Prioritize and Internalize Your Learning Goals to Develop a Fleshed-Out Vision of End-Of-Course

Prioritize and internalize your learning goals to develop a fleshed-out vision of end-of-course knowledge and skills

Prioritize Internalize Examples

Prioritize It is tremendously helpful to identify what is most central and important for your grade level and course as you begin to set a big goal. There are a lot of learning goals for your grade level or course, so it’s critical that you know which of them deserve particular focus. 1) Obtain a list of your grade-level learning goals, and quickly review it.

 Depending on your state and district, you may already have a list of learning goals, or may have to break down standards into learning goals.  The best source for your list of grade level learning goals is your school district. They often provide the most useful and specific information in the form of a curriculum guide. If you don't already have a hard copy, you can check their website and print off a copy of your specific curriculum guide.  You can also obtain a list of your learning goals on your state's Department of Education website. This isn't the best option since your state may not the have grade-specific information you need. However, having the list from your state will at least get you started. You will want to get a more detailed copy from your district as soon as you can.

2) Answer the following questions while reading through each learning goal again. If the answer to any question is “yes,” you will want to prioritize the learning goal. To gauge… Ask yourself… Example Endurance Will this learning goal provide students with Writing proficiency will endure knowledge and skills that will be of value throughout a school career and beyond a single test date? professional life.

Leverage Will this learning goal provide knowledge and The ability to create graphs and skills that will be of value in multiple fields of charts as well as draw accurate study? conclusions from them will help students in math, science, social studies, and language arts.

Readiness Will this learning goal provide students with A third grader must be proficient in essential knowledge and skills that are 3rd grade level reading necessary for success in the next grade or comprehension to enter the fourth level of instruction? grade and pursue 4th grade-level studies with success. *To answer this, you may have to cross- reference the learning goals for the grade above your grade.

Prioritized by State Did the state prioritize this learning goal? The learning goal did not fall under “endurance,” “leverage” or Your list of state-mandated learning goals “readiness,” but the state prioritized trumps any list that you create. it.

2) Review your set of prioritized (and de-prioritized) learning goals again with a critical eye to finalize your list.

 Consult with veteran teachers, teachers at excellent schools, your department head, etc.  Scrutinize student work from a school widely regarded as excellent. This will allow you to get a more holistic sense of what grade-level work looks like and whether your prioritized learning goals will set your students up to perform at that level. Internalize (top) Teachers must know – concretely – what student mastery of each prioritized learning goal looks like. Once you know concretely what students should be able to do, you can make connections between each prioritized learning goal and your ultimate goal. Such internalization of your learning goals also creates an increased level of urgency around getting to your ultimate goal and enables you to make learning and its purpose more vivid for students. 4) Make sure that you know what it means to master each of your prioritized learning goals.

 Complete assessment items (from written assessments and performance assessments such as lab practicums, when necessary) that measure mastery of each prioritized learning goal, with answers that you would award full credit to. While completing each assessment item, reflect on the following questions in order to ensure that you truly understand your prioritized learning goals. o How is this assessment item similar or different from what I expected based on what I know about my prioritized learning goals? o What types of knowledge or skills does this assessment item (and therefore learning goals) emphasize? o Was any assessment item (and therefore the learning goal it assessed) especially difficult? You will need to boost your content knowledge in these challenging areas so that you will be prepared to teach the more difficult concepts to your students.  Review any available teacher’s guides or curriculum guides  Analyze student work samples (if available) o Ask colleagues for samples of work from students who have mastered the learning goals at the highest degree.  Read any available performance rubrics aligned to their skill-based learning goals  Talk with veteran teachers who may be more familiar with the content and/or grade level

5) Test how well you’ve internalized your learning goals. Would you be able to explain to a friend or teacher of a different subject, in words they would understand, what your students should know, understand and be able to do by the end of the year? If not, you’ll likely want to spend even more time getting familiar with your learning goals.

Examples (top)

Consult your region’s Student Achievement Toolkit or the online Round 0 Course 1.0 to read how teachers in your grade level and/or content area prioritized and internalized their learning goals.