good reads:

Stress Levels of School Administrators and Teachers in November and January 

If You Feel Like You’ve Hit A Teaching Wall, You’re Not Alone

Why is November so stressful?

Meltdowns or tantrums in the classroom can be a frustrating experience for both the educator and the child. However, it's important for educators to support children through their development of essential social and emotional capabilities.

In this episode, we are joined by Megin Ruston. Megin has worn various hats in the ECE field, from student to professional to educator and advocate. She started her career as a teacher. During this time, she began working as a Home Visitor in a parenting program supporting families with children ages 5 and under. After that adventure, she provided social- emotional interventions for school aged children identified as having increased risk factors. And now we’re very lucky to have her at Teachstone. Listen as Megin helps educators understand why tantrums and meltdowns happen and how to respond to them. 

Here are some tips that Megin shared:

• With infants and toddlers, meltdowns and the other behaviors like biting and spitting are developmentally appropriate behaviors for those age groups. Meltdowns are a common response to frustration, sadness, and… emerging independence! Children outgrow this! As they develop that self control and self regulation, they DO outgrow these behaviors! 
• Control your own emotions. 
• Conventional wisdom to ignore a meltdown is actually not that effective and can be counterproductive, can prolong meltdowns, and doesn’t really teach what we think it’s teaching (This includes sending a child to a “quiet corner” by themselves to “calm down.”)

This episode focuses on Early Language Support, Behavior Guidance, and Teacher Sensitivity.

Learn more about learning through play and child-led activities on our blog:

3 Overlooked Opportunities for Facilitation of Learning and Development

Behavior Guidance Is as Easy as PB&J

Educators who earn the Child Development Association credential understand how to meet and nurture the emotional, physical, intellectual, and social needs of young children. Earn your CDA credential through our CDA with CLASS program. ​​CDA with CLASS provides educators with a unique online and high-quality professional education experience. 

More good reads:

Understanding and Responding to Children Who Bite

Join the CLASS Learning Community to continue the discussion with thousands of other educators. 

Subscribe and share this episode on Twitter

One thing we have all heard is that children learn the best through play - but how can we fully integrate that into our classroom environments? In this episode, we speak with Devynn Thomas, owner/operator of Lakeside Friends Daycare, an at-home play-based daycare. She started her career in early childhood 10 years ago at a center-based child care center. Devynn is passionate about the connection between play and learning and how literacy, science and math can be explored through play. Listen along as we explore making the most of interactions during play and following the child’s lead in planning the curriculum.

Here are some tips that Devynn shared for teachers who want to do more child-led learning:

• Watch and observe, see what comes up naturally, and notice what questions they are asking, what are they drawing when they color, what do they get excited about?
• The only limit is your imagination, seek out inspiration by connecting with other educators, look on pinterest and instagram for fun ideas and tweak them to suit your children’s needs 
• Throw out your check list/preconceived curriculum - “the children will seek out what they need” and you can address all areas of learning under a theme the children provide and it’s ok to have more than one “theme” going at a time.

This episode focuses on Regard for Student/Child Perspective. 

Learn more about learning through play and child-led activities on our blog:

• What Does Regard for Student Perspectives Look Like in a Teacher-Directed Activity?
• How to Increase Children’s Autonomy in the Classroom

More good reads:

• Playful learning: Where a rich curriculum meets a playful pedagogy

Join the CLASS Learning Community to continue the discussion with thousands of other educators. 

Subscribe and share this episode on Twitter and Facebook!

Thanks for listening!

How can we shape innovators starting at a young age? Early childhood teachers have a big role in promoting confidence in problem solving. 

Dr. Lourdes Norman-McKay joins us to explain how teachers can get students comfortable with shades of grey in the discovery process and with not knowing the right answer.

Dr. Lourdes Norman-McKay is a professor at Florida State College and the author of a globally marketed undergraduate microbiology textbook with Pearson. She earned her baccalaureate degree from the University of Florida and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. For the past 18 years, Dr. Norman-McKay has been teaching allied health students at the collegiate level. She also serves as a speaker for the U.S. Department of State's International Information Programs––a diplomacy outreach bureau––to promote STEM education, innovation, and women in STEM.

This episode dives into Quality of Feedback and Concept Development.

Actionable tips to try from this episode:

• Ask more questions, give fewer answers
• Increase questions on how children know things rather than on what they know
• Focus on learning by experiencing and doing
• See mistakes as opportunities

Learn more about promoting equity in critical thinking skills:

• How to Help Girls Avoid the Trap of Perfectionism
  
• How Do Integration and Connections to the Real World Contribute to Concept Development?
• The Impact of Creating an Emotionally Supportive Learning Environment in Math Classrooms

Join the CLASS Learning Community to continue the discussion with thousands of other educators. 

Subscribe and share this episode on Twitter and Facebook!

Thanks for listening!

It's not uncommon for teachers in early education to need to strike a balance between following children's leads and sticking to the classroom schedule. We know that intentional teachers are aware of their responsibility to assess student progress, understand skill mastery, and plan accordingly to provide opportunities for children to grow. However, many times, as teachers begin a specific teacher-directed activity, it is unsettling when students begin to veer from the step-by-step plans the teacher has worked hard to implement.

Teacher and coach, Colleen Schmit, will share how teachers can strike the balance between following the lesson plans and giving children freedom of choice and flexibility in the classroom. 

Learn more about regard for student's perspective on our blog:

• What Does Regard for Student Perspectives Look Like in a Teacher-Directed Activity?
• Regard for Student Perspectives: A Key Instructional Strategy for Improved Instructional Support

Join the conversation in the CLASS Learning Community!

Subscribe and share this episode on Twitter and Facebook!

Thanks for listening!

Many programs struggle with family engagement—particularly with engaging families in helping children with reading and homework at home. Educators may sometimes live in fear of complaints from caregivers and that can lead to a lack of trust between teachers and caregivers. In this episode, we’ll speak with Heather Sason, an early childhood professional who's been supporting families since she was 15. Now she has a child of her own and a community based playroom where families and children are invited to play and interact with other families. Heather is passionate about the topic of family engagement and will share some tips that educators can use to keep families involved in their children’s learning.

Here are some tips that Heather shared on how teachers can develop relationships and build trust with families, both in remote learning and in-person settings:

• Teachers should be themselves! Showing your true self as a teacher, will make parents/caregivers feel more at ease.
• Bank time with the parents to build those relationships. This helps tremendously, especially at conference time.
• In remote settings, invite parents/caregivers to join the first few minutes of each session if they can, and take this opportunity to bank a few moments with each of the parents. 
• In remote settings, also take the time to schedule virtual parent/caregiver gatherings every few months. Let them talk and get to know one another, and you better. 
• For in-person settings, invite parents/caregivers to volunteer in the classroom, and drop by anytime they want. Also, invite them to special events such as parties or special visitors coming to the classroom.
• If your center permits it, send pictures to the parents/caregivers during naptime of what their children have been doing that day. 

Learn more about family engagement on our blog:

• Engaging ECE Families in Remote Learning
• Interactions at the Core: The Power of Interactions In Any Setting

Check out Heather’s Little Fish Playroom and her blog: How to Set Up Infant & Toddler Learning Spaces to Facilitate Exploration. 

To see more photos of Little Fish and learn more, go to facebook.com/littlefishplayroom and www.littlefishplayroom.com

Join the

Guiding positive behavior is a learning process for young children as their brains are growing and developing the ability to regulate behavior, emotions and manage impulses. Creating safe, warm and supportive environments motivate children to learn and practice positive behaviors when adults are responsive and consistent. As a Specialist in Early Education with 6 years of experience as a CLASS coach, Michelle Galindo has supported many educators in classrooms with infants, toddlers and preschool children with positive behavior strategies. Here are three she shares in this episode:

Modeling Composure to support self regulation

• Being aware of Adult emotional triggers or strong emotions and practicing regulating and managing them by deep breathing and using positive self talk. Remaining calm yet intentional during interactions to respond to children’s needs vs. reacting by impulse or emotional trigger.

Creating a safe space to release strong emotions 

• A physical space where children can independently process emotions that is visible to adults for close supervision. Create a space with children’s input for safely expressing strong emotions using: mirrors, soft objects, family photos, feelings charts and other visuals displaying emotions.
  

Acknowledging Feelings while stating a boundary: 

• Naming the feeling/emotion during a conflict and narrating the action or behavior that was unsafe or unhealthy. Labeling the feeling through verbal affirmations or physical safe touch while stating the boundary (unsafe or unhealthy action/behavior)
  

Learn more about Behavior Guidance on our blog:

• Behavior Guidance Is as Easy as PB&J
• Behavior Management in the Classroom
• More Behavior Guidance Strategies
  

Join the CLASS Learning Community to continue the discussion with thousands of other educators. 

Subscribe and share this episode on Twitter and Facebook!

Thanks for listening!

New episodes every other Thursday. Be sure to subscribe!