Teacher clarity is a high impact engagement strategy that we can use to build Whole Student Outcomes such as agency, self-direction, & purpose within our classrooms. When expectations are clearly defined and students when what they are supposed to be learning, why they are learning it, and what success looks like, then they more likely to plan, set goals, and be motivated to work towards progress.
One important aspect of teacher clarity is being able to articulate:
- what students are learning (Learning Intentions)
- why they are learning it (Rationale)
- what they need to do to be successful (Success Criterial)
First, Select a standard
Then....
⭐️ Unpack & order the standard
- This is how you determine WHAT the students are supposed to learn.
- Identify the verbs (actions) and concepts (nouns) that are present in your standard. These things will tell you what students need to do or know- these are your learning intentions. Determine what order students should work through everything so that they can successfully master all learning intentions within the standard.
- Make sure learning intentions use academic, but student-friendly language.
- AI Tool: Magic School "Unpack Standard"
⭐️ Rationale
- This is should explain WHY students are learning
- Upon designing a sequence of learning intentions for the whole standard, determine a rationale for each learning intention.
- This can be done with your class, but it's important to have planned responses to explain why they need to learn each concept/skill and where they might use them in everyday life. We need to move away from "because it's important" or "because it's a grade level standard".
- AI Tool: Make it Relevant!
⭐️ Success Criteria
- This is how students know when they are successful.
- Determine what you want students to be able to do to demonstrate that they have learned the material in a concept or mastered each skill within the standard. State these in terms of actions and student work, as you would do in a rubric.
- AI Tool: Rubric Generator