This program will equip you with three innovative approaches to managing challenging behaviors in the classroom. Hone your classroom management skills with us!

Are you looking for a change in your classroom? Do you want to have more positive engagement with your students? Would you like a few new tools to add to your teacher toolbelt?

NHSA’s unique Classroom Management Credential will equip you with three innovative approaches to managing challenging behaviors in the classroom. Not only will you be learning from experts in engaging early learners, but you’ll also be in a cohort with other like-minded teachers who are dedicated to making a difference for children.

We will cover strategies to:

✓ Use movement to increase focus
✓ Make transitions a meaningful part of your day
✓ Inspire the desire to behave well

After completing this program, you will be the go-to person in your program for advice on classroom management! You will learn ways to mitigate challenging behaviors without resorting to cumbersome rules and consequences and be ready to share your new skills with your colleagues.

To earn this certificate, learners will complete the following three courses:

• Music and Movement Essentials (15 PD Hrs)
• Effective Transitions Essentials (15 PD Hrs)
• Trust First Essentials (15 PD Hrs)

Course information:

• Cohorts run twice a year: September-November and February-April
• Course Level: Intermediate
• Requirements/Prerequisites: None
• Target Audience: Instruction and Effective Practice
• Course Meeting Times: In addition to completing online modules, learners will be required to complete application exercises in their Head Start/Early Head Start classrooms and to attend live instruction sessions to successfully complete each course.
  • Spring 2026
    ALL INSTRUCTORS 5-6pm EST
    2/10 – INTRODUCTION TO THE CREDENTIAL
    Trust First – 5-6PM EST
    2/17
    3/17
    4/21
    
    Effective Transitions – 2-3PM EST
    3/5
    3/12
    3/19
    
    Music and Movement – 2-3PM EST
    4/3
    4/10
    4/17
    Please note that all course meeting times are subject to change based on facilitator availability.
• Completion Timeline/Duration: Each course is offered twice a year.

Course includes:

• Online, self paced content
• Live instruction from instructors
• Access to a National Cohort of Peers
• 45 Hours of Course Material
• Video Content
• 12 Months of Access to Online Course
• Discussion Forums
• Digital Badge
• Certificate of Completion with Professional Development Hours

Topics / Modules

• Trust First
• Getting to know the P.I.T Stop
• Go to solution
• We love mistakes!
• A.R.F.F
• Respect and How to Teach It
• Questions – Your New Response to Everything
• Giving Permission – The Secret to Reaching Potential
• The Power of the “Good Thinker”
• Stating Your Needs
• No More Consequences
• Effective transitions Essentials
• Introduction to Creative Sound Play and the Greenfield Method
• Putting Theory into Practice: Using the Three Basic Elements of Sound
• Using Sound Sculptures for Transitions
• counting, Clapping, and Stomping
• Counting with Pitch and Duration
• Music and Movement
• Imaginative and Directed Movement
• Rhythm Sounds and Musical Instruments
• Musical Storytelling
• Class Management

Learning Objectives:

• Trust First: At the end of this course, you will have ten strategies to use in the classroom to develop strong trust with your children. These strategies will also teach the children how to build trust with adults and their peers.
• Effective Transitions: At the end of this course, learners will understand the role of active listening skills and sound play in creating social-emotional learning environments that enable children to feel safe and enjoy learning.
• Music and Movement: At the end of this course, participants will be able to select and integrate music and movement activities into daily classroom curriculum. Participants will also learn how to adapt material to engage infants and toddlers and children with disabilities.

Head Start Alignment:

This credential supports programs in meeting the 1302 Subpart C—Education and Child Development Program Services requirements of the Head Start Program Performance Standards, in which programs must “ensure teachers and other relevant staff provide responsive care, effective teaching, and an organized learning environment that promotes healthy development and children’s skill growth aligned with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five, including for children with disabilities.” This course is aligned with the ELOF: Approaches to Learning, Social and Emotional Development.

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Instructors

Nick Young

Nick Young has been sharing the joy and enrichment of interactive music and movement with children for over 30 years. Nick began his career as a preschool teacher. After witnessing the social, emotional, and educational benefits of interactive music in early childhood, Nick created The Young Music Company—a mobile music school for preschoolers that brings music into the lives of thousands of children every year. Nick has presented his dynamic music and movement workshops at hundreds of conferences, conventions, and institutions. In 2016, Nick created the PlayMotion Music music and movement curriculum and teacher training program to empower teachers to bring the magic of music and movement into their classrooms.

Hayes Greenfield

Hayes Greenfield is a New York City based producer, composer, saxophonist, filmmaker, bandleader, and educator. Hayes has recorded and produced a number of critically acclaimed albums, received awards in all of his endeavors, and played throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Hayes began developing the Greenfield Method in the early 2000s while working with special needs high school students. While at the Detroit’s Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, Hayes created a three-year pilot program for Detroit public school pre-K teachers to work with sound as part of the PNC Bank Grow Up Great early childhood education initiative.

In 2012, Hayes contacted Clancy Blair and Cybele Raver—two acclaimed developmental neuroscientists working at New York University—who immediately recognized the Greenfield Method’s potential and introduced Hayes to the award-winning Early Childhood Center at Lenox Hill NeighborHood House. Over a five year period, Hayes worked with the Center’s teachers and students to implement and codify his method.

Hayes is also the creator of Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz, an award-winning family CD, and interactive, K-12 jazz performance/workshop assembly program that has performed internationally for over 300,000 young people. His second award-winning family album, Music for a Green Planet, celebrates Green, Renewable and Sustainable Energy.

Dr. Deborah Bergeron

Dr. B served as director of the Office of Head Start from 2018-21. From 2019-21 she broadened her leadership as director of the Office of Early Childhood Development in the Administration for Children and Families. Known as “Dr. B” to former students and teachers, she spent three decades in pre-K–12 public education as a classroom teacher and school administrator. She currently serves as deputy director for Community Engagement and Innovation at the National Head Start Association.