Creating a Curriculum for an Integrated Classroom (Grades PreK - K) TEWS666N
This workshop will focus broadly on how to concretely design and set up an integrated kindergarten curriculum based upon a Bank Street model, with social studies as the core curriculum. We will also discuss literacy, math, science, and art activities that incorporate work with materials and play. The workshop will include ways of making these activities more inclusive to address the needs of a diverse student population. The unique and specific contexts of the participants' settings will be taken into account and discussed.

Jennifer Lightman has been an early childhood educator for the past nine years and most recently was the head teacher of the SNAP program (a program for children with special needs) at Central Synagogue Nursery School. She is currently working privately and through the NYC Board of Education as an educational consultant with children with special needs.

Timothy Lightman is currently serving as Principal at the Smith College Campus School, a K-6 laboratory school in Northampton, MA. He is also working on a doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University, where his research has focused on exploring how general education elementary teachers conceptualize disability and their work with children identified with disabilities. He has worked for over twelve years in the field of education as a curriculum consult, graduate supervisor in the Preservice Inclusive Elementary Education Program at Teachers College, and as a teacher and researcher at Bank Street College and the School for Children.

November 15
Saturday, 10 am - 4:30 pm
.6 CEU $265 (Not offered for credit)
Materials fee $10
Registration Deadline: 11/7

Creating and Using Visual Stories for Children with Autism and other Developmental Delays (Developmental Ages 3 - 10 years)
Simply written stories with visual supports have been shown to be effective in helping all children organize their experience. This is particularly true for children who find it challenging to navigate through their daily routines. Visual stories may help them to process information, understand changes, learn appropriate behavior, and help to alleviate anxiety, and develop literacy skills. This workshop is appropriate for teachers, clinicians, and parents who are interested in using visual stories with children on the autism spectrum as well as with typically developing children.

Betsy Knafo has been a curriculum staff developer and assistive technology specialist for   over 20 years. She currently consults to therapeutic nurseries and schools throughout New York City. In addition, she has a private tutoring practice where she uses technology to enhance language and literacy for children with learning differences.  Betsy is an adjunct at Bank Street College of Education where she teaches Assistive Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom.

Catherine Weiss is the parent of an adolescent with special needs. She has been creating and using simple visual stories for her son for approximately 10 years. An attorney in her former life, she has also participated as a guest lecturer on several occasions in Ms. Knafo and Ms. Immerman's courses on assistive technology and autism at Bank Street.

October 25
Saturday, 9:30 am - 4 pm
.6 CEU $265 (Not offered for credit)
Materials fee $15
Registration Deadline 10/17

Effective Routines and Smooth Transitions in Pre-School Settings (Ages 2 - 5 Years) INFP517N
This course will help teachers develop consistent routines and transition strategies that will allow days to flow more smoothly while children learn to master basic skills and their environment. Participants will gain an understanding of how schedules and predictable events impact on children's sense of security and self confidence. We will also discuss children's adaptive styles and what factors influence easy and difficult separations throughout the year. Experienced, as well as new teachers will come away with interactive, fun-filled techniques that will broaden their classroom management repertoire.

Gladys Reich-Gansl is currently teaching 3 year olds at First Presbyterian Church Nursery School in NYC. She is the former Director of West End Collegiate Church Play School and the former Admissions Director and Assistant Director at the Park Avenue Synagogue Early Childhood Center, both in NYC. As the founding director of Bellevue South Nursery, she worked closely with families for 20 years.

December 5 and 6
Friday, 5:15 - 9 pm
Saturday, 9:30 am - 5 pm
1 CEU $395 / 1 credit $1060
Materials fee $10
Registration Deadline: 11/26

The Reggio-Emilia Approach: From Theory to Practice (Ages Infant - 5 Years) TEWS668N
The early childhood program found in Reggio-Emilia, Italy, incorporates an emphasis on the learning environment, process vs. product, developmentally appropriate practice, and the importance of the community of learners. Much of this philosophy reflects the culture of the Italians and is difficult to re-create in the United States. This workshop will attempt to bridge The Reggio-Emilia theory with American culture. We will view the Reggio-Emilia approach as a means to combat the push-down curriculum, competition, product over process, and the jump/skipping of learning stages we are now experiencing in this country.

Rick Ellis has been involved in the fields of early childhood and elementary education for 33 years. He has taught infants through nine-year olds and has also worked in educational administration as a teaching coach/unit leader, mentor, administrator, and instructional computer coordinator. In 2007, he attended a week-long seminar in Reggio Emilia, Italy, which included visits to schools implementing the Reggio approach. In addition, he is a consultant to a variety of institutions, both public and private, concerning developmentally appropriate practice for early childhood/primary age children and the long-term effects of the „push-down‰ curriculum.

October 25 and November 1
Saturdays, 10 am - 4 pm
1 CEU $395 (Not offered for credit)
Materials fee $10
Registration Deadline 10/17

Understanding Autism and Other Pervasive Developmental Disorders (Ages 2 - 6 Years) SEWS572N
This course provides a comprehensive view of PDD and the diagnoses that fall under it (Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, PDD/NOS, etc.). Participants will learn how these learners learn, how to modify the environment and curriculum to meet their needs, how to promote socialization and acceptance, and how to work with parents and school personnel. In addition, specific strategies for teaching will be reviewed, including Applied Behavior Analysis, TEACCH, Picture Exchange Communication systems, using Verbal Behavior and visual supports. Assessment techniques and methods of recording progress will be addressed so that IEP goals can be developed and supportive methods of teaching can be executed.

Susan Varsames has taught children with learning disabilities for 20 years. She is the founder and owner of the Holistic Learning Center in Eastchester, NY, where she works with individual students, lectures, trains parents and professionals, and is a consultant for school districts.

November 14 and 15
Friday, 5:15 - 7:15 pm
Saturday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
1 CEU $395 (Not offered for credit)
Materials fee $10
Registration deadline: 11/7

Woodworking in the Classroom (Grades Pre-K - 8) TEED547N
This course shows participants how to set up a woodworking area and create developmentally appropriate programs for the children they work with. Students of all learning styles and abilities, including the physically challenged, can learn a variety of woodworking skills to create sculptures and simple musical instruments. Participants will analyze tools and materials, do sculptures, and make musical instruments that we'll play in class. We will discuss classroom management, safety issues, and how this work integrates with other disciplines- including social studies, science, math, foreign languages, and literature.

Sculptor Roberta Berman is a woodworking teacher at the Bank Street School for Children. She conducts workshops at the Bank Street Graduate School on instrument making in the classroom.

November 15 and 22
Saturdays, 10:00 am - 4:30 pm
1 CEU $395 / 1 credit $1060
Materials fee $20
Registration Deadline 11/7

The Youngest Scientists: Hands-on Adventures (Ages 3 - 8 Years) TEED531N
Bring out the inner scientist in your students and yourself with this course, which includes a wide range of easy-to-do scientific experiments and activities. Using familiar, easily obtainable materials and simple hands-on exercises that illustrate scientific principles, you can learn to make science both accessible and intriguing to children of any age. Some areas covered include: using your senses as scientific tools, science in the air, approaching art and cooking as science, studying living things, and additional adventures in chemistry, physics, electricity, and magnets.

Mary Stetten Carson is the author of The Scientific Kid: Projects, Experiments and Adventures (HarperCollins) and Let's Play Science (Sterling Publishing, 2007). She has been a science teacher for over 20 years and currently teaches at the West Side YMCA in NYC.

December 5 and 6
Friday, 5:15 - 9 pm
Saturday, 9:30 am - 5 pm
1 CEU $395 / 1 credit $1060
Materials fee $15
Registration Deadline 11/26

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