Learning Goals Need To Be Everywhere!

Between the books I've been reading and the webinars I'm attending, one thing has come through loud and clear.  It is important to do more than just post learning goals on the board.  It is important to do more than just have students write them down in their notebooks.  

As we all know, learning goals are the ideas or concepts we want our students to learn in each section.  We usually phrase them as something like "Students will be able to" followed by the goal.  We might also include success criteria for each goal so students can determine if they've learned the material and reached the goal.

When I went to college to become a teacher, we included learning goals in our lesson plans but nowhere else.  Many years later, I was instructed to write the goals on the boards as "I can" statements for students but that was about it.  Then I read a teacher needs to create success criteria so the students can determine if they mastered the material. Recently, I learned it is important to revisit the goals on a regular basis.

Furthermore, one should highlight learning goals on a regular basis such as listing the part of the learning goal being covered by the current lesson, or at the end of the direct instruction, or as part of the introduction to an activity or as part of the homework.  For homework, identify the learning goal associated with each problem.

If you use choice boards, it is important to list both the learning goals and success criteria at the top and identify which activity is associated with each goal so students are aware that every choice is going to help students meet the learning goal. 

You may be wondering why one should emphasize the use of learning targets throughout a lesson.  The idea is for students to use the learning goal as a guide to help with understanding the lesson itself.  The learning target identifies the important ideas within a topic and students won't know what they are unless they are told.  When students are reminded of the learning goals throughout the unit or section, they know where they are headed in their learning.

In addition, learning goals guide students and allow them the opportunity to see where they started and help them gauge how far they've moved towards the goal.  It allows them to determine if they've met the goal, and it helps them take ownership of their learning.  The constant reminders also help students answer the question "What are you studying" or "What are you learning". 

So overall, learning goals provide goals for students and by revisiting them on a regular basis, students can see how well they are meeting the goals and learning the material.  Since learning goals establish a purpose for the lesson, it helps prime students to learn new material and increase their learning because the goals provide a set of expectations.

Now, I'm working on reminding students of the goals by asking students to read the statements and comment on how they related to what they learned the day before, or have them connect the goals with what they already learned in an earlier section, or I ask them what they can tell me about the material we covered so far in regard to the goals.  I just have to start connecting the goals with the activities.  I am learning.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.