I think that- most of the time- I've put an up-to-date content goal on the board and mention how we will use it in class. I have not put a Language goal up very often. I think we talked about the difference between language and content goals two years ago. The MS teachers use this practice more than the HS teachers, I believe. I plan to start using a language goal as well as a social one. I believe that we (HS teachers) do not state our expectations clearly as we just assume that students know how to "be a student" by the time they are juniors and seniors. We forget that each teacher has different expectations and what we might mean by "explain" could vary from subject to subject and teacher to teacher. My personal goal is to be more explicit with the Spanish 3 and 4 students in content, language, and social goals.
I know that I got consistent with using content learning intentions the last few years I was in the classroom. What I didn't do was incorporate a language goal or identify sometimes how they were going to use the content. If I was still in the classroom, I would incorporate language standards into my elementary instruction, even in math, science, and social studies. I would also do better at clearly explaining how students would know they were successful and checking in with students along the way as to where they were at in that success.
I will you continue to use learning intentions in my classroom for the remainder of the year. In my classroom, I have a spot where I post the standards I'm teaching for the unit. Along with those standards, up on the white board, I have a section where I post: 1)What am I learning today, 2)Why am I learning this, and 3)How will I know what I've learned. Something I want to do better at is being more explicit with the success criteria, such as rubrics, so students know exactly what is expected of them. This is definitley a work in progress for me.
Three years ago, I began posting and explaining my standards and I CAN statements at the start of each class/lesson. This is my second year of using the learning intentions/Success Criteria. As Micheala does, I have these listed on my board and go through them with students each day. I feel that it forces me to make sure that I know WHAT I'm teaching is worthwhile, students know WHY they are learning something. Eighth grade students will let me know if I forget to discuss this with them. They feel as though there is a purpose for what we are doing and that is something I will continue to do.
I began putting up my standards during the lesson a couple of years ago and using I can statements. I feel it helps me make sure I am teaching what I need to, and it lets students know what they should be learning and why. I think that I will now break those down even farther. I liked it in the video when they said to break the standard down to nouns and verbs. I already did that, but what in that standard will they learn during 1 lesson that day? Then the next, and so on. I had always gone for the big standard, but sometimes it takes 4 or more lessons to get there.
I would say in some of my units the learning intentions and clarity for students is stronger than in others. (Specifically my Rhetoric Unit and "Shabanu" Unit). I would like to work towards having a consistency for students. I gathered from the video that not only is it important to be clear with learning intentions but it is also important for students to know that you're always going to lead them with intention and clarity not just 'because.'
I found it interesting that in the video they stated that learning objectives communicate the learning on the teacher side/learning intentions communicate learning to the students. I see this as my unit content learning objectives help me as a teacher understand what the students need to learn in relation to the standards. The learning intentions for the students are what we as teachers call the "I can statements". When working at the middle school our task as a teacher was to turn in weekly lesson plans that stated the standards, I cans, and the tasks the students would be performing and how we as teachers would access them. At first I dreaded this task because it was yet another thing to do. After a few weeks I began to see the importance and the usefulness of completing lesson plans in this depth. Having to think why? what? and how? the learning was going to work for the week helped me to focus on what was the most important and how the students would know what they needed to learn. This year I am not teaching at the middle school but I am still using this practice to help keep my teaching focused and on the right track. My goal for the remainder of the year is to continue to answer the following questions before I teach anything; how can I make sure students understand what they are going to be learning about; what they are going to be learning about and why; how does this relate to real life? Also, I feel I could get better at incorporating the social goals into my lessons and letting the students do more of the learning discovery. In order to accomplish this task I will need to research strategies that incorporate more student discovery and less teacher "talk".
I feel like I've definitely improved in using learning intentions with my students. On the first day of a unit, I always make sure to read and break down the standards we will be covering, the end goal, and how we will achieve it. These are posted on the wall for students to see each day. What I love most about always having the learning intentions out there is that students can never say they are just doing "busy work" - I always explain why we are doing what we do, and I think the students really appreciate that. To make sure students really see and understand the learning intentions, I'm going to set a goal to use more and a variety of "checks" along the way in our units.
Do you find that some students will say or signal that they are pretty confident with the material, or that they know what they are doing? But when they turn in the final assessment, they don't do Requirement Z because they just didn't know how to do it? I had one student do this recently. And I didn't find out until I read the self-assessment after the project had been presented and turned in. Didn't ask for help from me or project partners. I know that there are a variety of ways to check for understanding, but I know am going to be more cognizant of having students write down their doubts, sign name, turn in. That way "no one around me will know that I am having problems."
I feel I have gotten much better about using learning intentions with my preschoolers. At first, I honestly didn't think it would have an impact with them. After incorporating into the daily routine however, I was proven wrong. I don't write them on the board anywhere as they don't read but we talk continually about "why" we are doing what we are in the classroom. I have them repeat to me our goals for the day as well as goals for the individual lesson/concept/ idea we are working on. We use a lot of examples and non-examples to help guide them to know what success looks like. I have to use kid-friendly language but also try to incorporate academic vocabulary when we talk about our goals. It is very fun to hear those academic words coming from 4 & 5 year olds...they are listening!
Learning intentions are important to students in every classroom today. I feel like we have always used learning intentions, but not with the clarity that is needed to really change student engagement. I think this is a common strategy used at the start of units, however might get pushed aside as we move through units. I have tried to do a better job on a daily basis of presenting purpose for what is happening in the classroom today. From some of the examples presented in the video I do feel like I need to be even a little more detailed in this process. I think if one can get to the point of building student self-assessment before work is ever viewed by a teacher the end product is always going to be better.
While I usually have students do a self-assessment (of their own work, what went well, what they could improve, what I could improve with the project), I know think that I need to do a more formal self-assessment half-way through the project or final assessment if not a test just to make sure that all students are on track, know what they are supposed to be doing, etc. That matches your comment, Jeff, about building self-assessment before work is ever viewed by the teacher.
I feel that the most important thing I can do through out the remainder of my school year is to work on "Teacher Clarity". I find that there are times when I need to ensure my students and I are metaphorically traveling down the same road. But, because I did not make for instance state standards or clearly or I did not state the learning intention using words that they understand we are not on the same map together. My clarity is very important because I recognize that clarity has a tremendous effect on their work.
What you said about the vocabulary -academic vocabulary, in particular- is so true especially for your students. Since you wear so many hats- English teacher, history teacher, math, etc. What exactly do you mean by "illustrate," for example? Depends on which subject the student is learning.
I will continue to communicate with students utilizing "I can" statements. These are posted on the white board each day and I attempt to verbalize this to the students as well. Along with that, I will continue to express to students not only the learning standard, but what the expected outcome will be for the day itself as well as long term. I do have a rubric for each standard, but where I seem to lack is giving those to the students prior to the learning. I see the power in the students knowing and seeing what is expected ahead of time. We all appreciate that! I paused the letter writing portion of the video that showed the success criteria for the argumentative letter. I noticed that the rubric asked students to reflect on their writing, identify portions that showed x, y and z. For me, being very intentional in providing the success criteria might be a goal.
Giving the rubric at the beginning makes so much sense- students can self-regulate. With Canvas, I have usually put the rubric into the unit but it is at the end attached to the summative project/test- which I might not have published yet. I need to make a conscience effort to talk about the rubric at the beginning of the research.
I continue to use learning intentions with my TK students, mostly through verbal communication. We talk about the I Can statements that go with each lesson as well as what success does and does not look like or sound like in that lesson. I have noticed the “why” explanation of what we are working on has had a large positive impact on this group of students. I wonder if having visuals to go with my verbal I Can statements would have an impact for these students, as most of them are not yet reading I am not sure if they would be worthwhile.
I am using "I can" statements at the MS. I post the statements on the 7th and 8th grade Exploratory Art bulletin boards in the classroom. I go over the "I can" statements when introducing a unit, and explain how we are going to get to that particular standard. My rubrics are also posted on the bulletin boards. The rubric directly relates to the "I can" statements. When possible, I conference with each student about their work, and where they see themselves falling on the 4 point Standard Based grading system for each particular standard. This gives direct communication between teacher and student. I alternate written self evaluations with the conferences. I am trying to prepare my MS students for the self evaluation aspect of art, closer to what we eventually do at the HS level of self and peer critiques. Explicit direction and self reflection have increased awareness and success in my classroom.
I will continue to use learning intentions with my intervention students. I feel I have gotten better about incorporating this into each lesson. I do not have them posted but I open each lesson with the expectation for the lesson. I was surprised at how important the "why" we are doing this is. Last year I had KDG class that was working on letter sounds. They were not progressing as fast as they should have been. At one point I realized I had not let them in on the secret as to why were were doing this. Once I told them they needed to know the sounds of letters to learn to read things moved forward. I had kept it a secret as to why they needed the sounds - one should never assume students know the "why"
I wish I had been better at using learning intentions when I was in the classroom. I did find that when I was able to clearly state the intention and connect it to a standard the students were better at accomplishing the task. When students know why we are doing a certain task or doing learning a certain way they are more likely to engage. For many years I knew where we were headed but I did not communicate that path to the students. Then I was confused why they didn't "get it". When I was better at communicating my intentions orally my students got better at "getting it". I will continue to help teachers find effective ways to communicate learning intentions and connect success criteria to those intentions.
Having clear learning intentions on the board has nearly eliminated the age-old question of "Why are we doing this?" When I can write a standard from a Common Core book on the board as proof of the learning target, it makes students realize that what we're doing has purpose - it's not just busy work. When they know what my reasoning is, they are more likely to embrace the work because they understand the intent. I will continue to post the standards on the board and remind students of our purpose so they can see the value of learning. - Rachel
I think that- most of the time- I've put an up-to-date content goal on the board and mention how we will use it in class. I have not put a Language goal up very often. I think we talked about the difference between language and content goals two years ago. The MS teachers use this practice more than the HS teachers, I believe. I plan to start using a language goal as well as a social one. I believe that we (HS teachers) do not state our expectations clearly as we just assume that students know how to "be a student" by the time they are juniors and seniors. We forget that each teacher has different expectations and what we might mean by "explain" could vary from subject to subject and teacher to teacher. My personal goal is to be more explicit with the Spanish 3 and 4 students in content, language, and social goals.
ReplyDeleteI know that I got consistent with using content learning intentions the last few years I was in the classroom. What I didn't do was incorporate a language goal or identify sometimes how they were going to use the content. If I was still in the classroom, I would incorporate language standards into my elementary instruction, even in math, science, and social studies. I would also do better at clearly explaining how students would know they were successful and checking in with students along the way as to where they were at in that success.
ReplyDeleteI will you continue to use learning intentions in my classroom for the remainder of the year. In my classroom, I have a spot where I post the standards I'm teaching for the unit. Along with those standards, up on the white board, I have a section where I post: 1)What am I learning today, 2)Why am I learning this, and 3)How will I know what I've learned. Something I want to do better at is being more explicit with the success criteria, such as rubrics, so students know exactly what is expected of them. This is definitley a work in progress for me.
ReplyDeleteThree years ago, I began posting and explaining my standards and I CAN statements at the start of each class/lesson. This is my second year of using the learning intentions/Success Criteria. As Micheala does, I have these listed on my board and go through them with students each day. I feel that it forces me to make sure that I know WHAT I'm teaching is worthwhile, students know WHY they are learning something. Eighth grade students will let me know if I forget to discuss this with them. They feel as though there is a purpose for what we are doing and that is something I will continue to do.
ReplyDeleteI began putting up my standards during the lesson a couple of years ago and using I can statements. I feel it helps me make sure I am teaching what I need to, and it lets students know what they should be learning and why. I think that I will now break those down even farther. I liked it in the video when they said to break the standard down to nouns and verbs. I already did that, but what in that standard will they learn during 1 lesson that day? Then the next, and so on. I had always gone for the big standard, but sometimes it takes 4 or more lessons to get there.
ReplyDeleteI would say in some of my units the learning intentions and clarity for students is stronger than in others. (Specifically my Rhetoric Unit and "Shabanu" Unit). I would like to work towards having a consistency for students. I gathered from the video that not only is it important to be clear with learning intentions but it is also important for students to know that you're always going to lead them with intention and clarity not just 'because.'
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that in the video they stated that learning objectives communicate the learning on the teacher side/learning intentions communicate learning to the students. I see this as my unit content learning objectives help me as a teacher understand what the students need to learn in relation to the standards. The learning intentions for the students are what we as teachers call the "I can statements". When working at the middle school our task as a teacher was to turn in weekly lesson plans that stated the standards, I cans, and the tasks the students would be performing and how we as teachers would access them. At first I dreaded this task because it was yet another thing to do. After a few weeks I began to see the importance and the usefulness of completing lesson plans in this depth. Having to think why? what? and how? the learning was going to work for the week helped me to focus on what was the most important and how the students would know what they needed to learn. This year I am not teaching at the middle school but I am still using this practice to help keep my teaching focused and on the right track.
ReplyDeleteMy goal for the remainder of the year is to continue to answer the following questions before I teach anything; how can I make sure students understand what they are going to be learning about; what they are going to be learning about and why; how does this relate to real life? Also, I feel I could get better at incorporating the social goals into my lessons and letting the students do more of the learning discovery. In order to accomplish this task I will need to research strategies that incorporate more student discovery and less teacher "talk".
I feel like I've definitely improved in using learning intentions with my students. On the first day of a unit, I always make sure to read and break down the standards we will be covering, the end goal, and how we will achieve it. These are posted on the wall for students to see each day. What I love most about always having the learning intentions out there is that students can never say they are just doing "busy work" - I always explain why we are doing what we do, and I think the students really appreciate that. To make sure students really see and understand the learning intentions, I'm going to set a goal to use more and a variety of "checks" along the way in our units.
ReplyDeleteDo you find that some students will say or signal that they are pretty confident with the material, or that they know what they are doing? But when they turn in the final assessment, they don't do Requirement Z because they just didn't know how to do it? I had one student do this recently. And I didn't find out until I read the self-assessment after the project had been presented and turned in. Didn't ask for help from me or project partners. I know that there are a variety of ways to check for understanding, but I know am going to be more cognizant of having students write down their doubts, sign name, turn in. That way "no one around me will know that I am having problems."
DeleteI feel I have gotten much better about using learning intentions with my preschoolers. At first, I honestly didn't think it would have an impact with them. After incorporating into the daily routine however, I was proven wrong. I don't write them on the board anywhere as they don't read but we talk continually about "why" we are doing what we are in the classroom. I have them repeat to me our goals for the day as well as goals for the individual lesson/concept/ idea we are working on.
ReplyDeleteWe use a lot of examples and non-examples to help guide them to know what success looks like. I have to use kid-friendly language but also try to incorporate academic vocabulary when we talk about our goals. It is very fun to hear those academic words coming from 4 & 5 year olds...they are listening!
Learning intentions are important to students in every classroom today. I feel like we have always used learning intentions, but not with the clarity that is needed to really change student engagement. I think this is a common strategy used at the start of units, however might get pushed aside as we move through units. I have tried to do a better job on a daily basis of presenting purpose for what is happening in the classroom today. From some of the examples presented in the video I do feel like I need to be even a little more detailed in this process. I think if one can get to the point of building student self-assessment before work is ever viewed by a teacher the end product is always going to be better.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhile I usually have students do a self-assessment (of their own work, what went well, what they could improve, what I could improve with the project), I know think that I need to do a more formal self-assessment half-way through the project or final assessment if not a test just to make sure that all students are on track, know what they are supposed to be doing, etc. That matches your comment, Jeff, about building self-assessment before work is ever viewed by the teacher.
DeleteI feel that the most important thing I can do through out the remainder of my school year is to work on "Teacher Clarity". I find that there are times when I need to ensure my students and I are metaphorically traveling down the same road. But, because I did not make for instance state standards or clearly or I did not state the learning intention using words that they understand we are not on the same map together. My clarity is very important because I recognize that clarity has a tremendous effect on their work.
ReplyDeleteWhat you said about the vocabulary -academic vocabulary, in particular- is so true especially for your students. Since you wear so many hats- English teacher, history teacher, math, etc. What exactly do you mean by "illustrate," for example? Depends on which subject the student is learning.
DeleteI will continue to communicate with students utilizing "I can" statements. These are posted on the white board each day and I attempt to verbalize this to the students as well. Along with that, I will continue to express to students not only the learning standard, but what the expected outcome will be for the day itself as well as long term. I do have a rubric for each standard, but where I seem to lack is giving those to the students prior to the learning. I see the power in the students knowing and seeing what is expected ahead of time. We all appreciate that! I paused the letter writing portion of the video that showed the success criteria for the argumentative letter. I noticed that the rubric asked students to reflect on their writing, identify portions that showed x, y and z. For me, being very intentional in providing the success criteria might be a goal.
ReplyDeleteGiving the rubric at the beginning makes so much sense- students can self-regulate. With Canvas, I have usually put the rubric into the unit but it is at the end attached to the summative project/test- which I might not have published yet. I need to make a conscience effort to talk about the rubric at the beginning of the research.
DeleteI continue to use learning intentions with my TK students, mostly through verbal communication. We talk about the I Can statements that go with each lesson as well as what success does and does not look like or sound like in that lesson. I have noticed the “why” explanation of what we are working on has had a large positive impact on this group of students. I wonder if having visuals to go with my verbal I Can statements would have an impact for these students, as most of them are not yet reading I am not sure if they would be worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI am using "I can" statements at the MS. I post the statements on the 7th and 8th grade Exploratory Art bulletin boards in the classroom. I go over the "I can" statements when introducing a unit, and explain how we are going to get to that particular standard. My rubrics are also posted on the bulletin boards. The rubric directly relates to the "I can" statements. When possible, I conference with each student about their work, and where they see themselves falling on the 4 point Standard Based grading system for each particular standard. This gives direct communication between teacher and student. I alternate written self evaluations with the conferences. I am trying to prepare my MS students for the self evaluation aspect of art, closer to what we eventually do at the HS level of self and peer critiques. Explicit direction and self reflection have increased awareness and success in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI will continue to use learning intentions with my intervention students. I feel I have gotten better about incorporating this into each lesson. I do not have them posted but I open each lesson with the expectation for the lesson. I was surprised at how important the "why" we are doing this is. Last year I had KDG class that was working on letter sounds. They were not progressing as fast as they should have been. At one point I realized I had not let them in on the secret as to why were were doing this. Once I told them they needed to know the sounds of letters to learn to read things moved forward. I had kept it a secret as to why they needed the sounds - one should never assume students know the "why"
ReplyDeleteI wish I had been better at using learning intentions when I was in the classroom. I did find that when I was able to clearly state the intention and connect it to a standard the students were better at accomplishing the task. When students know why we are doing a certain task or doing learning a certain way they are more likely to engage. For many years I knew where we were headed but I did not communicate that path to the students. Then I was confused why they didn't "get it". When I was better at communicating my intentions orally my students got better at "getting it".
ReplyDeleteI will continue to help teachers find effective ways to communicate learning intentions and connect success criteria to those intentions.
Having clear learning intentions on the board has nearly eliminated the age-old question of "Why are we doing this?" When I can write a standard from a Common Core book on the board as proof of the learning target, it makes students realize that what we're doing has purpose - it's not just busy work. When they know what my reasoning is, they are more likely to embrace the work because they understand the intent. I will continue to post the standards on the board and remind students of our purpose so they can see the value of learning. - Rachel
ReplyDelete