You
(and every other writing teacher) need a set of written outcome
statements that indicate what you expect students to be able to
do at the end of the course after you’ve taught them.
Writing takes time
to master. You cannot teach writing well if you think in terms
of lesson objectives or unit objectives. You need to think in terms
of a whole school year.
When you think in terms of annual goals, you force yourself to
think about essential knowledge. Most state standards and
purchased curriculum list appropriate study topics for a particular
grade or subject, but don’t say what students must learn.
Identify core knowledge, skills
Most subjects, including English language arts, have a few terms,
concepts, procedures, and skills that someone
must know to work in that field. For example, the
number of basic writing mechanics rules students must know is 24.
If you figure out what students must learn in your
course, then you can use writing to help students learn those
essentials. It’s no harder to have students write about
a topic they must learn than it is to have them write on
one that’s non-essential.
When you’re trying to get through a curriculum, the curriculum
has ways of becoming the focus of what you do, whether you have
150 kids or you are home schooling one. You need to keep your eye
on the goal, not on the unit.
Also, if you know what you must achieve, you are free to find ways
of matching instruction to individual students. It is harder to
individualize instruction if you think only in terms of lessons
or units.
Outcome statement elements
Good outcome statements include four elements. You can remember
them by the acronym A, B, C, D for audience, behavior, conditions,
and degree.
-
Audience: Who are the students to whom the goals apply?
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Behavior: What you expect students to do to demonstrate
learning? Recognize? Recall? Analyze? Evaluate? Write? Give
a speech? Build a model?
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Conditions: What are the conditions under which you
students must demonstrate their knowledge? Multiple choice test
or essay? Individual work or group work? In a class period or
over two weeks?
-
Degree: What degree of knowledge must students demonstrate
before you say they know the material. This is a higher standard
than passing. This is a statement of what you consider competent.
On the other hand, if you don’t know where you’re going,
you may end up some place you’d rather not be.
When they starting writing
outcome statements teachers usually find there are far fewer topics
they must teach than they typically try to present.
I don’t know about you, but working less is fine with me.
created 20-Mar-2008; updated: 16-Sep-2008
