When young children receive high-quality early education — whether in a preschool or early care center, or through instruction and care at a home-based provider — these children are better prepared to enter kindergarten ready to learn.
Helping those early educators with tips to make their education settings more productive is the purpose of a new webinar series developed by the College of Education and Human Ecology’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Children and Youth.
Making Every Moment Count is a free series of 12 video modules, three posted to date and registration available for a fourth, that showcase research-based practices that educators can use immediately in their classrooms. Each module distills these practices into clear, memorable tips — making the series both a strong foundational course for early-career educators, as well as a valuable refresher for seasoned practitioners who want to sharpen their skills or gain new ideas.
Laura Justice, Crane’s executive director and the college’s Distinguished Professor in the Department of Educational Studies, is leading this initiative. She wanted to ensure that teachers of young children in the state are aware of educational methods that have been shown to improve both academic and social-emotional development.
“We want to bring what we’ve learned from our research into these early education settings. It’s important that the next generation of Ohioans benefit from the discoveries we find here at Ohio State,” Justice said.
The series began in November, and modules will appear every few weeks through the end of May. Each session debuts live as a webinar timed to coincide with many classrooms’ midday rest periods — when educators can most realistically engage in professional development.
For those teachers unable to participate in the webinar, a video of the module is available online shortly thereafter for viewing whenever it is convenient. All participants can receive Ohio early educator professional development credits through OCCRRA.
How the series is designed to aid teaching
The brief, 30-minute format for each module is designed around a single aspect of classroom practice. Educators can choose the modules most relevant to their immediate concerns — such as navigating behavior challenges or managing the physical layout of their classroom — and, when time allows, return to view other modules.
Project coordinator Amanda Grady said that the design of the series is deeply grounded in understanding educators’ day-to-day pressures.
“We recognize the demanding and meaningful work early educators do. We understand how much dedication it takes to support young children, and we designed this series with that in mind,” Grady said.
“That’s why Making Every Moment Count is so useful. You can watch a module and bring the tips from that module into your classroom that very day.”
Even after the webinar series concludes at the end of May, the videos will remain online, providing opportunities for professional learning to early educators unable to participate at this time.
Making Every Moment Count is yet another example of how the Crane Center helps fulfill The Ohio State University’s land-grant mission of educating, engaging and bringing a positive impact to strengthen the state’s communities.
