2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines Training Facilitation Guide

“Much of the difference between success and failure has to do with one simple word: preparation.” (Lawson, 2006) The majority of your time will be devoted to preparing the session and ensuring you are ready to facilitate rather than facilitating the session itself. To help you prepare, consider the following:

• • Consider your audience. Will participants be PK3 teachers, PK4 teachers, or a mix? Will you have administrators or center leaders at the session? How might this information affect the way you will cover content and facilitate the session?
  • Define what you want participants to take away from the session. What are your goals? Identify at least three clear, specific, measurable goals for each session.
  • Create an agenda or overview relevant to your audiences’ needs. Consider sending a Training Needs Analysis in advance of the session to gather information about your participants and identify their specific needs and goals.

• Determine the allotted time for the session. Consider when participants will arrive and become settled and if a break will be required during your session.
• Focus on how you will engage your audience and ensure that you cover the key ideas from the course within the time allotted.
• Ensure that you include enough time at the end for questions and to provide directions for the next steps or expectations.

• Familiarize yourself with the content. Ensure that you have a solid understanding of the key concepts.
• Make notes for yourself to follow, especially if there are areas you are less confident about.
• Review the module related to the chosen domain and select relevant pieces to supplement session outcomes.

When planning a session, think about incorporating a mix of methodologies, encouraging interaction and reflection, providing engaging activities, and being prepared for contingencies. Your goal for each session should aim to effectively engage early childhood educators while staying focused on the learning objectives. Depending on the length of your session, you may need to include breaks in your planning to allow participants time to refocus (consider 2-5 minutes for each hour of learning).

The following are recommended strategies and activities for an effective session are taken from the Core Competencies for Trainers document from Children’s Learning Institute.

Use a Variety of Methodologies

Plan out the entire session with active participant engagement in mind. Avoid relying solely on lecture-style delivery. Instead, incorporate a variety of methodologies to keep learners engaged. These may include:

• • • Visual Media: Use visual aids, videos, and interactive slides to enhance understanding and maintain interest.
    • Participant Interaction: Provide time for interaction among participants through strategies such as pair-and-share or small group discussion. Interaction allows participants to process and solidify understanding and resets their ability to focus. For online training, use Breakout Rooms to facilitate small group discussions or activities and encourage participants to use emoticons, hand gestures, polls, and chat features for interaction.
    • Self-Reflection: Allocate moments for participants to reflect on their learning individually.
    • Workbook or Interactive Notes: Consider creating a workbook with core information and space for participants to write notes, fill in blanks, and reflect on their learning. If your session will be virtual, send the workbook in advance and ask participants to print it before the session begins or make the document editable for digital use.
    • Ask Questions: Pose questions that stimulate high-level thinking and encourage participants to reflect on their teaching practices. Also, encourage participants to ask questions by pausing at planned times during the session or use a “Parking Lot” for questions that arise during the session. Ensure that you take time to address these questions.

Addressing Content

• • • Ensure training materials such as PowerPoints and workbooks are accurate, legible, and easy to follow. Help participants know which page of the workbook aligns with the PowerPoint slide by listing the workbook page number on the slide or include the slide number on the corresponding page of the workbook.
    • Make connections between content and objectives throughout the session.
    • Remember, a well-structured session not only achieves its objectives but also leaves a lasting impact on participants.

Be Prepared

Have a backup plan and a backup plan for your backup plan. You never know when technology won’t cooperate or an activity won’t go as planned.

This section includes activities from the Circle Activity Collection on CLI Engage that can be used to increase knowledge of the content and enhance participant learning.

Exemplar activities that can be used with any of the eleven courses include:

• • • Read the PK3 and PK4 end-of-year outcomes for any of the subdomains. Allow participants to share what they notice about them. Ask questions such as “What do you notice about the increase in rigor?” to promote high-level thinking.
    • After watching one of the videos from an actual prekindergarten classroom, allow participants time to reflect and make note of ideas they could use in their own classroom. Connect what was seen in the video back to the content end of year outcome.

Introduction to 2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines Training

• • • On the “Research-Based Instructional Practices” page there are six developmentally appropriate practices for a prekindergarten program outlined. One of the practices is “a balance of teaching strategies with teacher-led and child-led opportunities,” and this practice includes two videos. Show the videos and have participants identify what they noticed in the videos and allow them to formulate their own definition of teacher-led and child-led in a workbook.
    • Learning centers are a highly effective instructional practice in a prekindergarten classroom. Provide participants with the Early Childhood Education Learning Centers document included within the Learning Centers section of the course. Allow individuals time for self-reflection on the learning centers in their classrooms, then promote the sharing of ideas for learning centers in the classroom through small group and whole group discussions.

2022 Texas PKG Domain 1: Social and Emotional Development

• • • Have participants be the students for the Circle activity “Getting Along with Friends.” Create happy/sad face sticks ahead of time, then facilitate the activity as you would in a prekindergarten classroom. Afterward, discuss how the activity connects to outcomes I.C.6 and I.C.7. Give participants time to reflect independently and jot down notes in a workbook.
    • For outcome I.B.1.c one of the strategies mentioned in the course is to read picture books to discuss reasons why someone may have certain feelings. Model using a read aloud such as Train Your Angry Dragon by Steve Herman to have those discussions about why someone may have certain feelings.

2022 Texas PKG Domain 2: Emergent Literacy Language and Communication

• • • For outcome II.B.4 use “Scenario: As Quiet as a Mouse” without the parts that connect to the outcome. If using a workbook, this scenario could be included in the workbook. Have a participant read the scenario out loud and then discuss whether the child meets the outcome. Give participants time to reflect and make notes.
    • There are five strategies suggested for subdomain II.D Vocabulary. Hang chart paper around the room with one strategy on each paper. Participants can rotate around the room and collaborate with others on what this looks like in a prekindergarten classroom. Give them time to take pictures or jot down notes of ideas after doing a gallery walk.

2022 Texas PKG Domain 3: Emergent Literacy Reading

• • • For outcome III.B.1 a Circle activity “Sentence Snap” is suggested. Model this activity for participants. Allow learners time to practice this strategy and jot down any reflections. Brainstorm together other ways you could use snap cubes to help students identify individual words.
    • Strategy two for subdomain III.E is to “demonstrate and discuss reading behaviors, such as starting location, left to right movement across print, return sweep, and voice/print matching, during shared, interactive, guided, and independent reading.” Provide picture books for participants to practice doing this with a partner.

2022 Texas PKG Domain 4: Emergent Literacy Writing

• • • Strategy two for the subdomain IV.B is to “provide opportunities for children to draw and write when composing a draft.” There are four examples included in this strategy. Read these examples together and have participants share what this could look like in a prekindergarten classroom.
    • Ask participants to bring authentic writing journals from their prekindergarten classroom. Or bring some of your own. Give participants time to gallery walk and look at writing journals. Encourage learners to connect what they see in the writing journals to one of the writing outcomes and discuss with partners or groups. Give time for participants to take pictures or jot down notes of ideas they can use in their own classroom.

2022 Texas PKG Domain 5: Mathematics

• • • Bring in a variety of counters (bears, tiles, beans, etc.) for participants to use in small groups, as they practice modeling and demonstrating verbal word problems as described in strategy two of V.B.
    • Strategy two of subdomain V.C is to “provide opportunities to manipulate math materials to create, combine, and break apart shapes.” Bring tangram manipulatives and allow participants to do just that. Challenge them to create certain shapes such as a rhombus using X number of tangrams.

2022 Texas PKG Domain 6: Science

• • • A child behavior for outcome VI.A.1 is that students “sort, group, or classify objects in meaningful ways based on one or more characteristic.” Give table groups a box of random items and have participants work together to sort the items. Then, challenge them to sort them again using a different characteristic. Connect activity back to the domain and discuss how it could be used in a prekindergarten classroom.
    • Give participants time to find a science activity they could use in their own prekindergarten classroom from the Circle activity collection. Give them a specific learning area and time to browse. Allow a couple of participants to share with the whole group the activity they found and how they would use it.

2022 Texas PKG Domain 7: Social Studies

• • • The first strategy for outcome VII.A is to “incorporate culturally authentic activities and materials on a regular basis throughout the school year.” One example of this is to read aloud books that support culture and ethnic diversity. Provide books or a list of books for participants to peruse and find inspiration within.
    • Model the Circle activity “Making Landforms.” Let participants be the students. Then allow time for reflection on the activity and discuss how it connects to the outcome.

2022 Texas PKG Domain 8: Fine Arts

• • • The fourth strategy included within the art domain VIII.A.3 is to “Encourage children to notice and talk about the similarities and differences in the artwork of classmates, illustrators, or cultures” and it includes two scenarios. Display one scenario at a time. Have a participant read the scenario. Then, give learners time to discuss with their group which outcomes the scenario could connect to. Share out whole group and allow time for participants to reflect and take notes on how they could use a similar scenario in their own classroom. Repeat with the second scenario.
    • After exploring an outcome, allow time for participants to self-reflect on how they are currently implementing the outcome and make an intentional, applicable goal moving forward.

2022 Texas PKG Domain 9: Physical Development

• • • Introduce the Circle activity “Sentence Hopscotch” by giving participants a QR code or link to review. You could also have this activity set up and allow participants to complete the activity as well. Afterwards, discuss how this activity can be modified to fit many outcomes in addition to gross motor. Brainstorm in groups and share out whole group other ways this could be used.
    • All three learning outcomes for IX.C Personal Safety and Health include a list of child behaviors. Make cards with one behavior on each and have participants sort them into which outcome they think it belongs. Check answers and allow time for discussion.

2022 Texas PKG Domain 10: Technology Applications

• • • Dive in deep to the “What to Look For” of domain X.A. Give participants time to read the text, then discuss with their group what they noticed. Play a scavenger hunt game and have participants identify which outcomes they see represented in the text. Give time for learners to reflect on what they are currently observing in their prekindergarten classroom and share out strategies that can be used to help students accomplish the end of year behaviors.
    • Strategy three recommends allowing children to hear and practice using digital vocabulary and provides a list of words. Have participants role-play a conversation between teacher and student using a computer in which those important words are included.

Whether choosing to use PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, or another presentation application, a visual guide is recommended for all sessions. Limit text on slides and incorporate more visual features such as images, charts, graphs, and icons. Think less is more! Ensure there are no grammatical errors and that the content is easy to understand and follow along with.

Go through the presentation out loud many times before the session. Practice activities, think about how you will distribute handouts or materials, and navigate the presentation when the room is full of participants.

If the session is online, additional practice of video conferencing features will be necessary. The following are suggestions of features that should be practiced in advance. For example, know how to:

• • • Share your screen and how to allow others access to sharing if required.
    • Mute yourself or all participants at once if needed. Ensure that video audio can be heard by all participants if applicable.
    • Show a video or embed it in your PowerPoint and ensure that it works the way that you need it to.
    • Start call and let participants into the meeting.
    • Enable a virtual background so that you have a professional setting selected.

The following are recommended strategies and activities for an effective session taken from the Core Competencies for Trainers document by Children’s Learning Institute.

This applies to the physical arrangement and atmosphere of the training room. Arrange the room in a way that is cohesive for interactions among participants and allows for all learners to see the training materials.

• If the session is online, the facilitator will need to ensure that their environment is quiet and free of distractions (make sure your phone, email, and other electronic devices are silent). It is recommended that a webcam with a good microphone is used to ensure audio and video quality. Keep the background clear of distractions that would take away from the presentation. Practice setting up the technology and using it before the day of your session.

The suggested technology for an online session is as follows:

• 2 monitors
• Speakers
• Headset with microphone
• Webcam
• Ethernet cord for a direct connection to the internet rather than relying on Wi-Fi.
• Presentation remote or clicker

Establish clear expectations for participant engagement and communication and stick to those expectations by engaging those who are reluctant to participate. Provide constructive feedback and follow the agenda to ensure that all participants experience a positive climate. Respond to participants and thank them for participating to encourage others to do the same.

Identify logistical information, such as where restrooms are located at the beginning of the session.

• If facilitating the session online, logistics might include how participants can get your attention during the meeting and where resources can be found.

It’s important to arrive early to ensure the room is arranged appropriately, technology is working, and training materials (whether online or in person) are organized. It is also essential to show punctuality by valuing participants’ time. This means starting on time and ending on time.

• If your session is online consider having a cohost who can facilitate the session in the event of internet interruptions.

No matter how prepared you are, there’s always a way something can go awry. Be flexible and have a backup plan!

After the session is over, immediately give yourself time to sit and reflect. Make note of what went well and what could benefit from some adjustments, so you don’t forget

Every session should include a survey that allows participants to give feedback. Be sure to read this feedback with a growth mindset. Constructive criticism is an opportunity to improve future sessions!

While each outcome has Circle Activity Collection suggestions included in the courses, below are some additional ways the CLI Engage site can be used to enhance the session.

• Let participants navigate the site. Give them time to create an account if needed. Use QR codes to highlight specific areas of the site (some are listed below) that are relevant to the session.
• Circle Pre-K Curriculum
• CLI and PBS Collaboration: Circle STEM Lab
• Circle Progress Monitoring System (PreK)
• Classroom Environment Checklist
• Classroom Observation and Goal-Setting Tools
• Family Engagement Resources
• Online Learning and Professional Development

The Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines online training courses were created by the Children’s Learning Institute in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency; the courses are the intellectual property of both entities. Early childhood specialists can use these online courses and other resources on CLI Engage to support the dissemination of the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.

The Texas Early Childhood Professional Development System (TECPDS) offers a free certificate generation tool to create and deliver certificates for online and face-to-face training, workshops, professional learning communities (PLC), and coaching/mentoring sessions. Certificates generated through TECPDS can be printed, emailed, and delivered to attendees’ personal TECPDS accounts. These standardized certificates can include all state-required information for professional development certificates for various groups.

If they do not have a tool to award certificates for training attendance, trainers and facilitators are encouraged to use the free Certificate Generation Tool on TECPDS.