October 21, 2020 Benefits of Having a PD Registry Profile Do you have a Pennsylvania PD Registry profile? If not, you are missing out on features that could help you schedule professional development, request financial assistance, and more. What is the PD Registry? The Pennsylvania Professional Development (PD) Registry is an online system that functions as a “workforce registry” by tracking the professional accomplishments of registered individuals, providing important data about the early childhood workforce, and highlighting a consolidated list of available professional development opportunities. Data collected through the PD Registry—including data such as length of time in the field, education level, and wages—is also used to advocate for better education opportunities and higher wages for professionals in Pennsylvania. Benefits Early Learning and School-Age Professionals Through the PD Registry, early learning and school-age professionals can: track their employment, education, and training history; complete a professional development self-assessment to plan upcoming training; register for in-person and online professional training that offers PQAS and Act 48 credit; begin an application for financial assistance if eligible; keep track of CPR, First Aid, and Fire Safety expiration dates; and more. Program Directors Through the PD Registry, Program Directors can: track staff completion of Bureau of Certification and Keystone STARS training requirements; access verified staff qualifications for meeting Certification and Keystone STARS requirements; support staff with professional development planning; and register staff members for training using the statewide training calendar. Creating an Account If you don’t have an account, visit the PD Registry website to create one. For assistance, view this step-by-step tip sheet on how to create an account or contact pdregistry@pakeys.org. More Information Additional tip sheets and resources are available for new users, existing users, and program directors. For more information, view this document or visit the Pennsylvania Key website.
September 29, 2020 Supporting Young Students with Remote Learning Are you interested in learning tips from education experts on how to support children in remote and blended learning environments? Join Zoom and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) on October 7 and October 8, 2020 for their two-part Back-to-School webinar series designed for families and caregivers. About Session 1 Tips and Strategies for Families and Caregivers (K-12) October 7, 2020 | 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. In this webinar, families and caregivers will learn key strategies for building a positive, effective home learning environment and implementing concrete tips to advocate for their learner’s needs. ISTE Certified Educators and Trainers Dr. Daisy Sam and Dr. Sonn Sam will lead this timely discussion as an effort to ensure a more successful, productive school year during these challenging times. Session 2 Zoom Basics and Tips for Families and Caregivers (K-6) October 8, 2020 | 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. In this webinar, Zoom experts will provide important tips to help support your child in remote and blended learning environments. Presenters will cover everything from platform basics and troubleshooting to remote learning soft skills to help them succeed as students. This session will be geared towards younger learners, primarily in grades K-6, however parents and caregivers of all ages are welcome to attend. Registration Both sessions will be broadcast in English with the option to listen to a live language interpretation in Spanish. Live American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will also be available. To register and learn more, visit the event webpage.
September 28, 2020 Early Childhood Education Summit Are you interested in engaging with early childhood thought-leaders and gaining knowledge through online professional development? Attend the Virtual Early Childhood Education (ECE) Summit from October 18 – 21, 2020. PQAS and Act 48 credit will be available. About The ECE Summit features 12 sessions, 60 workshops, and four online specialized networking opportunities that offer early learning professionals opportunities to learn, dialogue, and share information on a vast array of current topics to support their professional learning goals. This is a fully virtual event. Each day will feature a Keynote presentation and four tracks of workshop sessions. Opportunities to connect with peers will be available through live chat. Sessions will be recorded. Paid attendees will be able to view sessions after the Summit and earn PQAS and Act 48 credit. Featured Topics The Summit features a wide range of workshops, including, but not limited to, the following: Emotionally Safe Environments for Infants and Toddlers Yoga and Mindfulness for Preschoolers Trauma-Informed Assessment in Early Childhood Family Engagement Through a Strengths-Based Lens Designing Classrooms with the Brain in Mind Getting Little Hands on the Land Supporting Infant Teacher Degree Attainment Advocacy 201: Crafting and Sharing Your Message Managing Challenging Behavior Registration To register for the Conference, visit the event webpage. A Summit Schedule and workshop descriptions are available on the Early Childhood Education Summit website. View the schedule. More Information For more information, visit the Early Childhood Education Summit webpage or call 717.657.9000.
September 25, 2020 Honoring Each Person’s Experience to Support Mental Health Join Brazelton Touchpoints Center on October 19 for “Honoring Each Person’s Experience to Support Mental Health” to learn how to apply reflective practice and perspective-taking to your virtual work with children and families. About When working with families, especially within today’s current crises, it is important that everyone’s experience of a situation is heard and understood. This requires reflecting on all points of view: one’s own, the child’s, and that of their family members. In this webinar, participants will learn how to adapt and apply reflective practice and perspective-taking to their virtual work with children and families. This session is best suited for professionals who work with families of young children, including early care educators, family child care providers, mental health consultants, home visitors, pediatricians, early interventionists, and more. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event registration page. Space is limited. For questions, contact btcsitenetwork@childrens.harvard.edu.
September 21, 2020 Transitions and How Using Them Helps Are you interested in learning about strategies that help make transitions easier for children, families, and educators? Join Trying Together on October 14 for our online session, “Connections and Conversations: Transitions and How Using Them Helps.” About Connections and Conversations Virtual Check-Ins are interactive sessions that highlight topics of interest to the field of early childhood education. Participants engage in virtual discussions with child development experts and interact with early learning practitioners to share questions, experiences, and expertise about the highlighted topic. Sessions offer one hour of PQAS credit. Act 48 credit not provided. This session will highlight best practices that help make transitions easier for children, families, and educators. The course instructor will share strategies and suggestions and provide opportunities to analyze scenarios and share expertise. Session Details Session Date: Wednesday, October 14 | 6 – 7 p.m. Instructor: Jasmine Davis CKC: Curriculum and Learning Experiences CDA Subject Area: Social & Emotional Development Registration Deadline: Monday, October 12 Registration To register, visit the course PD Registry page. Space is limited. Participants will receive the course Zoom link via email within 24 hours before the start date for the course. PQAS credit available. If you do not have a PD Registry account, please complete this online form to create one. If you are unable to create an account, please contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org for more information. Session Rules and Guidelines These virtual discussions are designed to provide educators the opportunity to grow professionally and share knowledge on early childhood topics. During the meeting, participants should follow the guidelines below to ensure a successful virtual meeting for all participants. Please allow all participants a chance to speak. Listen respectfully and actively. Commit to learning about each other, not to debating the topic. Embrace differences of opinion as healthy and support each person’s authentic self-expression. Participants will be muted for the beginning portion of the session. Participants may use the “Raise Hand” feature in Zoom to request an opportunity to comment or ask a question. Individuals will be temporarily unmuted by the moderator. Participants may type a comment or question in the Chat or may send comments or questions directly to the moderator for them to share. To receive PQAS credit, you must complete an evaluation at the end of the session and include your PD Registry number. Have fun, make connections, and engage in the conversations! More Information For questions or more information, contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org.
September 18, 2020 Teaching Preschool with an Equity Lens Are you interested in learning how to promote equity in your preschool classroom? Join the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in October and November for their facilitated online mini-course, “Each & Every Child: Teaching Preschool with an Equity Lens.” About This online course will focus on what equity can look like for teachers working with children ages three to five years old on a day-to-day basis in the classroom. Participants will learn strategies and tips on how to support the learning and development of each child in their classroom through intentional play opportunities and guided instructional supports. Course Timeline This course includes four hours of self-paced learning and three hours of face-to-face video meetings with a facilitator over the course of four weeks: October 5, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. October 19, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. November 2, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. Registration To register for this facilitated course, visit the NAEYC website. All registrations must be submitted by October 1, 2020. Space is limited.
September 17, 2020 Recess Helps Students Reach Their Full Potential As we begin a very different school year, the Recess Advocacy Team continues to elevate play and provide support to educators and families. Recess is key to helping students reach their full potential within the classroom and beyond. Several studies show that recess increases children’s attention span and productivity in the classroom. New Resources from the Recess Advocacy Team Send a letter to your child’s teacher The Recess Advocacy Team updated their student letter asking teachers to remember the importance of play to reflect our current times. Instructions: (1) Download the letter (2) Enter information for the teacher, your child’s name, and your name in the editable boxes (3) Save the letter with your information (4) Send the electronically signed letter via email If your child is attending school in person, you can still download, print, and share a hard copy. Play and Physical Activity Resource Guide for Educators and Families The Recess Advocacy Team compiled a list of resources for educators and families to make sure play and physical activity are a part of childrens’ days and serve as a foundation for their learning, growth, and development. This list includes resources, activities, and considerations for ensuring play shows up in our daily lives—and ways that educators and families can incorporate play/physical activity into children’s learning. Families are encouraged to share this resource when sending the letter to the teacher. Learn More About the Recess Advocacy Team The Recess Advocacy Team is a group of organizations dedicated to health, wellness, education, and play with a focus on recess practices and policies in pre-k through sixth grade. You can learn more about the Recess Advocacy Team on the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative website.
September 14, 2020 CelebratED: 2020 Virtual Celebration Join the Grable Foundation on World Teachers’ Day to celebrate the wonderful educators of the Pittsburgh region and explore the future of education. This is a one-hour virtual event. Multiple viewing times available. About During the CelebratED: 2020 Virtual Celebration, the Grable Foundation will highlight the voices of educators, students, and parents as they describe the importance of educators and share their thoughts on how our communities can remake education. Highlights of the virtual event include the following: a keynote address by Deepak Ramola of Project Fuel; a DJ set by Pittsburgh Dilworth PreK-5 Teacher Joseph Wilk; storyteller Shannon Reed, author of “Why Did I Get a B?”; a performance by Alumni Theater Company; and soaring ideas, hard questions, and good thoughts expressed by innovators, agitators, and provocateurs. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event webpage.
September 11, 2020 NAEYC Annual Conference: Virtual To maintain the health and safety of its audience, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) will be hosting its 2020 Annual Conference virtually, with events taking place from November 8–10, 2020. About The NAEYC Annual Conference is the largest early childhood education conference in the world. Each year, thousands of teachers, program administrators, students, and researchers choose from hundreds of presentations and exhibits to explore the latest trends and research in the early childhood field. More information on professional development sessions and participating exhibitors will be available soon. Please continue to monitor the NAEYC website for future updates. Registration Registration for this event opens on Monday, September 14. To register and learn more, visit the NAEYC website.
How to Design Socially Distanced Classrooms Are you interested in learning how to create a socially distanced classroom that works for your students? Attend the webinar “How to Design Socially Distanced Classrooms During COVID-19” on September 17 to hear practical strategies for educators. About By the end of the presentation, viewers will be able to: define physical distancing versus social distancing; identify potential classroom design mistakes; apply suggested solutions for classroom setup; and encourage classroom community while practicing physical distancing. This webinar will be of interest to preschool and pre-k teachers, librarians, and school and district leaders. Time for questions will be provided. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event webpage.
