The Four Foundations of Great Teaching, Top Ten Habits #2

 Next on the Four Foundations top ten Habits: 

#2 “I make it a habit to write clear, student-learning-focused learning targets.”

While all of the 'top ten' are important habits for us as teachers to cultivate, this one—writing clear learning targets that are focused on student learning—may be the most crucial. The foundation laid by having learning targets that are clear in your mind, that focus on what students learn and not on the topic or (worse) what the teacher does, allows us to build interesting and successful lessons. 

If we're unclear on what the student learning is, or if we focus on the wrong things (topic, teacher action), we won't know—and students won't know—when the desired learning has actually happened. One sign that we might be veering from clear targets is if we're having difficulty coming up with formative assessments to check for understanding. If we're confused about what we're checking for, the first place to look is at the target.

For more on writing clear, student-learning-focused learning targets see:

The Four Foundations of Great Teaching (pp 8-10)

Making learning targets clear and sharing them with students is fundamental to good teaching. Students who understand what the learning is about are more engaged and better focused on the learning (as opposed to the activity or the grade) than those students who are not clear about the goal or target for the learning.