Summer is a great time to plan for and even execute professional development for early education. This past school year, the B-3 Continuity Project partnered with Pat Chamberlain and Julie Kallenbach to present a series of trainings on Developmentally Appropriate Practices. Through further collaboration, we are now happy to offer a comprehensive professional development option.

I Believe in Play; Sharing our Successes and Planning Next Steps for Positive Student Outcomes was recorded and a discussion guide was developed to allow for all or parts of the training to be replicated during professional training time. The Discussion Guide outlines the video recording with options for local facilitation of discussions or the ability to see how others, during the training, worked through the activities. Handouts from the session are provided and the NAEYC book Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs is utilized for the training.

Please review the Discussion Guide before planning your professional development time and determine the right fit for working with your group.  The purpose of the discussion guide is to enable groups to view the video with a facilitator to guide discussions and learning activities. The guide includes timing points on the video that match the slides in the PowerPoint, along with the content discussed. Talking Points are included for the facilitators to help guide local discussions.

Given time and resource restraints, we wanted to provide options for professional development.  Facilitators can decide if they will conduct the learning in a more self-guided way, utilizing more local discussion and interaction, or if the original discussions on the video will be listened to and watched.

Learning Objectives:

  • Reinforce proven practices that incorporate learning into play.
  • Planning for the adult’s role in child-directed play to promote students’ social and emotional growth.
  • Practice planning standards-based units that incorporate play.

Check out the Developmentally Appropriate Practices Training Webpage  for more details. Questions can be directed to Ashley Long, director of the B-3 Continuity Project, at amlong3@IllinoisState.edu.