Programs that have embraced the Teaching Pyramid and have completed the minimum recommended training series (i.e., the three training modules for all staff, training of facilitators for parent-education sessions, and specialized training on the top of the pyramid) and coaching may want to provide additional training and support for their programs to ensure sustainability.
WestEd offers a variety of trainings that provide a deeper understanding of topics that are introduced in the training modules, as well as refresher trainings. Refresher trainings may serve to solidify the knowledge base of previous attendees while perhaps introducing the Teaching Pyramid concepts and practices to new staff. Follow-up technical assistance and support to Leadership Teams may be needed at the beginning of a new school year to bring new members up to speed and to either ensure implementation of an action plan or to develop a new one. Previously trained cohorts also may be interested in WestEd’s facilitation of Cross-Cohort Leadership Team Meetings to learn about and share ideas and lessons learned with other cohorts. Additional coaching sessions for classrooms or additional sessions for training internal coaches also may benefit sustainability efforts.
Advanced Training Topics
- Diverse Perspectives on Behavior: Honoring Culture and Family Through Dialogue
- Acknowledge, Ask, Adapt: Training Strategies to Improve Communication with Family Members in Collaborative Relationships
- Spunky or Squirrely? The Relationship between Temperament and Behavior
- Using Music, Art, and Movement to Support Social-Emotional Development
- Skills for Life: Going Deeper with Conflict Resolution and Problem-Solving
- Close to Magic: Positive, Descriptive Acknowledgement Can Change Everything
- Practice Makes Permanent! Increasing Language Models while Building the Brain and Developing Social-Emotional Skills
Refresher Training
Focus on Beginnings
- Think about what to emphasize at the beginning of the school year
- Expectations
- Visual Schedule
- Transitions
- Relationships with children and families
- Share with children and families
Technical Assistance for Leadership Teams
- Leadership Team
- Cross-Agency Leadership Team Meetings to include development of internal coaches, and cross-site sharing
Additional Coaching
- Coaching sessions for classroom teachers
- Special mentoring sessions for internal coaches
"We don't want this to be something our teachers were just taught. We want this to continue; we want it to become systemic in our department. We've also talked with the district and elementary schools and said this is the language you're going to hear when the children come out of our preschools so we're doing a training this summer and sharing with them about the Teaching Pyramid." –Assistant Administrator