Episode 199: How Can Certification Programs Support Early Childhood Educators in Coaching and Mentoring?

In this podcast episode, Carrie, Kate, and guest Prerna Richards discuss a new certification program aimed at coaching and mentoring early childhood education teachers. Prerna introduces the program, which is designed to help individuals such as education managers and directors support classroom teachers. The conversation covers the program's commitment, content, and the benefits of providing a career path for teachers. Prerna emphasizes the importance of equipping educators with coaching skills to avoid burnout and ensure success in their roles. The episode also touches on the international interest in the program and its focus on practical application and community learning. The hosts express enthusiasm for the program's potential to uplift teachers and improve early learning environments.

https://togetherwegrow.online/behavior-intervention-specialist-certification/

The certification is offered over three days:
May 9th, May 21st and June 6th
All sessions are from 12:00-2:00 CST PM.

Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed and exhausted in your early childhood education program? Are challenging behaviors draining joy from your classrooms? Together We Grow is here to help you turn the tide and create a culture of excellence, joy, and growth.

Transcript

Marie (00:00:01) - Welcome to Child Care Conversations with Kate and Carrie.

Carrie (00:00:05) - We have a friend back on the podcast, guys yes.

Kate (00:00:11) - Time.

Carrie (00:00:12) - And we're here to talk about supporting your teachers and supporting the kids and maybe getting them some magic paper, some sort of certification with our good friend Karina. Although I say that I say Prerna. And then I looked at your name and I'm like, there's a letter I'm not pronouncing when I say her name.

Prerna (00:00:33) - So Carrie, you nailed it. It is actually Prerna. It's super confusing. It's just praying like you pray. But there is a silent so I am very impressed that you got that like super impressed. Yeah. There was a silent just to confuse everybody. Yeah.

Kate (00:00:48) - So now silent is a new one for me. So thank you for letting me know because I'm like going I think I said it wrong. So Carrie and I had this whole discussion about whether or not we were saying it wrong.

Prerna (00:00:58) - Like you're praying. That's the easiest way I can say is if I was teaching class because I'm still a preschool teacher in my head.

Prerna (00:01:03) - So if I was teaching class, I would go pray. Now, two syllables down.

Kate (00:01:07) - I love it, I love it. Well, we are so glad to have you back and we are excited. And for those of you who have listened to us before, you know we like the certifications. We like the way that that makes your staff feel. And maybe we'll even put a link to the episode because it was about having a playground inspection certification. And this is a classroom teacher certification, which is so exciting. And so tell us a little bit about what made you decide to do the certification and then tell us a little bit about it, but we'll probably ask you a questions okay.

Prerna (00:01:41) - Got it. So just to start off is actually not for the classroom teacher.

Kate (00:01:45) - So okay we're supporting.

Carrie (00:01:48) - The classroom teacher.

Kate (00:01:49) - Yeah it's supporting the classroom teachers.

Prerna (00:01:50) - It's really coaching of the coaches. That's what it is okay. So if you have someone on your team that supports the teachers. So this could be your education manager education specialist.

Prerna (00:02:02) - It could be your assistant director director. It could be because you know there's so many different titles, but somebody on your team other than the one who has got all the hats on their heads, somebody on your team is hopefully there who can support the teachers. Or if you have a teacher who wants to progress in her professional journey and wants to become a coach or a mentor, this would be good for her.

Kate (00:02:27) - Excellent. That's that's a great way to word that I love the idea of giving teachers a path for them to see themselves go down, and you're making it easy for the director or the owner to go, look, I have a path and I get to delegate at the same time because I already wear too many hats. I don't want to.

Prerna (00:02:44) - Yeah, and I think you're bringing up something really good a path, a career path, right? Typically in our field, you're either a teacher or you're some version of admin, and and not everybody can. And maybe you love where you work and maybe you're not looking to change your jobs, but there isn't a career path for you.

Prerna (00:03:00) - And if you have been in the field long enough, or if you're new in the field and you just have this desire to help others, then this is for you to learn skills. Because quite often what happens and I think, you know this. We we pluck a rock star from the classroom and we plop you either in the office and call your director and say, you were amazing. You can have this office now, or we pluck you from there and say, I'm going to make your education specialist or instructional support or whatever subtitle. But what we know about coaching is that you have to have skill set. We're not born with it. We have to learn how to coach others. And there are actual techniques and actual strategies that help you to hone in your coaching skills. It's people skills, but it's coaching skills, right? It's it's not leadership skills. It's not manager skills is coaching skills. And what people are realizing now is that our field people are really attracted to titles because our parents doesn't happen.

Prerna (00:04:01) - But if you give me a title and you give me a role that puts the spotlight on me and I can shine, and I can think of a better way than to have somebody on your team that can coach others, because it just feels good to give back, to support, to help. Right? Yeah.

Carrie (00:04:17) - And if you're if you're lifting someone up on your team, we don't want them to succumb to the Peter principle, right? That they've been promoted to the level of incompetence. If we're promoting them, we want to give them the tools necessary to be successful there, as opposed to going there, and then just kind of being stuck and not feeling like they're good at their job, and then you end up losing them instead of giving them the pat on the back that you thought you were giving them.

Prerna (00:04:47) - So Carrie, you just hit on something really important. We are setting them up for success. We are being intentional and we are giving you a promotion because we believe in you. But we're also then going to give you the skill so you can shine in this.

Prerna (00:04:59) - Roll and you don't get burnt out because you didn't give. You didn't have what to do with it. So yeah, that's what that's what I am launching for the very first time in my life. And I'm super excited about it, by the way. I'm super excited. So I just did a masterclass yesterday and I was blown away. Just blown away. 1047 people signed up.

Carrie (00:05:21) - Wonderful.

Prerna (00:05:22) - I couldn't believe it. I could not believe it. I was expecting 100, so we crossed hundred really fast to increase zoom to 500. Then we crossed that really fast, so I had to increase it to a thousand. And this was happening while I was in new Jersey. So I increased it to a thousand right over there. Not all thousand of them joined, right? We all wanted the recording, but it was also what was impressive to me. And I'm not trying to just say it was impressive in numbers, but it is impressive for numbers because I've never hosted an event for myself with that numbers.

Prerna (00:05:52) - Right. So let's just be honest, this is not everyday stuff that happens for me. This just happened. I was over the moon. But I think what I found most exciting is that it was international and people want to do better for children. I think that's what I found hopeful. That's what I found exciting, that this title of transforming challenging Behaviors could draw that much interest, that people want to do better.

Kate (00:06:17) - Absolutely. And I think that the directors and admin and owners that are generally listening to our podcast are probably going, I've got a teacher that this is perfect for. What type of commitment are we talking as far as the certification, is there a lot of time outside? What what is the commitment?

Prerna (00:06:37) - Yeah. Great question Kate. So thank you. the certification is three days. That's it. So it's launching in May. And the reason I'm really launching it is because people kept saying to me, teach us your methodology for coaching because, you know, I've been doing behavior coaching for a while now.

Prerna (00:06:53) - I do behavior coaching in classroom. I do it online. I have a membership for coaching. I was also creating coaching courses and teaching it to the district, coaches and the workforce coaches. So this is a long pathway journey. I didn't just wake up one morning and said, I think I can do this. I think it's been I've put in the work that I know the strategies that work and what makes it happen. So the certification is really a response to people saying, teach us your methodology. And I'm like, I don't know. It's in my brain. Is it my DNA? How do I teach something? But I'm finding you on that. Yeah, right. We we have these skills that we just don't know. And then since I've been doing the membership, I'm learning that there's actually things that we can teach. Right. It transfers into implementation. So three days commitment. It launches in May. May 9th is the first day. So the registration is open from now. So it's a very fast turnaround.

Prerna (00:07:48) - Registration is open from now to May 8th. And I feel like May 8th should be like last day that they should register because it starts on May 9th. So, you know, that's the last day. And I already have a whole bunch registered. I did the masterclass, like I said yesterday, and I have more than 20 registered. I'm not doing it with a big cohort. So it's going to be a very small cohort, because it's really important to me that I keep it personal and individualized and it doesn't become out of hand. So my goal is maybe 60 right now, but again, if I go past 60, I might have to find holes in my calendar for a second cohort. But right as this minute is two days in May, the details are on my website and I can send the link to you May 9th, May 21st, and June 6th, I want to say. And they'll be meet for two hours live. And during that lifetime you get knowledge. So some of the course content is, adult learning style.

Prerna (00:08:45) - coaching adults. how do we create respect for us? How do we build trust? How do we cope with that? love languages as part of it. understanding how we give feedback as part of it. So reflective conversations is part of it. Of course, the brain has to be a part of it. You know, me got to talk about the brain. So brain child development, child growth, emotional intelligence. So I mean I'm giving you a big lose over. But everything on the website has all the details of the breakdown.

Carrie (00:09:15) - So is it just so it's the the three evenings, is there also stuff that they're reading in between or things that they're practicing in between? Yes.

Prerna (00:09:25) - Good. Good question. So it's during the day. It's from 12 to 2 on those three days. you attend live and then you get homework. So you will earn nine hours of, credit hours for the certification, because six hours alive. But every class you come, I'm anticipating at least an hour of homework.

Prerna (00:09:45) - So there's reading in there. There's, looking at articles. There's some, you know, videos to watch. Like, it's a whole comprehensive thing, but it's project based. Meaning you learn, you implement your. You come back, you get feedback. And that's why I've spaced it between a few weeks in between classes, because I really want to move the needle. So it's not just theory, it's actually applying. And also the other thing is, which is based on how I do it for the membership, there's a professional learning community. So the PLC happens during the live session where you co co coach your peers. So for example, people like examples, right. And I do better with examples to last coaching session that I had for my membership, one of the coaches said I'm supporting a teacher, but we're struggling with this little guy who doesn't take a nap. And, you know, we've all tried everything. And he runs around and he gets everybody up. We've never met that person happy.

Prerna (00:10:47) - And so when when this coach brought this problem to the PLC, I opened it up to all the coaches and I said, okay, let's help our coach. How would we help her? What is the language we can use? What are some strategies we can use? How can she go back to that teacher who's given up and shut down? How can we coach that teacher? So everybody brainstormed. She got lots of ideas. And then, you know, she was going to go implement and come back and try it out. I also want to give you an example of why the love language is is so powerful. I had a coach once and she said to me, Now I'm doing everything for this teacher, but there's a wall there. I can't seem to break this wall. She just seems like she's not interested. I have tried connecting. I've tried praising, I've tried talking. I've even gone to her classroom during nap to put her mats down just to be helpful. And so she was feeling quite defeated that she wasn't able to connect with this teacher.

Prerna (00:11:38) - And what I said to her was, do you know her love language? And she says, what do you mean? I said, well, you are clearly showing acts of service because we do love language and we take the survey and we really go deep with this. I said, what is your love language? Based on what you're telling me, I think it's acts of service. And she says, you're right. I said, okay, how about you find out what that teacher is, is. So when she did that, the teacher opened up and told her that when you come into my classroom and you're putting my cards down, I'm feeling judged. I'm feeling criticized. So she didn't even see it as a helpful. She thought she wasn't doing a good enough job. And so this person was stepping in and it was rubbing her the wrong way because her love language was words of affirmation. So before we jump in and just decide that we know how to fix somebody, we need to understand that person.

Carrie (00:12:25) - Absolutely. We talk about love languages. In our director credentialing class, we have a whole section that is Knowing yourself. And we talk about learning style, management style, love language, where you hold your attention, all of that. Because as a leader, if you don't know those things about yourself, you can't fill up. You can't get your cup filled up by your team or recognize the signs that maybe I should go for a walk before I blow up on a staff person.

Prerna (00:12:58) - yeah.

Prerna (00:12:59) - So we also talked about mindset, and we talked about some of the things that you're referencing because mindset is so powerful. You know, if you want to change the classroom, you know, my goal is very simple. Transform one program at a time from stressful to joyful. That's the mission. My mission I'm on. Why? Because the stress is very high and it's showing up in the challenging behaviors. The two are connected, but you can't change something till you see them in a different light. You know you can't change a difficult child's behavior unless you see that child differently.

Prerna (00:13:28) - Same applies for the teacher. The teacher that your brain says Jesus is lazy because that's what one of the coaches said. She's just lazy. She's just giving up. But before we can help her, we have to change how we see her. But I also feel like we need to add skills to our backpack. Right. The skills that we have in our backpack is the skills we're using. And they're not working because clearly the behaviors are increasing from the grown ups and the children by the way. Yeah.

Kate (00:13:53) - Oh we hear. Yeah. Absolutely absolutely absolutely. So if you are going to have a conversation with a director and the director is still not really sure that this makes sense, why might a director from a, I'm going to go with a team building perspective. Why from a team building perspective, why might this be something a director gives the teacher the time during the day to go do this? Maybe even the time during the day to do the homework, whether they cover or they have a substitute, what can they bring to the table?

Prerna (00:14:29) - Yeah.

Prerna (00:14:30) - Someone I I'm going to go with two things that you just said. So one is going to definitely help a team building because you're going to empower them. The second is the financial burden. Every time you have a staff burnout, staff turnover, you're losing money. 3500 is what you lose every time you lose a teacher. If we can give them the help they need. And how about having somebody specialized on your team behavior intervention specialist on your team who can help? Brainstorm with the teachers so a teacher doesn't get frustrated. And maybe it's your assistant director, or maybe it's you. Maybe this is your jam. Maybe you like to support, but everything else is on your plate. But maybe this is speaking to you. Why should you care and why should you do it? One you're going to show your team that you value them because you're investing in them. You know, when we invest in our team, we uplift them. So you may be in a small school, maybe you only have 7 or 8 teachers, whatever it is, and I'm actually giving it away for the very first time because it's a better try.

Prerna (00:15:29) - I'm giving it for 500. I don't think I'm ever going to do it again for 500. Certification is not going to happen. So, you know there's value there. There is empowerment there, there's knowledge there, they're skill there. And your classrooms, all your classrooms can get the benefit from the step by step guide that I'm going to give you. I'm going to be right along by your side showing you how to transform your behaviors. And it's already worked for so many schools. I have 30 current coaches that I'm working with, and those classrooms are changing and it's working. So, you know, if you're what you're trying is not working. The definition of insanity is doing this really well.

Kate (00:16:10) - We definitely don't want anybody to go insane. And we are all about helping staff and directors go from overwhelm to I got this. And this sounds like the perfect piece to that puzzle for those teachers who currently are feeling overwhelmed and really stuck and they don't know where to go. And I love the thought of empowering another teacher or another staff person to be that guide for them.

Kate (00:16:32) - Thank you so much for putting together such an awesome concept and program and like you said, proven skills.

Prerna (00:16:40) - Thank you for.

Prerna (00:16:40) - Saying that. You know, I you actually, Kate reminded me of a teacher who actually was chosen to be a case coach when I was working with the school, and she literally got so emotional. Me, me you are me to do it. You see something in me, you know, it felt so important to her that somebody had noticed. But you know, yeah, coaching takes skill. So yes, there's there's a desire, but let's give them the skill so they can just shine in this role. And then you can have stress reduced in your program.

Kate (00:17:13) - Because that's a big.

Prerna (00:17:14) - One.

Carrie (00:17:15) - It to be full of joy.

Prerna (00:17:17) - Yes.

Carrie (00:17:18) - Early learning should be full of joy. Early learning programs should be full of joy. Child development center, whatever term we want to use.

Prerna (00:17:26) - Yes, yes.

Prerna (00:17:27) - Yes, because the child is so precious and those children's childhood is only happening once in your life.

Prerna (00:17:33) - And if you don't love what you're doing, then it's just sucking all the joy out. So let's just replace the stress with joy. Let's have some fun and play. But also let's manage the behaviors. Because there are the chats right now. It's just awful.

Carrie (00:17:46) - It it is a lot. And there's only so many people who have those skills. Those of us who've been doing it for 80 gazillion years, sometimes we're like, yeah, here's 12 different ways to handle that, depending on what the trigger is. What is your trigger? We have the, what is it, the curse of knowledge. You know the thing, but you don't know that. Other people don't know the thing because it's the water that you swim in.

Prerna (00:18:14) - Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Prerna (00:18:16) - What feels normal and natural to somebody is absolutely like, whoa, I had no idea.

Carrie (00:18:22) - Yeah. I'm I'm almost every director class. I have people who are like, well, but what would you do in this situation? And I'm like, blah, blah, blah, blah blah.

Carrie (00:18:31) - And they're like, Carrie, you need to write a book that is say this, not that good.

Prerna (00:18:36) - And you did.

Carrie (00:18:37) - I don't know how like I don't yeah. You don't know how to explain what you just know because you know it. Like you were thinking.

Prerna (00:18:46) - About how.

Carrie (00:18:47) - You developed the program because you were like, people kept asking for it and you're like, I don't know how to explain it. I just know how to do it.

Prerna (00:18:55) - Yeah, but you know.

Prerna (00:18:56) - You know, when you do better, you know better. Like, you have to know better to do better, right? You can't do better till you know better. You can only do better when we know better. And in that moment, till you have that thought. You haven't had that thought.

Prerna (00:19:08) - Yep.

Carrie (00:19:09) - Well, I'm going to recommend that people think about it. If they can't get in this cohort because it's already full. Get on previous radar, get on her newsletter list. continue to keep an eye out for her.

Carrie (00:19:22) - She presents at conferences all around the country and occasionally outside, I think. and so she is wonderful at helping people learn how to support children's learning and, I don't know, supporting their behavior, helping people to understand why the behaviors are happening.

Prerna (00:19:45) - I think that's very well-put. I think understanding what's happening inside the brain so we can make sense of what's happening outside the brain, is a good way to frame that. For the grownups and the children. It's not just the children, it's the grownups, because most of the behaviors are. Caused by that grown up.

Kate (00:20:00) - So why don't you give us real quick your web address, and we will have all of, piranhas contact information in the show notes. But just in case we forget.

Prerna (00:20:11) - Together we go online. Together we go online, has all the information. There's a YouTube channel, the social media and like Carrie was saying, if you get on the newsletter, I send out the newsletter. I started off saying it was coming once a week, but that was too stressful.

Prerna (00:20:26) - So I'm like, I'm not doing that. So I just send it as I have something to say. So I'm not in your box bothering you? Only when I have something to say. because I don't have time for that, so.

Kate (00:20:37) - I love it. Well, hopefully this will reduce your stress just a tad, and we are excited to maybe bring you back after the, first cohort. So maybe in July or August just to hear how it went and kind of some of the feedback, because we love to keep bringing people back.

Prerna (00:20:54) - And I love it.

Prerna (00:20:56) - Thank you. You guys are doing amazing work. And thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Carrie. Thank you Kate. You know, you guys are so kind and generous and gracious with your platform and you invite people to share because your heart is really of a service heart. And I know this about you guys. I've seen you work your your service heart, and you're really just trying to make the world a better place in early childhood.

Prerna (00:21:17) - So thank you for your work. Thank you. Well.

Prerna (00:21:19) - You I don't.

Kate (00:21:20) - Know if we've ever got to thank you for my guest before, so thank you.

Prerna (00:21:24) - As you should. You deserve all the thank yous. Well, you.

Kate (00:21:28) - Have a wonderful week, everybody. If you guys are listening to us, go forget to go visit Reno's website. Together we grow online.org.

Prerna (00:21:37) - Online.

Prerna (00:21:38) - Dot online.

Kate (00:21:38) - Online. I'll get it in there eventually.

Prerna (00:21:41) - You know it's the.

Prerna (00:21:42) - Thing it should be.org.com. But no I don't know it's dot online. I was first thinking is it even legit dot online. Does that even a thing?

Kate (00:21:51) - I know it's legit because I have been to your site. So we are so excited and Kerri is going to remind you to.

Carrie (00:21:58) - If you learn something today, share the show and please go in and come, you know, send us nice notes on your podcasting, app of choice, whether you're following us or subscribing, depending on what it's called on your platform. And we'll talk to you again next week.

Marie (00:22:18) - Thank you for listening to Child Care Conversations with Kate and Carrie. Want to learn more? Check out our website at TexasDirector.Org and if you've learned anything today, leave us a comment below and share the show.