Learning Intentions & Success Criteria

I was recently watching a television show where the contractor-host helps homeowners who have "wrecked" their houses when they tried to do some remodeling themselves.  The husband in this particular couple had started some projects, and then quit partway through, leaving holes in walls, exposed wires and gas lines, and incomplete work.  The contractor asked the wife what had happened and she said, "He didn't plan ahead.  He just thought he had a good idea and started punching holes and taking out walls."  This man left the house a dangerous mess and reminded me of some classroom lessons I have observed.

Several years ago, I was observing a Student Teacher's (ST) classroom in a local district.  This district had attended some workshops on "Poster Projects" and teachers were encouraged and excited to implement them into their classrooms.  This ST was so proud of his students' poster projects in his math class.  They were engaging and colorful, and students had put a lot of time and effort into their posters.  After my observation, I asked the ST some questions about the lesson.  I asked what the learning objectives were, whether the students had met the objectives, and how he knew.  He explained the instructions for the posters:  "Draw a poster with your unit pricing problems.  Make it colorful and organized. "  I asked again about the learning intentions were, and how students would know if they had met them.  He became flustered and said, "They were learning about unit pricing." 

It was apparent that students were making some real-life connections and using unit rates, but the goals were vague and the posters did not demonstrate a common theme or core understanding.  If the ST had started with specific learning intentions and success criteria, this could have been a very successful project.  As it was, the posters made colorful decorations, but students lost a lot of potential learning time without a lot of gain in understanding.