Emphasizing Learning Before Tasks

learning ends if that deadline is not met. If the teacher says “The assignment is due on Wednesday. If you don’t have it done, I will not accept it late,” he or she communicates that there is a limited time for the learning. There is never enough time, so giving limits can feel like a natural solution to keep the class going.

The deadline could be reframed by changing the language:

This assignment is due on Wednesday. Remember that this is practice, but I want to be able to check in on your learning on Wednesday. It will help us decide what to do next. If you cannot meet the deadline, please come talk with me ahead of time.

Planning out chunks of time for different learning experiences is not detrimental in itself, but framing a deadline with positive, learning-centered language is consistent with the idea that learning is valued above everything else and is the expectation. There isn’t a limit on the time it takes for learning, but there are significant checkpoints, and learning to meet deadlines is an additional skill that requires development. See the section Mirroring Academic and Behavioral Feedback (page 52) for more information.

Emphasizing Learning Before Tasks

Another major shift in language involves putting the learning before the task. The task is just a means to show learning, and learning takes precedence. Speaking to students about standards or targets before tasks—saying “We are going to ‘read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression’” (RF.4.4.b; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices [NGA] & Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], 2010) rather than “We will complete the poetry worksheet”—lets students know that acquiring skills is more important than completing a task. It does not matter whether teachers use the standards or learning targets in their original language or if they rewrite them in student-friendly language. It is essential that students understand what they should know and be able to do. The skill must take center stage. The tasks provide the vehicle for students demonstrating their knowledge and understanding through the skills.

Research shows that “students who knew the focus or topic of the lesson began and remained more engaged than other students because they sought feedback about their own understandings based on the focus or topic of the lesson” (Pollock, 2012, p. 14). Choosing to discuss the lesson’s focus and topic with students in advance may seem like a small choice, but it is a significant one. What the teacher deems most essential is communicated first. It is easy to fall into the trap of speaking to what students will do first, but this instantly places their focus on the task. Students are likely to focus less on what they will be learning and more on completing the task.