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The Intentional Teacher
March 19, 2012
Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy, and mutual valuing.
-Rollo May
"To be 'intentional' is to act purposefully, with a goal in mind and a plan for accomplishing it. Intentional acts result from careful thought and are accompanied by consideration of their potential effects. Thus, an 'intentional teacher' aims at clearly defined learning objectives for children, employs instructional strategies likely to help children achieve the objectives, and continually assesses progress and adjusts the strategies based on that assessment. The teacher who can explain just why she is doing what she is doing is acting intentionally....
"Effective teachers are intentional with respect to many facets of the learning environment, beginning with the emotional climate they create. They deliberately select equipment and materials and put them in places where children will notice and want to use them. In planning the program day or week, intentional teachers choose which specific learning activities, contexts, and settings to use and when. And they choose when and how much time to spend on specific content areas and how to integrate them. All these teacher decisions and behaviors set the tone and substance of what happens in the classroom."
Announcing four new great resources from Exchange! Choose from:
- The Intentional Teacher: Choosing the Best Strategies for Young Children's Learning
- Growing With Nature - Supporting Whole-Child Learning in Outdoor Classrooms
- Learning Moments CD - How Infants Learn
- Learning Moments CD – Playspaces that Support Learning
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ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press, Inc. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.
CSBC
Denver, United States
03/19/2012 12:44 am
When do we encourage children to make all of these critical decisions themselves? Should not a good teacher be purposeful to the extent that she follows the children, letting them set their own goals, and helping children to create their own environments.If the teacher decides on all of the learning objectives, how do they know what the child is ready to learn and how do they help children plan their own learning? Obviously, I am not a supporter of "intentional teaching".