NAEYC: Final reflections

Posted on November 19, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

Attending the annual NAEYC conference for the very first time was a wonderful experience and as Laura and I returned home, I’ve had some time to reflect on our trip. I learned a great deal of information that I can apply to my job as a Director of a program, as well as information I can apply to our SEEDS Network. More importantly though, I feel that the conference provided me with a boost of energy, a little pick-me up…a reminder that early education is fun and exciting.

The other day I was showing my mom the many pictures that Laura and I took on our trip, and she commented how much fun it looked like we had in Atlanta. And we did have SO MUCH FUN! Whether it was meeting early childhood authors or walking around the tradeshow, we had a blast! Hundreds of people were having a great time and this is what education should be…having fun and learning at the same time!

We early educators are special folks, we have a part of us that loves to still get dirty, a part of us that loves to sing and dance, a part of us that loves to get a little silly now and again. The NAEYC conference allowed teachers to tap into those parts and have fun while expanding our knowledge base. Here are just a few instances of teachers having a blast at the conference.

Laura painting with BioColor at the Discount School Supply booth

Laura and I were thrilled to get our picture with storybook character Curious George. Yes, grown women excited to meet a life size monkey!

The folks at Discount School Supply had teachers going crazy for the chance to spin the prize wheel “BIG MONEY!!!!!!!”

How great is it to see over 75 grown adults singing and dancing about “4 groovy buttons!” The crowd went crazy when author and performer Eric Litwin took the stage. (You can see a little recorded clip of his performance at NAEYC on our Facebook page)

Did you get your “Smarty Ants” headband? Everyone was walking around the convention with these fashionable and fun accessories. Not an acceptable fashion statement out in the real world, but for these four days it was perfectly fine to be wearing your antennas.

Look at all these folks letting loose and dancing up a storm during the literacy and movement workshop we presented! Over 175 people cutting a rug in order to learn new skills on how to bring literacy and movement to life in their classroom.

There is no doubt that our four day trip to Atlanta was amazing. We were educated and motivated and inspired to do our best every day. Best of all we were able to have fun with thousands of teachers just like us. We can’t wait for next year……Washington DC here we come!

NAEYC: Singing a-long with Bob McGrath

Posted on November 15, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

We are still processing all the great experiences we had at the NAEYC annual conference in Atlanta last week. A frequent presenter at the conference was a childhood favorite of ours … Mr. Bob McGrath from Sesame Street! How fun it was to sing songs that I remember from the show (all the words come back to you!). As an early childhood professional, it’s interesting to look at all those songs with different eyes … and how those songs tie into early learning concepts for children.

Bob McGrath

Very calming and entertaining, Bob McGrath gave a great presentation in Atlanta – despite arriving very late the night before due to the winter storm that hit NY that week.

Remember all those fun songs from Sesame Street? Used with your preschoolers in class or at home, those fun songs also incorporate learning concepts that you can use to extend topics that you may already be talking about.

Tressa got up on stage with Bob when he (and those of us in the audience) sang to “This Little Light of Mine“.

Using instruments, (like the triangle Tressa is holding) – they emphasized the rhyming words in the song by hitting their bells or triangles. Such a simple and effective idea to use in your classroom to take a song that the children are familiar with; but having them really listen for the rhyming words and then reinforcing that by tapping on an instrument.

I agreed with Tressa that the next time there was an opportunity to go up on stage, that I would do it. So of course, there was DANCING involved (I thought Tressa was supposed to do the boogie!) I did my best, as we got up to do the “Dinosaur Swing“.

And then it was time to ROAR!!

It was fun … and gave us another musical song choice that we can use for “Dinosaur Book & Boogie“!

Our favorite new song!

By far, our FAVORITE new (to us) song was “Everyone Asked About You” – which is basically a song version of this book. We had never heard this one before, and loved the rhythms in the music and the story that is told. Bob told of a teacher who uses this story and song at the beginning of each school year – and when one year she decided to change it, all the kids complained that they wanted “Nora Blue”!

Again, I think of the teaching aspects that can be used with this book and song. Nora experiences that feeling of being lonely, which children can relate to – don’t we ALL want to feel like people miss us or “ask about us” when we are not around? So it opens up an opportunity for discussion with your children (“Why do you think Nora didn’t want to come out at first?” “How was she feeling?” “Have you ever felt that way?”) When all the very colorful and vibrant characters come at the end of the story … it’s a great celebration! The song component really helps to make this a story that the children will remember.

We very much enjoyed Bob’s workshop … and we are still learning from him, just as we did when we were kids!

You can view all our NAEYC conference photos on our Facebook page!

NAEYC: Meeting the creators of “Pete the Cat”

Posted on November 10, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

One of the main highlights of our trip to the NAEYC annual conference in Atlanta was attending workshops with, and seeing performances by, some authors and illustrators of children’s books that we love! “Pete the Cat” was a BIG draw this year, and the conference was lucky to have BOTH the author (Eric Litwin) and the creator and illustrator (James Dean) in attendance. What I didn’t expect, was the level of interaction both would have with participants – and it gives me a new appreciation for who they are and what they do.

Author: Eric Litwin

Whenever Mr. Litwin took to the floor at the Exhibition Hall .. crowds followed. Not only was he signing books (and our “stuffed” Pete) … but he entertained us with musical renditions of his books, and some fun, kid-friendly tunes.

Our friend Gerianne got our stuffed Pete signed for us!

Did you KNOW that Eric Litwin has recorded some children’s music? (You probably did, but I didn’t!) And he has a great resource for parents and teachers to use with some of his songs over at www.thelearninggroove.com. We watched him play “I Love It” (click the link to go to his website for the song lyrics and link to iTunes). You can see a little recorded clip of his performance at NAEYC on our Facebook page.

Illustrator: James Dean

One of the first signatures we got was from the creator and illustrator of “Pete the Cat“, James Dean (and he signed Pete’s foot!). We then attended a workshop session featuring a few children’s book authors, but one had to cancel at the last minute … so Mr. Dean stepped in to give us a backstory on how he came up with the illustration for Pete, and subsequently met Mr. Litwin. His story was personal, heartfelt and genuine – and a testiment to doing what you love (who knows where it will take you).

Mr. Dean shared with us his ORIGINAL rendering of Pete (I was kind of far away – but you can see the outline). He talked about other illustrations he did of Pete (before the books) doing un-catlike things … such as drinking coffee and driving a car!

So glad we had a chance to learn more about these men … “cuz it’s all good”!

You can view all our NAEYC conference photos on our Facebook page!

NAEYC: Tech on Deck

Posted on November 7, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

After a morning of traveling from Connecticut to Georgia, Laura and I were happy to arrive to our hotel room. After we settled in and had a nice lunch, we quickly checked out the room that we will present our seminar in tomorrow morning. We are so excited to be part of this amazing conference.

Tonight, Laura and I attended our first Annual NAEYC Conference seminar; actually it was a “networking playground.” “Tech on Deck” gave us the opportunity to talk with technology experts about the latest innovations in using early childhood technology. A variety of round table discussions were offered including Social Media, Using iPads for Multimedia Creation, Online Professional Development, and Software Systems for administrators.

We sat with Faith Rogow for a bit to discuss and learn ways to incorporate “Digital Literacy”into the classroom. Faith, a consultant for the National Association of Media Literacy Education, stressed the importance helping children understand the process of using technology and creating with the use of technology despite devices changing and evolving. Educators can help children learn these important skills by vocalizing the process when assisting, teaching, or modeling use of technology.

Faith was able to offer Laura and I some great pointers when it comes to using Smartboards in the classroom. Our center has installed Smartboards in two preschool classrooms and we are looking for ways to help our teachers use the technology in an intentional and meaningful way. Faith suggested that the teachers look at their students and assess how students can possible benefit from digital literacy. She suggested that reading a story on a Smartboards may be better for a child who may have trouble sitting for story time. A great way for teachers to become more comfortable with new technology is to seek out activities that individual children can benefit from.

After we talked with Faith, we chatted with John Williams, a representative from follettearlylearning.com. This site provides schools with a variety of ebooks. They have many options for schools, some subscriber based and some options which allow a school to purchase ebooks at an affordable cost (between $30-$40 per ebook). When purchasing an ebook, a school can have unlimited access to the title and the ebook can be accessed by multiple Smartboards /classrooms at the same time. Their variety of titles was impressive; they have number of publishers providing wonderful themes, titles, and intentional lessons. Some ebook titles incorporate narration with words bolded as they are being read, which Laura and I loved! Many titles also included games, printable worksheets, family follow-up activities, and project ideas. We also loved the fact that parents can access the ebooks at home with their children.

Overall it was wonderful to see all the amazing software, apps, and online support being offered to early childhood educators. There are many organizations and businesses busy creating technology that is intentional and meaningful for young children which is very exciting!

You can check out ALL the conference photos and follow along with us throughout the week on our Facebook page!

NAEYC: Initial thoughts

Posted on November 7, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

Well … we have arrived! We made it out of Connecticut JUST ahead of the coming nor’easter … flights were smooth, we were lucky. Now, we were expecting Atlanta to be a tad warmer … today was definitely chilly. Forecast looks promising for the rest of the week, so I’ll still get to wear my flip flops, hopefully!

We are very excited to be here at our first national conference. After checking in and getting something to eat, we headed over to the Omni Hotel to check out the “Tech on Deck” discussions that were taking place. (You can read up on that from Tressa’s post here). Afterwards, we headed over to the “Georgia World Congress Center” for the initial opening of the Exhibition Hall.

First thoughts from today’s experiences ….

There is so much to LEARN … overwhelmingly so! Between “Tech on Deck” and perusing the massive conference program … there are so many sessions that we want to participate in (and many are taking place at the SAME time). At least there are two of us – so we can divide and conquer!

There is so much I WANT … overwhelmingly so! Visiting the Exhibition Hall was overwhelming at first. We are glad we took an initial tour and visited some booths, because you could easily spend a whole day there. We started to make a wish list of things that we liked for our own school – it is great to be able to touch, feel and experience the products and talk to the vendors.

Some exhibitor booths are very LARGE and interactive

Insta-snow with liquid watercolor and opal glitter for a cool sensory experience

Making BioColor ornaments

There is so much to EXPERIENCE … I want to be able to take it all in. My digital camera will be at my side for the next few days, because it really helps me to capture and remember everything. And we are so glad to be able to share this experience and things that we learn through the rest of the week with you!

You can check out ALL the conference photos that we take throughout the week on ourFacebook page!

NAEYC: Atlanta bound!

Posted on November 3, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

In five days Tressa and I are heading to Atlanta for the 2012 NAEYC Annual Conference and Expo! It’s our first time, so we plan to soak it all in and blog about everything we see and hear! I’m hoping to take A LOT of pictures, and to share our experiences and things that we learn.

We are also fortunate enough to presenting “Through new eyes: Enhancing preschool literacy experiences” on Thursday morning (bright and early, folks!). Our workshop will be a combination of lecture, discussion and movement activities that will get everyone out of their seats and having fun! We’ll share tips and ideas for incorporating literacy experiences into all classroom early learning centers including art, blocks, dramatic play, writing, math and science. We’ll also talk about how literacy links to movement, and how music and movement activities can enhance language and literacy learning. Then, we’ll do some “Book & Boogie”, and Tressa will show everyone how they can create their own child-friendly choreography.

We can’t wait!! If you’ll be in Atlanta, hope you’ll stop by and see us!!

The SEEDS Network

Supporting Early Educators with Dynamic Solutions

Category Archives: NAEYC