Can a combination of three different classroom

procedures (learning targets, self-reflection, and

student-led discussions) assist students in
becoming more independently responsible for
their own learning?

Learning Targets
“A learning target describes, in language that students understand, the lesson-sized chunk
of information, skills, and reasoning processes that students will come to know deeply
and thoroughly” (Moss and Brookhart)

Learning targets should be created intentionally by educators with the purpose of identifying the
“highest priority learning for that lesson” (Creighton, Tobey, Karnowski, Fagan). These targets should
be “written for- and owned by- students” (EL Education, Leaders of Their Own Learning).

My Learning Target Protocols

1. Writing Learning Targets: After the lesson is planned, I would pull out 1-3 key learnings.
Asking, “what do I want my students to be able to do by the end of this lesson?” is an essential
part of the process for me. Once I had chosen the learnings, I translated them into learner
friendly actions. These often started with the words “I can” or “Be able to”. For me, learning
targets are usually very specific; they take a miniscule portion of a Specific Learning Outcome
and ask students to be able to achieve that. For example, a learning target might be “I can tell the
 difference between simple, complex, and compound sentence types” or “I can write a sentence
with an introductory phrase”.
2. The Students’ Routine: Each day I would post the learning targets on Google Classroom before
class started. This worked well because it got the students into a routine of checking for their
learning target, and it also gave me time to get set up at the beginning of class. The students were
expected to compile each of the learning targets for the week into one Google Doc for easy
access. This is also a quick way for me to check whether students have gone in to check their
learning targets each day.
3. Closure: At the end of a lesson, I have found it effective to revisit the learning target. This can
be done in a variety of ways, such as a quick check (thumbs up, thumbs down), asking questions,
or doing a quick-write.
4. Self Reflection

Personal Reflection: Since learning targets have become a regular part of my classroom, I have
noticed that students seem more able to focus their attention during class time. Because of this, they
are also able to ask more focused and relevant questions and use their class time appropriately.
Students seem to want to achieve each target. Lastly, this has also created a great protocol for
beginning class. It gives me the time to get set up, and it gives the students a chance to prepare
themselves to learn. Based on my personal observations of student work and behaviour, I would
argue that Learning Targets are an effective way to increase student engagement and responsibility.

Self Reflections
Using Self Reflection/ Evaluation to follow up on learning targets is an effective way to have students
both self- assess and communicate their learning. Since learning targets are phrased as action statements,
students can more easily decide whether they have achieved each target or not.

“Effective reflection for learning through experience requires a capacity for

under- standing one’s thinking and learning processes, critical self-awareness
of values, beliefs and assumptions, and an openness to alternative, challenging
perspectives” (Coulson and Harvey)

My Self Evaluation Protocols

While there is a variety of ways to have students Self Evaluate their learning, these are the protocols that
I have chosen to implement.
1. Creating a Google Form: Each week, I create a Google Form to be completed by students on
Friday. Each Google Form contains the Learning Targets as “I can” statements with answers of
“agree” or “disagree”. Learning target questions are mandatory to answer. After each learning
target, I put an optional question that says “If I answered “disagree” to the last learning target,
here is what I am going to do to fix that”. Answers for these questions include “ask questions”,

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 “finish or re-do an assignment”, “study or research on my own”, and “other” (with a blank space
for them to specify). For the optional questions, I use the checkboxes style of questions, meaning
they can choose more than one answer. Occasionally, at the end of a Google Form, I ask them to
demonstrate one of the learning targets that they agreed with.
2. Introducing and Completing the Google Form: The most important part of introducing this
type of Self Evaluation is assuring students that it is not a summative assessment but is instead
an important part of understanding their own learning. For the first several weeks, I went through
each Google Form with the class to ensure they understood what the expectation was. Once I felt
confident that students could do it on their own, I let them do so. Giving students an ample
amount of time to complete their reflections is absolutely essential to the process.
3. Reflection in Action: Once the Evaluation is done, it is important to encourage action. My
process was always to review their Self Evaluations on Monday morning, and touch base with
them about their action plans. It is also important to use these evaluations to guide planning. If
there is a number of students who do not feel they have achieved a specific learning target,
revisiting that learning in class is important. Lastly, I encourage students to reflect on their
learning on a daily basis on their own by quickly assessing whether they have met each learning
target.

Personal Reflection: Throughout the semester, I have found that students have developed a habit of
reflecting far more often than on the Google Form at the end of the week. They also started using
more reflective language- for example, they regularly tell each other or myself why they think they
have or have not met the learning target. I also find that this awareness at a student level makes my
job easier because students are able to articulate what they need more help with and what they are
ready to move on from. The most important thing that I have learned from going through this
process with students is that giving students the responsibility of assessing their own learning makes
them more responsible for actually doing that learning (especially when I, as the educator, am
diligent about checking in with them on their progress of each learning target). In conclusion, based
on my personal observations of student work and behaviour, I would argue that implementing Self
Reflections is an effective way to increase student engagement and responsibility.

Student Led Discussions

Student Led Discussions can be facilitated in a number of ways- pairs, small groups,
large groups, or jigsaw groups. This semester, I focused predominately on large group
Student Led Discussions. This was mostly due to the logistics of doing any type of group
work with Covid-19 Protocols in place.

Stock says of peer tutoring, “questions asked by their “pupil” help them build knowledge by elaborating
on the material, monitoring their own understanding and fixing misunderstandings—all of which help
students construct deeper meaning and long-term understanding”. We can think of Student- Led
Discussion in the same way. When students are asked questions by their peers, they are responsible for

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processing the information that they have learned and putting it into terms that will enhance their peers’
learning. The benefit of doing this in a Student Led Discussion style, as opposed to peer tutoring, is that
students will gain the thoughts and opinions of several of their peers. They will also have the ability to
ask follow-up questions to their class, gaining even more thoughts and opinions. In addition, “When
students are encouraged to verbalize their ideas and questions, cognitive development is supported. They
learn how to realize uncertainties in their understandings, explain and justify their positions, seek
information to help them resolve the uncertainty, and learn to see alternative points of view” (Braunger
and Lewis). Overall, the research is clear- speaking about learning leads to deeper learning.

“They found that when students actually teach the content of a lesson, they develop a
deeper and longer-lasting understanding of the material than students who do not
teach it. Interestingly, they found that the act of preparing to teach alone can lead to
short-term gains, but the act of preparing to teach coupled with actually teaching
another person is what leads to long-term retention and deeper learning.” (Stock)

My Student- Led Discussion Protocols

1. Introducing Discussions: Setting solid expectations and explaining the reason for doing
student- led discussions is important for setting the stage for an effective discussion. My
expectations are that students will participate, respectfully speak and listen, and disagree in a
kind and constructive manner. I also explain, in student friendly language, the reasons that
discussions can conducive to deeper learning.
2. Preparing for a Discussion: I always have students prepare for a student-led discussion before
it happens. Sometimes, all students come up with discussion questions. Other times, some
students come up with discussion questions while others do directed research. Students use
Google Docs or Padlet to collaborate on all of this. If all students are responsible for coming up
with discussion questions, I find Padlet more appropriate. However, if students are doing other
research, Google Docs seems to be move conducive to that end.
3. The Discussion: I always remind students that I will not be a part of the discussion, and that the
Discussion Director(s) for that day will be taking over. I usually deliver instruction to the
Discussion Director(s) in advance, reminding them to give their classmates time to think and
answer, and to call on everyone who has an answer. When students are responsible for carrying
the discussion, they do. I am always shocked by the quality of discussion that they are able to
carry around a topic.
4. Closure: Once time is up, or the Discussion Director determines that the conversation is over, it
is imperative to close the lesson. Sometimes I do this with a Quickwrite (in a Google Form), or
sometimes verbally. The one question I make sure to ask is, “what is one thing you learned from
a classmate?”, and from there I ask any further questions I feel necessary. It is incredibly
important for students to realize that they have not only learned from their classmates, but that
they helped their classmates learn.

Personal Reflection: Every time I have facilitated a Student Led Discussion, I have noticed that the
students are more engaged and take on a higher level of responsibility. Students take pride in coming

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 up with questions that prompt a lot of discussion from their peers, and from coming up with great
answers to their peers’ questions. Most students also enjoy taking on the role of the Discussion
Director. I believe that, especially during Covid-19 Restrictions, these discussions have positively
impacted the sense of community in the classroom. Based on my personal observations of student
work and behaviour, I would argue that facilitating Student Led Discussions is an effective way to
increase student engagement and responsibility.

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Resources
Braugner, J., & Lewis, J. P. (1997). Building a Knowledge Base in Reading[Scholarly project].
Retrieved 2020.

Creighton, S. J., Tobey, C. R., Karnowski, E., & Fagan, E. R. (2015). Bringing math students into the
formative assessment equation: Tools and strategies for the middle grades. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin.

Harvey, Marina & Coulson, Debra. (2013). Scaffolding student reflection for experience-based learning:
A framework. Teaching in Higher Education. 18. 401-413. 10.1080/13562517.2012.752726.

Leaders of Their Own Learning: Chapter 1: Learning Targets. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2020,
from https://eleducation.org/resources/chapter-1-learning-targets

Moss, C. M., & Brookhart, S. M. (2012). Action Tool A: Understanding Learning Targets. Retrieved
2020, from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/books/moss2012_action_a.pdf

Stock, E. (2019, January 24). Want Students to Remember What They Learn? Have Them Teach It. -
EdSurge News. Retrieved November 28, 2020, from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-01-24-
want-students-to-remember-what-they-learn-have-them-teach-it

Templton, K. (2014, May 15). The Dos and Don'ts of Learning Targets. Retrieved November 28, 2020,
from https://www.iwalkthrough.org/learning-targets/