*Session speakers subject to change
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Keynote and Featured Kickoff Presentations
8:30 AM
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9:50 AM
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9:50 AM
Corey Garza
Top Deficiencies, New Standard Changes and More from Child Care Licensing
Join me for a good morning “thinking cap” session as we will cover the Top Ten deficiencies for the past year for our centers and strategies to help keep our programs in compliance with standards. We will highlight the significant changes with the recent Minimum Standard’s update and will cover resources on where to find the complete list of changes.
8:30 am
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10:00 am
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10:00 am
Stewart Pisecco, Ph.D.
Strategies for Promoting Behavior and Managing the Most Common Types of Challenging Misbehaviors
As educators, we all know that learning simply doesn’t happen if we don’t manage student behavior effectively. Indeed, challenging behaviors interfere with learning at both the individual and classroom level. It is exactly for this reason that our approach to successfully managing student behavior must include both classroom and individual strategies. Join our speaker, Dr. Stewart Pisecco, as he discusses the 6 indicators of a well-managed classroom and research-based approach and strategies shown to improve behavior. He will also share thoughts on how to adapt those techniques when consulting with parents who are struggling with behavior at home.
SESSION I
10:00 - 11:20 AM
10:00 am
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11:20 am
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11:20 am
Amy Lerman, MA, CCC-SLP
Navigating Tough Talks with Parents: How to Address the Elephant in the Room
In the field of education, we have all been in a parent meeting that involved hard to hear news. These discussions typically end up going one of three ways. Either we avoid the uncomfortable conversation, make mistakes in the delivery, or conduct a thoughtful and empathetic dialogue. Amy Lerman, MA, CCC-SLP, Community Outreach at The Parish School will provide participants with tools and strategies to navigate these tough talks with the use of first-hand accounts, research, and clinical experience.
10:00 am
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11:20 am
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11:20 am
Daren Neely
Caring For Families vs. Just Caring About Families
There's a big difference between caring for people and caring about people. When we choose to care for people, we enter their world and begin to truly have an impact. Join Daren in this session to understand how "caring for" strengthens relationships and provides opportunity for growth.
10:00 am
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11:20 am
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11:20 am
Corey Garza, Child Care Licensing
Igniting the Fire for Social-Social-Emotional Learning
In contributing to a GREAT conference, I hope each of you will join me for a quick look at Social-Emotional Learning and its concepts via Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). This will include group activities and a few anecdotes to remind us how important these concepts are to our children and our personal lives.
10:00 am
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11:20 am
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11:20 am
Michael Gonzalez
Generational Partnerships in Early Childhood Education
For many years the early childhood workforce has been comprised of different generations. These generations shared similarities at times, but those times have seemingly come and gone. This informative session will discuss these generational gaps and provide new ideas based on research. Learn to develop new partnerships through collaboration with the multiple generations in the early childhood field to strengthen your practice!
LUNCH AND LUNCHTIME PRESENTATION
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
11:30 am
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12:30 pm
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12:30 pm
Natasha Harris
Director’s Roundtable
Calling all Directors! JOIN US during the lunch hour for an insightful and meaningful discussion on the good, the bad and the ugly we all face in our efforts to run a quality early learning program! We are operating in a post-pandemic envirnoment and the stakes have changed and the challenges are great - but so are the rewards! Join skilled facilitator Natasha Harris in talking and sharing what's happening in your world as a director or assistant director!
11:30 am
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12:30 pm
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12:30 pm
Daren Neely
Lunchtime Comedy Session: Laughing at Lunch
Let's take a little break from the heavy stuff and laugh a little. Laughter releases chemicals in our brain that make us better. So, for the sake of those we serve, let's get those chemicals flowing!
From large auditoriums to small boardroom settings to comedy clubs, Daren has been bringing entertaining and compelling messages to audiences for over 25 years. Daren uses humor, quick wit, and conversational speaking to challenge audiences to be the absolute best version of themselves. Covering topics such as leadership, mental health, team building, overcoming failure, relational health, and many others, Daren will leave you incredibly entertained and personally challenged.
SESSION II
12:45 - 2:00 PM
12:45 pm
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2:00 pm
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2:00 pm
Kristen Miller, M.Ed.
Meaningful Ways to Incorporate EMOTIONS into Early Learning Environments!
One way children learn is through their emotional development. Creating a learning environment that accommodates successfully to meet all of the children's emotional needs daily is very important, even before the cognitive learning can take place! This training session provides educators core content knowledge in early childhood emotional development, and top reasons of why it is important to incorporate emotional activities into our classroom plans daily! Participants will have a blast learning a variety of emotional activity building ideas that showcase how they can help their children talk about, express themselves, and learn from their own emotions in an educational classroom setting! Are your kids happy, sad, angry, disgusted, fearful - let's talk about it, and find ways to help them!
12:45 pm
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2:00 pm
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2:00 pm
Natasha Harris
Rest, Relax & Refresh: Stress Management Techniques for Early Childhood Professionals
In today’s time, we are faced with numerous stressful situations as early childhood educators. What are some effective tips to create a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere? During this session, we welcome Natasha Harris to guide us as we discuss stress management techniques and ways to implement relaxation, rest and mental refreshment.
12:45 pm
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2:00 pm
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2:00 pm
Kenneth Sherman, M.Ed.
Trauma and Social Emotional Distress: How do We Support Our Children and Teachers?
In an emotionally supportive classroom, children learn to respect themselves and others, to express their thoughts and feelings, and to be actively involved in complex human relationships. Alternatively, trauma and acute stress can append healthy social emotional development in young learners. In this session, learn how to scaffold your children’s social, emotional, and mental learning, and take away strategies to counter the negative effects of children’s trauma and stress in the classroom.
12:45 pm
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2:00 pm
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2:00 pm
Sarah Ozuna Brown, MS
Make the Impossible Possible: Utilizing Adult Motivation Strategies to Maximize Personal Potential
Everyone experiences burnout, career frustrations, and ups and down in accomplishing personal and professional aspirations. This session will help early childhood professionals tap into what motivates them individually and utilize that self-knowledge to accomplish personal and professional goals. Through engaging self-reflection activities, participants will learn more about their motivation style and how they can use adult motivation strategies to actualize their ambitions.
12:45 pm
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2:00 pm
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2:00 pm
Jerri Thompson, M.Ed.
Toilet Learning vs. Toilet Training
Toilet training is a key component of any toddler classroom because it is one of the most important developmental milestones for children to achieve. Ensuring you know how to identify the readiness signs and guide parents along the way will ease stress that develops around this skill. It's easier than you think when you understand the difference between toilet learning and toilet training.
SESSION III
2:15 - 3:30 PM
2:15 pm
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3:30 pm
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3:30 pm
Kristen Miller, M.Ed.
Supporting Learning in Early Childhood Programs Through Play-Based Games
The foundation for learning in education is through opportunities of play and real-life scenarios. During this session, participants will gain insight and identify scenarios on incorporating play-based games throughout their preschool program environment and routines. As well as, we will have fun together creating game-based learning activities for participants to take these tools back with them and use with students. This training is a hands-on workshop and ideal for the preschool and Pre-K classroom teacher! Together, we will learn how to make learning time meaningful and engaging for the children we teach!
2:15 pm
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3:30 pm
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3:30 pm
Natasha Harris
Turn it Loose! Using Loose Parts to Strengthen the Early Learning Environment
This training is designed to discuss the benefits of incorporating a child-led approach to learning. We will explore the benefits of loose parts/real objects in the early learning environment. The benefits of loose parts play is to strengthen the developmental domains of young children. Join us for this fun and informative session!
2:15 pm
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3:30 pm
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3:30 pm
Jerri Thompson, M.Ed.
Toilet Learning vs. Toilet Training
Toilet training is a key component of any toddler classroom because it is one of the most important developmental milestones for children to achieve. Ensuring you know how to identify the readiness signs and guide parents along the way will ease stress that develops around this skill. It's easier than you think when you understand the difference between toilet learning and toilet training.
2:15 pm
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3:30 pm
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3:30 pm
Sarah Ozuna Brown, M.S.
Make the Impossible Possible: Utilizing Adult Motivation Strategies to Maximize Personal Potential
Everyone experiences burnout, career frustrations, and ups and down in accomplishing personal and professional aspirations. This session will help early childhood professionals tap into what motivates them individually and utilize that self-knowledge to accomplish personal and professional goals. Through engaging self-reflection activities, participants will learn more about their motivation style and how they can use adult motivation strategies to actualize their ambitions.
2:15 pm
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3:30 pm
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3:30 pm
Kenneth Sherman, M.Ed.
Trauma and Social Emotional Distress: How do We Support Our Children and Teachers?
In an emotionally supportive classroom, children learn to respect themselves and others, to express their thoughts and feelings, and to be actively involved in complex human relationships. Alternatively, trauma and acute stress can append healthy social emotional development in young learners. In this session, learn how to scaffold your children’s social, emotional, and mental learning, and take away strategies to counter the negative effects of children’s trauma and stress in the classroom.