Touchstone 2: Ensure students set personal learning objectives for each lesson

For students to fully understand their learning and achieve investment in the learning that is demanded by standards, they must be active participants in setting goals for their learning. As the students do not have the content expertise of the teacher it is impossible for them to do so independently. From Goodwin and Hubbell (2017), it is the teacher’s responsibility to unpack the standards for students to understand and build a platform and the capacity for students to set their own learning targets. A method I have found particularly effective in my classroom is translating standards into Chapter Goals, providing my students with a rubric, and providing opportunities for students to set goals for their proficiency as they progress through the chapter. This is based on the work of Hannah Andrade (2008) and has provided students with ownership over their learning in the classroom. Here is an example of the rubric for one of their chapter learning goals. The final step I take to ensure that students are involved in the analysis of their learning is to invite students twice a week to contribute to the generation of a daily learning objective. I do this by providing students with an example of a summative assessment item and then asking them to decide what knowledge and skills they should be required to complete during the day or the part of the week.

References:

Andrade, H. (2008). Self-assessment through rubrics. Educational leadership, 65(4), 60-63.

Goodwin, B., & Hubbell, E. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying focused every day. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.