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On this page you will find resources that we hope will be helpful as you think and teach about Powerful Interactions.

POWERFUL INTERACTIONS POWERPOINT
The PowerPoint presents the three steps of Powerful Interactions. Each step is illustrated with a video clip of a preschool teacher taking that step.
Click here to download

NOTE: In order to properly play the videos included in the presentation, please keep the video files in the folder with the Powerpoint file.

Discussion Questions
These questions were originally developed for use by a book club of Early Childhood professionals in Boston, MA. They can also be used in workshops, classes and presentations.
Click here to download

Thoughts about Personalizing Your Presentations
Powerful Interactions begin with the teacher.  For this reason, we suggest you personalize presentations to encourage teachers to connect with the content and and apply what they learn to their practice. This short note includes easy-to-use strategies to personalize resources you find here and those you develop yourself.
Click here to download

ARTICLES

New! "Planning for Positive Guidance: Powerful Interactions Make A Difference" by Danielle Degele Sanchez and Deborah Steece Doran with Judy Jablon.
Based on Danielle and Deborah's work at a preschool in Pahoa, HI, it contains practical strategies that you can make yours and apply to your work. Aloha Danielle and Deborah.

"Powerful Interactions: A Bridge Between Teaching and Assesment" from Teaching Young Children/Preschool, Vol. 5, No. 5. Click here to download

"Mr. Jason's Powerful Interaction with Mellie on the Playground" - An in-depth exploration of a toddler teacher using Powerful Interactions as a bridge between teaching and assessment. Click here to download

POWERFUL INTERACTIONS FACEBOOK PAGE

As the new year begins, we invite you to join us in revisiting some of the entries on the Powerful Interactions Facebook page. Then begin to use this page as a resource to promote and build upon Powerful Interactions in your setting. Here are some ideas you might want to try -- whether you are a teacher, coach, program leader or early childhood instructor:

  • Select an entry or entries to read and discuss with colleagues.
    Questions to guide your conversation might include
    - How does this compare with our understanding or practice?
    - How might we use this idea to make our interactions even more powerful?
  • Invite colleagues/students to choose an entry that is especially meaningful to them and explain why.
  • Find an entry that interests you. Then read more about the topic (e.g., being present or instant replay) in our book.
  • Encourage and support colleagues and students to describe then write a future entry about a Powerful Interaction and how it made a difference. Taking time to reflect then write about an experience can lead to unexpected and rich insights.
  • Other ideas??? Please share them.

If you have any Powerful Interactions resources you would like to share with others, please send them to us so that we might post them here.

Best,
Amy, Judy and Charlotte
 
 

 

Observation is key to getting to know a child and making decisions that lead to Powerful Interactions. We’d like to share two books we have written and hope you find them to be valuable resources in your work with children and/or teachers.

power of observation

The Power of Observation, written by Judy, Amy and our friend and colleague Margo Dichtelmiller, explores the vital link between observation and effective teaching. Much more than a set of skills, observation is a mind-set of openness and wonder that helps teachers and caregivers learn more about each child in their care. The link between observation and relationship building is an important theme of this book.

We share their own experiences, and those of many others, to illustrate how observation helps teachers and caregivers become more effective in the child care center, preschool, family child care home, and elementary classroom. We offer guidelines for effective observation and specific strategies to help you refine your skills and make observation an integral part of your teaching.

This second edition includes expanded guidance on applying what you learn from observation to your daily practices. It also features a new study guide that is informed by recommendations from the many university and community college professors who use the book as a textbook for their courses.

observation

Observation: The Key to Responsive Teaching, written by the three of us, is a workbook with DVD that guides teachers to make even more meaningful connections between what they observe and the decisions they make. A companion to The Power of Observation, it guides teachers through four phases of good observation technique: asking questions; watching, listening and recording information; reflecting; and responding purposefully.

It includes 16 exercises, each linked to a 2-6 minute video clip that takes you inside real classrooms and provides an opportunity to discover your strengths as an observer and at the same time enhance skills you want to improve.