Overview

A highly effective recommended practice in early childhood education, intentional teaching enhances all children’s learning through planned instructional strategies, conversations, and activities that build on each child’s needs and interests. Now there’s an evidence-based professional development framework—the LEARN IT approach—that helps educators put intentional teaching into action in their classrooms. Developed by the authors, LEARN IT strengthens teaching in five steps: Learning new knowledge and skills, Enacting knowledge and skills in the classroom, Assessing the effectiveness of instructional interactions, Reflecting on and revising practices based on the assessment, and Networking with colleagues and mentors. Through unique professional development activities that build skills through group meetings and individual mentoring sessions, teachers will master essential elements of intentional teaching and apply their new knowledge in the classroom. Practical, flexible, and supportive, this proven plan for professional development will help schools make lasting gains in teacher effectiveness and boost learning outcomes for all young children. Benefits of LEARN IT: • Demystifies key elements of intentional teaching. Educators will discover how to facilitate play, include each child, engage in culturally responsive practice, assess diverse children, and link assessment with curriculum and instruction. • Engages teachers with effective activities. Facilitated professional development activities build teachers’ skills through group meetings, one-to-one sessions between educators and mentors, and follow-up small-group meetings. • Ensures lasting improvements. Going far beyond one-time teacher trainings, the authors’ ongoing LEARN IT approach ensures that educators retain new skills and strategies and apply them in their everyday work. • Evidence-based and field-tested. LEARN IT was developed and tested for effectiveness during a multiyear research project with Head Start teachers. • Fits a variety of professional development needs. LEARN IT can be used with larger or smaller groups of teachers, and activities are flexible and adaptable.

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9781598579673

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"""This book provides a much-needed, research-based model of early childhood professional development to achieve intentional teaching--the foundation of developmentally appropriate practice. Weaving the latest research on adult learning and child development, the LEARN IT model is a major step toward achieving the primary goal of developmentally appropriate practice--all children reaching their full potential."" --Sue Bredekamp, Ph.D."

This book provides a much-needed, research-based model of early childhood professional development to achieve intentional teaching--the foundation of developmentally appropriate practice. Weaving the latest research on adult learning and child development, the LEARN IT model is a major step toward achieving the primary goal of developmentally appropriate practice--all children reaching their full potential. --Sue Bredekamp, Ph.D.

Author Information

M. Susan Burns, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, George Mason University, Graduate School of Education, MS 4B3, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, Virginia 22030. Dr. Burns is Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at George Mason University. Her research centers on the development and learning of young children (birth through Grade 3). Her work includes all children: those with diverse abilities (children with disabilities), those living in poverty, and those from multilingual and multicultural backgrounds. Of particular interest to Dr. Burns are language and early literacy development. She has numerous publications presenting her research in these areas. A former employee at the National Research Council, she is a coeditor of Eager to Learn: Educating Our Preschoolers, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, and Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success, all publications of the National Academy Press of the National Academies of Science. She earned her Ph.D. degree in psychology at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University.

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