Past Conferences

2019 Conference

“Where Did the Garden Go? Inspiring Curiosity, Imagination and Resilience”

Honoree:

  • Richard Lewis, is a teacher and writer, and the founder and director of the Touchstone Center for Children in New York City.

Keynote Speakers:

  • Dr. Ron Taffel, “Today’s 5 Year Old”
  • Kevin Nathaniel and Jaquetta Bustion, “Into the Circle: Inspiring Joy and Community with the Rhythms of Africa”
  • Dr. Lydia Soifer, “Language! So Much More than Words”
  • Anne Stires, “The Power and Purpose of Nature-based Learning: Exploring a Nature School in Maine”
  • Kimberly Bautista and Robert Cornejo, “Bringing Nature-based Learning into Urban Schools” (interview)

Workshop Highlights:

  • Animals! Alive! Using a Science Way of Thinking and Doing | Facilitator: Stan Chu
  • The Aviation Project: An Inquiry-based, Child-initiated Investigation that Addresses Many Kindergarten Learning Standards | Facilitators: Renée Dinnerstein and Dana Roth
  • Building Resilience in Nature: A Forest Fridays Curriculum | Facilitator: Allie Frosina
  • The Chairs are Theirs: Conflict Resolution in the Kindergarten Classroom | Facilitator: Aaron Neimark
  • Resisting the Push Down: Developmentally Appropriate Kindergarten Writing Curriculum | Facilitators: Jenel Giles and Cassie Dore

Pre-Conference Sessions:

Participants will spend the morning observing in Bank Street School for Children or Castle Bridge Public School classrooms and will come together for a facilitated discussion and working lunch about the importance of language and the teacher-child relationship in every classroom. Topics may include: questioning techniques, racial literacy, assessment, and the teacher’s role during art activities and free play. Using observations from the morning and your own experiences as a frame of reference, the group will discuss practical ways of inspiring curiosity, imagination & resilience into their own programs and classrooms.

Bank Street Facilitators:

Elizabeth Jarvis is the Assistant Lower School Coordinator at Bank Street School for Children, where she supervises classroom assistant teachers and facilitates integration of the arts through all facets of the children’s learning.

Emily Linsay is the Lower School Coordinator at Bank Street College’s School for Children. She supports teachers, children, and families in six classrooms that serve 3 year olds to 6 year olds.

Castle Bridge Facilitator:

Margaret Blachly is a faculty member and advisor at Bank Street College, where she teaches the early childhood social studies courses (EDUC 514 and EDUC 510). Prior to this, she was a Kindergarten teacher for over 6 years in NYC public schools, where she implemented an integrated social studies unit.