In class yesterday, we wrote learning objectives. This I had not done in about ten months. It was a good refresher for when I inevitably have to write them again when I begin teaching in the fall. More pertinent to this class, it helped me write them more broadly, for each unit, for my scope & sequence project. These objectives that I wrote in class were fairly easy to come up with, yet I believe much more beneficial than most I have written previously. As discussed in class, writing the degree is rather pointless. Most of the time, the condition is pointless as well. Usually it relates to whatever instruction or project prompt or something that is probably implied somewhere else, or simply not necessary. These objectives strip away those, leaving only the most important parts: The student, what they should learn, and they should do to apply their knowledge.

It prompted some post-class discussion. Why we write learning objectives, are they important, etc. Often, they are not particularly important. In daily lesson plans, the objective is often very straightforward. Students will learn the beginnings of Illinois' statehood, because they should as citizens of the state. We do not really need to write a learning objective about this. It is self-explanatory. Of course, there are times when objectives may need to be written for daily lessons, such as when objectives may not be clear to outside individuals. If I give a lesson on the history of jazz, I should write objectives that show why I am teaching something that others might consider a waste of time in a history classroom, perhaps to cover myself more than anything. But usually, objectives probably do not need to be written for daily lessons.

Unit objectives seem more crucial, however. Daily objectives would likely be covered by most unit objectives. Objectives only using the knowledge level of Bloom's taxonomy usually do not need to written, and the broad nature of unit objectives is more likely to yield higher levels of thinking. Unit objectives can provide a framework for thinking about daily objectives. They also provide a view of the most important objectives of the unit, cutting away the fat, so to speak. In the format we wrote them, they are also easier to write, in my opinion.