Learning Targets Reflection

I have always utilized learning targets in my classroom, just to organize my thoughts.  I have always wanted to know where I am going with a particular idea when I begin to think about creating a lesson plan.  We learned this technique when we studied curriculum development and from the beginning when teaching our subject matter.  We called them teaching objectives at that point, and we created them from the national standards for music at that time.  They were important to all of us, because they were like signposts to tell us where we were going with our class, and to help us organize our work with the students, as well as create assessments that directly related to our objectives and that related to the larger standards.  The national and state standards were the final destinations, and the learning objectives were the small waystations along the journey.

There is a sense that we are re-defining these learning objectives, and now, of course they are not called teaching objectives anymore.  But with the change of verbiage, also comes a slight change in both focus and purpose, both of which are inspirational and thought-provoking.  The teaching objectives are now learning targets, and they are always written as "I can" statements.  This is not just a change in vernacular, but a change in focus and responsibility as well.  The students are now responsible for their own learning because the statements are always on the board, they are always on our rubrics and on our assignments, and because we begin and end our lessons with them each day. They are also more responsible now, though, because the statements are not, "Students will" but instead, "I can"- who is "I"?  Students need to read those statements, and be aware that the targets are now their choice to focus themselves, their choice to meet and/or exceed, their choice to work on alone or in groups.  It is their learning, it is not our teaching that brings them to the next level of Bloom's taxonomy, or to the next target along the way.  The learning target world has shifted us from the "teacher" role to the "facilitator" role, and as that has always been my philosophy of education, I am refreshed by this particular technique, this particular focus, this very constant overall structure of teaching.

From...

Learning Targets on Parade
Susan M. Brookhart and Connie M. Moss 

A learning target describes, in language students can understand, what students will learn in today's lesson. That description can be accomplished through words, pictures, demonstrations, or other experiences;; it doesn't have to be in an "I can" statement. A learning target should

1. Describe for students exactly what they're going to learn by the end of the day's lesson.
   
2. Be in language students can understand.
   
3. Be stated from the point of view of a student who has yet to master the knowledge or skill that's the focus of the
   day's lesson.
   
4. Be embodied in a performance of understanding—what the students will do, make, say, or write during the
   lesson—that translates the description into action. A performance of understanding shows students what the
   learning target looks like, helps them get there, and provides evidence of how well they're doing.
   
5. Include student look fors (sometimes called criteria for success) in terms that describe mastery of the learning
   target rather than in terms of a score or grade. 
   

I question the word "parade" however...a parade suggests a schmorgasbord of many, many man-made things...is this not a very specific and related way of writing, reading, relating, learning, and studying, not a schmorgasbord? Hmmmm...let's talk!!!