Classroom Practice
Posted by Samuel Nofziger on Jan 28, 2012 in News | 9 comments
Content and Language Objectives
Those of us in the firld of English Learner student achievement have been working with Content Objectives (what students will learn in a lesson) and Language Objectives (what specific language is required for the students to prove that s/he has learned what they are to learn) for quite a few years now.
The question is…
If you ask a student in your classroom (1) what they are learning, then (2) what s/he needs to do to prove they they have learned it, will the answers to those questions be similar to the communicated objective?
Every student needs to answer that question with an understanding of what you, the teacher, wants as an outcome of your teaching.
I encourage you to find a way to (1) communicate those objecitves to your students in the way you know best, (2) practice having them communicate them with their peers, and (3) work toward the goal of EVERY student in your classroom being able to communicate those important objectives. It may be difficult in the beginning, but I encourage you keep doing it with each lesson. The more you do it, the more it becomes a part of your classroom culture!!
Let me know if I can coach you in this process!
Sam
You relaly saved my skin with this information. Thanks!
You are welcome! Keep coming back for more information! Sam
I think that is a great question that every teechar should ask themselves on a daily basis. If they do not know why they do what they are doing, how will their students?This is where reflection comes into play. At the end of the day, did you stay focused according to your objective? Were you able to make the learning meaningful to your students? By reflecting on these questions, teechars will be able to improve their craft which should ultimately improve student learning.
I couldn’t agree with you more.When I was a sdtneut I always had this problem: teachers would, of course, show us how to do things, but they’d rarely take the time to explain why what we were learning was important. They’d make no meaningful connections, like you mention. I got the feeling we were being taught simply for standardized testing (which, in the case of my high school, turned out to be true; the school was in trouble and needed to improve test scores, so everything revolved around teaching to those particular tests). I felt the overall learning experience suffered because of this.I really appreciate what you’re doing with this blog. It’s interesting to see things from a teacher’s perspective, and it seems like you’re great at what you do. I just wish there was a greater focus on education in this country.