Month: May 2019

Training on “Creating High Quality Classrooms”

This highly interactive training will address how to provide high quality, school readiness-focused services for Head Start children. Designing and implementing a high quality classroom requires thoughtful intention and a strong knowledge base. Of all of the “essential elements” of high quality classrooms, we find that the ones that many Head Start classrooms find challenging and need additional support include (1) Small Group Instruction; (2) Engaging Children in Conversation during Mealtimes; (3) Effective Transitions; and (4) Intentionality during Center Time.

This custom designed training will address the following topics:

  • Small Group Instruction
    Small group time can greatly benefit a child’s school readiness.  It is an opportunity for teachers to spend intentional, focused instructional time with students in specific skill areas.  We will address and model what effective small group instruction looks like in a Head Start classroom.  The key elements of small group instruction are creating groups based on need; direct instruction that is planned and based on observations and children’s data; and high levels of student engagement and interaction.  Small group time is also a critical time for teachers to assess where children are in their learning process.
  • Engaging Children in Conversation during Mealtimes
    Developing early language is essential to a child’s development as well as to school readiness. It allows children to successfully engage in socialization and learn from their natural environments.  We will focus on helping teachers develop a strong knowledge base on language development in young children. The training will empower the teaching staff in their role in supporting each child’s language development. Meals are an excellent opportunity to engage children in conversation.  We will share specific strategies to show how to effectively promote language during mealtime. Open-ended questions, repetition as well as extension and self- and parallel talk will be a part of the demonstration.
  • Effective Transitions
    Children benefit greatly from knowing what to expect throughout their day and the classroom setting demands that children move through many transitions each day. Reducing the number of transitions as well as keeping the children informed of the upcoming change helps them feel safe and in control. And, when children feel safe, they learn better and are more able to control their actions and behavior. We will leave the teachers with a transition toolkit and a variety of activities to use with children throughout the day.
  • Intentionality during Center Time
    Effective learning is achieved when children are fully engaged. This occurs when children are actively involved and energized during center time. The centers should capture children’s inquiry, promote creativity and encourage problem-solving skills. Equally important is the intention on the part of the teacher. Intentional teaching is always thinking about what you are doing and how it will foster children’s development. We will model how to interact with children during center time with children’s outcomes in mind and seek out every opportunity to help children progress on their road to school readiness.

Looking for a training for your staff on “Creating High Quality Classrooms”?  Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

Keynote or Training: “Reflect, Renew and Re-energize … Why We Work with Head Start Children and Families

Are you looking for a keynote or training to motivate and inspire your staff regarding the important work that they do for children and families?

This highly inspiring training will focus on helping the staff remember the incredible program that Head Start and Early Head Start is… and why they have chosen to work in this exciting field.  This highly engaging training will renew our understanding of what a high quality Head Start program is as well as reclaiming the passion and joy for the important work that the staff do every day!

This highly motivating keynote or training will address:

  • Reflect back on why we got into this field.
    We will take time to help the staff remember why they work in Head Start.  The training will help them get back in touch with the joy that they experience from working with at-risk children and families.  We will reconnect your staff with the feeling that they get when a child learns something because of their efforts, when a family reaches a goal… to assist staff in getting in touch with the impact that they have in serving the children and families.  No matter what position the staff has, they are an essential piece of the puzzle to achieve school readiness and family engagement.
  • Renew our understanding of the new requirements in Head Start.
    It’s true – the expectations for Head Start staff are different than they used to be.  Because of CLASS, data-driven decision making and Recompetition, the focus for staff has changed as well as the pressure that this brings.  Staff have to collect more data and fill out more paperwork.  The reality, however, is that there are new requirements in Head Start and it’s important to accept them.
  • Re-energize the staff to accept the changes in Head Start and reclaim their passion for delivering high quality services to children and families.
    This training will let the staff know that we acknowledge that they have different responsibilities than they did in the past.  We’ll address that, because the face of Head Start has changed, there are new expectations for staff.  While these changes are numerous and challenging, they are here to stay and it’s important that we accept and embrace them.  The training will help the staff reclaim the passion they have for their job in Head Start – to remind them of why they work in Head Start and why their daily efforts are so important in the lives of young children and families.

Looking for a keynote or training for your staff on “Reflect, Renew and Re-energize: Why We Work with Head Start Children and Families?”  Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

Creating Realistic, Specific and Measurable Goals with Families

Family Service Workers and Home Visitors are the first point of contact for our families. Establishing a good working relationship with each family is the foundation for effective work with families. Have a good working relationship with each family is key in a successful goal setting process. As staff invite each family to participate in the goal setting process, having a partnership in place with each family is essential.

We believe that individualized Family Partnership Agreements are living documents and must be reflective of the people involved in setting the goals. It is important that Family Partnership Agreements are intentional, purposeful and based on the strengths and needs of each family. Family Partnership Agreements are about the relationship with the family – not the form it is written on.

This highly interactive training is an opportunity for your Family Service Workers and Home Visitors to learn new strategies as it pertains to effective goal setting with families – and practice those skills during the training.

This practice-based training will address how to set realistic, meaningful and measurable goals as well as create individualized Family Partnership Agreements. The training includes addressing topics such as:

  • Build the relationship first. Engage and build connection with families by allowing adequate time for conversation and listening with an open mind. Hearing what families are saying is vital. It is important that staff spend time getting to know each family member as an individual and work to establish a comfort level with each one. This time allows staff to discover what the family is all about and what is important to them. The key is to begin this relationship at application and enrollment, building it consistently and authentically.
  • Initiate “rich” conversations with families. This training teaches the participants the stages of a helping relationship. Initiate “rich” conversations with families that get to the heart of where families are and where they want to be. This includes the family’s own timeline for goals and needs. Create a safe environment for parents to share their strengths and open up about areas of challenge. Know what questions to ask families in order to gain critical information to set goals.
  • Create goals that are specific, realistic and measurable. We believe that Family Partnership Agreements are not just something to complete in order to check it off of your to-do list. Family Partnership Agreements are living documents that must be intentional and individualized for each family. As this process is often something that is uncomfortable for staff, this training includes suggested language to use when setting goals with families as well as a hands-on demonstration of the process. Staff should work in partnership with parents to create goals that are realistic and measurable – and broken down into specific steps that can be attained.

Work with parents to set them up for success throughout the goal setting process. Recognize parents’ role as their child’s first and most important teacher.

Are you looking for on-site, custom designed training on “Creating Realistic, Specific and Measurable Goals with Families”? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

CLASS Training to Increase Your Instructional Support Scores

As we all know, it’s essential to have high CLASS scores. High scoring classrooms are a great indicator of positive teacher/child interactions that effectively support children’s learning and development. This leads to successful CLASS Reviews as well as best practices in the classroom. Most Head Start programs score lowest in the Instructional Support domain. This is understandable as some of the indicators within Concept Development, Quality of Feedback and Language Modeling are complex.

This hands-on training will discuss and demonstrate specific strategies for each of the indicators and behavioral markers under each of the dimensions within Instructional Support.Utilizing the teachers’ daily schedule, we will provide concrete strategies on how to attain high CLASS scores in Instructional Support. This targeted training will focus on ways to implement Instructional Support throughout the day. We will demonstrate how to naturally incorporate high scoring Instructional Support during large group activities, small group activities, center time, transitions and routines, meals… every part of the Head Start day!

This custom designed training will include items such as:

  • Analysis and Reasoning: Learn how to integrate the “how” and “why” of children’s learning.
  • Integration: Learn how to effectively make meaningful connections from new to prior learning.
  • Scaffolding: Learn how to provide assistance, feedback and questioning to assist children in continuing to learn and work at a higher level.
  • Feedback Loops: Learn how to increase language through sustained conversations, comments and follow-up questions in supporting a higher level of insight and comprehension.
  • Repetition & Extension: Learn how to acknowledge and build on each child’s unique ideas and contributions to a lesson or conversation.
  • Self- & Parallel Talk: Learn how to best map both your actions & the children’s actions as a means for language modeling.

The entirety of the training will be framed in terms of the Head Start classroom – including what a “7” looks like for each of the indicators and behavioral markers under Instructional Support. We will offer practice-based strategies to increase CLASS scores in each of these indicators and behavioral markers. We will address best practices as it pertains to teaching behaviors and interactions.

If your program’s scores are lowest in Emotional Support or Classroom Organization, we can focus on that domain instead.

A variety of learning styles will be explored such as videos, role plays, small group activities, pair and share, question and answer sessions, and other interactive exercises. The participants in this training will have many hands-on opportunities to see what high-scoring Instructional Support looks like – as adult learning is best when the participants can see, feel and experience the information that is being presented.

Are you looking for highly interactive and custom designed “CLASS Training to Increase Your Instructional Support Scores”? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.