Post Daily Learning Targets to Keep Your Students Focused

I'm so glad you've stopped by the blog today.  It's a great day because I'm sharing an AMAZING freebie!!

Do you find yourself losing focus sometimes during a lesson?  A student asks a question and all of a sudden you've traveled down a long rabbit hole and the point of the original lesson is long forgotten?  Used to happen to me all the time!  And while I love "teachable" moments, I also love when I stay uber-focused on the lesson topic.  It's better for my students when each lesson has one specific focus, they know that focus before we begin, and they can talk about that focus when we finish.

How do I accomplish this feat?  By verbalizing a direct, specific learning target for each lesson and posting that target for my students to see!  

At first I was writing the daily learning target on the whiteboard, but it would sometimes get half-erased by the end of the day or jumbled up with all of the other info on the board, so I decided to create a special area for my learning targets that wouldn't have to compete with daily notes and assignments.

To do that I sectioned an area of my white board off with some magnetic border.  I love this stuff, it's so versatile and easy to use!  Click HERE for an affiliate link to what I use.  I got it off Amazon and it's one of my favorite classroom purchases!

Then I created these learning target posters - because you know how much I love all things black and white!  

I printed, laminated and hung each poster in the special section on the board.  I write the learning target for each day with a dry-erase marker (actually it's a classroom job so my students write the target).  My students also write the learning target in their daily agenda books.  At the end of each day, I choose a student who wrote down the target in their planner, to erase the posters. 

In my opinion, posting learning targets is a critical way to keep students accountable and aware of what they are learning.


Learning targets are the first thing we talk about during our morning meeting.  I also bring them up again before each lesson, and tell students how they can accomplish each target. At the end of the lesson we review the learning target one more time with a discussion, journal response or exit slip. We also self assess our mastery of the learning target before, during and after each lesson.  We use a simple 4, 3, 2, 1 scale to assess our understanding.  

By posting the learning target each day I stay focused during lessons, my students know what they are supposed to learn and can talk about their learning at the end.  Win, Win!  Plus, the posters make my board look so organized and cute!

If you want to grab your own FREE copy of these learning target posters, click HERE. (and did I mention that there's an editable copy included as well in case you'd rather type the daily target and project it on your white board.  Technology makes life so much easier (most of the time).  

Taking time to explicitly make your daily learning targets known to students is crucial to helping your students become more self aware and accountable for their own learning. Give it a try, if you're not already!!!