Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

By: Hannah Arnold, EC-SEAT Scholar and Preschool Teacher How we respond to children has a lot to do with how they respond to us. Treating children with respect and dignity goes a long way towards increasing positive behaviors in your classroom. We can treat children with respect and dignity through our everyday interactions and responsive language. Responsive language shows children that we believe in them by using direct language, which reinforces positive behavior. Responsive language is a part of having a responsive classroom that fosters social and academic learning throughout the day. Using responsive language with children of all ages may seem like a gigantic step and can seem a bit overwhelming if you are new to the idea. However there are small steps you can take towards becoming more responsive. At first this type of language is very conscious and planned out. As you become more comfortable it almost becomes second nature. When first starting the use of responsive I fou...

The Erikson TEC Center just announced the publication of Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years: Tools for Teaching and Learning   edited by Chip Donohue. Check out the following website for more information about the book. It provides a wide range of topics focused on technology and young children, technology in the classroom and technology beyond the classroom. It also has chapters focused on UDL, STEM and home to school connections. Worth a look! http://teccenter.erikson.edu/tech-in-the-early-years/

Daily, our office receives emails about current news and information about early childhood. Here is a sampling of some resources we found interesting this week: News: 1.) The Calcasiau Parish School Board has utilized a state grant to build an Assistive Technology lending library. Read about this  lending library here .   2.) The New School Leaders' Standards were released on Monday, September 15th. Read more about major changes in standards focused on the social side of learning.  Resources for Professional Development: 1.) Ashley Frame from EduPlanet21 sent out the following professional development video link introducing a Module Series on New Hampshire’s Educator Support Evaluation System. Four other modules are available on the NH Department of Education Vimeo site .  2.) The National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning is hosting a webinar on September 22nd, 2014 about “Classroom-Based and Parent-Focused Interventions for Promoting Social and ...

The beginning of the 2014-2015 academic year for the EC-SEAT scholars and the project is off to an energetic start. Throughout the year, scholars will be writing blogs! Check back to our site often to see what scholars are saying about their practice in the field. Also, please comment! · Tell us what you want to know more about. · Offer to write a blog. · Provide resources and links for us to post to our site. We want this to be a community of practice.