This episode is free of tips and practices for working with kiddos. Instead I give you two conversations with educators I admire about how we are doing and how we keep going during challenging times.

In this follow up to episode 6, Madison and Kenzie share their perspective as pre-service teachers just a couple semesters from student teaching.

In this episode Dr. Karen La Paro and Dr. Martha Buell discuss teacher preparation during the pandemic with me. We specifically talk about challenges around pre-service teachers not having field placement opportunities. For student perspective, watch for the bonus episode!

In epsiode 5 I interview Dr. Linda Hestenes and Kindergarten teacher Katie Norton about using the outdoors for all types of learning, in the Covid-19 context and beyond.

Planning in 2020 may seem ridiculous with students in person, at home, hybrid, and quarantining. In this episode I share about using the National Association for the Education of Young Child's Star model for Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP). Then Dr. Constance Beecher shares tips for language and literacy and helping families help their children learn. Finally, kindergarten teacher Jessica shares how her fall is going.

In this episode, three Iowa State alumnae discuss the importance of and practical "how to" of taking a developmental perspective with children, families, colleagues, and ourselves this fall.

A little about episode 3: In talking with my sister, I heard my nephew (kindergartener) ask "Am I pretty good?" after a morning of not wanting to sit through zoom meetings and not caring about sight words. That's when we started building his own word wall. Each day (most days) I call and give him three positive words about him that start with the kindergarten letter of the day, and then my sister posts them in his room. This is one of many attempts to help him focus on development and all the ways he is learning and growing, not the ways virtual leaning isn't fitting him.

In this episode, Dr. Sue Sheridan and early interventionists Sandy and Karen lend insight into building partnerships with families and why this is the best thing for children, families, and teachers. At the end, we grab family input from a mom of three whose family is doing 100% online learning. Together, we generate two great take-away questions teachers can use today.

This first episode of Teachers in the Tiny Chairs addresses the foundation of starting the year well in early childhood classrooms. Dr. Sara Rimm-Kaufman, Professor at the University of Virginia, discusses relevant research and her experience teaching young children about birds in the online context last spring. Second grade teacher Ashley Vogel shares her insights from 19 years of teaching and prioritizing relationships.