December 22, 2016 - No Secrets
What if students knew exactly what was expected of them before starting an assignment? What if they also had a set of criteria they could use to self evaluate their work on this assignment before submitting it to their teacher?
Making sure that students have a definitive understanding of goals, expectations and norms is a high-leverage teaching practice that contributes to success both in and out of the classroom. Under this practice, lesson objectives and performance targets are spelled out so there are no “secrets” when it comes to these critical components for learning.
For example, a teacher assigns an oral presentation and lets the students know they need to be prepared to do the following when presenting their arguments in class:
- State your position
- Present and support your arguments
- Be able to respond to opposing arguments
- Speak clearly enough for everyone in the room to hear you
- Feel free to use notes, but do not read
- Be fluent in your delivery and confident in your tone
By clearly articulating the skills and knowledge a child should be able to demonstrate or master following the completion of a lesson, a teacher is able to deliver more highly effective instruction and help build the capacity and confidence of his/her students.
Our teachers here in District 97 are working hard to establish and implement practices that are aimed at improving the clarity and comprehension of instruction so that success is more attainable for every student we serve. It is with this goal/purpose in mind that I am inviting our students and parents/guardians to lend their voices to the discussion of this important subject. We have posted an item under the Key Topics section on Let’s Talk titled “Instructional Clarity” that I am hoping people will use to share their observations, experiences and impressions regarding this issue. I am particularly interested in getting responses to the following questions.
- How is our system doing in terms of communicating what we expect of students when it comes to demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of content?
- What are we doing to promote “no secrets communication?”
- What are we doing to prevent “no secrets communication?”
I look forward to receiving people’s feedback on this critical topic, and appreciate the time, effort and energy Oak Park continues to invest in making learning a top priority for our community.