Investing in Ourselves: Professional Development for Teachers

National Trends in Professional Development for Teachers

We recently returned from NAEYC’s National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development in Baltimore, and are so excited to see and hear of the ways in which the field is growing! We spent time at this show not only connecting to educators, but also gathering very valuable information to share with our team. We are so pleased to see a national shift in attention towards developing quality initiatives and programs to coach teachers on incorporating and identifying STEM and STEAM in their classrooms. With investments in professional development for teachers, more and more educators are able to comfortably and effectively introduce complex STEM topics to their early learners in relevant, developmentally appropriate ways. At the Institute we took time to discuss with attendees some of the major benefits of an investment in professional development, including:

• The support of Continuous Quality Improvement
• An increase in teacher confidence and competencies
• A boost to your school’s reputation as a leader in innovative teaching strategies
• An increase in CLASS scores
• An increase in collaboration (among teachers and children!)
• Perspectives re-energized, recharged, and refreshed
• The gain of new skills and growth of your collective practice
• Opportunity to practice methodologies for implementing open-ended teaching tools

At Kodo, we design products that build on children’s natural proclivity to play and investigate. When placed in learning environments, these materials open the door to learning about science, technology, engineering, art, math. We believe the effectiveness of our educational products can be multiplied when you invest in Professional Development to support your teachers in translating concrete ways for children to experience STEM learning. We offer a variety of Professional Development services, and all of them are founded in Investigation Based Teaching Practices ™, which are aligned with and strengthen Classroom Organization and Instructional Support strategies addressed in the CLASS™. These practical strategies support the thoughtful facilitation of children’s learning through investigative open-ended play. Kodo’s Investigation-Based Teaching Practices™ help educators recognize and establish habits of thoughtful responsive facilitation. To learn more about our professional development for teachers, visit www.kodokids.com/professional-development-for-teachers