Past Conferences

Creating a Classroom with Purpose, Connection, Compassion, and Joy (Online)

How do kindergarten teachers support all children to become resilient and compassionate learners in these challenging times?  What “new and old findings” encourage the healthy social/emotional, cognitive and physical development of kindergarten children?  Join us as we explore these questions and more. Learn how to meet district mandates while creating a classroom that values each child and builds on their interests. Feel the JOY!

“ Each generation, each decade, must shape its education in the light of new and old findings about children, learning and the evolving demands of society.” – Dorothy Cohen, The Learning Child, 1972

Keynote Speakers:

• Wishes for a Hopeful Tomorrow: Walking With 5 Year Olds in the World of Today | Lesley Koplow
• The Art of Gathering: Explorations with Found Objects | Maria Elena Richa
• Lifelong Kindergarten: Cultivating Creativity through Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play | Mitchel Resnick
• Jewels & Tools – How Books Shine for the Youngest Hearts and Minds! | Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney

Workshops:

• Becoming a Voice for the Littles: Influencing Schools, Districts, and State Policy
• Being a Kindergarten Teacher in the Age of College and Career Readiness
• Choice Time: Play, Purpose, and Possibility
• Collecting, Counting, and Learning about Numbers Together
• Honoring Childrens’ Identities
• Integrity, Persistence, Acceptance, and More: Transforming Classroom Culture
• Into the Garden: Love, Joy, and Nature in the Kindergarten Classroom and Beyond
• No Risk, No Reward: The Benefits of Risky Play Lunch
• “You Took My Lego!” A Community Problem-Solving Approach
• Beyond Pretend Play! Integrating Drama into Your Classroom
• Children Have So Much to Say: Encouraging Classroom Conversations
• Confronting Racial Bias in Your Classroom Kindergarten Roots: Revisiting Froebel
• Playful Explorers: Exploring Passion Projects in Kindergarten
• Story Seeds: Using picture books to support identity discussions
• Taking Block Play to the Next Level

Thinking, Exploring & Rebuilding Together (Online)

Find your spark and collaborate with a community of educators focused on kindergarten! Think together about how children learn. Explore how to create a rich curriculum that reflects the interests of the children, meets academic expectations, and plants the seeds of social justice. Rebuild your practice with tools and resources that will inspire you and remind you why you do this work and that it’s worth it!

“There is nothing like seeing children’s eyes spark when they make new connections and discover something for themselves.” — M. Martinez, kindergarten teacher in an urban public school

“Kindergarteners are the best of humanity! They keep me hopeful about the future of our world.”— M. Walker, kindergarten teacher in a rural public school

Keynote Speakers:

• Catherine Steiner-Adair, clinical psychologist and research associate at Harvard Medical School
  The Art and Craft of Teaching Kindergarten: “Neuro-sculpturing” with Play
• Emily Meisner, Director of the National Dance Institute (NDI) Collaborative for Teaching & Learning
  Sparking Joy: Dance &  Music in the Kindergarten Classroom
• Denisha Jones, Executive Director of Defending the Early Years
  Centering Freedom Through Play: Free to Develop, Free to Learn, Free to Teach
• Matt de la Peña is the #1 New York Times bestselling, Newbery Medal-winning author of seven young adult novels (including Mexican WhiteBoy and We Were Here) and seven picture books (including Patchwork and Last Stop on Market Street)
  Inventing Stories & Connecting with Young Children: An Author’s Perspective

Workshops:

Rediscovering the Joy and Purpose of Kindergarten (Online)

Every teacher’s voice is essential as we explore important questions about kindergarten in today’s world: Who are our kindergarteners? How can we understand and respond to their needs while navigating academic pressures and COVID-19-related concerns? How do we continue to create environments that support social justice? How can we care for ourselves during this challenging time? Join us at this online conference to reconnect as a community and leave with hope and resilience, as well as resources that will inspire your teaching practice. New this year, the conference will feature a strand of workshops focused on pre-K and 3K.

Keynote Speakers:

• Takiema Bunche Smith, Executive Director of Bank Street’s Center on Culture, Race & Equity
  Reclaiming and Elevating the Joy, Purpose, and Power of Kindergarten
• Maria Richa, Director of Diversity and Equity for the School for Children at Bank Street College
  Rediscovering the Power of Art: Lines, Shapes, and Joy
• Lesley Koplow, clinical social worker, teacher, author and founding Director of the Center for Emotionally Responsive Practice at Bank Street College.
  Big Masks, Little Masks: Finding Each Other in the Kindergarten Classroom
• Renée Dinnerstein a teacher, director, mentor, and coach and
  Jackie Allen-Joseph an educator who has spent more than 30 years working for the NYC Department of Education.
  Reflections on an Educator’s Journey: A Conversation with Renée Dinnerstein

Workshops:

• Close the Box and Step Back into the Garden: Guiding Children’s Learning Through Play | Jennifer Berube and Karen DuBois-Garofalo
• Descriptive Inquiry: Learning to See the Child Through Their Work | Dr. Cara Furman and Dr. Cecilia M. Espinosa
• Navigating the Latest Debate in Early Literacy Instruction: The Science of Reading, Balanced Literacy, and What Teachers Need to Know | Dr. Patricia M. Cooper
• Singing Your Song and Finding Your Joy: Music in the Early Childhood Classroom | Jaquetta Bustion
• Boys Can Draw Eyelashes Too: Gender Neutral Education in Early Childhood Classrooms | Milana Kagan
• Exploring Printmaking in the Early Childhood Classroom | Pamela Crimmins and Judith Foster
• Forest School in Brooklyn?? A Public School’s Efforts to Connect Young Children with Nature | William Fulbrecht
• Joy for Whom?: Recognizing Joy and Purpose in Black Children’s Play and Creating Pro-Black Classrooms for Young Children | Dr. Nathaniel Bryan, Dr. Tim Kinard, Dr. Susi Long, and Dr. Dinah Volk
• Navigating the Early Childhood Curriculum Using Play as a Guide | Jen Best
• Windows, Mirrors, Sliding Glass Doors: A Children’s View to a Diverse Classroom Library | Kharissa Kenner

Sowing the Seeds of Social Justice

Keynote Speakers:

• Dr. Haeny Yoon, Assistant Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Teaching and Learning in the Midst of Global Pandemic(s): Race, Politics and Young Children
• Laura Simms, Storyteller, Author, Arts Educator, and Humanitarian
  Stories that Nourish the Hearts of Children
• Dr. Soyoung Park, Bank Street College of Education
  Reclaiming the “Learning Loss” Narrative to Reimagine Kindergarten
• Dr. Maritza Macdonald, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)
  Back to the Garden: Inspiring Kindergarteners to Grow into Curious and Generous Citizens of the World
• Jaquetta Bustion, Community Roots Charter School
  Songs that Nourish the Hearts of Children

Workshop Highlights:

• Reimagining Traditional Kindergarten Classrooms through Play: A Case Study | Natalie Flores, Wendy Pollock and Allison Tom-Yunger
• From Control to Co-Construction: Leaning into Good Trouble | Kelsey Sorum
• Making Good Trouble Together: A Story About a Teacher Collaborative Journey | Debora B. Wisneski, Carol Burk, Jennifer Hofsommer and Melany Spieh
• Math Goes Home: Sorting Laundry & Cooking Beans | Marilyn Martinez and Patricia Godoy
• Teaching the Guiding Principles of Black Lives Matter to Young Children | LaLeña Garcia
• Modeling Democracy in Kindergarten | Anna Sobel and Laura Swindler

Inspiring Curiosity, Imagination and Resilience

Democracy, Diversity, Dignity & Dewey

Honoree:

• Pearl Zeitz, inspirational educator and advocate for social change who has influenced generations of Bank Street children, graduate students, and colleagues.

Keynote Speakers:

• Carla Shalaby, “On Being Human: Young Children, Troublemaking, and the Role of Imagination in Social Change”
• Betsy Blachly, Susan Harris, Henry Chapin, “Here Comes Zodiac” and Other Great Singing Games and Dances”
• Patsy Cooper, “What’s a Kindergarten Education For?” Schooling Five-Year-Olds in Disruptive Times”
• Ursula Davis, “Learning from the Past as We Move to the Future (Meeting the needs of today’s five year olds)”
• Beverly Falk and Fanny Roman, “Choice Time and Inquiry in Fanny Roman’s Kindergarten Classroom” (film and interview)

Workshop Highlights:

• Building Birdtown: Constructing Democracy in the Block Area | Facilitator: Rebecca Burdett
• Writing, Playing & Choice Time | Facilitators: Fanny Roman, Charlene Cruse Rivera and Renée Dinnerstein
• Outside-In: Integrating Nature into Urban Classrooms | Facilitators: Lisa McDonald and Monique Rothman
• Supporting Second Language Acquisition in Kindergarten | Facilitators: Tatiana Rosa and Antonia Bendezu
• Creating a Learner-Centered Classroom: Why and How? | Facilitator: Julie Diamond

Practice, Policy and Advocacy

Keynote Speakers:

• Derrick Gay, “A Kindergarten for All Children”
• Dr. Lesley Koplow, “Who is the Five Year Old?”
• Betsy Blachly, Susan Harris, Henry Chapin, “The Power of Music”
• Dr. Beverly Falk, “Kindergarten in a Changing World”
• Julie Diamond, “Joining with the Kindergarten Learner” with Yvonne Smith, Kindergarten Teacher
• Dr. Shannon Riley-Ayers, “Transforming Kindergarten: Supporting Teachers to Strengthen Quality”

Workshop Highlights:

• Embracing Differences in Kindergarten | Facilitator: Derrick Gay
• Facilitating Social-Emotional Development through Movement in the Kindergarten Classroom | Facilitator: Diane Duggan
• The Importance of Family Engagement | Facilitator: Maimuna Mohammed
• The Essential Role of Trips in the Kindergarten Curriculum | Facilitator: Sal Vascellaro
• Finding the Courage to Bring Kindness and Compassion Back to the Garden | Facilitators: Kelly D’Addona and Laura Morris and Dr. Cynthia Paris