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UW-RF Offers Child Development Workshop
FEB. 11, 2005--The UW-River Falls teacher education department and outreach
and graduate studies office will offer an early child development workshop
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 5 in Rodli Commons at UW-RF.
The workshop, "Rhythm of Guidance," will provide insight from
child-care trainers and UW-RF early childhood development professors who
will explore developmental issues including conflict intervention, language
development, behavioral assessment, discipline, movement/music experiences,
and strategies to guide children with special needs in inclusive classrooms.
The workshop will feature keynote speaker Dan Gartrell, director of child
development training and professor of early childhood and elementary education
at Bemidji State University. Gartrell will discuss four practices important
for building an encouraging classroom: being a guidance professional,
using leadership communication, teaching democratic life skills, and creating
an encouraging program.
Gartrell has published articles and books on child development and presented
at more than 300 workshops, keynotes, and trainings on such topics as
guidance, intelligence development and emergent literacy.
Other sessions will be led by UW-RF professors Hilree Hamilton, Michael
Harris, Susan Sell and Scott Woitaszewski as well as Jeanne Erickson,
a project specialist for Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.
Erickson will introduce the idea of the "Badger baby bus tour,"
which focuses on highlighting the steps that caregivers can take to ensure
that the early experiences of young children will enhance their intellectual
and emotional capacity.
Music education Professor Hilree Hamilton will present "With a Song
and a Story: Integrating Music and Literature in an Inclusive Preschool."
This creative hands-on session will focus on scaffolding children’s
exploration of music and literature.
Mike Harris, chair of the communicative disorders department, will present
"Functional assessment of challenging behaviors: Why do kids do the
things they do?" Harris will introduce assessment strategies such
as the interview process, use of scatter plots, ABC analyses, and functional
manipulation of challenging behavior.
Health and human performance Professor Susan Sell will show how using
simple props encourages children to refine and enhance their motor skills.
Sell will also introduce movement vocabulary for the purpose of presenting
classroom materials.
Assistant professor of the counseling and school psychology Scott Woitaszewski
will speak on "Promoting resiliency in children: Possibilities and
cautions." Woitaszewski will review factors related to resiliency
in children.
Gayle Ward, workshop facilitator and assistant professor of teacher education,
said the importance of this workshop is that it focuss on sharing university
work with early childhood teachers and parents in the community, as well
with early and elementary education students at UW-RF. "We are responding
to needs in the community for guidance strategies in inclusive classrooms,"
says Ward.
Open to the public, the workshop is geared toward educators, childcare
providers and parents. Childcare workers may receive continuing education
units through the Wisconsin Registry. Participants can receive undergraduate
or graduate credits through UW-RF.
The workshop is funded by the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA) and by Preschool Discretionary Initiatives Grants from the
River Falls and Hudson school districts.
The cost of registration will be $70, including: admission, lunch, parking,
child-care services for children, and a complimentary copy of Gartrell’s
book: The Power of Guidance. Participants must register in advance with
the UW-RF outreach and graduate studies office.
For more information and a registration form, call 715/425-3256 or 800/228-5607
e-mail outreach@uwrf.edu.
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Last updated:
Monday, 14-Feb-2005 13:58:19 CST
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