Early Childhood Community of Practice Series
TRIAD’s Early Childhood Community of Practice series is open to educators who have: (1) participated in past cohorts of our Early Childhood Inclusionary Practices program and/or (2) have participated in other TRIAD trainings or coaching collaborations. Educators who enroll should be school-based educators working in Tennessee and directly serve diverse learners, including those with autism. The purpose of this community of practice series is to provide early childhood educators an opportunity to engage in self-reflection, collaboration, and problem-solving with other preschool educators to better serve all students, including autistic learners. Participation in the full series is highly encouraged as a primary goal of the series is to build community within the educator cohort. Online modules and/or readings will be a part of the series.
Participants may register for either the fall or spring cohort. There will be two sessions in the fall series, and two sessions in the spring series.
| Participant Requirements |
Participants in this project must:
- Register as an individual. Participants should be early childhood teachers working with students receiving special education services, ideally in an inclusive setting.
- Participants should have been previously enrolled in other TRIAD trainings or services. Priority registration will be given to those who were enrolled in Early Childhood Inclusionary Practices (ECIP) in the 2021-2022 or 2022-2023 cohorts.
- Participants must have the technology for accessing the virtual community of practice sessions (i.e., computer, webcam, etc.).
- Participants are expected to engage with online modules and reading to deepen their learning.
Please note: Participation in the full community of practice series is strongly encouraged. |
| Training Topics |
Participants will be asked to indicate topics of interest for group learning and discussion. Possible topics that may be covered during the two-part series include:
- AAC
- Current perspectives on autism
- Co-regulation
- Literacy in early childhood
- Neurodiversity in early childhood
- Peer modeling
- Preference assesments
- Self-determination in early childhood
- Social-emotional learning
- Toileting
- Video modeling
Not all the above topics will be covered. Selections will be based on the interests of the group and will be determined closer to the first session of the series after registration opens. Please note: This series is focused on class-wide and group strategies, not individualized student support.
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| Webinar Format |
- Large group instruction, modeling, and discussion via webinar format
- Small group application, discussion, and reflection via webinar format
- Online, self-paced e-learning and/or readings
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| Online Learning Assignments |
- Asynchronous online learning modules will be assigned over the course of the webinar series
- All modules are brief in length (20 minutes or less)
- Any assigned readings will also be brief in length (20 minutes or less)
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| Proof of Attendance |
Participants will receive certificates documenting their participation in the early childhood virtual community of practice series. Educators can earn up to 3 hours of professional development (this includes session attendance and homework).* |
*Participants must attend all virtual Community of Practice sessions AND complete assigned homework to receive 3 professional development hours.