In a post (or current) COVID educational environment, we – educators- are being handed an opportunity. Now, when I say this, I am not referring to the artifact forged in Middle Earth, rather, a conscious evolution in teaching and learning that can begin to put students at the forefront of their own learning. Hybrid, distance, and combined- yet distanced, students and teachers are not experiencing their learning in the same way that they did post lock down. I have been so encouraged by the brave faculty and staff that not only stood their ground, but created opportunities for students that can be built upon to fundamentally change how we lead, learn, and ultimately grow alongside students. Let’s face facts, teachers are incredibly creative (have you SEEN the Pinterest bulletin board contests?) but not overly flexible. Full disclosure- I am terrible at bulletin boards, but luckily, that is not the focus of this post.
I would like to focus on our “why.” Not the “why” of how you became a teacher, found your calling, or stay in the business. Rather, this “why” is going to focus on why we create curriculum in the ways that we do, why we identify certain transferable skills, and why it matters for our students.
My own “why” for these questions stems from a harsh realization that I had about five years ago. After 20 years of classroom experience, I was feeling pretty expert in my field, I had a moment of clarity. I was failing my students! Not failing to do my best, but failing at providing clarity, transparency, and meeting the diverse needs of my students. In needing to feel that I was orchestrating dynamic lessons and activities, I had taken the individuality away, the voice and choice, and the ownership of learning away from my students. It was sobering, full stop. Thus began my quest to overhaul what I do, how I do it, and put the students in a position where they have more control over their learning.
To begin, I would like to ask you to consider why you choose your methods of teaching and learning for students? To be very clear, I believe that teachers are the experts, and know their specific students better than anyone else. You work to develop relationships, and should be given autonomy in how you meet the educational needs of your learners. With that said, I am hoping to challenge your thinking around why you address the needs of learners in the way that you do. This topic has many branches, but I want to focus on the very base of curriculum – Learning Targets and objectives. Essential Learning Outcomes, goals, and focus standards- you can call them whatever you like, but they boil down to the same thing.
What should students know and be able to demonstrate as a unit of study progresses?
How are these determined? Do your targets provide transparency for students and parents?
Is this common language being used on your teams and in your Professional Learning Communities?
Let’s drill down a bit for each of these. You are busy, with top down initiatives and goals that you did not choose. Educators make over 3,500 decisions a day, which is why I can never decide what I want for dinner. It is just one too many options for a day. The quick and easy preparation of Learning Targets is key for student success. I have discovered that, when students have clear Targets and Transferable Skills that are referenced and assessed continually, they are less likely to ask the dreaded “why” are we learning this? With respect for your busy schedules, I posit that this process can be quick, streamlining your curriculum, allowing you to eliminate what does not serve you, concurrently leveling the curricular field for student learning.
What should students know and demonstrate?
This question is the philosophical bedrock for teaching and learning. The identification of these Learning Targets sets the stage for UBD lessons, instructional strategies, assessments, and student opportunities to track progress towards meeting the targets. Sprinkle in some Transferable Skills that happen across the curriculum, and you now have yourself a party!
As I prepare for the upcoming school year, our first unit will delve into Chemistry. As a 7th grade Science educator, I have students that cover the entire spectrum when it comes to ability, developmental stages, and learning styles. Transparency and clarity are key, because students can strive for a known. The old” shot in the dark” and “maybe I’ll hit what the teacher wants to see needs to go the way of the Dodo. As a track coach, you can’t just say “run” or “jump” (well, you can but yuck!) You set targets, track progress, and continually seek to develop individual athletes that are pushing towards a standard.
The beauty and curse of the NGSS is that the standards are written with flexibility and creativity in mind. The targets can be addressed in a way that meets the standard and the needs of students. I often have students read the standard as written below, asking them what they think that they are supposed to learn. You can imagine the shrugs, half answers, flippant attempts to go for the laugh, and the soft “thump” of a child’s forehead as it hits the tabletop, signifying that they are now disengaging from the the day.
See? Failing the majority of students from moment one. Two steps behind before the standard is established.
The NGSS Standard for the first unit is written as-
| MS-PS1-1. | Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures. |
|---|
Behind conscious of your time, the goal for Learning Targets should follow the verbs in the standard.
- The verbs in this phrase are ____________ and ____________.
- What will you develop?
3. What will you describe?
Thus, I read the initial standard out loud, then have the students dissect the verbs to determine two things.
- What actions are expected as Learning Targets?
- What products can they anticipate?
Transparency is key. It seems basic and obvious, but this starting point provides an entry for all students. From here, pre-existing knowledge can be determined with your questioning. As a group, you are creating transparency and expectation while framing the learning journey. Returning to these two verbs, you can provide exemplars, to set the idea of what meeting and exceeding the standard looks like. What IS a model? What makes a “getting there” model different from a “nailed it” model?
This is now the time to change the grain size for Learning Targets. These are your specific targets for students. These serve a number of purposes, the most important being the transparency of exactly what students should be able to model.
Another subsequent bonus of these now “known” targets is the option for personalizing formative assessment. Through a range of assessments FOR learning- not OF learning- the teacher student feedback can center upon the Target that is “getting there,” as well as celebrating those that have been met.
| Learning Targets | Completion Date | Teacher Feedback |
| 1A.I can describe the three particles that make up the atom. | ||
| 2A. I can identify locations, charges and calculate the number of subatomic particles that make up atoms. | ||
| 3A. I can explain, model, or demonstrate the difference between elements, compounds, and mixtures. | ||
| 4A. I can define ionic and covalent bonds. | ||
| 5A. I can demonstrate and explain the basic bonds that form between atoms and molecules when they interact. |
What is important to note is that these Targets have a direct relationship to the standard, as well as the goals of developing and describing models.
This process can work with both younger and older students. Once you have established these targets, display them on assignments, within your virtual classroom, in the classroom via posters or daily agendas, and refer to them daily. They can become the focus of bellringer questions, class discussions, and mini formative assessments to begin or end class. My students enjoy theorizing about the color of an atom, and whether there is something smaller than a quark.
Now when I say to refer to the Targets daily, I mean exactly that. Assignments can have the addressed Learning Target placed right after their name. Ask students, after reading the task, what Target is being addressed?
Table 1.1 from page 27 of Leaders of Their Own Learning
When students have a known target, they will work in the direction given. This work speaks to the “gameification” of learning for students. Video games give them know targets and goals, and, if given choice and voice in HOW they show understanding (addressed in a future post,) they can achieve. From there, you may differentiate for each student, adjusting assignments to best meet their needs.
For busy educators- by that, I mean ALL of us. This process may seem clunky and unnecessary at first. You know your curriculum, you know your students, and you can parse out what they do and do not know. My argument to this is that, if you are not sharing these targets, students fall back into the “what do I need to say to get the grade I want?” This instantly takes them out of learning mode and into “pleasing mode.” Worse yet, resistant learners dive deeply into the idea that school is being “done to them,” and they are just required to follow along. Neither scenario fosters a culture of learning.
Once these Targets have been identified, you can begin to place more in the hands, and minds, of students. They will become another part of your practice, and they can evolve with students. Start with one unit, using the Targets to backwards design your tasks. As you will see in subsequent posts, the results can exceed even your expectations. As stated in the beginning of the post, we are being given the opportunity to reinvent how and why we teach the way that we do. Time to be brave and rediscover our pedagogical “why.”
Mr. H's Not So Secret Classroom 