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AfterSchool of Thought

Welcome to the "AfterSchool of Thought," a blog series for those with products and offerings for afterschool programs and the professionals who work in the field.

Children categories

STEM Gems

STEM Gems (1)

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STEM Gems are short discovery-based experiences. They involve little or no materials and may be easily implemented by educators who are not STEM specialists. Each STEM Gem is designed to engage young people in active experiential learning. The activities begin by setting up connections to prior knowledge, then a hands on activity provides new concepts and the opportunity to design experiments to answer any questions the kids discover. Finally, a connection to a different scenario for the concept is provided to help cement and evaluate the learning.

STEM Gems are experiences designed to be used with kids of all ages. Younger children should be focused on one idea or concept and should perform the activity as a collective group with prompts and directions from the teacher. With older youth, the teacher should act as a facilitator. The older youth should be set up to work independently in small teams and encouraged to ask questions and try out their own experiments to answer them. Each team should report back on their findings, so a consensus around the concept is reached.

Each STEM Gem is presented in an easy to follow lesson plan:

Big Ideas and Science Talk
Central concepts and key words to give the adult the science background for the experience.

Engage
Open ended questions to stimulate discussion and generate connections to prior knowledge.

What You Will Need
A list of the materials.

Before You Begin
The preparation needed for the activity.

Explore and Experiment
The directions for the experience designed using open ended questions that focus the children on discovering answers.

Make the Connection and Extend and Evaluate
Connections to other scenarios that use the same concepts and related question(s) or additional activity to evaluate knowledge.

STEM Gems are available to members only. Login to access STEM Gems. 

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Corporate Advisory Board

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The National Afterschool Association established a Corporate Advisory Board (CAB) to help further the goals and mission of the organization and to educate and encourage corporate investment in afterschool programming.


CAB Convening

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Join Us for this "Don't Miss" event!

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

9:30AM-3:30PM
Space is limited

DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
Once Discovery Place
Silver Spring, MD 20910


SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Data Research on Social Emotional Learning, by Consortium on Chicago School Research

PANEL DISCUSSIONS: Achieving Social Impact Through Corporate Investment & Addressing the Skills Gap for Success in the Workplace

Click here to download the schedule!


RSVP to jennifer@naaweb.org


Thank you to our sponsors!

NAA CAB sponsors update

Registration Troubleshooting

If you are having problems with the registration website and need assistance, please follow the troubleshooting suggestions below:

  • Refresh the page and try entering your information again.

  • Open the registration form and fill in your information in a different Internet browser (i.e. Firefox, Chrome, etc.).

  • Exit out of the registration form and wait five minutes before trying again. Occasionally the system will experience errors depending on the amount of traffic present on the website. Simply give the webpage a few minutes to reset itself, and try again.

After trying these suggestions and you are still experiencing problems, please email info@naaweb.org for immediate assistance.

 

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Previous NAA Exhibitors

  2WayRadioPlus.com/MOTOROLA
  6 to 16: College Readiness for All
  ABDO Publishing
  ACTIVE Network
  Afterschool Alliance
  American GeoSciences Institute/U.S. Department of Energy
  American Institutes for Research
  Apperson
  Appleton
  Art in History
  Bedtime Math Foundation
  Beyond the Bell at American Institutes for Research
  Box Hockey International, Inc.
  Buckworm "We Put the Earn in Learn"
   Camp Invention
  CAP60
  CATCH
   Cayen Systems
   Charity for Change - Giver Program
   Charter Oak State College
  Childcare Careers
  ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI)
   Cirrus Group LLC
  Citizen Schools
  Cityspan Technologies
  Classroom Field Trips
  Classroom, Inc.
  Click2Science
  Collaborative Classroom
  Community Learning
  Compass Awards
  Core Learning Group
  Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  Corporate Image Promotions, Inc. / Compass Awards
  Council on Accreditation
  Cypherworx, Inc
  Dallas Afterschool
  Destination Imagination, Inc.
  Developmental Studies Center
  Discount School Supply
  Dramatic Education, Inc.
  Edible Education
  Education Galaxy
  Education Through Entertainment & Arts Partnership
  Engineering is Elementary - Museum of Science
  Enovative Technologies
  ExploraKits
  Exponent Partners
  ExtendED Notes
  EZ-Solutions
  Fantasy Baseball Mathematics
  Fat Brain Toys
  FeePay
  Florida Afterschool Alliance
  Focused Fitness
  FOSI's Good Digital Parenting
  Foundations, Inc.
  Fun Express
  Funskool and TOOBEEZ
  Future Problem Solving Program International, Inc.
  Game Show Mania, LLC
  GeoMotion TV
  Gopher
  H-A-P-P-Y! Productions
  IDville
  Imagination International, Inc.
  International Kin-Ball Federation
  Ironwill Health, LLC, Ironwill Kids
  IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
  Jackrabbit Care
  Kamptive
  Kinderlime
  KISS Institute for Practical Robotics
  Leading to Change
  Learning Wrap Up's
  Lego Education
  LINTOR Make-A-Book, Inc.
  Makey Makey
  MANGO Math Group
  Media-Smart Youth/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
  Insitute of Child Health
and Human Development
  (NICHD)/Media-Smart Youth: Eat, Think, and Be Active!
  Microsoft Device Bar
  Mindworks Resources
  Minute Menu Systems
  Modern Steader
  MPOWR
  Nano-Link: Center for Nanotechnology Education
  National 4-H Council
  National Afterschool Association
  National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
  National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST)
  National Junior Tennis & Learning of Trenton, Inc.
  National Science Teachers Association
  Nature-Watch
  Nemours Bright Start!
  Nexplore Enrichments
  Oases Online
  Outfit Your Logo
  Partner With Schools Character Education
  PCG Education
  PCS Edventures!
  Peachjar, Inc.
  Penn State Better Kid Care Program
  Playbook Reader's Theater
  Proudtree Empowered Learning
  Rahab's Rope
  Reading is Fundamental: Read for Success
  Read Naturally, Inc.
  RegPlanner.com
  Responsible Publishing
  RISU USA, LLC
  Round Star Foundation & Super Soccer Stars
  S&S Worldwide
  Safe Sitter, Inc.
  Sargent Art
  Scholastic 3D Archery
  School Specialty
  Skillastics
  Smart Horizons
  Sobel Insurance
  Softerware, Inc., EZ-CARE2
  Start Engineering
  Starting Time/My Mini Golf
  Startup Smartup
  STEMfinity
  Tandy Leather Factory
  The Connectory
  The First Tee
  The Leadership Program
  The Math and Reading Party, Inc.
  The Out of School Nutrition & Physical Activity (OSNAP) Initiative
  The Soy Nut Butter Company
  The Walking Classroom Institute
  Thomas Kelly Software Associates, EZ Reports/EZ Childtracks
  Through My Window
  University of Nebraska-Lincoln Click2Science
  WH Smith Innovation Academy
  WRiTE BRAiN BOOKS
  Yellow Bus Education
  Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)
  Youth Today
  Zula International

 

 

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Reader Advisory Panel Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions:

What will Advisory Panel members do?
Quite simply, as an AST Reader Advisory Panel member you'll help guide us in planning and executing our editorial coverage by letting us know what issues and topics are important to you and your colleagues. We want to "pick your brain" as the saying goes. We want to hear your great ideas for topics, people, reading, tools, and issues AfterSchool Today should seek to address. We are also interested in your ideas, tips, tricks and tools. We want to learn about the concerns that keep you awake at night—what you need to stay on top of to support your staff and run and improve your programs. How do you go about creatively resolving most pressing problems of your day? This kind of valuable information sharing among members is what NAA is all about.

What's in it for you?
You'll be part of an exclusive group that helps guide our editorial coverage to make AfterSchool Today the most valuable publication to cross your desk. Periodically, Advisory panel members will be acknowledged in AfterSchool Today and thanked for their contributions with a personal letter from the Executive Director that is suitable for your professional portfolio and performance reviews.

What will be required of you?
We know you're busy, so we won't flood your inbox. Rather, we'll ask you to participate in at least one of these ways.

First: We'll send you a quarterly online survey about the issues and topics we have covered and should cover in the future. This will help us assess how well we are doing, as well as help us better shape what we cover.
Second: We'll share our editorial calendar with you in advance. If you feel you, your program, or someone you know has something to offer to a story, please let us know so we may call on you as a possible resource.
Third: If you are interested and willing, we may send you an advance copy of an article or book that we think will interest you, and ask for your timely feedback.

You choose what ways you contribute, and how much or how little, by responding to our requests.

What's in it for us?
Your expertise. We want your opinions and your feedback. We want you to tell us what you want to see, as well as what you don't want to see. In this way, we'll be able to deliver the targeted editorial content that you need to do your job better, grow your career, and strengthen our field.

More questions? Please e-mail Gina Warner: gwarner@naaweb.org

Ready to apply? Click here.

 

AfterSchool Today Reader Advisory Panel

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Thank you for your interest in joining the Afterschool Today Reader Advisory Panel!

For FAQs about the responsibilities with this role, please click here.

 

Virtual Convention Workshops

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Experiences, environments and engagement are at the core of positive youth development. Afterschool professionals with competency in these areas run the quality programs that research shows benefit youth. Leaders and their teams should join NAA’s 2018 Virtual Convention featuring experts from the NAA Community (including top rated workshop presenters from the in-person convention) to become inspired, connected, and equipped to provide valuable opportunities for young people.

All workshops target NAA Core Knowledge and Competencies Content Areas 1-6, Levels 1 - 3.

Training certificates are awarded for eight hours of participation in the Virtual Convention which included the following content. Participation includes interaction with presentation + videos, hands-on activities, reflection, planning, and sharing.

Workshops:

Safe Havens – Integrating Trauma-Informed Care
Kirk Lowis, Portage Community Center

Research suggests that nearly 60 percent of youth in the U.S. are exposed to a traumatic event each year.Join us as we learn ways to engage young people by creating safe and supportive environments with the goal of helping youth thrive in the face of adversity.

How to Meaningfully Address Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Jimena Quiroga Hopkins, Development Without Limits

For programs to truly serve the needs of all young people, it is important to address equity, diversity, and inclusion intentionally and in a meaningful way. In this workshop, we will delve deeper into what it takes to address the three spheres of change when it comes to doing equity, diversity, and inclusion work – people, policies, and practices. You’ll gain strategies and tools for moving this work forward in your organizations and programs.

Afterschool Tech Toolkit
Jennifer Brady, Development Without Limits

Afterschool programs have long been known as a solution to support students and families through positive relationships with adults and peers. With the right professional development, afterschool professionals can help students actively navigate technology to create deep learning experiences and develop digital citizenship and responsibility in a safe, facilitated setting. Afterschool professionals are skilled at using a wide range of tools to build relationships, set high expectations and ensure youth experience all kinds of age-appropriate opportunities – with the Afterschool Tech Toolkit you’ll be able to confidently use technology to help students thrive.

Reframing Behavior Management
Katherine Gopie and Jennifer Jones, Prime Time Palm Beach County

Do you struggle with managing challenging behaviors of the youth in your program? Would you like to learn a way to facilitate youths’ self-management skills when they misbehave? This training shows you how to approach all youth behavior as opportunities to learn responsibility, emotion management, and problem-solving skills. Walk away with practical strategies you can use immediately!

Bringing Social and Emotional Learning to Life through Healthy Eating and Physical Activity
Daniel Hatcher, Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Interested in increasing the quality of physical activity for youth through inclusive program activities that encourage relationship building? Looking for fun family engagement activities that combine cooperation and compassion with nutrition education? Join this interactive workshop and you’ll leave with simple (and budget-friendly) resources for family engagement and program activities with these goals in mind. Quality afterschool is healthy afterschool!

Giving Youth More Voice and Choice
Perrin Chick, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance

Join us to learn essential STEM facilitation skills. Reflect on your practice and learn ways to increase the youth voice within your program. The more students have the opportunity to talk through STEM challenges within afterschool programs and take on leadership roles, the more inclined they will be to pursue STEM careers and act as agents of change within communities. Participants will also learn how virtual professional learning communities and peer coaching can increase camaraderie and improve practice.

Helping Youth Develop Coping Skills
Heather Wojciuch, Kids Included Together (KIT)

Have you ever wondered why some youth seem to bounce back from stress easier than others? Youth learn to bounce back or cope at varying levels, and through social-emotional experiences. Youth face many social demands during their school day and during out-of-school time such as following a routine, responding to social cues, communicating with others, and making appropriate choices. Many times, youth do not have the skills necessary to handle these stressors and require adult assistance to find a solution. Participants will learn new tools and strategies to teach youth how to cope and become more resilient during stressful times. As a result, youth are better able to self-regulate, become self-aware, build relationships skills, and make better decisions.

Social Emotional and Mindful Learning in Afterschool
Jaime Garcia, Extend-a-Care for Kids

How much time do you spend helping young people understand their emotions, recognizing a friend’s perspective, resolving conflict in a positive way, and helping them make safe choices? Discover the why and how of bringing social emotional learning (SEL) to your program. Create peace paths, cool down areas, and embrace group meeting times to give kids a better chance of understanding themselves and building relationships with others.

Keynotes:

ErikaPetrelli KeynoteErika Petrelli
Senior Vice President of Leadership Development, The Leadership Program

Erika Petrelli is the senior vice president of leadership development (and self-declared minister of mischief) for The Leadership Program, an organization dedicated to helping individuals discover, and step into, their own brand of leadership to positively change their lives and communities. At The Leadership Program, Erika oversees the support the development of over 200 employees, the creation of new and evolving content and curriculum, and the implementation of services throughout the country.

With a Master’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University, Erika has been in the field of teaching and training for more than 15 years and nurtures the individual leadership spirit in students and adults across the country, through trainings, coaching, and writing. She blogs weekly, and is the author of the interactive journal On Wings & Whimsy: Thoughts on Finding the Extraordinary Within the Ordinary.

 

ByronGarrett KeynoteByron Garrett
Chairman, National Family Engagement Alliance

Byron Garett is chairman of the National Family Engagement Alliance (NFEA), a non-profit dedicated to transforming education through meaningful family engagement. He also serves as the director for educational leadership and policy at Microsoft, and is a consulting author for Scholastic. Throughout his career, Byron has been a visionary agent of change promoting the idea that everyone has an obligation and opportunity to serve the best interests of our nation’s most precious resource – children. Byron is a Huffington Post blogger and lead strategist NBC News’ Education Nation. As the former CEO of the National Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), Byron has a unique combination of experience from both the non-profit and governmental sectors. He served as National Program Leader for the National 4-H Headquarters at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the program’s seven million participants and 90,000 clubs. While at USDA he was appointed by The White House as co-convener of the Helping America’s Youth initiative, an interagency effort to address challenges facing youth and to promote successful solutions. Byron is the author of The ABC’s of Life, a guide for adolescents and adults alike to take ownership of their lives and work toward excellence and success, even when life’s inevitable obstacles arise, and Greatness on the Inside, a children’s book that counteracts the limiting messages projected at children by today's media-driven world in this beautifully illustrated, uplifting book for children of all ages.

 

GinaWarner KeynoteGina Warner
President & CEO, National AfterSchool Association

Gina Warner is president and CEO of the National AfterSchool Alliance. Gina began her afterschool career as a teen in 4-H programs in rural Alabama, and has continued to work at the intersection of education, youth development, public policy, and nonpro t leadership throughout her career. She relies on her experience as a classroom teacher, an attorney, a U.S. Senate staffer, and a citywide out-of-school time leader to guide her work. As the leader of NAA, Gina works to meet the needs of both emerging and experienced afterschool professionals through enhanced training and development, increased communication, outreach, and membership engagement.

 

CLICK HERE TO LOGIN/REGISTER

 

 

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Exhibitor Workshop Proposals

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We host a small number of workshops by our Exhibitors that do allow product pitches, demos, and other sales-specific content that we do not allow in our regular workshops. Our Exhibitor Call for Proposals closed on December 17 and we've received more submissions than ever before. We are reading through your proposals and will be back in touch on January 8.


Exhibitor Call for Proposals Key Dates
Open Call for Proposals (CFP) July 22
CFP Informational Webinar July 22
Close Call for Proposals December 17
Notification of Acceptance January 8
Confirmation Deadline January 15
Registration Deadline January 15
Presenter Prep Webinar #1 Friday, January 22, 1:00pm EST/10:00am PST - Register now.
Presenter Prep Webinar #2 Friday, February 26, 1:00pm EST/10:00am PST - Register now.

 

Tools & Techniques for Effectively Collecting Fees

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Free webinar sponsored by EZ-CARE

Date: Thursday, June 25th, 1:00 PM EDT

Many before and after school programs are adopting new technologies designed to streamline billing and payment processing, reduce bad debt, and increase the speed of payment collection. This 30 minute webinar will share real-life success stories and educate you about how integrated electronic payments can do the following for your program:

  • Improve cash flow
  • Encourage immediate payments
  • Reduce late payment collection costs
  • Better security and control of funds
  • Less administrative work and paperwork

 Registration is now closed.

 

 

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