Social Emotional Resources

Wow, what a whirlwind this month has been already! July went by so quickly and now my Head Start year has begun. I'm excited and a little overwhelmed right now. First and foremost, I'm trying to get airline tickets nailed down for my second residency. I'm lucky enough to be attending this residency in Hawaii and I'm looking forward to it!

I've also recently been promoted to the Special Service Manager where I'm working. This is a position that focuses on Disability Services and managing services such as Vision and Hearing screenings, along with Mental Health Visits. I'm eagerly waiting to start that position and I am getting the classroom ready for my replacement in the mean time.

Finally, my local NAEYC affiliate is working hard to get our fall kick off rolling. We're going to be offering our DAP training that night along with a training by staff from the Registry. Speaking of DAP, my state NAEYC affiliate (WECA) began a great book club discussion about the DAP. It sounds like we may be doing it again in the fall, so I hope all of you will sign up and join in! Needless to say, things have been busy!

This is a week of Social Emotional Training! Today and tomorrow I'm attending a training that is presenting information from the Center on the Foundations for Social Emotional Learning (CSEFEL). Particularly, we are focusing on the bottom components of the Pyramid Model. This is not new information for me. I have been using many of the resources suggested and promoted for most of my time working with young children, but I'm finding the training interesting from a training and technical assistance point of view.

There is great information about how to adopt the Pyramid Model that can be found here. I'm looking forward to the training tomorrow and finding out more about an additional two-day training that covers some of the most extreme behavioral challenges found in the early childhood setting. CSEFEL describes these children as needing intensive interventions. What's wonderful about CSEFEL is that all the materials are available on their website for FREE. This included the facilitator's handouts and power points. There's also a variety of helpful links on the CSEFEL site that are quite useful in understanding and implementing strategies such as positive behavior support.

Sunday through Tuesday I will be at a Loving Guidance training (sometimes referred to as Conscious Discipline also). This training will not be presented by Becky Bailey, the founder of Loving Guidance, but will be presented by the only two certified presenters in the state of WI. I've met them both when I was presenting at the UW-Whitewater EC conference. They were all delightful so I KNOW that the training will be a fun and educational time! What's great is that the information I'll be getting at this training will only further compliment what I've received from the CSEFEL training. I've used some of the ideas suggested in these trainings but it will be great to look at things from a trainer's perspective.

With all the training I'm going through this week, I feel like I'm not getting ANY writing done. Also, currently I'm looking for a proof reader. I specifically need someone who is familiar with APA formatting. I have found that I'm not able to submit things to my university writing center as often as I would like so I'm hoping finding my own editor/proofreader will be more convenient.


That's it for now! Gotta run

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