CE Sneak Peak 10.17.16
Weekly Focus Newsletter
Classroom Instruction that Works - Setting Objectives
Monday begins our 2nd nine weeks of the year. It's hard to believe we have completed one quarter of our school year! Over the past nine weeks, we have visited many classrooms and planning sessions. We have attended and facilitated many meetings, professional development, and instructional root causes. From this we have asked those of you to assist in areas of focus for our campus. We have identified our needs as a strong tier 1 instruction, writing, and focused interventions. We will concentrate on these focus areas through differentiation and higher order questioning. An important part of these focus areas is evaluating our learning objectives and how they are displayed and communicated in our classrooms. In Classroom Instruction that Works (2nd Edition), Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, and Stone (2012) defines setting objectives as the process of establishing a direction to guide learning.
When we communicate objectives for student learning, students can easily internalize the connections between what they are doing in class and what they are supposed to learn. They can gauge their starting point in relation to the learning objectives and determine what they need to pay attention to and where they might need help from the you, the teacher, or others. Previous studies related to setting objectives emphasize the importance of supporting students as they self-select learning targets, self-monitor their progress, and self-assess their development (Glaser & Brunstein, 2007; Mooney, Ryan, Uhing, Reid, & Epstein, 2005). This is a research based practice we are working towards on our campus.
The authors of the book and research identify four recommendations for setting objectives in the classroom:
1) Set learning objectives that are specific but not restrictive.
- 2) Communicate the learning objectives to students and parents.
- 3) Connect the learning objectives to previous and future learning.
- 4) Engage students in setting personal learning objectives.
Over the next few weeks the sneak peak topic and PLC discussion will focus on how we set our objectives in the classroom for students by breaking down each of these components. We will also look at lesson plans to see where we fall as a campus, subject, and grade level.
Below are a few questions to consider:
Are our learning objectives specific or restrictive?
Are we substituting learning activities as learning objectives?
Do our learning objectives allow us to determine what students must know, understand, and be able to do?
Do our students authentically understand what they must know, understand, or be able to do?
Ms. Gonzalez and I appreciate your assistance in our quest for "Gold" this year. Bring on the second nine weeks!
Mrs. Young
Flash Back Friday
Fall Book Fair
Flash Back Friday
Weekly CE Student Attendance Rate - 97.89%
PLC This Week
- Items to bring to PLC: PLC data binder; student data forms; Lesson plans for current unit
- We will provide: Grade level field guides, Academic Vocabulary, Student Learning Reports (3rd - 5th)
We appreciate our custodians!
Ready, Ok!
Hispanic Heritage Potluck
Parent Conference Day
Paraprofessionals report from 9:30 - 6:00 pm
Teachers - please don't forget to share ISIP, DRA, TTM, snapshot and 9 weeks assessment info with parents.