Teacher Sensitivity

Thank you for sharing your insights regarding Teacher Sensitivity you see demonstrated in your teaching teams.

Here are those comments. If you haven't had the opportunity to send me an email with your insights, you can post a comment to this blog for all to see.

Creative Play, Kids' Place and PALS+ staff--The ECFE/Family Learning/First Steps/Ready, Set, Kindergarten staff has been working with the University of Virginia Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) this semester. At the March staff meeting, we discussed the first dimension, Positive Climate. In April we looked at Teacher Sensitivity. In May we will be examining Regard for Student Perspective. I believe that Peggy has shared CLASS with the Creative Play-ers and Lisa will or has done the same with the Kids' Place-ers and I'm pretty sure I gave the CLASS handouts to the PALS+-ers (but maybe not?) You are welcomed and encouraged to post comments about examples of Teacher Sensitivity you see in your classrooms, too!

Kim ( FL ) - is sensitive to the kids' needs and interests, and follows their lead. If the kids are not showing a lot of interest in an activity in the classroom, she quickly and easily shifts gears to accommodate them. And if they are really engaged and enthusiastic about something, she builds on it, and incorporates it into the schedule more. She gives lots of hugs, and laughs a lot with the children.

Kelli ( FL ) - is very nurturing, and always steps in quickly to provide help or support to the infants and toddlers. She is very in tune to each child's interests, abilities, needs, and moods, so they feel very secure and attached to her.

Cindy ( FL ) - As Parent Ed, is sensitive to the struggles and issues the parents face, and acts as a resource for them. Because she is non-judgemental and empowering when they approach her with a problem, they feel comfortable asking for help or support.

Lori ( Primary ) - From the moment she walks into the room, treats the children with gentleness and respect. She kneels down to be at their level when she is talking to them, and treats them as a friend. She makes them feel special and important, and when they return from the playroom, we see them showing more confidence, and smiling more, too. Steph

I think this is an area in which Peg Clark excels - I've enjoyed watching her put her cold hands on someone's ' owie', give an extra hug of comfort, and chat with the kids about what's going on in their lives with complete attention. Stacy and Cindy both show great sensitivity to the parents' concerns by informally catching up with them each week. Marjean

Trish displayed a good example of taking time to notice how students are
doing "in the moment." There were two children playing with the same toy in
the sensory table and it looked as though they might have trouble sharing.
Trish got out another toy that was the same, but when she went to put it in,
she observed that the children were sharing the orignal toy nicely. Instead
of putting the second toy in she pointed out to the parents and the children
how well they were sharing and put the second toy away. Anita


Stephanie: She is always really gentle with the children even if it is a difficult situation (example: a child disobeying the rules).
--Neil (fake name...) is having a hard time with listening to directions, so instead of yelling at him, she gently says, "Neil can you please come to the book area and read a book with the other children, then after you read then we can sing songs."

Kim: In the rec area (which is when I see her at work) she is always willing to jump in when a child is in need for a hug. Very sensitive to what the children really need.
--Kristi (again fake name...) just wants to be held on her lap and talked to. So Kim does just that. Kim also encourages her to play with her friends too. Kelli