Learning Targets: Helping Students Hit the Mark

As we are working on answering the question "What do we want students to learn?", it is important to have a shared vocabulary when talking about the goals that we have for student learning. 

Standards vs. Learning Targets

Statements about what students should know and be able to do are written at a variety of different levels of "grain size." Grain size refers to how much or how little information and skill is included in the statement of the learning objective. National or state standards, such as the Common Core State Standards or the Next Generation Science Standards, are examples of large grain size objectives; they are written for teachers and typically encompass significant instructional outcomes that must be developed over time. Learning targets are small grain size objectives and are derived from the standards through an unwrapping process. Written in student-friendly language, they are statements of short term goals, typically outlining what the students should know or be able to do by the end of today's lesson.

Why Use Learning Targets?

There is a large body of research that indicates that when students are clear about the learning target (the goal statement that describes the intended learning) they perform significantly better than students who are given goals that focus on task completion. According to Rick Stiggins, "Students can hit any target they can see that holds still for them." In addition, when students are aware of what the learning targets are, they are better able to reflect on their learning and to assess their own growth. 

Learn More

Click here for real SAS examples!

• Watch this 5 minute video which features examples of Puxi HS teachers sharing learning targets with their students.
• View this presentation from Newport Independent Schools. It provides a nice overview with clear visuals explaining what learning targets are and specific examples from different content areas. 
• Read "Knowing Your Learning Target", a short, informational article from Educational Leadership.
• Talk with your instructional coach to get individualized support.

Innovative Discussion Format

Last week, Year 2 Innovation Institute students participated in a cross-curricular collaborative discussion, during which they were expected to reference texts from both their American Literature and their AP US History classes. Tiffany Kelley and Katie Elliott combined their 1B classes so that students could hear a wide range of voices and perspectives in a conversation focused around four guiding questions:

1. How are ecosystems and human society interdependent?
2. What does it mean to be safe in Colonial America?
3. What types of games do societies play?
4. How do power dynamics influence individual and collective action?

Upon entering the classroom students were randomly assigned to be in one of two groups. The fifteen students in the green group started in the inner circle and had approximately 30 minutes to discuss the first two guiding questions. The yellow group began in the outside circle, and each student was assigned to one of three smaller groups. These groups engaged in an online Skype chat that focused on the same two questions, and they also referred to the content and dynamics of the discussion happening in the inner circle. The online format provided an archived record of each student’s participation, allowing the instructors to primarily focus on recording notes about the inner circle students’ comments, questions, clarifications and references to the text. These two pieces of evidence enabled Tiffany and Katie to provide students with individualized feedback about their strengths and where they need to improve.

About halfway through the period, the yellow group moved to the inside circle for their face-to-face discussion of questions 3 and 4. In order to ensure more equitable participation from each individual (an issue that had surfaced in the green group’s discussion), the yellow group decided that they should raise their hands if they wanted to respond to the person speaking, and the current speaker would then call on someone, making an effort to distribute opportunities for participation equitably.

The concurrent online discussion was something that Tiffany had experimented with last year. “As an introvert, I am very interested in exploring ways of engaging all students, not just those most comfortable with sharing ideas aloud,” she says. “Last year I tried using Skype in the classroom, with small groups on Skype having a conversation where they could not only volley ideas digitally but also respond to the ideas being shared orally. This created more depth in our class discussions – as well as a bit of frustration. If the Skype group is too big, ideas are lost. Some students have a hard time listening to the inner, oral discussion and carrying on a digital discussion at the same time. Katie and I tried to use Skype to engage such a large group of students – some students liked it and others didn’t, so we will be refining ways of engaging all students as we continue to team teach and integrate our disciplines.”

Overall, Tiffany and Katie felt that the students did well with this format.  Reflecting on the experience, Katie said, “I was happy with the connections they were making, but felt that some students needed to work on using detailed evidence to support their opinions.” As part of their homework, students also reflected on their part in the discussion in preparation for a debrief of the entire process, which took place during the following class meeting. At that point, they also received individualized formative feedback on the amount and quality of their contributions to the conversation, so that they know what they did well and what they need to work on for the next formal discussion.

Using Twitter for Learning

Six PxHS staff members met at lunch today to explore using Twitter as a learning tool. Sascha, who has been using Twitter for about two years, walked new users through some of the basic features and demonstrated how to use a Twitter client like TweetDeck to organize various feeds on interesting topics using popular hashtags. Instructional Coach Susan Payne shared the following resources, which also include ideas for how to use Twitter in the classroom. We plan to do another session on September 11, so mark your calendars for 1:00 if you would like to jump on the Twitter bandwagon. If that time doesn't work for you, feel free to drop by and I would be happy to give you a personal tutorial.

See this link for an overview of nuts and bolts/how to use Twitter for your own professional learning. Click here for a list of useful hashtags.

A Sampling of Classroom Ideas:

7 Ideas for Using Twitter in the Classroom – Things you could try right away!

30 Innovative Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom

35 Interesting Ways to Use Twitter in The Classroom  (various content areas represented)