As part of my teacher education preparation, I remember learning how to create and develop lesson plans. I actually enjoyed it as I saw it as an opportunity to be creative and to make learning fun! It wasn't until I articulated my learning philosophy and developed a
Big Hairy Audacious Goal for a course/lesson that I realized the real value in lesson planning (as we know it). First of all, if you haven't heard of the term "big hairy audacious goal" it comes from Jim Collins and James Porras' book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. BHAGs, as they are known for short, are both strategic enough in that they clearly help us visualize the goal, but they are also emotionally compelling in that they make us want to get up in the morning and go after it (no matter what!). They also help serve as a guide when we are designing learning activities and assessments.
If we want to create significant learning environments, it is most beneficial to craft a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. I created this short video as a way to share this concept with my school district's mission in mind.
Big Hairy Audacious Goal for a course/lesson that I realized the real value in lesson planning (as we know it). First of all, if you haven't heard of the term "big hairy audacious goal" it comes from Jim Collins and James Porras' book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. BHAGs, as they are known for short, are both strategic enough in that they clearly help us visualize the goal, but they are also emotionally compelling in that they make us want to get up in the morning and go after it (no matter what!). They also help serve as a guide when we are designing learning activities and assessments.
If we want to create significant learning environments, it is most beneficial to craft a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. I created this short video as a way to share this concept with my school district's mission in mind.
I also wanted to try my own hand at creating a BHAG for a student learning goal. Since I am currently out of the classroom, I created this BHAG for the course I used to teach- Professional Communications. If you're wondering why I didn't come from the perspective of a facilitator of professional learning, here's why. I wanted to craft a sample blended learning lesson that I could share with teachers who participate in the blended professional learning course as part of the Blended Professional Learning Innovation Plan. The BHAG for the course/lesson I created states:
Learners will collaborate to develop and produce a digital product for their student body to help them understand the importance and impact of professional communication for any career they choose based on their exploration of the 16 career clusters.
As part of this activity I also created a table that identifies the learner goals, assessment activities, and learning activities. You can see the table below:
Learners will collaborate to develop and produce a digital product for their student body to help them understand the importance and impact of professional communication for any career they choose based on their exploration of the 16 career clusters.
As part of this activity I also created a table that identifies the learner goals, assessment activities, and learning activities. You can see the table below:
Of course, I didn't just create the learner goals, assessments, and learning activities from nothing! I used two other worksheets: Learning Environment and Situational Factors to Consider and Questions for Formulating Significant Learning Goals adapted from David Fink's Creating Significant Learning Environment's Guide. I look forward to collaborating with a teacher to bring this learning experience to life!
I think it is definitely worth it for facilitators of learning to craft Big Hairy Audacious Goals in order to create significant learning environments! They will inspire us, motivate us, and help make learning fun and relevant for our students today and in the future!
References:
Fink, L. Dee (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
I think it is definitely worth it for facilitators of learning to craft Big Hairy Audacious Goals in order to create significant learning environments! They will inspire us, motivate us, and help make learning fun and relevant for our students today and in the future!
References:
Fink, L. Dee (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
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