by Barb O’Neill

Conference Creator, Host and Interviewer

(NOTE: this is a numbered list but the order is random, not based on order of importance).

I started sharing the 10 things in a separate post but it was getting LONG so I decided to split it up (let’s face it even I have a short attention span and even when I am writing about my favorite things). Read 1-5 from the list here: transformchallengingbehavior.com/blog/10things

6. You can give your art materials a name like “Mr. Glue” and then use a little story to teach children how to use glue in ways that keep Mr. Glue safe (and that don’t result in squeezing out the whole bottle on the first go).

Hats off to Sally Haughey for turning little lessons in to magic moments infused with play…

by Barb O’Neill, Conference Creator, Host and Interviewer

(NOTE: this is a numbered list but the order is random, not based on order of importance).

1. You can buy a puppet for $.25 and make magic in your classroom for the rest of your life.

   Whaaaaaaaat!? YES. Jamie White told us…

Last week I was on a Coaching Call with the Founding Members of the TCB Teachers’ Club and one member shared about a child who always wanted to be at the front of the line.

Every day, every time.

You know what I mean, right?

I shared with the group what came immediately to mind:

“I learned somewhere that sometimes the kids who always want to be first actually…

Do you relate to any of these 3 scenarios...?

"We were cleaning up for lunch. It was not play time. One child saw a dinosaur display in the classroom and walked over saying “dinosaur”. I stopped and took a minute to look at the display with him. Then, I said, “ok let’s clean up for lunch”. The child started screaming "dinosaur!" I explained it was time to clean up but he kept screaming dinosaur. Eventually,,,"

“...do they just play around all day...or do you teach them?”

Yep, those words came right out of my mouth.

It was 1993 and I was working as a part time Teachers’ Aide in the Twos/Threes Classroom at a local child care center.

One week earlier, a friend had asked me, “...you like kids, right? Do you want to be an aide in my classroom?”

Next thing I knew I was sitting in the dramatic play corner pretending to eat plastic spaghetti.

I remember that first year I was working as an Assistant Preschool Teacher hearing almost every other teacher at my child care center telling children: “Use your words!”

I can still hear the exact tone they all used in my head.

(Can you hear it too?)

I quickly added this phrase into my own teaching toolbox.

…and I leaned into using it OFTEN. Like, countless times per day. It’s what we did.

Perhaps you and your coworkers use this phrase too?

Flash forward 2-3 years later and I was enrolled in a Masters program and I learned something concerning in one of my courses...

How we prompt children to "use their words"? Um, my coworkers and I were basically doing it wrong.

Yep, wrong…

This week I’m basking in the afterglow of the Transform Challenging Behavior Online Conference.

It’s such an inspiration to see how you all showed up, learned, asked questions, were open to new ways of thinking and doing, and put many of the ideas you learned immediately into action.

I’ve been thinking about creating a community where we could continue this experience not just for one week each Spring but all year long.

I wonder what that might look like…

…and I’m curious about your thoughts on that.

I’ve been thinking about it since the end of February…

….it’s almost been a year.

The dates are etched cleary in my brain because on Monday March 9, 2020 I was honored to give a keynote talk at the annual National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Conference in San Diego.

The next day I went out to dinner, so at least in my world the pandemic was...well, not known to be a pandemic yet.

From there things changed quickly.

Today, I want to share something I wrote almost exactly one year ago today.

It felt important to revisit my hopes, fears and concerns for the early childhood field.

Here's a shortened version of what I wrote just about one year ago...

Dylan (almost 4 years old) seemed to want to be in control.

He's sensitive to anyone standing too close or telling him what to do.

He responds with hitting, pushing, and even hitting his teachers with blocks.

Do you have children in your classroom who react with aggression when anyone comes too close or tells them what to do?

If so, I want to offer you a tool…

Creating the Transform Challenging Behavior Online Conference is arguably the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.

The conference originated as an unreasonable idea that honestly felt like it was stalking me.

Create an online conference? What!? How? How will I find people to come? Why can’t I stop thinking about this? Get out of my head!

But due to a series of lucky and synchronistic moments as well as dash of faith...