Coach's Corner

Hello Trainers!  We would like to introduce our Training Coach for Southern Bluegrass, Bambi Cliffe.

Hello, I’m Bambi Cliffe, Training Coach for the Southern Bluegrass Region.  I have been in this position with Child Care Aware since April, 2013.  I currently provide training services and resources for the counties of Boyle, Clark, Estill, Fayette, Garrard, Jessamine, Lincoln, Madison, Mercer and Powell.

I have been in the Early Childhood field for 24 years.  I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development from Berea College, as well as a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Kentucky.  Before becoming a Training Coach in 2013, I taught Pre-Kindergarten for 7 years, was a Preschool Director for 7 years and an owner for 5 years.

I am delighted to be a Training Coach where I can provide training support and resources to both providers and trainers.  It is important that early childhood professionals receive high quality trainings that are relevant to their jobs.  As a Training Coach, I can help provide the knowledge that is needed to find and facilitate trainings that are purposeful, relevant and beneficial to early childhood professionals. I look forward to meeting many of you as we begin the Quality Assurance Program and the new Community of Practice in our region.  I am here to help in any way that I can. 

In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my husband Charles and our two daughters, Kara and Kayla.  We also have 2 dogs and 5 cats. We enjoy taking road trips around Kentucky and beyond on the weekends.  I also enjoy watching movies, listening to music and shopping.   

From The Field

A feature highlighting our Kentucky Credentialed Trainers.  If you would like to be featured in upcoming editions please contact Gwen Johnson at Gjthom2@uky.edu.

Meet trainer Lucy Goodkin

Training Kentucky Early Childhood Professionals has been a part of my life since 1994. My name is Lucy Goodkin and I am a level 5 trainer.

Last year in Northern Kentucky Rebekah Duchette, Chris Kelley, Heather Gerker and other top trainers were instrumental in launching the Professional Learning Community of Northern Kentucky.  I was interested immediately because of the credibility of the people involved.

In the 30 years I have been training I have attended every KY Trainers Institute, collaborated with other trainers and coached many new trainers. I still always felt that I was isolated as a trainer until I became a member of the Professional Learning Community (PLC). This group is about networking, socializing, coaching, and professional development.

In the Northern Kentucky PLC group there are trainers of all experience levels in the group and everyone is accepted as an equal. We all know that there are new skills we need to learn and techniques we may have forgotten and should be using. In PLC, we learn from each other in a non-threatening environment. I always leave the meetings recharged.

In most sessions we not only learn a new skill but can practice and receive coaching from other trainers who have become trusted friends. I use more technology in my trainings now because Heather Gerker has given me the knowledge I need and I have her on speed dial. In one session, a trainer brought in a topic she was struggling with and the group spent the session designing her training.  In another session, we learned how to use Haiku Deck and l left that day with a completed presentation that I could use in my upcoming training.

Early in the year we spent a session writing our Professional Development Plans and each of us chose a partner to coach and be coached by. This was powerful for me. This is the first year I have successfully completed all of my PD goals. The PLC is helping me in my quest to become a lifelong learner and become a better trainer.

What is a community of practice for trainers? 

Etienne Wenger summarizes communities of practice as "groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly".  The information below maps out how each of the training coaches across the state are building a community to give each of you a variety of options to attend.  Our goal is that we work together as a team to address our personal professional development goals as trainers and also how we can support the continued education of early childhood educators.

Communities of Practice Calendar

Announcements

Early Bird Deadline is March 10th! 

 Updates

Have you checked out the newly remodeled Kentucky Partnership website?

Take a peek and check out all the great tools and resources that are available at the click of your mouse.   

http://kentuckypartnership.org/Services/trainer-credential

How do I contact my Training Coach?

Need assistance with the QA process, information about training, needs in the region or questions related to training?  Locate your Training Coach by clicking on the regional map link here.

Calendar for Professional Development

National/Regional/State Conferences

ARC of KY Annual Conference

March 17-18, 2016 Louisville

www.arcofky.org

Trainers Institute 2016

May 12-13,2016 Lexington

www.kentuckypartnership.org

NAEYC Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development

June 5-8, 2016 Baltimore

www.naeyc.org/conference

Ready Kids Conference

July 11-13, 2016 Louisville

www.kidsnow.ky.gov

Kids Are Worth It!  Conference

Sept. 12-13, 2016

www.pcaky.org

DEC International Conference

Oct. 18-20, 2016

www.dec-sped.org

Zero To Three National Training Institute

Dec. 7-9, 2016 New Orleans

https://ztt.confex.com/ztt/nti16/cfp.cgi

Tips and Resources

Professional Growth for Trainers

Got iTunes?

With technology constantly growing and expanding our ability to reach information at the click of the button is sometimes overwhelming but in this case, it's educational.  The Bob Pike Group has a wonderful series of podcasts on iTunes (FREE) that relate to training techniques, tips and tricks.  Becky Pluth has created these three to six minute mini-talks on topics such as "Preventing Blah, Blah, Blah Lectures", "De-stressing Your Way to Better Recall", "The Six Most Important Tips about Presenting" and many others. 

To access the resource just:

1.  Click on your iTunes app

2.  Click on the iTunes Store tab

3.  In the search box type in Podcasts-Becky Pluth

4.  Choose your topic of interest (when you place your mouse over the number you should see a play button pop up).  Just click it and listen.

ECE-TRIS:  When was the last time you updated?

It’s that time of year again – tax time! You’re probably thinking, “What do taxes have to do with TRIS?” Well, this is the best time of year to remember to update your contact information on ECE-TRIS. Taxes are related to income and how do you get income? By providing trainings!  

You may have trainings that are missed because your contact information is incorrect and Training Coaches as well as providers can’t get in touch with you to sign up.

Updating your contact information will guarantee that you receive the latest news including updates, invitations to events and renewal reminders. It also ensures that you can be reached for training requests. Consider this:

There is a provider that needs a specific training in your area and your Training Coach has found that you have the perfect training for their need. Unfortunately, the phone number and email listed on ECE-TRIS are not current. You not only missed out on the opportunity to make some money but you also missed out on getting your name out there and building a clientele.

Now, consider this:

Your contact information is current on ECE-TRIS, your Training Coach has put you in contact with the center for their specific training, they also have 2 other locations that they’d like you do the same training for, AND they have some topics that they would like to be trained on in the future. They also recommended your services to another center in the area.  Not bad, huh?

Stay connected, update your information today!

Developing content specific titles and descriptions for your trainings.

What should be included in a Good Title?

1.       Content

A well-developed title reflects the training content. Many trainers prefer to use creative titles that gain attention. While that is not discouraged, when using a catchy title you must remember to include content as well.

An Example of a catchy title might be, Tickles and Giggles. This certainly sounds like a very fun training!  But when listed on a participants ECE-TRIS Training Record or Professional Learning Portfolio as their record of training, it does not reflect what knowledge or skills were learned. So a better title could be, Tickles and Giggles: Using Laughter to Reduce Anxiety.

2.       Related Content

Trainings conducted on multiple subject areas should not be included in one title. If they are unrelated topics, they should be separated into distinct trainings per subject.

Example:

Diapering 101 and Reading Principles was conducted for 4 hours

Diapering 101 and Reading Principles are different subjects and if they were submitted on one training form you could not tell for how long each subject was trained.

This session would need to be entered as two sessions with title, content, trainer, and hours reflected for each.

Focus on Quality: Why is the title so important?

·Reporting on training content/ topics happens frequently. The title and training description are two very important fields to determine training content in order for reports to reflect the correct training information. If we are unsure of the training content, it may not be used in reporting.

·The participant’s training record or Professional Learning Portfolio uses the title as the major detail on content. So anyone who views the record of training should be able to get some idea of content from the title. This goes for all other reports in ECE-TRIS as well. Your trainer activity reports will also display the title.

·A title that reflects unrelated subjects/topics can make determining the number of clock hours per subject difficult.

Training Detail Description

Like the title, a well-developed description will reflect the main content of the training and also list the goals and objectives for learning.

Below is an example of a good description:

Title of Training: The Power of a Positive Attitude in the Workplace

This session will provide participants with the understanding of how our attitude impacts many different aspects of our lives. With group discussion, we will briefly explore the negative impact of a poor attitude on our health and happiness, but the focus of the training will be on nurturing a positive attitude.

At the end of this training session you will be able to:

• recognize and list three attributes of a positive attitude

• describe the benefits of a positive attitude on performance, relationships, and health

• identify two solutions for changing negative thinking into positive thinking

Why is a thorough description needed?

·Participants will be aware of the training goals during professional development planning

·ECE-TRIS provides reports to different agencies and users; the title and training description are two very important fields to determine training content so that the report reflects the correct training information. If we are unsure of the training content it may not be able to be used in reporting.