I CANs that promote proficiency

My district has implemented these 5x5 walk-throughs which means my principal pops in from time to time for 5 minutes and one of the things on her checklist is whether or not I have learning objectives posted and if they are rigorous.  I can statements and me have a stormy past. I learned in my university classes that I should be using them but I've written bad ones, forgot to post or refer to them, made them too vague etc. Every year though I get a little better at doing them.

Recently we did a training on Proficiency Based Instructional Outcomes in my district. Here are some thoughts we shared and asked ourselves to reflect on...

Most of the examples are learning objectives I have actually used in the past. 

1. Are they are at the right level? This means you have to know what level you are targeting. If I'm targeting novice mid I shouldn't have I cans that are asking for intermediate or advanced tasks. So "I can talk about what I did this weekend" (advanced) is out for my elementary kiddos but "I can tell you what the weather is today in Lexington, KY and at another famous landmark" (novice) is in.

2. Are they measurable? I used to be really vague. "I can identify colors." It's not horrible but admins are notorious for asking how I will measure it they made it or not. How many colors do they need to identify? Is one enough? 5? 6? "I can identify 4 colors in a Joan Miro painting" is a double whammy because it tells them exactly how many colors they need to identify and brings in the target culture. "I can make a Joan Miro inspired artwork and describe my piece" actually has my kinders doing something with the language.

3.Do they reflect what students can do in a real world context?  Part of the power of learning objectives/instructional outcomes is that students understand what and why they are working towards. If they don't understand the outcome then you lose that power. So "I can use the verb necesitar correctly" is out. "I can list items I need for school" is in. Or if they don't necessarily reflect a real world task like "I can list the days of the week" then they should be a stepping stone to something that is. My first graders start by listing the days of the week so that later they "...can read a weather forecast for the week."

4. Do you refer to them? How? Soooo...I've had several people who've told me to post them in English, point to them, and say them aloud in the target language. That sounds great for middle and high but it's problematic in elementary school for a big reason - a lot of my students are preliterate. They can't read the I can statements so I usually take less than a minute and say them in English. Or sometimes in upper grades I ask a student to read them in English. Referring to them is my biggest weakness although I am getting better.

5. Logistics - I see up to 10 classes a day. I don't have the board space to post the outcomes. And because I like it to be specific to that day not just the end of the unit I have a LOT of outcomes. I like to keep a Google Slides presentation that has a slide for each grade level. Each slide has a graphic with vocab that students can refer to, a bellringer activity for 3rd'5th to start the class, the essential questions for the unit, and the I cans for the unit.

This year I decided to put ALL of them for the unit on the slide and just bold and highlight the ones for the day. That way students can see where they have been, where we are going, and maybe most importantly I don't have to keep editing the slides EVERY single day. Below are some examples from first and fourth grade.

First Grade:

Fourth Grade:

How do I incorporate intercultural competence? With ACTFL's new Can Do statements I am still wrapping my head around this one. The main tenets are Investigate and Interact.

My fourth graders are learning clothing vocabulary. For investigate, we started with I can list 3 clothing items in a school uniform but then moved on to I can compare and contrast what I wear at school to what students in Spain wear. Although according to ACTFL they can't really compare and contrast until the intermediate level, but I think with guidance and scaffolding this definitely possible at a novice level.

For interact, they will get on the El Corte Ingles site and shop for a school uniform from a school dress code I found online (yay for authentic resources!) They will also design and describe a school uniform based on what they have learned. I threw in "I can compliment a friend on their clothing" because it makes a good entry activity and it gets them thinking about what they and their friends are wearing. This is my first time teaching this unit so I'm still making tweaks to both the activities and the instructional outcomes.


Resources:

ACTFL Can Do Statements  - New Can Do statements document
Musicuentos post on new Can Do statements - A run down of the new Can Do document that is really useful
NNELL Archived Webinars - Several of these webinars address Can Do statements. They are free for current NNELL members (only $30!)


So those are my reflections after our training on learning objectives. How do you write and post your learning objectives? How do you share them with your students? How do you incorporate interculturality?  Please share in the comments below!