Importance of Course Objectives

How important are course objectives? Are they a necessary fact of life in education or just something we hopefully wish for? We all need a plan. When I go out to build something I have a plan. When I want to teach my son something I have an idea of how I am going to do it. This is good for intentional learning and may not apply to possible incidental learning. Objectives are good because they keep teachers focused and give students some idea of what they are doing and why. I write daily objectives on the board. It keeps me on track and lets them know that I cared enough to plan what we are going to do. Does this mean they are unalterable? No, they should be fluid.

For instance I might be going over a lesson and we are constructing circle and arcs. Suddenly the conversation turns to a pie chart a student saw on television. They ask questions about what the chart was representing. We could get into a discussion about politics or food distribution or whatever the chart was dealing with. There is nothing wrong with that and I feel at least where I work it is good to relate with children and converse about topics beyond the classroom. I often find myself adding, removing, or modifying one or multiple objectives in my lesson. That is a good thing. To set back and say “I've got it all planned to perfection” would just be arrogant and stupid. We have to meet the students where they are and sometimes that means going off the beaten path. I know some teachers hate it, but I enjoy the moments of just talking to the students about football, cars, politics, and other topics. Sometimes I relate them to math and sometimes that is just where we end up. Some educators might say this is wasted time and just the students getting a teacher off topic. I suppose that may be true sometimes. I want them to see me as a caring person that has their best interest in mind, not just an authority figure. But I work with trouble adolescent boys. They need role models as much as they need Linear Equations. So I walk down a slightly different path then many teachers because of my setting(prison). Although, even in public schools many students need role models and caring adults to help them as much as they need some book knowledge. Some of us teachers that don’t come from the underprivileged side of life can easily forget that we have a greater value then just as a teacher to many children.