Picture this, your principal walks into your classroom for an informal walk-through and settles into observe for a few minutes. You’ve got a solid lesson going, so you’re keeping it cool and going on with the lesson. After awhile, he/she ventures up to one of your students and asks, “What are you learning about today?” In your mind, you send up a silent prayer to God that your student is able to articulate a clear purpose for the lesson.
No matter what you call them: learning targets, focus lesson, minilessons, I can statements, etc., we all are familiar with the need to display the day’s purpose on the off chance that it’s your day to get an evaluation. But what if I told you that posting learning targets can be more than an indication of your submission to wanting to do well on the walk through feedback form? Posting a learning target daily begins by getting your mind focused in on what you’d like students to accomplish for the day. They also clearly communicate with students on what their expectations as a learner are for that day. This is my first year posting a daily learning target. I’ve always had minilesson statements incorporated into my lessons, but I have to admit, I’ve found power in posting the day’s learning target in the front of the room for all to see.
To the left of my Smartboard, I have my learning target area.
The learning target is right on my white board and to the left of my Smartboard right in front of the class.
Here are a few examples of lessons I’ve had on different days:
As I’m doing lunch count or attendance, it’s part of our routine for students to talk about the learning target and predict what will happen in class that day. Students have a clear sense of what they are supposed to be taking away as readers and writers on a daily basis.
