I believe the content of this training will stay with the teachers and paraeducators for years to come. At times during the PD, it felt like the facilitator was speaking directly to the individual rather than to a large group of educators. Not only were we able to completely customize the training based on the needs of our teaching teams, we were able to reach a large staff and make them feel like the WIDA team understood their needs as teachers of language.
#MCPS KINDERGARTEN JUMP START PROGRAM PROFESSIONAL#
Verna: The need to move all professional development to a virtual setting created a unique opportunity for us during this collaboration. How was this collaboration with WIDA Early Years different from other collaborative projects you have engaged in? We strengthened previous relationships and built new ones as we learned so much from each other. Rabiah: I place the greatest value on the interactions between the coaches, the teachers, and the paraprofessionals who participated in this professional learning. The interactions involved very rich, deep discussions about ourselves, the students and families we serve, and science of teaching and learning. This work has brought an enhanced cohesion to our district level teams that has deepened with this partnership. We have worked extremely hard to fully understand and grasp each other’s work with early childhood and language development principles and philosophies. We took it a step further to collaboratively align our work to ensure that students and families have a rich learning experience as they acquire additional language while valuing cultures and cultivating a sense of belonging for families and students. Tamisha: As a district leader of ESOL and Two-Way Immersion, I have valued the collaboration that we have had this year with our district level Early Childhood team and school staff. What have you valued most about this collaboration with WIDA Early Years? Below are some highlights from what the MCPS team shared about this collaborative professional learning experience. Observing and gathering information on multilingual children’s language use and development across various settings and over timeĪs this unique project comes to an end, members of the MCPS leadership and local facilitator team reflected on this past year and generously shared their insights around the work they’ve accomplished.Equitable language-focused relationships with families of multilingual children.Self-reflection on language and culture.The project team designed professional learning for PreK staff to increase participants’ knowledge and skills in The purpose of this collaboration was three fold: a) provide technical assistance to the leadership and coaching teams, b) help MCPS build a team of local facilitators who can provide support and professional learning to PreK staff on the local implementation of Early Years resources and c) deliver virtual professional learning for teams of teachers and paraprofessionals in PreK and Head Start classrooms. This month, the WIDA Early Years team is pleased to share insights from a local team of leaders and coaches! Over the past school year, WIDA Early Years partnered with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland to develop and deliver virtual professional learning for PreK staff centered on a language-focused approach to supporting young multilingual children and their families.