Coaching Chronicles
In this Issue:
- RMECC Review
- Increase Inclusion in your Child Care Program - NEW Infant Kits Available Now!
- Connection with Rural Coaches
- Coach Implementation Guide Listening Sessions
- Communities of Practice Info
- Multiple Pathways Update
- RS/C Updates
- ECCLA: Reflective Consultation Availability
- Applying for your Coach Credential
- ECE Scholarship Information 101 and 103
RMECC Review
Reflecting on Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference through a Regional Coaching Perspective
By Rachael Byrd, CDEC Southwest Regional Coach
The Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference, often casually referred to as “RMECC”, was held earlier this month on Friday and Saturday, March 8th and 9th at the Marriott Denver Tech Center. The weather held fairly well for Colorado’s characteristic snowy and windy early March. I decided to leave that previous Thursday afternoon right after our Creating Connections Coaches CoP to drive the three and half hours northeast to the city and avoid any incoming weather. Although I was not at RMECC last year, the venue this year was reportedly more intimate compared with the larger Denver Convention Center, where the conference was held last year. In my opinion, it held over 1,400 participants quite comfortably this year and was an inspiring experience over the course of the 2 day conference.
The keynote speaker this year was Beth Cannon, who is worth taking a few minutes to learn a little more about as she is a coach herself - visit her website here. On Friday, she spoke specifically about a major challenge that surfaced the day before - staffing challenges, specifically those related to providing feedback and having tough conversations that involve high stakes, opposing views, and strong emotions. Here are a few highlights:
- Check out the book Radical Candor by Kim Scott about soliciting criticism to improve your leadership and also providing guidance that helps others grow.
- Pause before you pounce to focus on self-awareness. Develop an understanding of your own emotions and triggers, recognizing how they influence your communication and feedback delivery before moving forward.
- Having frequent impromptu talks will make the tough ones easier! Check out this book recommendation from Beth on Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.
- In her breakout session, Dare to Be Self-Aware, we took a short enneagram assessment to understand our strengths better and how to work best with others.
There were many skill-focused sessions both directly or indirectly involving coaching throughout the entirety of the conference. One that resonated with me in particular was a jam-packed session on Cultivating Hope with Rebecca Armentrout, that focused on understanding the components of hope and its power - One quote from her presentation was “When hope is rising, we see an increased belief in a will or motivation simply by believing it is possible”. Rebecca introduced the audience to the Rose Andom Center's Camo HOPE and Pathways program in Colorado. Also check out the book Hope Rising: How the Science of Hope Can Change your Life.
Congratulations to Daisy Chell who won the well-deserved Workplace Wellness Award! She is a Southwest coach, EQIT Trainer and Coach, and Director of Sonshine Patch Preschool. I had the chance to meet with her and her wonderful staff, who were so grateful to have Daisy as their amazing leader.
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Daisy Chell winning the Workplace Wellness Award |
Some of the CDEC team at RMECC table |
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Increase Inclusion in your Child Care Program - NEW Infant Kits Available Now
- We are excited to share that Project Include, our initiative to help Colorado’s licensed child care programs make adaptations to better serve children with delays, disabilities, and differences, has released a new Universal Design and Inclusion Kit just for Infants! The Infant Kit can help you learn how to better support children under 12 months of age in your care.
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Project Include (en español) offers all licensed child care programs in Colorado the opportunity to build more inclusive learning environments through simple modifications and adaptive equipment.
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There is no cost or application to participate in Project Include – all Colorado licensed child care programs are eligible. Simply fill out this interest form (en español) to get started.
- Interested programs will start by completing the Introduction to Universal Design training on the Colorado Shines Professional Development Information System (PDIS). After the training is complete, Project Include offers Universal Design and Inclusion Kits for programs to borrow and experiment with adaptive equipment. Each kit contains materials that can be used to make simple adaptations in early childhood environments to increase inclusion and participation by young children with delays and disabilities. The kits are focused on one of five developmental areas: Communication & Literacy, Behavior & Cognition, Fine & Gross Motor, Vision & Hearing, or Infants. The kits can be requested for loan and will be distributed throughout Colorado. All 5 Kits are now available for check-out.
- In addition, Project Include offers:
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Video tutorials with explanations of how to use the tools in each kit
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Quick program support for brief questions and resources
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Customized coaching and materials support from our team of experts after completing the training and exploring a Universal Design and Inclusion Kit
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Learn more and get started! (en español) Contact Projectinclude@ucdenver.edu with questions.
- This project is a partnership between the Center for Inclusive Design and Engineering (CIDE) and the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.
- Nos alegra compartir que el Proyecto de Inclusión, nuestra iniciativa para ayudar a los programas de cuidado infantil con licencia de Colorado a realizar adaptaciones para apoyar mejor a los niños con retrasos, discapacidades y diferencias ha lanzado un nuevo Kit de Diseño Universal e Inclusión sólo para Infantes. El Kit para Infantes puede ayudarle a aprender a ayudar mejor a los niños menores de 12 meses a su cargo.
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El Proyecto de Inclusión (in English) ofrece a todos los programas de cuidado infantil con licencia de Colorado la oportunidad de construir ambientes de aprendizaje más inclusivos a través de modificaciones fáciles y equipos adaptivos.
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No hay ningún coste ni solicitud para participar en el Proyecto de Inclusión – todos los programas de cuidado infantil con licencia de Colorado son elegibles. Sólo tiene que rellenar el formulario de interés (in English) para empezar.
- Los programas interesados comenzarán por completar el entrenamiento de Introducción al Diseño Universal en el Sistema de Información de Desarrollo Profesional de Colorado Shines (PDIS, por sus siglas en inglés). Después de terminar el entrenamiento, el Proyecto de Inclusión ofrece Kits de Diseño Universal e Inclusión para que los programas tomen prestado y experimenten con equipos adaptivos. Cada kit contiene materiales que pueden utilizarse para hacer adaptaciones sencillas en los ambientes de la primera infancia para aumentar la inclusión y la participación de los niños pequeños con retrasos y discapacidades. Los kits se centran en una de cinco áreas de desarrollo: Comunicación y Alfabetización, Comportamiento y Cognición, Motricidad Fina y Gruesa, Visión y Audición, o Infantes. Los kits pueden solicitarse en préstamo y se distribuirán por todo Colorado. Los 5 Kits ya están disponibles para pedir prestado.
- Además, el Proyecto de Inclusión ofrece:
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Videos tutoriales para explicar cómo usar las herramientas de cada kit
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Apoyo a la brevedad para los programas para preguntas breves y ofrecer recursos
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Instrucción personalizada con apoyo de materiales proporcionados por nuestro equipo de expertos después de completar el entrenamiento y explorar un Kit de Diseño Universal e Inclusión
- ¡Aprenda más y empiece ahora! (in English) Contáctenos en Projectinclude@ucdenver.edu con cualquier pregunta.
- Este proyecto es una asociación entre el Centro de Diseño e Ingeniería Inclusivos (CIDE, por sus siglas en inglés) y el Departamento de la Primera Infancia de Colorado.
Multiple Pathways to the EC Coach Credential Project
Currently, initial coach training is limited in both which trainings qualify and how widely, frequently, and affordably the courses are offered. Multiple Pathways project collaborators meet once a month in 2024 “To ensure more equitable access to CDEC’s coaching credential by creating alternative pathways. We will review the preparatory training, job experience, and ongoing professional development to see where it crosswalks with the current requirements, and create policies and procedures.”
Our group represents diverse perspectives on coaching that does not currently qualify for the state credential. By lifting up these diverse voices and perspectives, we can ensure more equitable access to CDEC’s coaching credential, such as for coaches working in Early/Head Start coaching roles. If you also have ideas and perspectives, please reach out to Carolyn Martin, Northwest Regional Coach, at carolyn.martin@state.co.us. I look forward to hearing from you!
Connecting with Rural Coaches Project
The early childhood workforce in Colorado’s rural counties faces continued disparities in access to Early Childhood (EC) coaches 20 of Colorado’s 64 counties, with over 90 licensed EC programs, do not have a credentialed ECE coach living and servicing programs locally. Innovative approaches and strategies are needed to address these gaps in coaching access in Colorado’s rural communities.
By learning more about their rural coaching experiences, challenges, and needs, a more informed, data-driven approach can be taken to provide more equitable coaching access and opportunities to our state’s diverse population.
Are you a coach, director, or teacher that works in one of our state’s unique rural communities? We will be holding 4 listening sessions in April and June 2024 to connect and learn about your experiences. Each session will be 1.5 hours, and we are working with PDIS so that you will be awarded PD hours for your participation. Sign up for a listening session here!
Looking forward to connecting with you! Questions? Please reach out to Rachael Byrd, Southwest Regional Coach, at Rachael.Byrd@state.co.us
Coach Implementation Guide Listening Sessions
The goal of the Coaching Implementation Guide is to create a guide or handbook for coaches to reference as they begin their journey as coaches. During our monthly meetings with coaches from across the state we norm on the best practices for new coaches.
Come join us for a listening session to hear where we are in the creation of the guide.
- Wednesday, May 29th, 10-10:45 am
Communities of Practice Info
- Building our Foundations
- May 8 - Early Childhood Professional Competencies and Coach Partner Action Plan
- June 12 - Partnering to Create Meaningful Conversations and Results
- July–Canceled for the Holiday
- Creating Connections
- May 7th- Reflecting after a coaching session (Part2)
- June 4th- Coaching with outdoor education programs
- July - Canceled for the Holiday
Thanks to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, ECCLA has funding to offer FREE Reflective Supervision (RS) to ANY credentialed Early Childhood Coach in Colorado who needs it! Keep reading for more information.
The Reflective Supervision (RS) Supervisors and Consultants listed below were contracted by the Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance (ECCLA) and funded by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) to provide group-based RS to early childhood coaches across Colorado.
Guidelines for Early Childhood Coaches:
- Contact the RS Supervisor directly to schedule regular RS meetings. You can click each name or email below to contact and schedule.
- Coaches are expected to meet with their RS Supervisor once a month for a 90 minute-2 hour session
- RS Supervisors are on a first come-first save basis with a group limit of 4
- Availability of RS Supervisors is subject to change
- Interpretation/translation services are available upon request. RS Supervisors marked with a (B) are bilingual Spanish/English or have an interpreter on hand, RS Supervisors marked with a (D) have Farsi and Arabic interpreters on hand
- Coaches will NOT be charged for sessions provided by the RS Supervisors listed here
You can click each name or email below to contact and schedule. If you are having trouble connecting with a RS Supervisor or finding a session that works with your schedule, then please reach out to Stephanie Martin.
Regional Coaching Team Reflective Consultation Availability:
If you would like to join any of these groups please email CDEC_coaching@state.co.us for more information.
- Third Wednesdays 3:15-4:45 p.m. 1 space
- Third Thursdays 9-10:30 a.m. 1 space
- Fourth Mondays 11-12;30 P.M. 1 space
- Last Mondays 1:30-3 p.m. 2 spaces
- Last Thursday 10:30 -11:30 am 5 spaces
Applying for your Coach Credential
Do you have questions on how to apply for your Early Childhood Colorado Coach Credential, Renewal, or Extension? Please join us via google. The meeting link is the same for each meeting.
- Google Meet joining info
- Video call link: https://meet.google.com/crf-sksk-exw
- Or dial: (US) +1 763-317-6148 PIN: 839 450 768#
- More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/crf-sksk-exw?pin=9290534672085
- May 6th, 2024: 12:00 - 1:00 pm
- June 4th, 2024: 12:00 - 1:00 pm
- July 11th, 2024: 12:00 - 1:00 pm
- August 6th, 2024: 12:00 - 1:00 pm
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