Module 3 How Learning Begins

Module 2 – Follow ups A-ah’s I notice that having a connection with a child is really important! Tonight I put myself in that child’s shoes and I see the difference when you don’t have a connection. Parking Lot Items Selective Mutism – EEC teacher qualifications: regs_policies/ _606_cmr. pdf 2

3 Module One and Two Review Sharing the Moving on and Doing More activities –What did you learn about how you connect with the children you teach? –What did you learn about how the children you teach connect with you? –What did you learn about how human connections help young children learn?

Ice Breaker Sit with your learning partner and decide who will be Partner A and Partner B. Partner A’s job is to make Partner B laugh without using words. Partner B’s job is not to laugh. Switch roles. 4

5 Learning Goals Participants will understand how learning begins. They will understand that children are naturally drawn to others and that learning begins when children are able to control their attention, behavior and emotions enough to focus on other people and new experiences. Researchers call this state regulation.

6 STATE REGULATION: the ability to manage stimulation by shutting out the unimportant and focusing on the important. State Regulation

7 Research shows… One of the first things young children learn is to get themselves under control, or, to use the language of science, to regulate themselves

8 Research shows… Children’s increasing capacity to regulate their attention, behavior and emotional state allows them to focus on learning in many different ways Children are active participants in their own learning and are naturally drawn to new and interesting things

9 To help children learn to regulate their attention, behavior and emotional states To be aware of what and how children learn through their everyday experiences Major Tasks of Teaching Young Children

10 Outcomes Teachers will become better at: –Helping children learn to regulate their attention, behavior and emotional states –Observing, understanding and documenting all the ways that children learn

11 Outcomes –Understanding the relationship between a child’s ability to self- regulate and to learn –Developing learning activities that engage children by building on their interests, giving them choices, extending their skills and offering appropriate challenges.

12 Get Ready!

13 Did You Know? – Research Video Dr. T. Berrry Brazelton Harvard Medical School

14 What Do You Think? Part 1 Consider a child needing to regulate her/his state. –What was the child’s age? –What were they doing? –What do you think the child was feeling? –What do you think the child was thinking? –What did the child do to get back into balance? –What did you do to help the child get back into balance?

15 What Do You Think? Part 2 Need 12 actors –2 teachers –5 parents –5 children Rest of the group are the observers It’s pick up time!

16 What Do You Think? Part 2 Observers: How did the teachers help the children regulate their states? What could the teachers have done differently? Participants: Do you agree with the observers? What else would you add?

Discussion With your learning group: What was going on with the children? How does this illustrate state regulation, novelty preference, and connections with people and learning? 17

18 What can you do? Think about the group experience and look at chart 3.1, page 3 –Discuss with your learning partner two possible teacher responses –How does the teacher response impact the child? –What can you do differently in the future?

19 Tips Observe children in your group – look for what helps each child regulate herself Use the technique that works best with each child Provide a variety of learning spaces Other ideas?

20 Quotes What surprises me is when I’ve heard in the popular press reports that brain development ends at the age of three. You wonder – have they ever seen a child? Because anyone who’s observed children knows that there are dramatic changes in behavior across the first two decades of life and beyond. --- Dr. Charles A. Nelson III Please see additional quotes in your binders.

21 Moving On and Doing More Observe state regulation and record your observations on Charts 3.2 through 3.4 Practice helping children regulate their state, and support emerging interests. Share what you discover with your learning partner and/or learning group at your next meeting.