Supporting Interactions for Children with Disabilities or Suspected Delays

Supporting Interactions for Children with Disabilities or Suspected Delays

Pam Winton: Hi, everyone. It's great to see so many people joining us on this webinar on supporting interactions for children with disabilities and suspected delays, presented by the National Center on Early Childhood Development Teaching and Learning, also known as the DTL Center. I'm Pam Winton, and I'll be presenting along with my DTL colleague, Jani Kozlowski. Tracey West, who contributed to some of the content today, is not able to join us, but she will be able to catch up with us on March 20th at our DTL live chat, which is a monthly feature of our disabilities inclusion MyPeers online network, which you'll hear about a little bit later. Before we begin, I want to go over some information regarding the webinar. During the webinar, we'll have al lines muted as a way of ensuring audio quality, but we do want to hear from you, so we'll be sharing some Adobe Connect features that will help us interact as we go along. For instance, if you have any problems with technology or logistical questions, please use the chat box. The chat box is to the right of your screen and we'll respond to you there.

For questions or comments, we welcome those, about the webinar content, and there is a Q&A box in the lower right. That's the place to put your questions. We'll have a break partway through when we'll respond to questions and then do that again at the end. If there are questions that we aren't able to address during the webinar, we'll post them in MyPeers disabilities online community and address them there. A PDF of this presentation can be found in the Supporting Documents box in the bottom of your screen. So look there for that. There are nine videos in this session, so here's a tip about hearing the audio of those videos. If you're listening, which many of you probably are, by phone, you won't be able to hear the audio or videos over the phone, so that's the time to turn on the audio of your computer for those few moments, but when you do that, please mute your phone so that we won't get static or feedback. If for any reason you get disconnected from the webinar, use the same link used previously to rejoin. We want to let you know that the session will be recorded and at the end, there will be an evaluation form for you to fill out. And when you complete it, you can download a certificate of completion. If you're watching the webinar with more than just yourself, with colleagues, please forward that evaluation e-mail to your colleagues who have also viewed the webinar so they can complete it and get their certificate. So we're gonna move on now to our session objectives.

At the end of this, we anticipate that you'll understand the importance of using evidence-based practices that support children's interactions with adults and with peers. And you'll know where to find resources related to these practices to use in your work. Before we get into the content of the webinar, we'd like to know a little bit about who you guys are. So you see a poll on the screen, and you'll see some response options. Please select the response option that best describes your role.

So when you do that -- A-ha -- Great.

I can see a lot of disability coordinators are with us and education staff, so this helps us know who's joining us and who we're reaching with these webinars. Thank you all for voting. Some more votes are coming in. So that's great. We'll use this data in our summary report. So now I want to move on to the next slide, which is showing you a little bit going into why this is an important topic. For those of you who have attended the webinar that we had that was in the fall on practices related to home or center-based environments that support high-quality inclusion, the next few slides are gonna look a little bit familiar. But we want to, again, provide important context, and then move pretty quickly through these, highlighting a few key ideas so we can provide some context for this webinar topic on practices that support adult, child, and peer interactions. First of all, this topic is important because there is strong legislative and policy support for inclusion. This slide lists some of the major legislation, including the Head Start Program Performance Standards, and most of you know that Head Start, historically, has provided an inclusive environment and strong support for serving children suspected of or having identified disabilities, including those with chronic health conditions. Now, if you'd like more information on these

policies, we aren't going to have time today to provide that, but we want to let you know that there are series of federal webinars on this topic that were developed collaboratively by our federal staff from the U.S. Department of Ed and the Office of Head Start, and links to those resources are provided at the final slide on resources at the end of this presentation.

So, in addition then to this strong legislative support, we have a large body of research in support of inclusion, and we know from that research that inclusion benefits all children, not just those with disabilities. There's also substantial evidence to show that children can learn effectively in inclusive settings when they're given appropriate modifications and adaptations to the curriculum, to the environment, and when intentional instruction and interaction practices are used, which of course is the focus of this webinar. And perhaps more important, most importantly, we know that children do not need to be ready for inclusion or for the program they're entering to be included with their peers. Rather, programs and teachers need to be ready for children, and this is why this topic is so important. We also know, though, that simply having research or having legislation isn't really enough to ensure that the desired outcomes for children will be reached. So now we're going to share a little bit of background on the practices that support inclusion or individualization. There is a very strong research evidence about the practices we're going to share, so we're going to look at them starting with how the practices were identified.

So, on this next slide, you'll see something about the Division of Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children, which is also referred to as DEC, and the reason we're showing this is because DEC was instrumental in identifying a set of research-based practices that support individualization. The practices were identified through a rigorous process funded by the U.S. Department of Ed and carried out by a commission appointed by DEC. The goal of having such a set of practices is to inform and improve the quality of services provided to young children with disabilities or suspected delays and their families. The document on the left side of the screen is available online and for free, which is great, and it consists of the set of research-based practices. There are 66 specific practices organized into eight topical areas. First, you can see a circle around the child-focused practices, and next you'll see a circle around what are considered family and system-focused practices. And, as I said earlier, today we're going to focus on those practices related to interactions, which is -- There you go. The recommended practices are supported by research, as I've already mentioned, values, and experience. They are not disability-specific, and they focus on practitioners and leaders working with children ages zero through 5. They are not limited to just those eligible for IDEA services, so these are very important to know and use with any child in your classroom.

The recommended practices also align well with the Head Start Performance Standards as well as the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, which you see up on your screen now. And then this next slide shows the link between, for instance, the language and literacy domain of the ELOF, or the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, and some of the DEC-recommended practices related to interaction. So you can see this link is important, and it really is saying to us that, when education staff observe and interpret, respond contingently, and provide natural consequences for child's verbal and nonverbal communication, this promotes language and literacy. And this next slide just goes into some detail about the ELOF, and I think what's important to note in this slide is the way the ELOF is divided into subdomains and goals and then developmental progressions gives you, as staff, the opportunity to think about how to target outcomes for children and how to think about a developmental progression so that when you use a certain set of practices, like the ones we're going to share today, you can then have a target goal or outcome for the child and then monitor that progress using the ELOF to see if the practices you're using are effective. So the ELOF and the DEC-recommended practices, in a sense, work hand-in-hand to support your work with children.

This next slide shows a familiar house framework. I think most of you are probably familiar with this. The house is what DTL uses to represent the five integral elements of quality teaching and learning, and the base of the house, you can see that this foundation says to us that all children need nurturing relationships, effective interactions and engaging environments to support their learning. Of course, this is especially true for children with disabilities and suspected delays, but for children with disabilities, the roof of the house, those highly individualized teaching-and-learning strategies, are essential in supporting those children in inclusive environments, and this includes children in all program options: center-based, family, childcare, home-based. And again, this all aligns with The Head Start Program Performance Standards.

So I'm going to stop here and see if we have any questions or comments about what I've just shared about the background for the DEC-recommended practices, the overarching kind of purpose of them, some of the features of them and some of the support and research and legislation we have for these practices. So if you have questions, please put them in the Q&A box, and we'll look for them there, and, of course, you can put those in at any time, but seeing nothing pop in yet, I'm going to now turn to Jani. And she's going to dig deeper into this topic area, and then finally, at the end, we'll go back to some of the resources that are going to be shared with you throughout. We'll do some final summary there. So, Jani, take it away.

Jani Kozlowski: Well, thank you, Pam. Hi, everyone. I'm Jani Kozlowski. I also work with Pam at the National Center on Early Childhood Development Teaching and Learning, and I'm excited today to be able to show you some practices that focus on the topic area of interactions, and, as Pam said, it's one of the eight topical areas that make up the recommended practices. We're using a similar format to the one that you used during the environments webinar. First, we're going to look at key components of supportive interactions, and then I'm going to share some photo examples and video demonstrations of the practices to give you a taste of what they could look like in the classroom or in the home.

Then, later in the webinar, I will share more information about the resources that these examples are drawn from, and Pam will provide you some links to these resources so that you can explore them further and use them to support your work. We have received some feedback during the last webinar in the fall that you felt like it would be useful to include more practices, videos of practices and also examples of practices for infants and toddlers, as well as preschoolers and for home-based programs, as well as center-based programs. So we've brought in the content to make sure that we include examples from a range of programs and age groups, so please keep your feedback coming. We want to make sure that we're meeting your needs. So, to get started, we know that all children need nurturing relationships, effective interactions, and engaging environments to support their learning outcomes. We can see this in the house model that Pam showed, where positive interactions are that foundational piece. Interactions provide the foundation of development for children's language and cognitive and emotional competence. They are the basis for fostering learning, and they're particularly important for supporting the development and learning of children who have or are at risk for disabilities.

Engaging in sensitive interaction practices take into account the child's cultural and linguistic backgrounds, especially for those that are at risk of or have identified as having a disability. The interaction topic area is associated with the guidelines related to the Head Start Program Performance Standards. The teaching and learning environments has already been mentioned as aligned with the child outcomes as described in the ELOF. So what do these practices look like? In the topic area of interactions, there are five practices, so here's the first one. To promote social-emotional development, adults respond to the range of emotional expression, and this can be through a child's words or expressions or actions. To promote social development, adults use natural routines and activities to encourage children's interactions. To promote language and communication, adults provide natural consequences for a child's communication attempts.

All of these practices, adults, whether teachers or family members, you can use those in your daily interactions with children. You may have noticed, in two of the practices, they used the phrase responding contingently.

What does that mean, responding contingently? You may want to observe what the child is doing or communicating but also respond in the moment following the child's lead and maintaining the interaction, so responding contingently really is just about that, of following the child's lead. Also note that these practices support the ELOF subdomains of relationships with adults and relationships with children. The final two focus on adults using interactions to promote children's cognitive development, autonomym, and self-regulation, problem-solving skills, roof, scaffolding. This is a reminder that these five practices are associated with the goals for children's development in the ELOF. For example, using these practices aligns with supporting children to use basic problem-solving skills to resolve conflicts with other children, and for those of you that are ELOF junkies, that's the ELOF goal PSE 5.

Okay, the DEC interaction topic includes practices related to building a positive adult-child interaction and also practices that adults use to promote child-to-child interactions. Let's take a look at the practices, themselves. While adults play an active role in child-and-child interactions as well as adult-child interactions, let's first look at adult-child interactions. When thinking about interactions with children with disabilities or suspected delays, it's important to remember that they may look a little different than the interactions of their typically-developing peers. Children may need more time to interact, so it's important to wait for the child to respond. They might also need additional time to process incoming information or more time to put together their response. Teachers may have to observe more closely to see the child's response. It may be subtle as a change in facial expression or body language or posture. A child might use gestures or vocalizations. You might see a change in the way that their eyes are gazing, or they might point. Adults need to have some patience and attention to observe and interpret the child's method of interacting and responding. All different styles of interaction are good. As you look at these photos, what do you see the adults doing? Notice the very intentional body language of the teachers. Their attention to the child, eye contact, making sure they have the child's attention, using signs, gestures, facial expressions.

These photos all demonstrate very responsive, sensitive interactions. So this is a five-minute video clip. We don't have that much time today, so for the sake of time, we're not going to watch this webisode, but we wanted to point you in this direction because it is a great webisode, and it's available on the ECLKC website. It's a great resources for PD providers, disability coordinators, coaches, and for education staff in learning about or reinforcing responsive interactions and reading children's cues. It includes a video and a guide and provides a great example of how important it is to be aware of a child's cues when interacting.

These practices are also a way to build and support the learning outcomes as described in the relationships with adult subdomain in the ELOF. In the webisode, home visitors, teachers, and experts share information and strategies for supporting responsive interactions with young children and sharing that information with families. It provides examples of how to read young children's cues and respond in daily routines and activities in a way that support learning outcomes. This webisode includes a guide on responsive interactions, which provides information, reflective questions and resources to further extend learning. So we really recommend that you check this out and see what happens when the adults don't pay attention to Bella's signals and how much more effective they can be when they are sensitive and responsive.

Okay, so I'm not going to hold you back and tease you on the videos anymore. This is our first video. It's a short one that shows a child using a communication device to communicate with his teacher during lunch time in a center-based program. Now keep in mind that the sound will only come through when you use

the speakers on your computer, and so now would be a good time to switch over to your computer speakers, if you haven't already. While you're watching, I'd like you to take a note of the practices that you see the teacher using to facilitate interactions. If you would please put that information, what you're observing, in the chat box to share the practices that you see the teacher using, that would be helpful. Okay, you ready?

[Video clip begins]

Teacher: Please. Plate, please.

SpringBoard Device: I want... ...plate, please.

Teacher: All right. I like the way you asked, Luke.

Child: Bye.

Teacher: Is it good, Luke? It is? All right. You like spaghetti? You do.

Child: I like spaghetti.

Teacher: You like spaghetti, too? Child 2: I want spaghetti, too.

Luke: The spoon.

Teacher 2: The what?

SpringBoard Device: Spoon.

Teacher: Hmm? SpringBoard

Device: Spoon.

Teacher: What's wrong with your spoon? What do you want with your spoon? Hmm?

Child: More spaghetti.

Teacher 2: Eat some lunch.

Child: More spaghetti.

SpringBoard Device: Spoon.

Teacher: Try some salad. What about the spoon? Hold your head up and eat, sweetie.

SpringBoard Device: Spoon. Spoon. Spaghetti.

Teacher: What do you --

Child: Spaghetti! T

Teacher 2: Spaghetti.

Teacher: What do you want, Luke?

Teacher 2: No, he said, "Spaghetti."

Teacher: What do you want?

SpringBoard Device: More.

Teacher: More what?

SpringBoard Device: Spaghetti.

Teacher: More spaghetti...?

SpringBoard Device: Please.

Teacher: Thank you.

Child: I want more spaghetti. I try salad. I try salad.

Teacher: Try some more.

Teacher 2: Try some more. Eat your bread.

[Music]

[Video clip ends]

Jani: Okay. Great. I saw some really good comments in the chat bar. I saw a lot of you mention positive reinforcement. Natural consequences, I saw a few times. Several of you mentioned praise, that there was verbal prompting and positive communication. Some of you mentioned eye contact, and someone mentioned very specific instructions. As you recall, she didn't act when he kept pushing the button that said, "Spoon. Spoon. Spoon." She was waiting for him to ask a question. So there was some specific instructions and prompting, and it was really interesting. One of you noted that the children were placed in such a way so that there were children that could be helpful right next to him or across from him, so that was a great observation as well.

The tool that he was using is a communication device, and it allows him to push a button so that he can communicate, and those words are programmed in for the kinds of words that he would use. You notice that she didn't reinforce and give praise until he said the word "please," so that must have been something that the teacher was working with him on as well is to have -- is to have those high expectations, and so that's really important when we are thinking about supporting children with disabilities, that we maintain high expectations, but also provide the kind of reinforcement that's going to be most productive.

So excellent. I really like the way that you all put in your comments, and I hope that -- that some of you have been able to resolve your technology issues. This video in particular freezes intentionally. It kind of stops at sort of key moments in the video, and so it probably wasn't your connection. It might have just been part of the video that was stopping during those connections. But great job. Let's move on. So something to remember is that interactions begin from the moment a child is born, and they're critically important for infants, as well as any other children. Sometimes we need to remember about what infant interactions look like for infants and particularly for children at risk for or with disabilities.

The earlier we can facilitate and support children's positive interactions, the more effective we can be. For very young children and for older children with significant disabilities, we have to keep in mind that interactions are both verbal and nonverbal. Observation is critically important to see what the infant is looking at and responding to. We have to respond to their gaze, to their smiles and to vocalizations. These practices are associated with infant-toddler goals in the ELOF, such as infant/toddler social-emotional one or infant/toddler social-emotional two, and those are related to the child expecting consistent, positive interactions through secure relationships with trusting adults. Now let's watch another video. This one take place with a very young child in the home, and keep in mind, while these videos are set in different locations and use different age of children in the examples, the practices themselves are relevant --

[Video clip begins]

-- for all types of programs.

[Music] So again, please share in the chat box the practices that you see the adult using and the child outcomes that you think are associated with those practices.

[Water splashing] The practices that you see as well as child outcomes. Let's get started.

[Water splashing]

Mother: Where's Justin? Boo! Where's Justin? Justin? Boo! Justin? Boo! Where is he? Boo! There you are. Justin? Peekaboo. Peekaboo, Justin. Where are you? Boo! Hey! You're not -- You're not going let Mom in? Hello? Hello? Hi!

[Music]

[Video clip ends]

[Silence]

Jani: Great. I think that's a pretty common interaction. Peekaboo is a very common game that infants like to play, and I see that some of you noted that Mom was really encouraging that interaction. She stayed on eye level with the child, and she was modeling how to play peekaboo. So even at that very young age, where language isn't there, she was modeling how to play. She was really encouraging him, and I think that we can see that she also was reinforcing his -- his attempts to play back, and she also used... I can see someone wrote that she used different pitches in her voice to help keep him engaged. So the baby was really taking a lot of cues from that little game that we saw.

She was playing the same game as she was changing his diaper, as she played in the hallway of their house, so it was something that was familiar to him, and he could -- He knew what the rules of the game were. So he could interact in various locations. I see Melissa is talking about using his name, and that shows a way of valuing him. It also helps him to learn what his name is. So we've got lots of great ideas for how that video can have an effect on interaction.

Okay, I want to share with you a little bit about the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, or the ELOF, Effective Practice Guides. You can find them on the ECLKC, and soon, we'll have all of the Domains of Development uploaded to the ECLKC. These guides provide information about domain-specific teaching practices that support development, and each domain includes specific practices that can be used to individualize for children who may need more support. The guides show what the practices look like in early learning settings, but they also help staff reflect on and improve their teaching practices. In home-based settings, teaching practices are ways that home visitors work with families to promote experiences that support the child's development and learning, engage in responsive interactions, and they use the home as the learning environment. The guide also includes vignettes to illustrate how to support individualizing both in center-based classrooms as well as in the home.

These interaction practices align with the domains of approaches to learning, social and emotional development, language and communication and cognition. And so those Effective Practice Guides are set up to be downloaded by domain, and so those would be the domains that you would want to look for when you go on the site. Another resource we wanted to share with you are the ECTA Center Practice Guides, and there are two sets. There's a set for practitioners and a set for families, and these guides also provide some practical strategies on a number of topics, including interactions. Interaction guides cover a range of interaction topics from accentuating the positive, early social communication, peer interaction, and shared reading. They're one-pagers, and they're downloadable, and they have lots of practical tips for implementing practices.

They give you an example of what the practice looks like, how to know it's working, and they have video examples as well. The guides are designed for practitioners, so you can share them with family members or teachers if you're a disabilities coordinator, and you want something to share with your teachers, and they have lots and lots of great ideas. So that could be really useful to you whether you're a disabilities

coordinator or a coach or an education manager or if you're a teacher yourself. Okay. So now we're going to shift gears a little bit and talk about practices that adults use to support child-to-child interactions or peer interactions. These are associated with outcomes in the ELOF, as well. The first step in supporting peer interactions is opportunity. Children have to have the opportunity to interact with their peers.

On the left, you can see the little boy is using a stander at the sand table, and at the same level, using the same materials as his buddies, so he has this opportunity and the ability to interact with his peers and socialize just by using that equipment. On the right, you'll see a child helping another child pour milk into his cup. In both photos, there is an opportunity, motivation, and the use of natural routine in activities to support the kinds of interactions that we want to see. These opportunities are set up by the adults, and they're also ways that you can support relationships with other children, goals from the ELOF. So we wanted to step back and show a couple of very short videos from the Head Start Center for Inclusion.

The first video shows two teachers planning for a child who may have some social challenges and who always plays by herself. We wanted to show it to you because it shows a critical aspect of supporting interactions for children with disabilities. Those critical examples or aspects are intentionality and planning. This very short video clip shows two teachers talking about how they want to give more individualized teaching to a child named Leah on asking a friend to play with her. She's a child that tends to play alone, and I'm sure that you know many children like that, and one of the objectives is to play with friends. They want her to learn about sharing materials and sharing play ideas. Okay.

[Video clip begins]

So like we did before, please, in the chat box, type in the practices that you're seeing discussed or in play.

Teacher: I'm going to give her some extra instruction and support in asking a friend to play with her when she's playing with the blocks already. That would be good for her to get some extra teaching with that goal.

[Video clip ends]

Jani: Okay. I see lots of people are typing, and so you've heard a discussion of the child's needs, and they related those needs to the goals. Elizabeth noted that they have planning time just set aside to talk with other teachers, get their feedback, get some collaboration. I see Geneva brings up scaffolding, and you heard about discussing needs of those goals. This is a real attempt for individualizing, as Christie says, and putting a plan in place. They were talking about maybe finding a way to use the block area as a place where Leah could be supported in interacting with peers. So in home-based programs, this kind of intentional planning happens jointly with the families that we serve so that when you talk with families and plan for home visits and activities, families can engage in between home visits and they can put some things into place that are unique for their own child's interests and needs. Home visitors also build this type of intentional planning for children with disabilities or suspected delays during their socialization times.

Even within a group event, such as a socialization, home visitors still work to individualize activities based on children's interests, their needs, and any additional supports that children will need to participate fully. And so I see that we've had some resources put into the chat. She put in the link to the Spanish version of the practice list. Thank you for doing that, and let's see how this works out. So this is a video of how the teachers are putting their plan into action. So in this short video, we are going to see the child in the classroom with the teacher giving her some help to ask a friend to play. She's going to use encouragement, choice making, and positive verbal praise.

[Video clip begins]

[Indistinct chatter]

Teacher: Who do you want to ask to play, Leah? Can you ask Myron or Dominic to play? Okay.

Leah: Myron, do you want to stack them with me?

Teacher: Cool. Tell her where to put it. You can tell her. You can tell her your play idea.

Teacher 2: Wow, Dominic. Cool. Oh, that one to go there?

[Video clip ends]

[Silence]

Jani: Okay. So I see that Penny noted that there was an intentional attempt to follow the child's own interests. I don't know if you noticed, but when the teacher first asked Leah if she wanted to play with a friend, she shook her head "no," but the teacher encouraged her, and a child was right available to help her with that goal. So I see that Geneva mentioned that she gave her friends choices instead of relying on her to choose, so that was a good point. The teacher encouraged her to ask, and she modeled what to say, and she gave some praise. Thank you, Elizabeth. Melissa mentions that she opened up the invitation to interact with any peers, and she said "no," but then later, she asks a specific peer, so she gave her two names to attempt to spark interest. And so, Melissa, you're right that that choice led to the end result that the teacher wanted to see, and it gave Leah the power to choose.

Latisha is noticing that the teacher was at the child's level, and that was good to see. Let's see. So there was some prompting when the friend began to play with her, but you have to wonder if, as the teacher stepped away, if that play would continue, and the teacher was there to continue to model, continue to scaffold the behavior that she wanted to see. Great. So those videos can provide a catalyst for teachers to plan to individualize, and they're very concrete, and I hope that they will be helpful to you if you are a PD provider or a coach as a very simply example of individualizing. Okay. Now we're going to look at an example of a teacher supporting a child's interactions and involvement in a small-group activity. Look to see if this level of support is what is needed for the child to participate, and so make sure you share the strategies that you see in the chat box.

[Video clip begins]

Teacher: Francesca, let's try that again. You can say, "Anna, can I have a turn?"

Child: Okay. Anna, can I have a turn?

Teacher: That's the way to do it! That's cool. Count squares. Francesca, let's try that again. You can say, "Anna, can I have a turn?"

[Chatter]

Francesca: Anna, can I have a turn?

Teacher: That's the way to do it. Nice job, Francesca. Thanks, Anna, for sharing.

[Video clip ends]

[Silence]

Jani: Okay. So you can see in that video, we had some pauses to show the various practices, and I see many of you caught those in the chat box. You talked about modeling. You talked about reinforcement and praise. You talked about using, encouraging a child to use words instead of just taking action. And so here are some of the approaches that we saw there. The modeling that we mentioned, teaching practices, giving feedback, giving guided support, that there was prompting as to what the child should say next and

also a lot of positive reinforcement. So Sareana mentions that you can really tell that the teacher has taken time to build a relationship with the child, and that's so true. The teacher is comfortable with those children, and you can tell that the children seem comfortable with her, as well, and very open to taking on her suggestions. Good job. So when supporting children's interactions with other children, an effective member of your team can actually be the other children in the classroom. Peer support involves planning in when and how to use it and who to choose for your peer buddy.

Peers can bring, can provide modeling and encouragement and can be really powerful motivators for children. So this is the handout that we wanted to show you. It's called... It's Tips for Teachers, and it's part of a highly-individualized teaching and learning in-service suite that you can find on the ECLKC. It includes a presentation and has videos. It's a great resource for PD providers, TA providers, coaches and disabilities coordinators. So take a look at that resource, as well. Okay, so now we're going to take a look at a child-to-child-interactions video example. We're only going to watch the first segment of this video, but it is from this highly individualized teaching and learning in-service suite on peer support that I just showed you about. It's going to provide a simple and intentional facilitation --

[Video clip begins]

-- of children's interactions, and it's an example that you all will be able to relate to, I'm sure. So we'll watch about a minute and a half of this. Make sure that you put in the practices that you're seeing in the chat box.

Teacher: Who has bubbles? You can sing it. Let's sing a song. Oh! Eselle has bubbles.

Teacher 2: Woo!

Teacher: Oh, Eselle is blowing bubble for Ethan.

[Indistinct chatter]

Teacher 2: Yay, Ethan.

Teacher: Eselle, you're being a very good friend to your friend Ethan. Nice work together.

[Indistinct chatter]

Child: 37? Child 2: No.

[Indistinct chatter]

Child: 109? Okay.

[Indistinct chatter]

Child: 109. Okay.

Teacher: Okay.

[Speaking foreign language]

[Video clip ends]

[Silence]

Jani: Okay. So there were a couple of examples there, and I'm seeing some great suggestions here. Making sure that we keep the interactions positive. I see, Candace, you were mentioning that we need to explain to children what action is needed, so being very specific. You noticed in the first piece of the video there were teachers talking together on the playground and kind of figuring out a strategy, so that was some good planning in action. Elizabeth is mentioning that the teacher got the child involved by asking if he

could help his peer, so that was a great strategy. Mentions that the teacher engages in some parallel talk, acknowledging what the child is doing, so there was a lot of eye contact, simple, short instruction and use of positive interactions. So excellent work there. Okay, I have another short video we want to share.

[Music]

[Video clip begins] And this is a good example of seeing how a teacher encourages and facilitates peer interactions. So again, if you could put your comments in the chat box that support and encourage the interaction.

[Indistinct chatter]

Teacher: ♪ Rub your hands together ♪

Teacher 2: Oh, no. Let him try.

Teacher: See if he does it. You show it to him, okay?

[Indistinct chatter] ♪ Clap your hands together ♪ ♪ Wash, wash, wash your hands ♪ ♪ Wash your hands together ♪ Oh, he's clapping. All

together: ♪ Clap, clap, clap your hands ♪ ♪ Clap your hands together ♪ ♪ Clap, clap, clap your hands ♪ ♪ Clap your hands together ♪

Teacher: Yay! Should we do it again? Play with your hands?

Child: I want to do this.

Teacher: You want to do that?

[Indistinct chatter] Up and down. And up and down. Up and down.

Child: Up, and down.

Teacher: Up, and down. Child 2: What are you doing?

[Music]

[Video clip ends]

[Silence]

Jani: Okay, I think I had a little delay on my side of the video that time, but I see that there's a lot of comments about smiling, about the songs, the teacher encouraging the child to demonstrate how to wash hands, the words going with the motions, modeling, guided support, the teacher and the children working together. Melissa, I think that your comment is great in that the teacher was giving the boy the opportunity to try the actions on his own, and she says that sometimes we're so much of a helper that we want to step in so quickly, but giving them the chance to be independent and confident. What a great point that you made there, Melissa. So we did see a lot of teachers following cues and using music as the reinforcer. So excellent. We talked a lot about intentionality and planning, and here's an example of a learning activity that you can use in planning for peer support. In this activity, teachers are asked to think about children who would be good at providing peer support to another child, and so there is the link there, and you can take a look at it later, and you can use it in your work with teachers and family childcare providers and home visitors. Okay. I'm looking at the time. If you attended the environments webinar in the fall, you saw this video, and we've decided we wanted to share it again because first of all, you saw Luke earlier with his spaghetti lunch, but we wanted you to think about it a little bit differently.

[Music] When you watch the video, think about how the teacher is facilitating the child's social interactions and engagements and the qualities that make Ava, the little helper girl, so good at providing support to Luke. Okay? So take a look and see what you think.

Teacher: Say, "Here, Luke. Here's the ducky." Look, Luke. Look, Luke. Ava's giving you the ducky, Luke, look. Say, "Thank you." Can you say, "Thank you, Ava"? Luke. Luke! Ava, come take Luke to the water. Can you take Luke to the water, and walk through there?

Teacher 2: Don't drink it, Daedae.

Teacher: Tell Luke. Say, "Come on, Luke!"

Teacher 2: No drinking.

Teacher: Come on, Luke. Go with Ava. Walk him through the water, Ava, so he can get wet. Walk him through.

Ava: Want to go to the water.

Teacher: Go ahead.

Teacher: Watch out. You like it, Luke? Want to do it again? Ava, do it again with him. Take him back through. Edward, watch out. Step back some, Edward. Come on.

Child: I want to go over there.

[Music]

[Video clip ends]

[Silence]

Jani: Okay. So you can see why Ava was chosen for this video. She's a very social girl, very eager to jump in. Jody noticed that the teacher was verbalizing what she saw Luke doing, which is giving him the language that he needs. You could see that Luke was a little bit hesitant at first, and so the teacher encouraged with a little push, as Wanda says. And she also was allowing the children to kind of go at their own speed. That's a great observation, Geneva. She brought Ava back in to have Luke go back through the water, which was another, kind of, modeling activity. Annette -- Annette is mentioning that there was a lot of peer existence, peer assistance, that the physical contact was close, and that the teacher was always close by, as well. So excellent observations, and that's the last video we're going to share today. We've got a few more resources to share. You may have been familiar with this website. It's the CSEFEL website, or the Center on Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, and CSEFEL is a national resource center that was previously funded by the office of Head Start and the office of child care. And if you go to the site, you can find social stories that can be used to support children's interactions in social situations and lots of other really fabulous resources, as well. This is another video example that we won't have time to show today, but you'll see the link down here, so please go on to the CSEFEL website and take a look at this link, and you'll see an example of what a social story looks like.

Pam: Hi, Jani. Thanks so much. That's wonderful engagement

[Jani speaking in background] and, you know, they're just lots of comments about the videos and what people are seeing, and I think we've gotten a chance to answer all the questions along the line of where can I find PowerPoints and things, so I think we're in great shape. But we have about three minutes left, and we'd planned to go back and share more about some of the resources, which we can do, but, Jani, I think you did a beautiful job of talking about the resources as you went along and telling people where they could get them. And so we'll just touch on a few, and I want to make sure we get to the evaluation

page so you all can do your evaluations, but the in-service suites were mentioned by Jani, and she showed some resources from those. There's a wonderful landing page now on E-Click, the website, which allows you to get into all the resources related to the practices, and this is just to show you where that landing page is on E-Click. So that's a new addition to E-Click that we're very proud of. And then we also have disability services newsletters and other webinars that we've mentioned. We also have some suspension- and-expulsion briefs coming and a training curriculum on the foundations of inclusion, so keep your eyes open for more resources. This is about the connect modules and courses, which you saw some of today, and we mentioned that the modules are in Spanish, and then the MyPeers community.

If you're not a member, please join because that's another place to continue these conversations. On March 20, we're having a live chat, so if you think of questions about interactions and you want to bring them to the live chat, please do. And these are the practice-based coaching resources. We think practice-based coaching is a wonderful strategy to use in conjunction with these practices, so we hope there's some coaches that maybe are on the webinar, or you can share this webinar with coaches in your programs. And then here, on the last slide, you can see links to all these resources. So mainly we want to say thank you to everyone who's been so engaged and made so many great comments and observations, and here's the evaluation link. We want to be sure you have time to do that, and some of you have mentioned you're watching with a group, so please share the evaluation link with your colleagues who maybe didn't register and won't get an e-mail asking for evaluation. That would be helpful to us to hear from everybody. I think we got --

Jani: That's a great point. And, Pam?

Pam: Yeah?

Jani: We need to remember, too, that they can get a certificate of completion when they do their evaluation.

Pam: Oh, thank you. That's right.

Jani: Yeah.

Pam: That's the little carrot, right, Jani?

Jani: That's the carrot, yeah.

Pam: Yeah.

Jani: Well, I'm so happy to see some of the comments in the chat. I'm so glad to hear that the resources have been helpful and that you've gotten something out of this, so very exciting to see.

Pam: Yeah, and, Jani, you were so busy presenting. I don't know -- I think we had over 500 people, like 524 folks, join us today, so if some of you had trouble with kind of the bandwidth, or the videos were moving slowly, we think that's just because so many people were here. So it's a good thing.

Jani: Maybe so.

Pam: Yeah. Yeah, so...

Jani: And we have it recorded, so you'll be able to go to the recording if you weren't able to see it clearly, you know, live. We'll have it recorded, so that might be a way that they could connect in.

Pam: Yeah, good point. Well, Jani, it was wonderful doing this with you. Thanks to our team here at FPG who's been busy on the computer sharing links and answering questions, and we just really -- We've had a great time this afternoon, so thanks, everybody. It's been fun connecting. And thank you, Jani. Okay. Saying goodbye.

Jani: Yeah. Bye, everyone.

Pam: Thank you. Bye, everyone. Okay.

[End video]

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