Learning Targets Ch 1-3
Moving through the text together!
Overview
Introduction
Ch 1 Learning Targets: A Theory of Action
"The most effective teaching and the most meaningful student learning happen when teachers design the right learning target for today's lesson and use it along with their students to aim for and assess understanding." pg 9
LT are student friendly descriptions of what your student intend to learn or accomplish in a single lesson.
Nine Action Points pg 12 - These are the heart and soul of why we should use LT.
The LT guides everything a teacher does to set the students up for success.
"A lesson should never ask students to do more of the same." pg 17 Keep your lessons intention and specific to the long-term goal for student success.
What is the three part challenge on pages 19-20? How does this type of thinking impact you?
"Observing isn't the same is seeing." pg 26 What evidence do you have that your students have mastered the LT?
Ch 2 How to Design Learning Targets
There are 4 steps to designing the LT. pg 30-35 These are the heart and soul of writing LTs for your students. How will we share this information with our staff? How will it translate into the classroom and impact student learning?
A 6th grade example is listed on pg 38-39. Did you notice the language used in stating the LT? "We will..." Hopefully that sounds familiar!
Ch 3 Sharing Learning Targets with Students
Sharing the LT is where we move beyond the compliance of simply stating or writing it on the board for students to see. What are some strategies teachers can employ to share the LT in a way that is meaningful to students?
Increase the degree of challenge! Our LT should be a mode for us to set short-term goals for students that will ultimately take them to the long-term outcomes...sustained student achievement.
The graphic on pg 47 showcases the laser-like focus we should have with the LTs.
Read the 2nd paragraph on pg 48 regarding "I can" statements. We have used these in our math dept with great success. How could these be implemented in the classroom?
What are the 4 steps to unpacking the LT? pg 51-52
Pages 54 and beyond takes us to the topic of using rubrics to connect LT and success criteria. There should be some bells going off in your head....this is a direct correlation to the SBBB. How do our students know when they have met the LT? What is the evidence that supports it?
"Homework is not a performance of understanding and we shouldn't treat it as such." pg 58 What does this mean for your dept?