All Things CLASS

Hi Teachstone Family! 

I hope that everyone is having a pleasant week. I have some pressing questions here..

In regards to self and parallel talk and repetition and extension I am having a difficult time measuring those indicators. I am running into situations where I may observe a cycle with 8 repetitions and no extensions.  Should the educator be receiving some type of credit for their efforts? Say a Mid? 

Then I may observe all self talk but no parallel, or 8 self talk and one parallel talk. 

What are your thoughts and experiences with these two interesting indicators? I look forward to reading the responses. Thanks in advance.

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Ashley L. Anderson
Long Beach CA
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Hi!  Are you coding toddler or pre K?

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Mary-Margaret Gardiner
Teachstone Training LLC
Affiliate Partners CLASS Specialist
Crozet Virginia
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Hello Mary-Margret, 

This would be for the Pre-K tool.

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Ashley L. Anderson
Long Beach CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2019 10:00
From: Mary-Margaret K Gardiner
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

Hi!  Are you coding toddler or pre K?

------------------------------
Mary-Margaret Gardiner
Teachstone Training LLC
Affiliate Partners CLASS Specialist
Crozet Virginia
------------------------------

Hi Ashley;
My answer to any coding question is always "Go to the manual!" so let's look at the face page (75) for LM first.  For Repetition and Extension the high range says:" The teacher often repeats OR extends the student's responses" So you need to consider the amount of repetitions , but not necessarily the count. You mentioned 8 repeats.  Were those 8 in response to the majority of the student's comments? Was the teacher responsive to just one child?  What was the experience of the classroom members as a whole?  Remember it is not just the presence or absence of a behavior within an indicator, not only the frequency(be careful not to use checkmarks alone=!) ,  but the DEPTH or meaning of this behavior as it relates to the Dimension's definition. So, moving on to the high range descriptor on page 79-80 of the manual, we see that the teacher at the high range "focuses first on the students attempts to communicate and then builds directly on the student's contribution".  The most important piece is the acknowledgment of the student's comment (repeat) which would support the child's use of language, and it's even better if those comments have some related extension.  When we compare this to the mid range on page 78, we see that while the teacher does repeat/extend at times, it is not consistent across the cycle.  So, yes, hearing frequent repetition could be considered high range, but not necessarily.  Consider how the indicators work together in service of the teacher's use of language facilitation and stimulation techniques.  Is that teacher  helping children use language in the classroom?

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Mary-Margaret Gardiner
Teachstone Training LLC
Affiliate Partners CLASS Specialist
Crozet Virginia
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2019 12:43
From: Ashley L. Anderson
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

Hello Mary-Margret,

This would be for the Pre-K tool.

------------------------------
Ashley L. Anderson
Long Beach CA
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2019 10:00
From: Mary-Margaret K Gardiner
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

Hi!  Are you coding toddler or pre K?

------------------------------
Mary-Margaret Gardiner
Teachstone Training LLC
Affiliate Partners CLASS Specialist
Crozet Virginia

Your response was very helpful @Mary-Margaret K Gardiner. When you evaluate self & parallel talk what did you come up with?  ​

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Ashley L. Anderson
Long Beach CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-31-2019 09:42
From: Mary-Margaret K Gardiner
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

Hi Ashley;
My answer to any coding question is always "Go to the manual!" so let's look at the face page (75) for LM first.  For Repetition and Extension the high range says:" The teacher often repeats OR extends the student's responses" So you need to consider the amount of repetitions , but not necessarily the count. You mentioned 8 repeats.  Were those 8 in response to the majority of the student's comments? Was the teacher responsive to just one child?  What was the experience of the classroom members as a whole?  Remember it is not just the presence or absence of a behavior within an indicator, not only the frequency(be careful not to use checkmarks alone=!) ,  but the DEPTH or meaning of this behavior as it relates to the Dimension's definition. So, moving on to the high range descriptor on page 79-80 of the manual, we see that the teacher at the high range "focuses first on the students attempts to communicate and then builds directly on the student's contribution".  The most important piece is the acknowledgment of the student's comment (repeat) which would support the child's use of language, and it's even better if those comments have some related extension.  When we compare this to the mid range on page 78, we see that while the teacher does repeat/extend at times, it is not consistent across the cycle.  So, yes, hearing frequent repetition could be considered high range, but not necessarily.  Consider how the indicators work together in service of the teacher's use of language facilitation and stimulation techniques.  Is that teacher  helping children use language in the classroom?

------------------------------
Mary-Margaret Gardiner
Teachstone Training LLC
Affiliate Partners CLASS Specialist
Crozet Virginia
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2019 12:43
From: Ashley L. Anderson
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

Hello Mary-Margret,

This would be for the Pre-K tool.

------------------------------
Ashley L. Anderson
Long Beach CA


Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2019 10:00
From: Mary-Margaret K Gardiner
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

Hi!  Are you coding toddler or pre K?

------------------------------
Mary-Margaret Gardiner
Teachstone Training LLC
Affiliate Partners CLASS Specialist
Crozet Virginia

How do explain or define the action of parallel talk? Thank you

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Mildred Bennett-Berniard
New Orleans, LA
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Mapping the actions of the children.

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Ashley L. Anderson
Long Beach CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2019 10:51
From: Mildred Bennett-Berniard
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

How do explain or define the action of parallel talk? Thank you

------------------------------
Mildred Bennett-Berniard
New Orleans, LA
------------------------------

@Mildred Bennett-Berniard, this blog post may be helpful to learn more about 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." The teacher becomes a sportscaster, narrating a play-by-play account of what the child is seeing, feeling, or doing, making words personalized and meaningful."             

@Ashley L. Anderson there was a really interesting conversation about Repetition and Extension a while back that may be relevant. I'd recommend reading the entire response that @Marielle Sheridan posted. However, here's her "cliff notes" version: If you're observing Toddler, you're looking for repetition *and* extension for high range, but if you're observing Pre-K, you can get to range with just one or the other (usually repetition).
​​

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Liz Savage
Community Manager
Teachstone
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2019 10:51
From: Mildred Bennett-Berniard
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

How do explain or define the action of parallel talk? Thank you

------------------------------
Mildred Bennett-Berniard
New Orleans, LA
------------------------------

@Liz Savage This was very helpful. You always have amazing links to my questions! So, if we explore self & parallel talk in the mid range it explains that "the teacher occasionally maps his or her own actions and the ​students' actions.." and in the high range it also pairs self & parallel talk. What if the teacher in doing one or the other consistently? Aren't the children still getting the language from the narrating? Or does self & parallel talk have different effects on the children?

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Ashley L. Anderson
Long Beach CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2019 16:15
From: Liz Savage
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

@Mildred Bennett-Berniard, this blog post may be helpful to learn more about parallel talk:
"In <g class="gr_ gr_61 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="61" data-gr-id="61">parallel</g> <g class="gr_ gr_62 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="62" data-gr-id="62">talk</g> 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." The teacher becomes a sportscaster, narrating a play-by-play account of what the child is seeing, feeling, or doing, making words personalized and meaningful."

@Ashley L. Anderson there was a really interesting conversation about Repetition and Extension a while back that may be relevant. I'd recommend reading the entire response that @Marielle Sheridan posted. However, here's her "cliff notes" version: If you're observing Toddler, you're looking for repetition *and* extension for high range, but if you're observing Pre-K, you can get to <g class="gr_ gr_59 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="59" data-gr-id="59">high</g> range with just one or the other (usually repetition).
​​

------------------------------
Liz Savage
Community Manager
Teachstone
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2019 10:51
From: Mildred Bennett-Berniard
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

How do explain or define the action of parallel talk? Thank you

------------------------------
Mildred Bennett-Berniard
New Orleans, LA

Hi Mildred!
You can get a good idea of what this looks like by referring to the manual on page 80.  When there is high levels of S&P talk, imagine if your eyes were closed, would you know what is going on in the moment based on the teachers description.  I always think of this:  SAY WHAT THEY SEE, SAY WHAT YOU SEE!

------------------------------
Mary-Margaret Gardiner
Teachstone Training LLC
Affiliate Partners CLASS Specialist
Crozet Virginia
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2019 10:51
From: Mildred Bennett-Berniard
Subject: Self & Parallel Talk, Repetition & Extension

How do explain or define the action of parallel talk? Thank you

------------------------------
Mildred Bennett-Berniard
New Orleans, LA
------------------------------