Ditch Summit: "Where Technology and Pedagogy Collide" Reflection

I have been voraciously seeking professional development opportunities of late, as I have just this year become involved in Twitter, using it as an avenue to grow my Professional Learning Network.

Since joining Twitter, I have begun to listen to podcasts (which really make my one-hour drive to work bearable!) and have begun to follow the blogs of major inspirations such as Kasey Bell (Shake Up Learning), Matt Miller (Ditch That Textbook), Eric Curts (Control, Alt, Achieve), and Michael Matera (Explore Like a Pirate).

My passions in Social Studies, technology, and making learning fun have given me the motivation to keep seeking opportunities to learn.

One particular professional development opportunity that I was happy to be a part of is Matt Miller's Ditch Summit, which I am going to take the opportunity to reflect upon throughout the next few days.

Today I will start with the big question that popped up while I was watching "Where Technology and Pedagogy Collide" by Tanya Avrith and Holly Clark.

Question: Does posting the standard kill curiosity?

In my district, we are required to post our learning targets for the day. I have them posted on my website, on my daily agenda on Google Classroom, and even on assignments or class activities that my students complete during class time.

But am I killing my students' curiosity by doing this? If I tell students where we are going, am I destroying their desire to create and reach for their own learning targets?

Tanya and Holly's session have me thinking a lot about this.

I understand the reasoning behind posting the learning targets, and I think it's awesome for a couple of reasons.

1. Students know the end-goal. They understand where we are going with the information and concepts that we are discussing in class and they can prove that they know it when they have mastered the concepts.
2. It keeps me accountable as their teacher. I make sure that I teach the standards, but posting the learning targets makes me doubly responsible to make sure that I address the entire target and not steer off course too far.
3. The learning targets are in kid-friendly language, so they can understand what the goal is.

On the other hand, there are questions that make it seem like a better idea to not post learning targets.

1. If students are given a learning target, do they master the target and then stop there? Will they refuse to learn beyond the target? Will they care to think beyond the target?
2. Do posted learning targets stop students from creating their own questions? I want my students to not only learn important concepts, but to be able to create their own inquiry. Will posting an end-goal essentially kill that drive to know more?
3. If we are shackled by a learning target, will that stop us from discussing important topics that aren't in the standards? Topics such as this do exist. If I post the learning target, does that mean that we can't create a new learning target for the day?

All in all, this is a question I am continually struggling with.

I'm wondering if there is a way to create a learning target that does not kill curiosity? Hold up... I need to stop myself there. I read in Teach Like a Pirate that instead of asking "Is there a way?" I should instead be asking "How can I make a way?"

So here I restate my question: How can I create a learning target that does not kill curiosity?

Maybe this could work as an example learning target: "I can create questions that help me to analyze how physical geography influences the economy of a region."

Or, my students can work together at the beginning of a unit to create their own learning targets. As their teacher, I could facilitate and steer them to be sure that we meet the required standards as well as satiate their curiosity.

This way, learning targets would change year to year... but that is not a bad thing. Some classes will already have met a target that I have set, and it makes sense for different groups of learners to have different goals.

Perhaps it be acceptable to provide learning targets but allow students to come up with one learning target of their own for the unit. This learning target could be unique to each student, or we could come up with a few learning targets as a class. This hybrid of teacher-led and student-centered learning targets would be the perfect place to start for me, while I try something new. I will keep you posted!