Great courses for early years staff: Hanen's Teacher Talk

What Educators Learn from Teacher Talk™ (the term teacher means any Early Years worker)

The Teacher Talk Training Series is designed to actively engage participants through discussions, small group activities, analysis of video examples and completion of practical Action Plans that participants take back to their classrooms. Teachers receive workbooks for each session that allow them to personalise the content and think about how they will meet the needs of the individual children in their classroom.

Teacher Talk is divided into three full-day training sessions:

►Teacher Talk™ Training A: Encouraging Language Development in Early Childhood settings

This training addresses how educators can use everyday conversations, play and daily routines to promote the communication and social development of all children, including those with language delays and those who are second language learners.

Participants learn how to:

• Identify children’s conversational styles and the role teachers play in interactions
• Implement six steps to following the child’s lead: Observe, Wait and Listen, Be Face to Face, Imitate, Interpret, Comment, and Join in and Play
• Help children become better conversation partners by using appropriate questions, comments and turn-taking cues
• Use five important steps to ensure that no child is left out of the interaction during group activities

►Teacher Talk™ Training B: Let Language Lead the Way to Literacy

This training discusses the important links between oral language development and literacy, and provides teachers with practical strategies for paving the way for children to read and write.

Participants learn how to encourage and support literacy development by:

• Helping children develop a positive attitude toward the use of print
• Choosing books that match children’s interests and stages of development
• Using book reading as a time for interaction and conversation
• Making print a natural and meaningful part of every day

►Teacher Talk™ Training C: Fostering Peer Interaction in Early Childhood Settings

This training addresses how educators can provide a physical and social environment that encourages peer interaction and creates many opportunities or successful interactions with other children.

Participants learn how to encourage and support peer interaction by:

• Making the most effective use of space in the classroom
• Encouraging a variety of groupings for interaction
• Providing appropriate materials and activities
• Creating reasons for interaction and providing specific coaching

Note: The Teacher Talk Training Series may be offered flexibly. Training A may be offered on its own, or in combination with Training B and/or C, and the trainings do not have to be held on consecutive days. Training A, however, must be completed by the participant before he or she attends either B or C.

We will be running these courses in Northampton and Staffordshire next term (dates to be confirmed). If you'd like us to run these in your area, please let me know info@smalltalk-ltd.co.uk