About this event

The early childhood years are known to be a playful and creative time for discovery and learning. With so many areas to focus on in the development of the whole child, it can be hard for early years practitioners to find meaningful places for digital tools in the classroom. This session aims to focus on how digital tools can build upon and expand creative learning in the classroom. By looking at the various layers of meaning that digital content brings with it, this session will also look at ways for meaningful thinking and problem solving with and through digital tools. Finally, stretch your imagination with when imagining STEAM for littles, and see how to build authentic extensions to core curricular areas. Come and discover if tools such as green screens, iPads, circuits, and robots could be a part of your classroom!

Who is it for?

• Educators and Administrators working in the Early or Primary Years

• Technology Coaches/Coordinators working with Early Years Teachers and Students

What will you do?

• Plan strategies for scaffolding digital literacy in the early years

• Explore and create mentor texts to support media literacy

• Engage in ways that Morning Meeting can be a platform for digital citizenship

• Discover STEAM (including coding & robotics) connections to the core curriculum

What will you walk away with?

• Strategies for teaching technology fluency

• Digital mentor texts to use with your students

• A plan for Morning Meeting focusing on digital ideas/concepts

• Ideas for Engineering, Coding and Robotics in the Early Years

About the Facilitator

Pana Asavavatana is the PreK-1 Technology and Design Coach at Taipei American School. Prior to this she taught in early childhood classrooms for seven years. She has studied, lived, and worked on three continents in eight different cities. Pana shares insights into her teaching process on her blog, mspanasays.com. With the goal of connecting early childhood educators and classrooms, she founded the educational Twitter hashtag chat, #IntEarlyEd (International Early Educators, formerly #KchatAP), and the Traveling Teddy Project (travelingteddybear.com). Pana is an Apple Distinguished Educator, and the 2018 recipient of ISTE's Kay L. Bitter Vision Award. She holds a B.A. in Psychology, and a M.A. in Early Childhood Education and Special Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has recently completed a second Masters in Computing in Education, also from Teachers College.

October 24 & 25, 2020

Saturday & Sunday - 8:30 - 4:00PM