Talk and telling stories has an essential place at the core of writing. Through talk, children unfold their thinking and develop the confidence to take risks in their writing. This session explores several ways teachers can capitalize on children’s oral language development while supporting their emergent writing skills. Attendees will participate in simulations of versatile techniques and routines that guide children’s use of writing utensils and storytelling. Additionally, attendees will make and take home their own sets of storytelling materials. This interactive session will equip attendees with practical, creative, and developmentally appropriate techniques and materials to nurture writing in their students.

Research indicates that writing in early childhood offers numerous developmental and educational advantages. Early educators are crucial in fostering emerging literacy among young children by providing regular chances for them to engage in writing activities. Through consistent opportunities to write, children improve fine motor skills, develop alphabet knowledge, enhance phonemic awareness, and acquire a variety of other skills. During this interactive session, we will trace the journey of Isabella, a pre-kindergarten student, over the course of a school year, examining samples of her writings and exploring how current HCS leadership team teachers, guide and support students' exploration of writing. Join us to learn supporting brain research and many developmentally appropriate activities to foster growth in your classroom.

This training session is designed to equip early childhood educators with the knowledge, skills, and strategies to effectively integrate media and technology into their teaching practices. The focus is on using these tools to enhance learning, engagement, and development in young children while maintaining a balanced and safe digital environment. Participants will receive handouts and resources that will reinforce developmentally appropriate use of technology. Based on research and firsthand experience, this session will give practical applications to incorporate media into the early learning classroom in a way that is developmentally appropriate for ages 2-5.

In this session, we will share basics of coding in early childhood, computational thinking, and engineering. We will discuss methods of integrating literacy with these STEM disciplines. We will share methods that we used in our preschool classroom to integrate literacy with computational thinking and engineering, through lessons that included storytelling, problem solving, coding, and constructing. From activities ranging from coding a classmate to reach the Three Little Pigs house, sequencing familiar stories and creating our own, and engineering a boat for the Gingerbread Man that would float, students were able to explore STEM concepts through a literacy lens.

SECA is desiring to work with affiliates to offer an open forum to strengthen our state organizations. This session is meant to be a learning and sharing opportunity for all. For the first hour (2:45-3:45), each state's leadership team involved in day to day business operations should plan to attend. The content will include membership, Wild Apricot, organizational techniques, and reasonable expectations. 
During the 2nd hour (4-5), we'll review information for those who are conference planners. In part 2 - we will focus more on providing ideas for state conferences/funding, how to find keynotes/ local presenters/ sponsors, program - printed or apps, and negotiating with hotels/conference centers/AV companies.
This will be an opportunity to share in an open panel with one another offering guidance to others and asking for suggestions for improvement for all. Participants are welcome to attend one or both sessions.  

Learning about early childhood development theories...boring! Who even cares about them? Aren’t they supposed to just take up space in textbooks? Well, what if we saw exactly how childhood development theories can help us become better teachers while playing BINGO, listening to Beyoncé, looking at silly pictures of cats, and winning prizes? This session will cover the “greatest hits” of Erik Erikson, Magda Gerber, Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, and others, showing you how their theories help us understand the growth and development of children each and every day.

This session will evaluate the advantages of using emotional intelligence in the early childhood classroom. Emotions are experienced before rational thought processes can occur; therefore it is necessary for early childhood educators to understand, practice, and model emotional intelligence as children develop their social emotional skills. Emotionally Intelligent early childhood educators are the key to establishing fully engaged learning environments. Participants will identify the four basic emotions and diverse vocabulary to describe emotions using emotion dolls and other hands-on group activities. The session will also guide participants in analyzing realistic early childhood classroom scenarios and how to model and use emotional intelligence in those situations. Participants will also be provided with techniques to cultivate poise, proficiency, and positive personalities that can strengthen early learning settings and promote collaboration in the early childhood education workforce.

Some children fall down and pop back up and keep going, some lay on the ground and cry, waiting to be rescued. When exactly does this mindset occur in a child? Can we nurture a “can do attitude” in order to prepare the resilience inside a child they will need for the rest of their lives? Yes, and it starts when a child is born and is a lifelong journey.

As infants begin to roll, sit, crawl and walk there will be many falls. How the people around the child treat him during these times will begin to shape the mind. Do I try to reach that toy on the top shelf again or cry and point? A growth mindset comes from the encouragement given or is hindered by the adults around them looking to establish a bond. How can you build a bond with a child, without hindering their ability to keep trying in the face of adversity.

Experiments and brain scans show interesting results when children are pushed beyond their comfort zones. Failure can lead to discouragement but pushing past that failure strengthens the connections in the brain so when something goes right the concept is solidly learned. We can have environments perfectly set up for this kind of trial and error as long as children are allowed to work uninterrupted. Let us help you discover the power of failure

In our conference session, Hands-on Activities to Encourage Emotional Development in Early Education, our Glenville State University Early Education Student Group, as well as early education faculty, will share a variety of hands-on learning activities to enhance and encourage young children’s emotional development. The presenters will share hands-on activities to encourage and strengthen emotional development, as well as activities to connect children’s literature to emotional growth. Family engagement activities will also be shared. Activities will be interactive and developmentally appropriate for preschool and kindergarten aged children. Handouts will be available. The content will be developed under the close guidance and support of the university’s early education faculty.

Have you ever noticed that certain people do all the talking? You may be thinking to yourself that is a good thing: If other people talk, then I don’t have to! But not speaking up keeps you from getting your ideas heard, your values understood, and your needs met. What if there was a solution? In today’s interactive presentation you will pick up three tools to help you speak up, even if you are an introvert.

This professional development session explores the research-based benefits of mindfulness in the classroom and for self-care. Participants will acquire practical strategies and insights on mindfulness to cultivate a supportive learning environment that promotes resilience, inclusion, and social-emotional development in students. Engaging sessions and collaborative activities will equip educators with the tools to integrate mindfulness into their classrooms and to support their own well-being.

The implementation of emergent writing with proven strategies such as, the CLASS framework can help revolutionize early literacy development in classrooms. The CLASS framework places an emphasis on high-quality teacher-student interactions in key areas like Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support which fosters a greater love of writing within young minds. This session will demonstrate how to seamlessly integrate writing into daily routines, create meaningful writing opportunities through play, and provide effective feedback and scaffolding while to support young writers. These practical, actionable tips will transform the approach to teaching writing; which in turn, will nurture confident, capable young authors.