1. Goal Setting
Homework Day 2

2. 3 Important Questions to ask yourself…
What are you trying to learn?
What level are you starting from right now?
How will you get there?
Moving students forward in their learning hinges on the teacher and the students answering the three pivotal questions, but they cannot be answered if the teacher hasn’t first identified and shared clear learning goals and success criteria for students.

3. How do Learning Goals effect Students and Teachers?
Impact on students:
More focused
More likely know specifically what you need help with
Develops a learning culture.
Quality of work improves.
Attitude towards subject improves.
Persevere longer.
Greater ownership of work as learning is recognized as a responsibility for ones self.
Self-evaluative (able to evaluate, regulate, and assess yourself).
More enthusiastic about learning.
Impact on teachers:
More clear as to what student needs help with.
Teacher can focus on quality of learning rather than getting everything taught.
Teacher can make more meaningful and engaging activities.
Check off those already discussed. Agree/disagree with others.

4. Why is this important?
There is a body of research that indicates when students are clear about their learning goal, a goal that describes the intended learning, they perform significantly better than those who are given goals that focus on task or skill completion.
Making the intended learning clear, substitutes a learning goal mindset for their activity-oriented way of thinking.
It focuses the attention to learning by helping students understand that the assignment is the means to the learning.
Research has shown it is often helpful if teachers think about learning goals as one of three types.

5. Here are some examples of Unrealistic Goals and Realistic Goals
in Real Life.
Unrealistic Goal 
Realistic Goal 
Lose weight.
Lose 10 pounds by October 25th by creating and sticking to a healthy eating plan and exercise plan.
Write a book.
Write a book on “Why Math is Amazing!” by June 15th by creating and following timeline for each chapter to be completed.
Run a half marathon.
Run a half marathon by April 20th by training 3 days a week and increasing my mileage by miles a week through a training program.
Get a six pack.
Get a six pack by July 6th by creating an ab routine and a diet plan to stick to and keeping a record of what I eat and when I exercise.
Write your own leaning goal from Iowa Core essential concept or skill you are currently teaching. Share and give each other descriptive feedback. Use the following questions to review the learning goal and focus the feedback: Does the learning goal focus on what students will learn instead of what students will do?
Will the learning goal help students to focus on the purpose of the learning, rather than merely on the completion of the activity?
Is the learning goal written in age-appropriate language students will understand?
Is the learning goal aligned to the Big Idea of the learning intention?
Is the learning goal aligned to the essential concept and skil? I
Principles of effective feedback (retrieved from
It should be related to clearly understood and agreed targets/criteria (which will be appropriate to the individual pupil)
It should be genuine and relate to specifics (instead of being vague/general)
It should promote dialogue and reflective self-assessment, with pupils invited to comment on the feedback
Feedback given whilst the pupil is still engaged on the task is particularly effective
Modeling/scaffolding before and after the task is helpful in establishing the criteria on which feedback is based
There must be clear opportunity for the pupil to act upon advice given in feedback (and time is required for this process)
It should focus on what the pupil has done well and then give a limited number of suggestions for improvement (no more than 3 - and possibly just one)
Try “two stars and a wish” - two positive comments on what has been achieved and one target for improvement
 Next steps in the learning process should clearly connect with and be influenced by feedback on a task
Appropriate feedback for all pupils is an important element of the inclusion process
Verbalizing ideas (by both teacher and pupil) during the feedback process is very valuable
Comparisons between pupils should be avoided since this can be de-motivating
Benefits of Peer Assessment  (from
It helps expose misconceptions
It can provide immediate support in the classroom
Pupils will often respond more positively to a peer than to a teacher
When writing for peers, pupils may improve specifics such as handwriting
Peers often know more about the work than parents and can give more help, especially in secondary stages
It is individualized and interactive
The assessor gains as well as the assessed
Social and communication skills can be improved
Teacher can stand back, observe and make focused interventions
Pupils take more responsibility for their own learning
It helps develop skills needed in the world of work
Pupils can understand better the role of and need for assessment
Sadler, D.R. (1998) Formative assessment: revisiting the territory. Assessment in Education, 5(1), 77-84

6. Here are some examples of Performance Goals VS Learning GOals
Get an A for MP3 in Physics.
In our Unit on waves in Physics, I want to understand what a wave is, what it’s characteristics and purposes are, and how to write its equation, all before our review day for the exam.
Be able to answer problems on factoring.
I have not been able to factor certain types of trinomials so I want to get better at that type of factoring and be able to explain to someone else how to factor that way. I also want to understand how and why we factor any type of problem. I want to accomplish this by our Quiz on Thursday.
Get a 95 on my English essay.
I want to understand the structure of writing an essay and how to organize my thoughts and self-check my grammar by the time our 2nd rough draft is due next Tuesday.
Memorize by monologue for drama.
I want to research my character and understand why they feel sad in my scene. I want to relate to them and sympathize with them so that I can more easily remember what they say and why they say it by the end of this week.
Write your own leaning goal from Iowa Core essential concept or skill you are currently teaching. Share and give each other descriptive feedback. Use the following questions to review the learning goal and focus the feedback: Does the learning goal focus on what students will learn instead of what students will do?
Will the learning goal help students to focus on the purpose of the learning, rather than merely on the completion of the activity?
Is the learning goal written in age-appropriate language students will understand?
Is the learning goal aligned to the Big Idea of the learning intention?
Is the learning goal aligned to the essential concept and skil? I
Principles of effective feedback (retrieved from
It should be related to clearly understood and agreed targets/criteria (which will be appropriate to the individual pupil)
It should be genuine and relate to specifics (instead of being vague/general)
It should promote dialogue and reflective self-assessment, with pupils invited to comment on the feedback
Feedback given whilst the pupil is still engaged on the task is particularly effective
Modeling/scaffolding before and after the task is helpful in establishing the criteria on which feedback is based
There must be clear opportunity for the pupil to act upon advice given in feedback (and time is required for this process)
It should focus on what the pupil has done well and then give a limited number of suggestions for improvement (no more than 3 - and possibly just one)
Try “two stars and a wish” - two positive comments on what has been achieved and one target for improvement
 Next steps in the learning process should clearly connect with and be influenced by feedback on a task
Appropriate feedback for all pupils is an important element of the inclusion process
Verbalizing ideas (by both teacher and pupil) during the feedback process is very valuable
Comparisons between pupils should be avoided since this can be de-motivating
Benefits of Peer Assessment  (from
It helps expose misconceptions
It can provide immediate support in the classroom
Pupils will often respond more positively to a peer than to a teacher
When writing for peers, pupils may improve specifics such as handwriting
Peers often know more about the work than parents and can give more help, especially in secondary stages
It is individualized and interactive
The assessor gains as well as the assessed
Social and communication skills can be improved
Teacher can stand back, observe and make focused interventions
Pupils take more responsibility for their own learning
It helps develop skills needed in the world of work
Pupils can understand better the role of and need for assessment
Sadler, D.R. (1998) Formative assessment: revisiting the territory. Assessment in Education, 5(1), 77-84

7. How to write a specific Learning Goal
When beginning a question/problem/task jot down all the things you know!
Next, write down all the things you are wondering about. These would be things you don’t know or understand that you think will be important to completing the task.
Change your wonderings into Learning Goals.

8. Example How to Write a Learning Goal
Know
Wondering
Learning Goal
She earns 33,000 in her first year
She earns 4% more each year
I need to write a geometry series formula for her total earnings
Sn stands for geometry series and n is years
1. What is a geometric series?
2. How do you write a geometric series?
3. How do I measure 4% of 33,000 if I don’t know how many years?
I want to understand what a geometric series is.
I want to learn what the components of a geometric series are and how to write one.
I want to figure out what to do if I don’t know how many years or am missing a variable.

9. You Try… Read the question and fill out the table… Know Wondering
Remember: you are NOT answering the question!
Know
Wondering
Learning Goal

10. Questions to ask yourself, when you have made your goal.
Does the learning goal focus on what I will learn instead of completing a skill?
Will the learning goal help me to focus on the purpose of the learning, rather than merely on the completion of the activity?
Is the learning goal my own and written by me?
Is the learning goal aligned to the Essential Question for this unit?