During the traditional Pre-Observation
Conference, the question about “What is the lesson objective?” often surfaced.
So what is so important about the objective? In looking at backwards design, if
we understand what we want the students to learn, take away from, or further develop
during a specific classroom lesson, then we can fully develop a lesson that
will help the students master the lesson objective. The lesson is much more
that your thoughts for the day or a list of activities to accomplish during the
class period. The lesson objective
should drive your instruction. It should direct, challenge, and empower your
learners.
The McREL instructional
strategies are research-based best practices for classroom instruction. This
year our school began the year with an intentional focus. We determined that we
would focus on the McREL strategy of the “objective”. We knew that by focusing
on this key element of the lesson that we could make intentional gains in
student understanding of the Learning Standards. We utilized PD time, faculty
meetings, plan time meetings, and time during our August Teacher Meetings focusing
on this new approach to using objectives in the classroom. Thanks to McREL and Classroom
Instruction That Works by Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, and Stone, we have
progressed through our journey in transforming our educational practices.
In implementing the lesson
objective with Quality, Fidelity, Intensity, and Consistency (QFIC), there are
four McREL recommendations. These four components must be included during the
instructional facets or phases of the given lesson:
1.
Set learning objectives
that are specific, but not restrictive,
2.
Communicate the
learning objectives to the students and parents,
3.
Connect the
learning objectives to previous and future learning,
4.
Engage students
in setting personal learning objectives
In working with our teachers,
leadership team, and Classroom Instruction That Works trainer, we were able to
see, over the course of this school year, a transformation in how our school
prepares, writes, and implements the use of the “new” objective. Students are now having discussions with partners
where they are personalizing the lesson objective and making it relevant to
their work during class. From the Physical Education unit on volleyball to the
choir lesson where the students analyzed their choir concert performance, or
from the English Language Arts lesson on Argumentative Writing, to the Science
lesson where students will understand the difference between position,
velocity, and acceleration, our students are personalizing their learning and
are making deeper connections within each content area of study.
In monitoring our progress,
we have well over 55% of our walkthrough observations noting QFIC implementation
of the lesson objectives. The “new” “old”
objective has transformed how we think about, consider, write, and implement
the lesson objectives in our classroom each and every day.
So as you evaluate your work
with student learning this year, I want to challenge you to revisit the “old”
lesson objective and consider looking at the “new” lesson objective!
