The Intentional Teacher

Choosing the Best Strategies to Support Young Children’s Learning

Morning Objectives

Participants will be able to: • Define the term

Intentional Teacher

• Explain the difference between

adult guided

&

child-guided

learning. • Describe best intentional teaching practices.

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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

You’ve just found out that Oprah Winfrey has selected your home to be featured on her show. She’s coming to dinner tomorrow and it will be taped for her show. You have 15 minutes to plan the menu.

What’s for dinner?

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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

You’ve just come home late from a very long, hard day at work. Your kids are at their grandparents, your spouse is away on a business trip and it’s just you to cook for. What’s for dinner?

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What was the difference in the two meal planning activities?

Which meal planning activity was intentional?

What does it mean to be

intentional

??

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What does it mean to be an

Intentional Teacher

?

In your table groups, come up with a working definition of the above term that you all agree on. Write it on your chart paper and post it in the room.

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Components of an Intentional Teacher.....

• One who acts with specific outcomes or goals in mind for children’s learning.

• One who integrates and promotes meaningful learning in both academic & traditional domains .

• One who uses strategies that purposefully challenges, scaffolds and extends children’s learning.

• One who understands, both child-guided & adult guided experiences are important in early childhood settings.

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 Vocabulary  Concepts  Skills

Content

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Child–guided / Adult-guided

• Proceeds primarily along the lines of children’s interests and actions, with strategic teacher support.

• It is NOT entirely child controlled with the teacher being passive.

• Proceeds primarily along the lines of the teacher's goal, but is also shaped by the children’s active engagement.

• It is NOT entirely adult controlled with the children being passive.

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Intentional Teaching

• Regardless of the content evident in the play, there are times to choose between adult guided and child-guided strategies.

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What do Intentional Teachers Do?

In your table groups, decide which situation proceeds along the lines of

Supporting Child-Guided Experiences

or

Employing Adult-Guided Experiences

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Check Your Work The Intentional Teacher

(page 129)

 Can you think of some examples in your own classrooms of when to support child-guided experiences?

 Can you think of some examples in your classrooms of when you can employ adult guided experiences? 12

Content-Dependent Intentional Teaching

• There is some content that primarily emerges from child-guided experiences and from adult-guided experiences.

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What Do Intentional Teachers Do?

Working in table groups, for each example in your handout, decide: • Whether children learn primarily through child-guided or adult-guided experiences.

• Why learning proceeds in this way.

• What intentional teachers can do to promote learning these concepts and skills.

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Answers

A= Adult-guided C= Child-guided 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 A C A C A C A C 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 C C A C A C A

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New Definition of Intentional Teaching

• Knowing what

situation

or adult-guided strategies.

calls for child-guided • Knowing what

content

(vocabulary, concepts, and skills) is learned primarily through child guided or through adult-guided experiences.

• Thoughtfully providing the appropriate scaffolding that promotes both types of learning in

all

situations and content areas.

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What are “Best Practices” Principles?

• Structuring the Physical Environment • Scheduling the Program day • Interacting with children • Building relationships with Families • Assessing children’s development

Considering

and

using

these best practices will help administrators and teachers create an early childhood program in which adults and children are

partners in the learning process.

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What do you Know about Best Practice?

• With your group, move around the room, recording everything you know about the five best practices principles on the chart paper.

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Reviewing “Best Practices” Principles

Structuring the physical learning environment: • Provide a safe & healthy indoor & outdoor environment.

• Organize the space in interest areas or centers.

• Supply plentiful and diverse equipment & materials.

• Display work created by and of interest to children.

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Reviewing “Best Practices” Principles

Scheduling the program day: • Establish a consistent yet a flexible daily routine • Allow for a variety of types of activities • Use a variety of groupings (individual, small, and large group) • Allow just enough time for each type of activity 20

Reviewing “Best Practices” Principles

Interacting with children: • Meet basic physical needs.

• Create a warm & caring atmosphere.

• Encourage & support language & communication.

• Encourage initiative.

• Introduce information and model skills.

• Acknowledge children’s activities & accomplishments.

• Support peer interactions.

• Encourage independent problem solving.

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Reviewing “Best Practices” Principles

Building relationships with families • Exchange information about the curriculum and how it promotes children’s development.

• Provide information about how to extend learning at home.

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Reviewing “Best Practices” Principles

Assessing children’s development: • Use assessment results to plan for individual children and the whole group as a whole.

• Use assessment results to identify areas for professional development.

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Putting It All Together

•

Best Practices

&

Intentional Teaching

work..

They work in

synergy

. Synergy can be defined as the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. 24

Putting It All Together

The mission of the in life.

Intentional Teacher

is to ensure that children acquire the knowledge & skills they need in school and To fulfill this mission, intentional teachers conscientiously address learning.

every area of early

Thinking about My Practice

Find a partner from another table. • Talk to each other about one content area where you will be providing support that is more adult-guided than you have practiced before, and your rationale for doing so.

• Discuss one area of Best Practice that you would like to improve upon.

• Discuss one area of Best Practice where you feel you are doing well.

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Adult-guided

Applying it to HighScope

Creative Social Emotional Intellectual Physical

Creative Represenation Music & Movement Initiative, Social Relations Language & Literacy, Mathematics and Science

Implementation Plan

Think about what we discussed this morning. Record thoughts about each topic in the appropriate square.

Supporting child-guided learning experiences Supporting adult-guided learning experiences Implementing best practices What I can do to become a more

Intentional Teacher

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