Sorting might not be new to many of you. By no means can I (or do I) take credit for this idea. I remember being in my methods class at the University of Delaware and reading an early edition of Words Their Way (Donald Bear, Marcia Invernizzi, et al). This resource included sorts where students were developing an understanding of spelling patterns by sorting words into columns that fit the “rule” or criteria.

I remember thinking then, “This makes so much sense!” Students were building a deeper understanding of the words by exploring the similarities and differences. Couldn’t this concept work across disciplines — beyond spelling and word work? The answer was a resounding YES!

That was 20 years ago and to this day I use sorting in classrooms. Over the years, more research and resources have come out about the instructional benefits of sorting. While you might often see this practice used in early childhood education, the benefits of sorting and categorizing content stretch far beyond those beginning years of school.

“Classifying and sorting activities help children to develop a range of thinking skills and build the foundations for later problem-solving. The visual memory and discernment involved, and the ability to identify patterns, relationships, similarities and differences, assists children in learning…and problem-solving.”- Nest Kids

The book Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner, Himmele & Himmele include Sorting and Categorizing, as well as Ranking, among their strategies. “The process lends itself to the analysis of components inherent in the concepts being taught” (p. 78). Working side-by-side with teachers, I often hear struggles with balancing the coverage of content with in-depth, rigorous learning. Thes strategies not only give students an opportunity to interact with content, but to develop complex reasoning as to how ideas and concepts relate to one another.

So, how do they work?

Sort

When asking students to sort, it might go one of two ways:

Closed Sort

A closed sort has the headings or categories provided to the students. The teacher determines the names and features of the different categories and provides students with items or lists to sort within these given categories.

The essential next step after sorting is the explanation. Students need to explain WHY they sorted that item into the category they did. The explanation puts students into Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Level 3: Strategic Thinking as they draw conclusions about the similarities, differences, and connections between those concepts.

Closed Sorting is a great first step in your classroom. It familiarizes students with the process of sorting and builds their skill in using evidence to support their explanation—an essential cross-cutting standard in many curricula.

Here are just a few ideas from teachers who have used Closed Sorts across content areas:

Open Sort

Open sorting (or categorizing) provides a leveled-up learning opportunity for students to analyze content, draw conclusions, and use complex reasoning. With this process, students are simply given items or a list related to their current unit of study or learning target (no headers or categories are provided). Independently or collaboratively, students form groups or categories with the items given to them. Once sorted, students create a title or name for the group which reflects their rationale as to how those items were connected.

The open-ended nature of this type of sorting allows for multiple answers, rather than a correct answer, which is more typical of the closed sort explained above. If students have a rationale as to how those items are grouped, it demonstrates an understanding of the content and how the concepts relate to one another.

Here are possible next steps with an open-sort that continue to engage students in higher-order thinking and application:

• Once sorted, ask students or groups to now sort the same content in a different way. This helps students consider multiple ideas and moves away from their being a singular “right” answer.
• If working collaboratively — each group nominates a docent to stay back with their sorted categories. Other students “tour” the room looking at their classmates’ sorts. Ask students to compare and contrast the categories they noticed. “Are they similar or different? Why might that be?”
• Provide students with a set of vocabulary cards connected to the unit (note: these must be words students have had previous exposure to prior to the activity). Challenge students to use the vocabulary in their category title.

Here are just a few samplings of ways teachers have used Open Sorts across content areas:

Google Draw Categorizing Template

Rank & Justify

The final layer of this work is Rank and Justify. This strategy can be paired with either sort type mentioned above or can be used as a standalone strategy. Rank & Justify taps into the highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy or Webb’s Depth of Knowledge which asks students to evaluate ideas and make judgments.

With this strategy, provide students with 4-5 items — these could be responses to a question, model answers to a prompt, or examples of student work (teacher or student-generated). Independently or collaboratively students look at the items and rank them based on the criteria established.

Using worst → best or weakest → strongest parameters as a guide, students rank items on a continuum and explain the rationale for their ranking. This last step is essential. Having students explain their ranking against the set criteria provided allows them to interact with the content at high cognitive levels.

Template Option 1

Template Option 2

Level-Up Rank & Justify:

• Have students co-create or create the list of criteria that would make the best or strongest response.
• Leverage the Rank & Justify exercise into a class debate. Encourage students who rank different ideas or responses higher to defend their thinking.
• Carve out additional time for students to research facts, statistics or additional evidence to strengthen their argument.

Here are just a few samplings of ways teachers have used Rank & Justify across content areas:

Planning considerations

A few final thoughts as you consider integrating Sort, Rank & Justify into your classroom instruction.

• These strategies work best when teaching content where students are asked to compare/contrast information or understand the relationships or connections between different concepts.
• Sort, Rank & Justify can be used for independent class work, small group instruction, station rotation, student playlists, collaborative group work, or assessment.
• These strategies can be used at different parts of the learning process:
  • Sorting can be used as an introductory inquiry activity to pre-assess students’ understanding of content. If used in this way, remember to give students another opportunity to engage with sorting the same content to see growth over time.
  • Sorting or Ranking could also be used during the learning process as an opportunity for students to apply content knowledge.
  • They can also be used as assessments — often hitting several standards and/or learning targets in one experience.
• Finally, these strategies work well on paper (print, cut, place in an envelope or baggie) or digitally (Google Slides, Google Drawing, Microsoft Office, etc.).

Filling our instructional toolbox with high-impact strategies that can be used across contents and units of study not only streamlines our workload, but allows students to build success as they engage in high-level thinking, complex reasoning, and collaboration over time. Sort, Rank & Justify is a powerhouse trio that provides students with open-ended approaches to understanding content while also encouraging a bit of fun!

The post Sort, Rank, & Justify: The powerhouse instructional strategy you can use for ANY topic appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

I can’t engage in a conversation or scroll through social media without recognizing the pain, burden, and hardship educators are facing. Every day teachers share stories of stress, burnout, and moral injury.

Daily scrolling brings on feelings of guilt. Why?

For the past two years, I have worked in two different school systems, in two different states, as an instructional coach. I’ve got to work in not just one, but two schools, that have maintained positive morale during pandemic teaching.

At times I feel I have hit the jackpot. However, when you work in a school with positive morale, you realize quickly that it isn’t luck. It is through commitment, visionary, brave leadership, and honest conversations that these schools have protected and maintained the well-being of their staff.

Is it hard? Yes. Can it be done? Yes.

There are no silver bullets or simple solutions. Sharing ways to support staff and build morale does not diminish the pain educators have endured in the years of high-stakes assessments and accountability coupled with pandemic teaching and mandates. Acknowledgment and honest dialogue around these challenges are essential to building morale. When we talk openly about the hardest parts and work to address them together, we have the best chance to reinvigorate our staff morale.

#1 Build psychological safety

Amy Edmondson, Harvard Professor, created the term “psychological safety” to describe organizations with open and honest communication that allow employees to have a sense of comfort about their ideas and identities at work. People feel safe to bring their whole self to work and the ability to share their feelings without repercussion, judgment, or fear of retaliation.

Psychological safety is essential to maintaining a positive school culture. Here are some ways my schools have built psychologically safe environments that align with Dr. Timothy Clark’s book, The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation.

Prioritize inclusion for teachers

Provide opportunities for your staff to connect and feel like they belong in your learning community. At the beginning of every meeting, we have a Connection Before Content. This brief connection can range from light-hearted to serious.

At times, we ask which cat meme best represents how you feel today or other times we share what is causing us the most struggle and some strategies to manage these challenges. Prioritizing time to connect during already scheduled meeting time (not adding extra!) helps the ever-present feeling of isolation in schools.

Prioritize inclusion for learners

The “one more thing” phenomena is real. Educators feel constant pressure to institute a new initiative or try new instructional strategies from our district and division offices. We add “one more thing” to our job description all-too-often.

How do we fulfill the basic human need to learn and grow while being realistic with what teachers can manage right now? How do we balance continuing the professional learning of our building, while maintaining the well-being of our staff? We focus on one priority and keep that one priority at the center.

In Atomic Habits, James Clear discusses the origin of the word priority and how it was intended to be a singular focus. It’s when a group or a person cares about one thing over all others. School leaders support morale by focusing on one-single priority. When a leader decides on a singular focus for a year, or even across multiple years, it provides clarity for the staff.

For one building it was building SEL competencies into instruction across content areas. For another, it was deeper learning — engaging students in authentic learning experiences where they see relevancy in the material being learned.

Whatever the focus, visionary leaders gather input from their staff and focus solely on the community goal — no extra, no more. Grow and strengthen in one, singular area. Once our one priority is set, we can incorporate learner-centered models of professional learning.

Use learning walks

Learning Walks support learner safety while also building community and connection. Many schools have set collaboration time for teams, whether it’s PLC structures or grade/content level meetings. My school encourages teams to go on a learning walk once a month for 15-minutes during this time. The small window is key, because it still honors the team’s planning time, while also allowing them the opportunity to see the instruction happening in their building.

Our learning community wholeheartedly believes that one of the best forms of professional learning is seeing our colleagues teach. The admin team sets a culture of collaboration — our doors are open, we learn alongside one another.

During these learning walks, teams choose a singular focus, connected to our school priority to observe during the learning walk. We capture our thinking on a simple noticings & wonderings chart. The team observing shares a thank you note with the teacher, naming a specific practice they observed and the impact it had on students. The team then goes back and debriefs their noticings and wonderings together. This shared reflection allows each team to think about instructional practices, while also opening up dialogue around cross-curricular opportunities and vertical alignment.

These brief learning walks have opened up teachers’ eyes to new strategies to build classroom community, strategies to support student-to-student collaboration, and even ways to facilitate conferences. We don’t need to sit and get PD sessions to learn. Often 10 minutes in a colleague’s classroom can spark inspiration and innovation.

Provide choice-based PD

Incorporating choice is essential for learning. We ask teachers to provide students opportunities to choose goals, choose products, choose texts to read, but are we giving our teachers the same choice?

Another way my schools have built positive morale is by offering choice-based PD options. The choice is two-fold — it is a choice of which session you want to attend AND it is also a choice if you attend a session at all. We need to respect the different needs of teachers and some just don’t have the capacity for anything new at this point. What point is there in having a teacher sit through professional learning that is going to cause more anxiety and stress?

Here’s a snapshot of our planning process:

1. Send out a survey asking for staff input on their professional learning goals for the year. Emphasize alignment to our building priority.
2. Analyze data and plan sessions that match the highest priority of the staff.
3. Capitalize on staff—teacher leaders, coaches, admin, counselors — to design quick drop-in sessions (maximum 30 minutes).
4. Offer sessions to staff across multiple weeks at different times (before, during, and after school is ideal). Invite staff members to sign-up.
5. Run the sessions, even if there is 1 participant, and enjoy learning together.

We repeated these choice-based cycles 3 times a year — fall, winter, spring — so it was just enough to keep a culture of learning in our building while still respecting teachers’ time and autonomy to make the best decision for themselves.

Learning walks and choice-based PD support positive morale because we are meeting teachers where they are. Providing opportunities to see their colleagues teach and to learn strategies most relevant to their goals and students is essential to honoring the experience and needs of educators. Support the human desire to learn and grow in a way that is safe, supported, and manageable.

5 things teachers wish their principals knew

#2 Protect teachers time

Ask teachers what is one thing we want more of, but can never get — time. Our need for planning and grading time is imperative to delivering effective instruction. Yet, now more than ever, teachers’ time isn’t being valued. Leaders must protect the time of their staff to build positive morale. But what does that look like?

Prioritize, pause, or cancel meetings

Starting last year, we had to think as a team which meetings were really necessary. We prioritized the importance of PLC/team meetings to collaborate, plan, discuss data, and go on learning walks. Our community zoomed in on whole-staff meetings and reflected on their impact and effectiveness.

Ultimately we decided any administrative information and announcements now goes into the weekly Friday Newsletter. There are no more meetings that don’t involve either dialogue or discussion among our colleagues. Whole staff meetings are opportunities to learn, grow, share and/or celebrate. No more sit-and-get meetings — any day, any time.

Beyond restructuring meetings, you also might need to press pause when the circumstances dictate the need. During the Omicron surge of January 2022, my principal recognized the additional load on teachers. For this month everything was put on pause — all meetings rescheduled.

Teachers were encouraged to focus on themselves and their students. While some might think that this sends a message: if we don’t need to meet, then what’s the purpose? However, this community knows the purpose of our time together because every meeting we always start with our “why”.

Pausing meetings doesn’t mean that they aren’t valuable, but rather responding humanely and showing grace to your staff at a time when it is needed the most, is essential to maintaining positive morale.

Offer self-paced professional learning

Another way we protect teachers’ time is by offering asynchronous professional learning options. We read about the two-fold benefits of blended learning and flipped models. Let’s use those models for our staff. Teachers get to choose when and where they are engaging in their learning while also experiencing blended learning first hand. If we ask teachers to re-see their instruction, we have to be willing to re-see how we are supporting teachers.

Providing asynchronous options through PD playlists or PearDeck sessions allows staff to select what best meets their needs while also honoring their professional knowledge and expertise. Public school systems require a certain amount of professional hours for our yearly plans.

When we open up the options for teachers as to how they can earn these hours (maybe it’s connecting with a professional learning network on Twitter and sharing resources, maybe it’s attending a webinar, maybe it’s engaging in a learning walk, maybe it’s attending a choice-based PD session) we are honoring their autonomy to make the best decision for them which again contributes to positive morale.

#3 Engage in continuous feedback loops

One of my coaches always said, “feedback is a gift”. We can choose to accept it, use it, and grow from it. Or we can choose to put it to the side if it doesn’t support our needs. When we engage in feedback loops with our staff, it allows the community the opportunity to dialogue with one another and get multiple voices and perspectives in the space. This is essential to both contributor and challenger safety.

Both of my schools use continuous feedback loops when making decisions. The loops often follow this cycle:

When we share feedback with the whole staff and take action based on that feedback, it’s yet another way we build positive morale. For example, our building engaged in a feedback loop around discipline practices. A survey was sent to staff and data revealed that effective discipline was an area of opportunity for our building. We shared this feedback with our school and asked for input: “What would we see, hear, feel in school with responsive discipline?” This input was visible to all stakeholder groups.

After reviewing the thinking of our staff, the culture and climate team made an action plan. Our staff received training with restorative circles, we read excerpts of the book, Hacking School Discipline, during staff meetings, and we revised the code of conduct to reflect restorative measures instead of punitive consequences.

After these practices were implemented we asked our team to reflect and refine the action plan with our new-found data. Engaging in a feedback loop provides opportunities for your staff to contribute their thinking, while also holding space to challenge and question building initiatives.

It’s important to be strategic in deciding when to engage in feedback loops. Choice overload and decision fatigue is real. Teachers and leaders are making hundreds of decisions a day.

Intentional feedback loops help alleviate choice overload by using targeted feedback and action plans to address some of the concerns in the building. The process happens one or two times a school year, so it’s critical to choose the most important issues or concerns to discuss with staff. With this process leaders are equipped to make the best choices for their community with contributions from all valued stakeholders.

#4 Celebrate together

While it might not be a revolutionary idea, I would be remiss if I didn’t close with the importance of celebrating your team. Humans want to feel connected and valued. How do we let our staff know we value them and how do we build systems where our staff shares appreciation for one another?

At first, we tried a Staff Shout-Out Board. This was well-intentioned, but ultimately it did not gain traction with only a handful of teachers contributing. Engaging in a feedback loop opened up the dialogue around why the Shout-Out Board wasn’t connecting with the staff. Part of the issue was accessibility and the other capacity — it felt like another thing. So we asked for other ways to recognize staff that felt manageable and authentic for our community. This led to our monthly nominations.

Our school selects 2-3 departments/areas of focus each month. For example, September might be our math, music, and custodial teams. Peers nominate and share a brief write-up as to why their colleagues deserve recognition, specifically how they exhibit our values in their work. We share the nominations aloud and recognize these individuals.

Dr. Laure Santos, Professor of Psychology at Yale University and creator of the Happiness Lab podcast, shares that part of finding our own happiness is bringing happiness to others — this new system accomplishes just that. The applause, smiles, and genuine support our staff show to one another during these shout-outs make filling out the five-minute form worth every bit of effort.

Educators are at a crossroads. We are losing caring, loving educators. Our leaders are trying to balance the needs of their students, staff, and families under immense pressure. There isn’t one magic fix to maintain, or even lift morale, but with intentional effort, an open mind, a listening ear, and a willingness to rethink the way we support teachers, we might come out the other side.

The post I’ve worked at 2 schools with high teacher morale. Here’s what they do differently. appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

In this struggle, I realized the answer I had been looking for was exactly what I was doing that very moment. Through my own reflection, I recognized there was a lack of purpose and ownership in the work my students were doing. Assignments, tasks were being given to students to complete, instead of creating goal-centered, meaningful learning experiences that gave students time to understand and process the content and skills being taught.

I came to understand the magic combining student-centered goals with reflection throughout the learning process. From the beginning of the unit until the end, inviting students to think about:

• What goals am I working towards?
• What strategies am I using to make progress towards my goal?
• How do I need support from my learning community to reach these goals?
• How have I grown alongside these goals? What do I now understand?

These 6 phases of Goal Setting & Reflection, not only help the learning stick, but invite the students to become powerful co-constructors of their learning.

Goal Setting and Reflection Process

It’s important to launch every new unit with excitement and curiosity. Use the first few days of a unit to engage students in routines that build enthusiasm for the learning ahead. Class discussions, mini-inquiry experiences, and goal curation all live in phase one.

Maybe you’re wondering, “How do I come up with goals if they aren’t embedded in my curriculum or units?” Or maybe you’re wondering, “How can students be involved in the creation of these goals?” The following steps help address these questions.

When you need to create unit goals

If goals aren’t part of your current units, start with the standards. Look closely at the standard and think about what it is asking students to do. Remember, oftentimes a standard is asking students to do multiple things. It’s totally fine to break up that standard into multiple goals. Then:

1. Think about the role you want students to embrace during this unit. What role is this standard asking students to embody? Are our students readers, writers, scientists, problem solvers? Roles can remain consistent across goals or they can vary.
2. Identify the verb or action in that standard. Again, there might be more than one.
3. Choose a prioritized role and action. Put those ideas together and name it in kid-friendly language.

Here are some examples. Remember to keep your audience in mind. The language in your goals need to be accessible to your students. Conciseness and clarity are our goals!

Beyond the content standards, we can also include skill-based and work habit goals. These goals are often overlooked or it is sometimes assumed that students have these skills and habits to make them successful. It is important to explicitly name for students the skills and habits that we are working on — especially ones that coincide strongly with your unit of study. In doing this we use the same process: identify a role, name an action, and put that in kid-friendly language.

These might sound like:

When you want to involve students in the goal creation

Lastly, if we as the educator have some goals in mind, it is incredibly empowering for the students to share their input before you decide on the official unit goals. We could do this by:

• Expose students to the content through immersion and mini-inquiries.
• Encourage students to ask questions about the new unit or topic as they immerse in the new material.
• Ask students to complete a pre-assessment. Name patterns you notice in these assessments and discuss this with the class.

When we look at students’ interests, questions, and pre-assessment information as a class, we can then determine the prioritized goals for the unit of study.

Once you’ve thoughtfully curated the goals, create a list of 4-5 goals for your unit of study. These are usually a combination of content-specific, skill-based, and work habit goals. Share and discuss these goals with students at the beginning of the unit. As a class community, come together to unpack the goals so that all students understand what the goals are asking them to do. Prioritizing 4-5 goals in a unit is a win-win for both students and teachers. Teachers get the benefit of a focused unit that isn’t about coverage of material, but rather a strategic roadmap that prioritizes learning. Students get the benefit of clarity and purpose. They know why they are engaging with this unit and what we are working towards.

Once the class has a shared vision and understanding of our new unit goals, let students select which two goals are the best match for their needs. Encourage students to share goals publicly in the classroom, perhaps posted on a bulletin board or digitally on a Padlet.

Woohoo…students have selected their goals, but as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry reminds us, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Students need to see the process of creating a goal-centered learning plan through teacher modeling. We show the direct connection between what we’re teaching and the goals of the unit.

When creating a goal-centered learning plan, ask students to think about the actionable steps they will take towards their goal. Prompt students, “What will you do? What work will you try?” This is where the teacher planning comes in. If we’re asking students to do something alongside their goals, have we taught them how to do that? Have we modeled these skills and processes? Have we given students time to learn the necessary content? Have we given them time to practice these skills? For a student to commit to trying something on their plan, they need to have been taught how to do this first.

An important strategy in supporting students’ thoughtful planning is to keep anchor charts (hand-written or digitally) that are centered on the goals. Everytime you teach something alongside a goal, add that teaching point to that goal anchor chart. Bonus if you can hyperlink a screencast or resource for students to access this lesson again if they need to. These charts give students ideas of strategies, resources or tools they can incorporate into their plans and help them set clear daily intentions for work.

Here are some reflection prompts to support students when creating learning plans:

• One tool I might use today is…
• Today I might also try…
• If I get stuck I will…
• Yesterday I…but today I will…
• Next week I plan to…

Samples intentions:

• Today I will try a fact, react chart to support my goal of thinking beyond the text.
• I might try to use a chart to collect the results of the science experiment. This supports my goal of organizing data in a thoughtful way.

The key parts of goal-based planning are: having students identify something they are going to try that day, that week, etc. and then directly stating how what they are trying supports their unit goal. This practice was transformative for my students. They now saw a direct connection between what they were choosing (not being told) to do and how those choices grew their learning around their unit goals.

Now that students have chosen their goal, tried some initial work with the goals, and created some goal-centered learning plans, encourage them to meet with a partner who has the same goal. The partners discuss their progress by sharing successes and challenges.

These reflection questions help guide the conversations:

• Have I made progress towards my goals?  This means I am comfortable sharing what I have done so far with another classmate.
• Have I attempted my goal but still have some work to do?  Meaning I’m still working on this and I still have some confusion. Let’s try to work through it together.
• Have I attempted goal work at all?  If not, what can I do about this and why have I not attempted?
• What strategies have I used?  Have they worked?  What strategies can I start to use?
• Have I used a variety of strategies?  Which ones have supported my growth and learning?  What else can I try?

Having students meet in partnerships to reflect on their goal progress is important in helping the students develop metacognitive thinking. So far, we have chosen meaningful goals, learned some strategies and skills that support those goals, and tried out those strategies and skills. But remember learning isn’t linear and our intentions alongside our goals will change throughout a unit. Giving students space to talk about their progress so far helps them determine what they might need to do next in order to make continued progress towards their intended goals. Ask students to take some time after these partner meetups to think in these three buckets:

• What am I going to continue to do? What is working for me? (I will continue to…)
• What do I still need to do? Name those next steps (I will try…).
• What do I want to change or adjust? (A shift I want to make is…)

This goal setting and reflection process encourages feedback in authentic ways. Throughout the process, both the teacher and fellow learners can provide supportive feedback that is anchored in helping the learners make progress towards their selected goal. Individual or small group conferences are a helpful structure for providing feedback. Teachers could pull individual students for personalized conferences or create targeted small groups of students based on identified patterns within a goal.

These conferences might go like:

Teachers can use these patterns and next step teaching points to support whole class and small group planning. As I work through conferences, are we noticing patterns that need to be addressed? I can use these patterns to create and plan lessons for the latter half of the unit. Are there misconceptions or gaps in student learning? Do students need additional modeling and guided practice? Students can use these conferences to update or add to their learning plans. Suggestions from the conference will go into their plans providing students with concrete next steps to make progress toward goals. Overall, Phase 4 allows us to really connect with students. We celebrate student success while also being responsive to student needs.

This phase echoes Phase 3 where the learners check-in with partners. The main difference is where we are in the learning process. Think of Phase 3 as the initial check, while this is the final push. As we near the end of our unit, “What do I now understand about my goal? What can I teach others? Is there any work I still need to do alongside my goal to meet my target?”

Have students get with partners. Support the conversation by offering these reflection questions:

• What do I now understand about my goal?
• What do I now understand about the unit? Why are we doing this work?
• What strategies or techniques have helped me work towards my goal?
• Do I feel like something is missing? What else do I need to do to get to the place I need to be?
• How can I help you achieve your goals? 

Encourage students to take ideas from this reflection into their final push. It’s crucial to emphasize learning as a process and even though we are nearing the end, we have the opportunity to revise, try again, or start anew with a strategy or idea. Emphasize progress towards goals by taking actionable steps that support growth and learning.

This is a time for celebration! Ask students to think about their goals and all the hard work they committed to during this unit. Share some reflection prompts:

• What kind of learner [or fill in discipline specific word] were you before this unit and what kind of learner are you now? 
• I used to be the kind of student who…But now I realize I am the kind of student who… 
• What feedback have you used in this unit (teacher or peer) that helped you grow as a learner? 

Encourage students to create a reflection celebration which highlights their growth and progress throughout the unit. Students might:

1. Create a timeline of their learning throughout the unit, noting their learning goals and why they chose those goals
2. Annotate spots in their notebooks or work samples that show growth and understanding of their goals.
3. List out the significant moments of learning and the activities or experiences that brought that learning (light bulb and gem).
4. Name the most important feedback they received and how that feedback impacted their learning.
5. Share learning alongside your goals that made the most impact.

Giving students ownership over learning goals and time to reflect and share their learning throughout a unit is equally as important as the content being taught. When we support this process by explicitly teaching reflection and giving students the time and space to do this work in class, we are helping to develop metacognitive thinkers who work with intent and purpose. And that’s a goal we can all get behind!

The post How to create goals WITH students (not FOR them) so kids are invested in outcomes appeared first on Truth For Teachers.