10 reasons to make LI and SC part of every lesson.

Learning Intentions have been around for a little while now, along with their BFF Success Criteria. You may even know them as WALT and WILF or Lesson Objectives. Whatever you call it, the importance of using them is the same, to make learning explicit.

This a shift in teaching. No longer is it about what you teach, but rather it’s about what your students learn.

Wondering if you should be using Learning Intentions and Success Criteria for each lesson?
Here are 10 compelling reasons why you should:

1. They help your students to know what they are learning.
2. They help you to know what to focus on when teaching and what activities you ask your students to complete.
3. They keep learning focused, for both you and your students.
4. They make planning easier.
5. They make marking easier.
6. They can assist you to break large concepts or learning outcomes into smaller, achievable chunks of learning.
7. They support differentiation.
8. They help students to talk about what they have learnt, not just what they have done (learning focused not task focused).
9. They can be used for individual learning goals.
10. They help with planning, teaching and moderating at a team level.

As you can see, I’m a fan of Learning Intentions. They are not just something you write on the board and get students to copy into their book, but instead a useful and important tool to help support teacher clarity around learning. They also help teachers move from an activity-based classroom to a learning-focused classroom in which both students and teachers use a shared language to articulate learning.

Got a question about Learning Intentions? Send it through and I’ll answer in our next Teach Talk session live on FB.

Look forward to seeing you there,