Sunday, August 10, 2014

"Instructional Objectives Determine Selection of Tools”



When creating a lesson plan, a teacher always has a goal in mind. What do I need my students to know? If they don’t know how will I teach my students? How will I know or how will they show they understood what was taught?  How will I incorporate technology in obtaining m student’s goals?
This is where leaning objectives come into play. Objectives are guides used to outline what skills need to mastered by students and these skills are measurable through assessments, exit slips, assignments and etc. The purposes of objectives are as following [1]:

1.      They provide the teacher with the goal of the teaching-learning process. In other words, you know your destination when you begin instruction. They answer the questions, “What are the students supposed to know or be able to do once the unit or lesson is completed?”

2.      They provide a clear framework for assessment. Assessments function as a measure to what extent students have reached or achieved the objectives.

3.      They provide the students direction and a goal for learning. Students have a better opportunity to stay the course when they know the goal of the learning.

When creating an objective, remember the following: S.M.A.R.T
1.      Be clear and Specific on what the desired outcome/ goal will be.
2.      Make sure your goals are Measurable, what will change and by how much.

3.      Is the goal Achievable within the time frame?

4.      Is the goal a Realistic goal?

5.      Be Time specific, for when the goal will be or hopefully be reached.

Lastly, what tool will you focus use to get your students to the finish line? A reliable source can be YouTube, which has endless videos to support learning and help children master skills/Common Core Standards which will help then in times of assessments.

Here are some good examples of S.M.A.R.T objectives some using technology and some not:

1.      Within school year Kindergarten students will be able to recognize and count numbers 1- 100 with 80% accuracy. This will be measured by the Leap Learning Math End of the year assessment.

2.    After reading Dear Mr. Henshaw, students will compare the actions of Billy’s mom versus his dad using a MindMap. Students will outline at least 5 character traits for mom and dad using examples from the text. Students will include pages numbers with their examples.


3.    Using baseline data from the previous benchmark assessment, 85% (or more) students will increase their vocabulary skills using context clues by 10% on the ANet Benchmark #2 assessment. This will be achieved through Journey’s Intervention Program and small group intervention.


[1] http://teachingforlearning.org/

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