Presented by Dr. Angela Searcy, Author, Educational Consultant, and Adjunct Faculty, Erikson Institute
Moderated by Raven Griffin, Marketing Manager, Kaplan Early Learning Company

Sponsored by Kaplan Early Learning Company

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What do you think of when you imagine a teachers’ lounge? These spaces of camaraderie, collaboration, and connectedness hold value to educators but they can also hold bias. Teachers are human, too, and we all hold biases whether we recognize them or not. This implicit bias isn’t inherently negative, in fact, it’s simply a human adaptation that simplifies information and helps your brain make quick associations and decisions. However, when left unchallenged, implicit bias has the potential to evolve into prejudice and explicit bias in the classroom, potentially harming the children in your care. Examining your implicit bias isn’t easy, but the benefits are well worth the discomfort, as educators will learn to analyze and filter their own internal monologues and respond with neutrality when the possibility of bias arises.

In this edWebinar, Dr. Angela Searcy challenges educators to stop, reflect on their own implicit biases, and grow so they can better understand and serve children exhibiting challenging behaviors within their classroom. This recorded edWebinar will equip early childhood educators with the self-reflective tools needed to analyze conversations that are often heard in the teachers’ lounge by:

• Examining the origins of implicit bias in the brain
• Allowing attendees to reflect on everyday conversations and recognize potentially biased statements
• Encouraging attendees to utilize strategies that will help them ask filtering questions, consider opposing ideas, and respond with neutrality

This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to teachers, librarians, and school and district leaders of the preK through elementary levels.

About the Presenter

Dr. Angela Searcy is an educational consultant and seminar leader at Erikson Institute and the owner and founder of Simple Solutions Educational Services, a professional development company. She holds a B.A. in English and secondary education, an M.S. in early childhood development from Erikson Institute, and a doctorate in education. Her research revolves around brain-based learning as assessed by The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (or CLASS) and its correlation to aggressive behaviors in Head Start Preschool Classrooms. An educator since 1990, Dr. Searcy has experience as a teacher at all levels of education and as a development therapist through the early intervention system of Illinois. Dr. Searcy is also an adjunct instructor at Erikson Institute, a professional development provider for Teaching Strategies, LLC, and the Bureau of Education and Research, an affiliate trainer for Teachstone, and the author of Push Past It! A Positive Approach to Challenging Classroom Behaviors. A former neuro-developmental specialist, Dr. Searcy has specialized training in neuroscience and is a candidate in Erikson Institute’s Infant Mental Health Certificate Program.

About the Moderator

Raven Griffin is a Classroom Management for Early Learning edWebinar and community host. Raven is the marketing manager for Kaplan Early Learning Company with a passion for early education and advocacy.

Closed captioning will be added to the recording within 2 weeks of the live presentation.

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