"Why do you think I want you to do this?" one teacher asked her students.
It was a well-designed and engaging lesson. Despite the fact that the teacher had a clear objective in mind, the students concluded that she wanted to see if they were paying attention. I can't help but think of all of the learning time lost as my students sat asking themselves, "What's the point?" or thinking that the point was about following directions, paying attention or anything other learning.
I recently read a wonderful article in ASCD about learning targets. The authors make the analogy that learning targets are to the learner what the GPS is to the driver.
Learning targets identify the ending point and help us make sure we're headed in the right direction. This is more than an objective posted on the board. A learning target answers the question "What are students going to be able to do at the end of the next 60 or so minutes?" and translates that goal into kid-friendly language. I can... statements make learning personal.
If we want engaged, motivated learners, it's got to be personal. That's the point.
1 comments:
This is a great point. I actually have a large, physical target in my room with a green center, yellow middle, and red outer ring. The kids know precisely what skill we're working on (I use it with my two math classes) and they have a magnet with their class number on it. As the unit progresses, they move their magnet to show their confidence with the target. Maybe they feel really great about "Converting fractions to decimals" but not so hot about "Adding with Unlike Denominators" the target allows them to both self-monitor, and let me know who needs extra support.
It's really fun to take pictures as the unit moves on and see how the target changes over time as more kids become proficient with the skill.
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