Objectives
Why do people leave them till last?
Objectives are a starting point. You start projects with objectives, you start a journey with a destination (objective!) in mind!
So why why why do teachers so often plan lessons based on a topic and then at the end (usually after creating a beautiful PowerPoint) think about what the objectives for the lesson should be?
I see this a lot in trainees, but often in class teachers who’ve been doing the job a long time.
For trainees I understand why it happens, as a trainee you’re so focused on including so many things into their lessons you can over look the objectives because you perhaps don’t see the value in them.
Value the Objectives
They really are the most important things!
After I observe teachers I always ask the same two important questions;
- What did you want them to learn?
- How do you know they got it, can do it, can explain it?
With someone who didn’t have clear objectives on which everything else was based this is where they come unstuck.
However those that started with clear objectives can confidently and quickly answer those questions AND explain how their lesson led students to meeting those objectives.
Objectives throughout the lesson
- They are the start ‘this is where we are going!’
- They are the middle ‘How close to where we said we’d be going are we?’
- They are the end ‘Did we all get to where we said we would?’
Without clear well thought out objectives you just can’t do those three things, and there’s not a teacher in the world wouldn’t agree those three things are vital to learners making outstanding progress and more importantly LEARNING.
The SketchNote here was done after a session with my current trainee, looking at the importance of Objectives as the basis for a Good/Outstanding lesson.
