Standards and Objectives

Week 1 – Discussion 2

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. 

Describe the purpose of a learning standard (referred to as a goal in Chapter 1) and the critical components of a learning objective. 

How would you differentiate between the two if attempting to explain it to somebody else?

Educational goals or Learning Standards are comprehensive, general statements of what the school/course/lesson wants to accomplish (Lefrançois, 2013). The goals provide the framework for the learning objectives.

Learning Objectives are clear, specific statements that describe what the teacher and student aim to achieve. They are statements of what the school expects to know and demonstrate (Lefrançois, 2013).

What is the relationship between formative assessments during instruction and the standards and objectives of that lesson?

During the lesson, formative assessments can let the teacher know if the intended standards and objectives are being achieved. If not, teachers can make the necessary adjustments to get there student on the right track.

Take the challenge Karen Lea presents in her blog article Meaningful Connections: Objectives and Standards. Select a grade level standard and design two learning objectives AND a way to assess students FOR learning for each objective.  Be sure to use the criteria for writing high-quality objectives as discussed in your assigned reading and videos.

Grade 4: Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures. (Lea, 2013)

A. I would give the students a blank piece of paper and ask them to identify, define, and draw perpendicular lines and identify, define, and draw parallel lines. I would select students to display their results on an interactive whiteboard and have them explain what they did and why. I would then invite questions and/or comments from the class.

B. I would divide the students into groups and have them create right, acute and obtuse angles out of coffee stirrers and clay. They would then be asked to determine whether angles are equal to, greater than, or less than right angles. At the end of the activity, each group would report out on their process and results.

I would assess their learning during my observations walking around the class during the activities as well as listening to their responses during the presentation/open discussion time.

References

Lea, K. (2013). Meaningful connections: Objectives and standards. Edutopia. Retrieved from 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/meaningful-connections-objectives-and-standards-karen-lea.

Lefrançois, G. R. (2013). Of learning and assessment. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

Guided Response: Respond to at least one classmate with objectives and assessment ideas in the same grade range you chose (Pre-K-2nd, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, and other) and one with objectives and assessment ideas in a completely different grade range. 

Are their objectives clear and measurable? 

Do they identify specifically, what the STUDENT will be doing and how?

Are they aligned (related) to the given standard?

It is important to remember professionalism in your feedback.  You are to give constructive feedback by giving the author a different lens with which to view their original ideas.  Therefore, provide them with a specific suggestion for making their objective and/or assessment more complex according to Bloom’s Taxonomy

Note: Before the last day of the week, you are expected to provide a secondary response to any comments or questions your instructor may have provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a demonstration of critical thinking.