All Things CLASS

I would love for the Teachstone community to address the hidden misogyny that underlies the negative climate section of CLASS. I'm concerned that we are modeling anger and irritation for our next generation of women and men.  We, as mostly females teachers, are instructed to rarely if ever use the word no when talking to students.  I wonder what the long term implications of this are for our children.  Boys need to be taught that no means noe PARTICULARy when a girl or woman says it.  If women in authority positions are trained to never say no, how will our next generation of men learn to hear no from a woman. What example are we also setting for the girls in our class, when the women they look up to are hiding small signals of irritation and glossing their feelings over.  
to be clear, I'm not saying we have the right to direct anger toward young children as women, I am saying this facet of CLASS seems to give teachers little way to express their feelings and in fact upholds a fear of women's anger that is an undercurrent in our society anyway.  Shouldn't we be judged on HOW  we model our own anger or irritation rather than the suppression of our feelings? Wouldn't modeling healthy ways of deal with feelings be the correct way to manage this, rather then the current way of negatively scoring women's irritation and negative feelings.
Can't we do better than this poor model of mental health?  

Hi there! Thank you for sharing your thoughtful concerns about the CLASS framework, particularly regarding the Negative Climate section. 

Our goal at Teachstone is to help educators create positive and effective classroom interactions. The CLASS tool aims to promote positive interactions by encouraging teachers to manage their emotions in a way that supports a nurturing learning environment. However, it's not our intention to suggest that teachers should suppress their feelings or avoid setting boundaries. Instead, we advocate for modeling healthy ways to express and manage emotions, including anger and irritation. It's essential for children to learn how to deal with their feelings constructively, and seeing their teachers do this can be a powerful lesson.

We encourage open discussions in our community about these important topics and welcome any further insights you may have. 

I would love for the Teachstone community to address the hidden misogyny that underlies the negative climate section of CLASS. I'm concerned that we are modeling anger and irritation for our next generation of women and men.  We, as mostly females teachers, are instructed to rarely if ever use the word no when talking to students.  I wonder what the long term implications of this are for our children.  Boys need to be taught that no means noe PARTICULARy when a girl or woman says it.  If women in authority positions are trained to never say no, how will our next generation of men learn to hear no from a woman. What example are we also setting for the girls in our class, when the women they look up to are hiding small signals of irritation and glossing their feelings over.  
to be clear, I'm not saying we have the right to direct anger toward young children as women, I am saying this facet of CLASS seems to give teachers little way to express their feelings and in fact upholds a fear of women's anger that is an undercurrent in our society anyway.  Shouldn't we be judged on HOW  we model our own anger or irritation rather than the suppression of our feelings? Wouldn't modeling healthy ways of deal with feelings be the correct way to manage this, rather then the current way of negatively scoring women's irritation and negative feelings.
Can't we do better than this poor model of mental health?  

If anyone else struggles with this, I also wanted to share these strategies you  can use to express frustration constructively and to say "no" appropriately when working with young children:

1. Acknowledge Feelings: When you or a child feels frustrated, acknowledge the emotion without judgment. For example, "I see you're feeling really upset right now." This helps validate their feelings and opens the door for constructive communication.

2. Calm Yourself First: Before addressing any behavior, take a moment to calm yourself. Deep breathing, visualizing a peaceful scene, or walking away if safe to do so can help. Approaching the situation calmly sets a positive example for children.

3. Set Clear Boundaries: It's important to set and maintain clear boundaries in a calm and consistent manner. For example, you can say, "It's okay to feel upset, but it's not okay to hit. We use gentle hands."

4. Modeling Calm Responses: Instead of suppressing your feelings, model how to handle them appropriately. If you're frustrated, you might say, "I'm feeling frustrated because there's a lot of noise. Let's all take a deep breath together to calm down.

5. Offer Alternatives: When saying no, provide alternatives to guide the child towards acceptable behavior. For example, "You can't throw the blocks, but you can build a tower with them."

6. Follow Up with Guidance: After a situation has calmed down, discuss what happened and what can be done differently next time. For instance, "Earlier, you were really mad when someone took your toy. It's okay to be mad, but next time, let's use our words to ask for it back."

By using these strategies, you can help children understand and manage their emotions while maintaining a positive and respectful classroom environment. Modeling healthy ways to deal with feelings teaches children valuable skills they will carry with them throughout their lives.

Hi there! Thank you for sharing your thoughtful concerns about the CLASS framework, particularly regarding the Negative Climate section. 

Our goal at Teachstone is to help educators create positive and effective classroom interactions. The CLASS tool aims to promote positive interactions by encouraging teachers to manage their emotions in a way that supports a nurturing learning environment. However, it's not our intention to suggest that teachers should suppress their feelings or avoid setting boundaries. Instead, we advocate for modeling healthy ways to express and manage emotions, including anger and irritation. It's essential for children to learn how to deal with their feelings constructively, and seeing their teachers do this can be a powerful lesson.

We encourage open discussions in our community about these important topics and welcome any further insights you may have. 

I would love for the Teachstone community to address the hidden misogyny that underlies the negative climate section of CLASS. I'm concerned that we are modeling anger and irritation for our next generation of women and men.  We, as mostly females teachers, are instructed to rarely if ever use the word no when talking to students.  I wonder what the long term implications of this are for our children.  Boys need to be taught that no means noe PARTICULARy when a girl or woman says it.  If women in authority positions are trained to never say no, how will our next generation of men learn to hear no from a woman. What example are we also setting for the girls in our class, when the women they look up to are hiding small signals of irritation and glossing their feelings over.  
to be clear, I'm not saying we have the right to direct anger toward young children as women, I am saying this facet of CLASS seems to give teachers little way to express their feelings and in fact upholds a fear of women's anger that is an undercurrent in our society anyway.  Shouldn't we be judged on HOW  we model our own anger or irritation rather than the suppression of our feelings? Wouldn't modeling healthy ways of deal with feelings be the correct way to manage this, rather then the current way of negatively scoring women's irritation and negative feelings.
Can't we do better than this poor model of mental health?  

If those are your goals, why are they not scored that way in the CLASS manual. You reverse score this rather than scoring the above.  I take issue with that. In education, we are to,d to highlight the behaviors we want to see, yet in this CLASS domain, you reverse score it, and are looking for negativity rather than scoring for the teacher regulating their emotions and kids emotions.  There is absolutely misogyny and the suppression of emotions written into  this. I

If anyone else struggles with this, I also wanted to share these strategies you  can use to express frustration constructively and to say "no" appropriately when working with young children:

1. Acknowledge Feelings: When you or a child feels frustrated, acknowledge the emotion without judgment. For example, "I see you're feeling really upset right now." This helps validate their feelings and opens the door for constructive communication.

2. Calm Yourself First: Before addressing any behavior, take a moment to calm yourself. Deep breathing, visualizing a peaceful scene, or walking away if safe to do so can help. Approaching the situation calmly sets a positive example for children.

3. Set Clear Boundaries: It's important to set and maintain clear boundaries in a calm and consistent manner. For example, you can say, "It's okay to feel upset, but it's not okay to hit. We use gentle hands."

4. Modeling Calm Responses: Instead of suppressing your feelings, model how to handle them appropriately. If you're frustrated, you might say, "I'm feeling frustrated because there's a lot of noise. Let's all take a deep breath together to calm down.

5. Offer Alternatives: When saying no, provide alternatives to guide the child towards acceptable behavior. For example, "You can't throw the blocks, but you can build a tower with them."

6. Follow Up with Guidance: After a situation has calmed down, discuss what happened and what can be done differently next time. For instance, "Earlier, you were really mad when someone took your toy. It's okay to be mad, but next time, let's use our words to ask for it back."

By using these strategies, you can help children understand and manage their emotions while maintaining a positive and respectful classroom environment. Modeling healthy ways to deal with feelings teaches children valuable skills they will carry with them throughout their lives.

Hi there! Thank you for sharing your thoughtful concerns about the CLASS framework, particularly regarding the Negative Climate section. 

Our goal at Teachstone is to help educators create positive and effective classroom interactions. The CLASS tool aims to promote positive interactions by encouraging teachers to manage their emotions in a way that supports a nurturing learning environment. However, it's not our intention to suggest that teachers should suppress their feelings or avoid setting boundaries. Instead, we advocate for modeling healthy ways to express and manage emotions, including anger and irritation. It's essential for children to learn how to deal with their feelings constructively, and seeing their teachers do this can be a powerful lesson.

We encourage open discussions in our community about these important topics and welcome any further insights you may have. 

I would love for the Teachstone community to address the hidden misogyny that underlies the negative climate section of CLASS. I'm concerned that we are modeling anger and irritation for our next generation of women and men.  We, as mostly females teachers, are instructed to rarely if ever use the word no when talking to students.  I wonder what the long term implications of this are for our children.  Boys need to be taught that no means noe PARTICULARy when a girl or woman says it.  If women in authority positions are trained to never say no, how will our next generation of men learn to hear no from a woman. What example are we also setting for the girls in our class, when the women they look up to are hiding small signals of irritation and glossing their feelings over.  
to be clear, I'm not saying we have the right to direct anger toward young children as women, I am saying this facet of CLASS seems to give teachers little way to express their feelings and in fact upholds a fear of women's anger that is an undercurrent in our society anyway.  Shouldn't we be judged on HOW  we model our own anger or irritation rather than the suppression of our feelings? Wouldn't modeling healthy ways of deal with feelings be the correct way to manage this, rather then the current way of negatively scoring women's irritation and negative feelings.
Can't we do better than this poor model of mental health?  

If anyone else struggles with this, I also wanted to share these strategies you  can use to express frustration constructively and to say "no" appropriately when working with young children:

1. Acknowledge Feelings: When you or a child feels frustrated, acknowledge the emotion without judgment. For example, "I see you're feeling really upset right now." This helps validate their feelings and opens the door for constructive communication.

2. Calm Yourself First: Before addressing any behavior, take a moment to calm yourself. Deep breathing, visualizing a peaceful scene, or walking away if safe to do so can help. Approaching the situation calmly sets a positive example for children.

3. Set Clear Boundaries: It's important to set and maintain clear boundaries in a calm and consistent manner. For example, you can say, "It's okay to feel upset, but it's not okay to hit. We use gentle hands."

4. Modeling Calm Responses: Instead of suppressing your feelings, model how to handle them appropriately. If you're frustrated, you might say, "I'm feeling frustrated because there's a lot of noise. Let's all take a deep breath together to calm down.

5. Offer Alternatives: When saying no, provide alternatives to guide the child towards acceptable behavior. For example, "You can't throw the blocks, but you can build a tower with them."

6. Follow Up with Guidance: After a situation has calmed down, discuss what happened and what can be done differently next time. For instance, "Earlier, you were really mad when someone took your toy. It's okay to be mad, but next time, let's use our words to ask for it back."

By using these strategies, you can help children understand and manage their emotions while maintaining a positive and respectful classroom environment. Modeling healthy ways to deal with feelings teaches children valuable skills they will carry with them throughout their lives.

Hi there! Thank you for sharing your thoughtful concerns about the CLASS framework, particularly regarding the Negative Climate section. 

Our goal at Teachstone is to help educators create positive and effective classroom interactions. The CLASS tool aims to promote positive interactions by encouraging teachers to manage their emotions in a way that supports a nurturing learning environment. However, it's not our intention to suggest that teachers should suppress their feelings or avoid setting boundaries. Instead, we advocate for modeling healthy ways to express and manage emotions, including anger and irritation. It's essential for children to learn how to deal with their feelings constructively, and seeing their teachers do this can be a powerful lesson.

We encourage open discussions in our community about these important topics and welcome any further insights you may have. 

I would love for the Teachstone community to address the hidden misogyny that underlies the negative climate section of CLASS. I'm concerned that we are modeling anger and irritation for our next generation of women and men.  We, as mostly females teachers, are instructed to rarely if ever use the word no when talking to students.  I wonder what the long term implications of this are for our children.  Boys need to be taught that no means noe PARTICULARy when a girl or woman says it.  If women in authority positions are trained to never say no, how will our next generation of men learn to hear no from a woman. What example are we also setting for the girls in our class, when the women they look up to are hiding small signals of irritation and glossing their feelings over.  
to be clear, I'm not saying we have the right to direct anger toward young children as women, I am saying this facet of CLASS seems to give teachers little way to express their feelings and in fact upholds a fear of women's anger that is an undercurrent in our society anyway.  Shouldn't we be judged on HOW  we model our own anger or irritation rather than the suppression of our feelings? Wouldn't modeling healthy ways of deal with feelings be the correct way to manage this, rather then the current way of negatively scoring women's irritation and negative feelings.
Can't we do better than this poor model of mental health?  

Apparently, I have even more to say. ;)

Right now, the way this is written comes from a place where the teacher is charged with maintaining order without getting angry. That is the thrust of the domain negatIve climate. Teachers believe they "need to control" outbursts etc.  In reality, we are in charge of helping children regulate, and if you rewrote this to reflect the great principals above, teachers would understand that their role is to help children feel their feelings, rather than having a teacher being judged on how few behavior incidents we face in the classroom. This is what you actually want treachery to do, and it should be reflected in your scoring system. 

If anyone else struggles with this, I also wanted to share these strategies you  can use to express frustration constructively and to say "no" appropriately when working with young children:

1. Acknowledge Feelings: When you or a child feels frustrated, acknowledge the emotion without judgment. For example, "I see you're feeling really upset right now." This helps validate their feelings and opens the door for constructive communication.

2. Calm Yourself First: Before addressing any behavior, take a moment to calm yourself. Deep breathing, visualizing a peaceful scene, or walking away if safe to do so can help. Approaching the situation calmly sets a positive example for children.

3. Set Clear Boundaries: It's important to set and maintain clear boundaries in a calm and consistent manner. For example, you can say, "It's okay to feel upset, but it's not okay to hit. We use gentle hands."

4. Modeling Calm Responses: Instead of suppressing your feelings, model how to handle them appropriately. If you're frustrated, you might say, "I'm feeling frustrated because there's a lot of noise. Let's all take a deep breath together to calm down.

5. Offer Alternatives: When saying no, provide alternatives to guide the child towards acceptable behavior. For example, "You can't throw the blocks, but you can build a tower with them."

6. Follow Up with Guidance: After a situation has calmed down, discuss what happened and what can be done differently next time. For instance, "Earlier, you were really mad when someone took your toy. It's okay to be mad, but next time, let's use our words to ask for it back."

By using these strategies, you can help children understand and manage their emotions while maintaining a positive and respectful classroom environment. Modeling healthy ways to deal with feelings teaches children valuable skills they will carry with them throughout their lives.

Hi there! Thank you for sharing your thoughtful concerns about the CLASS framework, particularly regarding the Negative Climate section. 

Our goal at Teachstone is to help educators create positive and effective classroom interactions. The CLASS tool aims to promote positive interactions by encouraging teachers to manage their emotions in a way that supports a nurturing learning environment. However, it's not our intention to suggest that teachers should suppress their feelings or avoid setting boundaries. Instead, we advocate for modeling healthy ways to express and manage emotions, including anger and irritation. It's essential for children to learn how to deal with their feelings constructively, and seeing their teachers do this can be a powerful lesson.

We encourage open discussions in our community about these important topics and welcome any further insights you may have. 

I would love for the Teachstone community to address the hidden misogyny that underlies the negative climate section of CLASS. I'm concerned that we are modeling anger and irritation for our next generation of women and men.  We, as mostly females teachers, are instructed to rarely if ever use the word no when talking to students.  I wonder what the long term implications of this are for our children.  Boys need to be taught that no means noe PARTICULARy when a girl or woman says it.  If women in authority positions are trained to never say no, how will our next generation of men learn to hear no from a woman. What example are we also setting for the girls in our class, when the women they look up to are hiding small signals of irritation and glossing their feelings over.  
to be clear, I'm not saying we have the right to direct anger toward young children as women, I am saying this facet of CLASS seems to give teachers little way to express their feelings and in fact upholds a fear of women's anger that is an undercurrent in our society anyway.  Shouldn't we be judged on HOW  we model our own anger or irritation rather than the suppression of our feelings? Wouldn't modeling healthy ways of deal with feelings be the correct way to manage this, rather then the current way of negatively scoring women's irritation and negative feelings.
Can't we do better than this poor model of mental health?