Engaged and Empowered Instruction Learning Targets Going Deeper

Engaged and Empowered Instruction Learning Targets. . . Going Deeper Discovery Middle School Professional Development February 17, 2012

Target Let’s determine the connection between the learning target and classroom instruction. 2

Research-based Strategies • Five research-based strategies that significantly improve student learning: – Sharing criteria (clearning targets with success criteria) – Questioning – Feedback – Peer assessment – Self assessment

Students who can identify what they are learning significantly outscore those who cannot. Robert J. Marzano

Clear Learning Targets • I can draw the front of a penny. • Include as many details as you can without looking at one. • Compare with a partner.

What’s the target?

• In the patterns to the left locate and outline the five-pointed star.

• If I provide additional information (block out part of the picture) does that help you identify the target?

• If I provide even more information (block out more of the picture) does it help you identify the target?

• Rick Stiggins points out that “Teachers and students can hit any target they can see and will hold still. ”

Learning Targets Statements of what we want students to learn and be able to do. Written in the common language of “Let’s or I can”

How do Learning Targets connect to our assessment practices?

The single most common barrier to sound classroom assessment is the teachers’ lack of vision of appropriate achievement targets within the subjects they are supposed to teach. Rick Stiggins

• Are the student learning targets stated and easy to find? • Are the student learning targets focused – are there too many? • Are they clear? • Are they appropriate? • Do the stated learning targets reflect a bigger plan to cover all important learning targets over time?

Teachers and Students must be able to answer. . . • • • Where am I going? Where am I now? How can I close the gap? How will I know I’m getting there? How can I keep it going?

A Mathematics Example Subject • Math • Decimals Topic Assignment • Page 152 in the book • Going on a decimal hunt Activity • Read decimals and put them in order Learning Target

Is this a Target? • • • Complete a senior project Build a bird feeder Use a band saw safely Analyze a lab report Construct a diorama

Learning Targets • Knowledge • Reasoning • Performance/ skills • Products

Knowledge Targets Master of substantive subject content where mastery includes both knowing and understanding it.

Knowledge Examples • Identify metaphors and similes • Read and write quadratic equations • Describe the function of a cell membrane • Know the multiplication tables • Explain the effects of an acid on a base

Reasoning Targets The ability to use knowledge and understanding to figure things out and to solve problems.

Reasoning Examples • Use statistical methods to describe, analyze, evaluate and make decisions. • Make a prediction based on evidence. • Examine data/results and propose a meaningful interpretation. • Distinguish between historical fact and opinion.

Performance/Skill Targets The development of proficiency in doing something where the process is most important.

Performance/Skill Examples • Measure mass in metric and SI units • Use simple equipment and tools to gather data • Read aloud with fluency and expression • Participate in civic discussions with the aim of solving current problems • Dribbles to keep the ball away from an opponent

Product Targets The ability to create tangible products that meet certain standards of quality and present concrete evidence of academic proficiency.

Product Examples • Construct a bar graph • Develop a personal health-related fitness plan • Construct a physical model of an object • Write a term paper to support a thesis

Creating Targets for “Driving a Car with Skill” • What knowledge will students need to demonstrate the intended learning? • What patterns of reasoning will they need to master? • What skills are required, if any? • What product development capabilities must they acquire, if any?

Driving a Car with Skill • Knowledge – Know the law – Read signs and understand what they mean • Reasoning – Evaluate “am I safe” and synthesize information to take action if needed • Skills – Steering, shifting, parallel parking, . . . • Products – (Not appropriate target for standard)

Shared Learning Targets and Criteria for Success

By setting out clearly in their own minds what they want the students to learn, the teachers would be in a position to find out what the ‘gap’ was between the state of students’ current learning and the learning goal and to be able to monitor that ‘gap’ as it closed. Assessment for Learning: Putting it into Practice