school website<\/a> articulates there are clear expectations for what students must do, and this is accompanied by a virtual learning network. In every classroom I entered, teachers had clearly articulated the learning objectives \u2013 what students needed to know and do.<\/p>\nWhen I asked the ICT (information, communications and technology) and Creative Media teacher giving the tour about designing learning objectives, she said, \u201cThe U.K. national curriculum gives us very general statements. We have learned to take those statements and make them very specific to what a student needs to be able to demonstrate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here are some interdisciplinary examples:<\/p>\n
\nIn one class, as part of a multidisciplinary approach, students were focused on design technology (yes, design). Here\u2019s the assignment \u2013 the learning objective was to create a \u201crubber skin case\u201d for their smartphone. This involved using English, math, the CAD design software, graphics software, and technical skills to create a personalized rubber casing for the phone. What the student needed to \u201cknow and do\u201d \u2013 actually create products\u2014was happening in the classroom with the help of two 3-D plastics fabricating machines. In the addition to phone cases, kids were creating personalized plastic key tags \u2013 for key chains . . . .it was amazing!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nFor music lessons \u2013 a group of four students were practicing upstairs in an area devoted to music. They were in a small \u201cband\u201d room riffing on electric guitars, drums, and a saxophone \u2013 think basement\/garage band. And there was a recording studio right next door where students were ready to record and demonstrate their proficiency (students also ran the digital recording studio with the ICT teacher). Kids will compete in the lunchtime \u201cbattle of the bands\u201d near the year\u2019s end.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nWritten on the white board in the gymnasium were the learning objectives for gym class or \u201cactive health: Understand scoring systems for cricket; score a series of cricket games.\u201d The students either played cricket themselves and scored it, watched live cricket, pulled up archived video streams of cricket games, went online to learn, or learned the scoring system from classmates or the teacher. No matter how they learned it they had to demonstrate that they knew how to score a game. I still haven\u2019t developed my own proficiency in understanding cricket but evidently the score involves systems of scoring runs and losing wickets over multiple games.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe building was modern with wide, open, spaces for multiple uses . . . groups of computers, like small cyber cafes, were throughout the school, with students encouraged to use them at any time throughout the day on academic work (not for playing games). Computers and tablets were found in most classrooms as well. Teachers had digital content, tools, and technology everywhere. Blogs are used for communicating with students, parents and the community.<\/p>\n
At Yewlands, transparent learning objectives are at the core of their personalized pathways.<\/p>\n
——-<\/p>\n
Here are some interesting resources that relate to writing learning objectives and assessment in the UK:<\/p>\n
\nHow do teachers learn to write learning goals and objectives in wording that is specific for students?<\/em> Here\u2019s a great post from Doug Belshaw’s How to Write Better Learning Objectives<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nHow are national assessments constructed?<\/em> At the very end \u2013 what students have to \u201cknow and do\u201d will be evaluated by a national assessment, the National Qualifications Framework. This paper on Grading for competency <\/a>reports that England \u201csets out the levels at which qualifications are recognized, enabling comparisons to be made about the levels of different qualifications and the identification of clear progression routes.\u201d At the end, students know they will be asked to demonstrate what they know and can do.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","mapsvg_location":""},"legacy_category":[],"issue":[368,371],"location":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVisit to Yewlands School in U.K. Highlights Focus on Daily Learning Objectives - Aurora Institute<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n