Students will be able to...

This weeks reading focused on the importance and the purpose of objectives.  Objectives contain three parts, the behavior, and what condition the behavior will occur, and the criteria by which the behavior will be evaluated. So why do we spend countless hours writing objectives?

     Objectives serve several purposes. First off they guide the teacher, they guide the teacher in what they want to teach, how they want to teach, and to what depth they teach. They also help students to know what we are expecting of them, this will help them to better communicate what they are not clear on, and may need further instruction with.
As I look at the week ahead, I know that our first unit plan is due by Friday! These first few weeks have flown by and now its time to buckle down and do some real teacher work. As I think about writing my first ever unit plan on international agriculture, I just keep thinking, what do I want the students to get from this. What are the big ideas I want them to remember when its all said and done, and with this I know objectives will begin to form.

As I reflect further on this I know that I have quite the challenge ahead of me, not only do I want to teach the students about production methods globally, but I want to develop a culturally accepting mindset, which I believe is not as developed at this point in their education careers.

For now I will continue to think about and outline and design my first ever unit plan with the purposes of objectives in mind.  In addition, I found this awesome document that further explains the purpose of unit planning and the steps to achieving a successful unit plan and objectives. http://teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related-Readings/IPD_Ch4_2011.pdf