2014 Early Childhood Summer Institute: Start Small: Build BigStart Small: Build Big

SESSION DESCRIPTORS

Day One, Monday, July 21

NEW! Mini-Sessions

Mini-Sessions: These 1-hour sessions prior to the keynote will include various topics of interest related to

Early Childhood. Participants are welcome to attend the session of their choice. (Seating limitations apply.)

KEYNOTE

How to Reach Our Most Difficult Children: The Gifts of Challenging, Out-of-Control and Aggressive Children Jill Molli, M.Ed.

What do you do when you’ve tried everything and when consequences seem completely ineffective? Our

most challenging children will be our teachers. They demand that we grow in ways we cannot even imagine.

Learn how to connect with relationship-resistant children, reduce hyperactivity and oppositional defiant be-

havior, and increase cooperation and compliance. Discover how this connecting process can heal your

wounds, as well.

DAY TWO ADMINISTRATOR STRAND

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

AM SESSION 8:30 a.m.—11:00 a.m.

Special Olympics Texas: Young Athletes Program Presented by: Katy Williams and Mike Sullivan The Young Athletes Program (YAP) is a sports play program designed to introduce children ages two to seven to the world of physical activity. Children with and without intellectual disabilities participate together, prior to and regardless of Special Olympics eligibility at age eight. The program utilizes physical activities to devel-op fundamental motor-tracking and eye-hand coordination. Athletes build these skills by participating in spe-cific activities on a regular basis based on lesson and activity guides provided by Special Olympics. This presentation will take a closer look into the program, providing on overview of Special Olympics Texas, how the Young Athletes Program looks in a classroom and school, the resources and tools available to educators, and a walk-through of the culminating event known as Future Stars Sports Day. PM SESSION 12:30 p.m.—3:00 p.m.

There Is More to Math than the Meets the Eye: Strategies for Supporting and Supervising Rigorous and Developmentally Appropriate Instruction Presented by: Brian Mowry Beyond evidence of cute activities and material rich classrooms, how do you know if teachers are addressing the mathematical understandings and competencies of young children in a manner that balances rigor with developmentally appropriate instruction? This session assists the early childhood administrator or program director in knowing what to look for and how to support their teachers’ mathematical content and pedagogi-cal expertise. Participants will preview texts and video samples of classrooms rich in both environmental support and teacher scaffolding through purposeful questioning and instructional planning.

GENERAL SESSIONS For all participants

Tuesday, July 22

Creative Discipline: Research-Based and Appropriate Strategies to Prevent and Intervene with Challenging Behavior including Bullying! Dr. Bill (William J. DeMeo, Ph.D.) This exciting workshop will focus on providing participants with knowledge of effective and appropriate strategies to guide young children’s behavior. Participants will learn about creative strategies to discipline young children in a positive and nurturing man-ner. They will also learn how these creative discipline strategies change not only a child’s behavior but liter-ally change the wiring of the brain resulting in a young child’s ability to learn and succeed. Specifically, the following activities will be emphasized: Designing the Physical Space Teaching and Developing Appropriate Expectations Establishing Routines Using Consequences Effectively Pre-Correcting Problem Behavior Managing Interactions and Defusing Confrontations Practical Strategies to Prevent and Intervene with Bullying Behavior. This dynamic and engaging workshop has been designed to provide practical and effective strategies that can be easily utilized by any early childhood professional.

Tuesday, July 22

Wee Are Ready Kristie Smith, M.Ed., TVI During the “Wee Are Ready” presentation, attendees will learn teaching strategies that will assist children in early childhood to become life-long learners. Participants will learn brain researched ideas for teaching reading, math and writing skills through Dr. Pam Schiller’s book, “Start Smart” and Kristie Smith’s book, “Wee Are Ready”. When reading, writing and math are fun, children will retain vital information for their future.

Tuesday, July 22—AM Session Only

Handling the Fussing and the Fits: Building the Best Beginnings for Infants and Toddlers Jill Molli, M.Ed. Learn effective strategies to use with infants, toddlers and twos from Dr. Becky Bailey’s popular and successful Conscious Discipline® program. This session will focus on establish-ing SAFETY by helping adults understand and optimize brain development, as well as by fostering CONNEC-TION through emotional security by learning skills such as I Love You Rituals™ and attunement to build better bonds. We will explore the benefits of baby doll circle time, so bring your baby doll to this session! Tuesday, July 22—AM Session Only

There Is More to Math than the Meets the Eye: Strategies for Incorpo-rating Rigor through Developmentally Appropriate Instruction Brian Mowry Beyond evidence of cute activities and material rich classrooms, how do you know if you are addressing the mathematical understandings and competencies of your young learners in a manner that balances rigor with developmentally appropriate practices? This session assists the early childhood teacher in knowing what mathematical competencies and dispositions for learning to look for as their students explore and engage in authentic and mathematically rich experiences. Participants will preview texts and video samples of class-rooms rich in both environmental support and teacher scaffolding through purposeful questioning and in-structional planning. Tuesday, July 22– PM Session Only

You Can’t Make Me! Building School Families Where Even the Most Difficult Children Become Helpful and Caring Jill Molli, M.Ed. Take daily conflicts with children and between children (hitting, tattling, name calling) and turn these mo-ments into opportunities to teach missing social and emotional skills. Teachers and caregivers report en-countering more and more children with lowered abilities to self-regulate, tolerate frustration and interact well with others. The amount of aggression ending in retaliation and revenge in many programs and homes is on the rise, both in quantity and intensity. This workshop will explore the relationship between personal loss and aggression/violence/revenge in the classroom and home, and will offer proactive solutions for teachers and parents to implement immediately.

Tuesday, July 22

Energizing and Engaging Environments Laura Conley This session will focus on both the emotional and physical learning en-vironments. Teacher-child interaction is foundational and is supported by having classroom flow plans, organization systems and environmen-tal elements both indoors and outdoors to support learning. Planning is key. Additionally, we will discuss a variety of resources that can support classroom organization and envi-ronments Tuesday, July 22-Wednesday, July 23

Visual Supports for Visual Thinkers: Practical Ideas for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Other Special Needs Lisa Rogers Under stress, we all struggle to show our best selves. Stress takes a toll on our reasoning and good nature. One might say that we act and react in more extreme ways when times are stressful. Significant findings from research on the brain indicate that individuals with autism spectrum disorders live in stress more than most. Educators and parents can help to decrease this stress through strategic structure and heightened vis-ual supports. This session will focus on strategies such as classroom organization, individual schedules, narra-tives and other visual tools that decrease this neurological stress and allow our students to show us their best selves as they play and learn together. Tuesday, July 22-Wednesday, July 23

Culture in Early Childhood Education Amy Pool Home is the first school of all children and the culture of the home is the culture of the learning. Knowing this means Early Childhood teachers have a solemn responsibility in becoming culturally aware and respon-sive to the unique familial differences of their students. This session will focus on cultural differences and the influence they have on the instruction and learning of children in the early childhood classroom.

Tuesday, July 22-Wednesday, July 23

Using Technology to Facilitate the Develop-ment of Young Children with Special Needs Brenna Noland, M.A. and Sarah Murray Koopman, M.Ed. The authors of the book, Video Modeling for Young Children with Au-tism Spectrum Disorders, will discuss many effective ways to use technology to support young children and their families at home, school and in the community. Learn everything about video modeling including how to choose the best type of video modeling to plan, film, and share your videos. Case studies including sample videos will be shown to highlight just how effective this strategy can be. The presenters will also share how they have been using interactive whiteboards in early childhood classrooms over the past seven years. Sam-ple lessons using interactive whiteboards will be shared. Other effective uses of technology will be discussed. Tuesday, July 22-Wednesday, July 23 (Tuesday, July 22: part of Admin. Strand)

Special Olympics Texas: Young Athletes Program Katy Williams and Mike Sullivan The Young Athletes Program (YAP) is a sports play program designed to introduce children ages two to seven to the world of physical activity. Children with and without intellectual disabilities participate together, prior to and regardless of Special Olympics eligibility at age eight. The program utilizes physical activities to devel-op fundamental motor-tracking and eye-hand coordination. Athletes build these skills by participating in spe-cific activities on a regular basis based on lesson and activity guides provided by Special Olympics. This presentation will take a closer look into the program, providing on overview of Special Olympics Texas, how the Young Athletes Program looks in a classroom and school, the resources and tools available to educators, and a walk-through of the culminating event known as Future Stars Sports Day. Wednesday, July 23

Play Matters: It Grows Dendrites Dr. Bill (William J. DeMeo, Ph.D.) Play should be the heart of every early childhood program. Yet in many of our programs, play is overlooked and undervalued as more emphasis is placed on state standards and preparing children for school readiness. Dr. Bill’s passionate, informative and entertaining style empowers you to discover the latest research that will provide the neuroscience connection on the importance of play not only for brain development but also for learning 21st Century Skills. When young children are engaged in play, they are not only learning funda-mental concepts that are the basis for later academic learning, but also the precursors of 21st Century Skills that are integrated into the Core Curriculum; communication, problem solving, creativity, collaboration and literacy. Dr. Bill will explore your role as an early childhood professional in using children's play as a vehicle to assess and teach.

Wednesday, July 23

"Sparkle" Teaching Students with Multiple Disabilities Across the Curriculum Kristie Smith, M.Ed., TVI Participants will learn over forty-five strategies for teaching children with disabilities reading, math, writing, social and daily living skills and more. Kristie Smith takes her ideas from her published book, "Sparkle", as well as from her professionally made DVD- Talking About MIVI- Teaching Students with Disabilities. Wednesday, July 23

Using a Powerful Parent-Teacher Alliance to Raise and Educate the Whole Child. Sandy Gluckman, Ph.D.

The child is the winner when parents and teachers work as a united team with the shared goal of igniting the child’s greatest potential. A child’s spirit, body and brain function at peak levels when there is a consistent link between what the child experiences at home and at school. In this presentation Dr. Gluckman will reveal the latest research about whole child development and education. She will also offer practical examples of how to achieve this in the classroom and at home as well as how to ensure that the parents and the teachers work as one.

Wednesday, July 23

Oh The Places We’ll Go With Technology in The Classroom! Catherine L Dutton, Ph.D. and Sharon Hirschy

This presentation will examine research relating to developmentally appropriate practices for using technolo-gy in the early childhood classroom. Teachers will gain practical ideas on how to appropriately integrate tech-nology in the classroom. They will also gain ideas for developing their own technology skills including build-ing a personal learning network online using Google search tools and Pinterest. Participants are encouraged to bring their own device (laptop, tablet, or phone) to connect online and try the tips!