Most of us have been told to post the learning target. Fewer of us were shown how to make it useful. So it goes up on the board in standards language, students copy it into their notebooks, and nobody looks at it again.
A learning target should tell a student what they're doing today and how they'll know they did it.
Write it in student language
Compare these two:
"Students will analyze the causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution."
"I can explain two ways factories changed life for workers in the 1800s."
The second one is something a 13-year-old can check on their own. That's the point.
Use a simple formula
I can + a verb students understand + the content + how they'll show it.
I can compare two maps of Africa and explain what changed after 1884.
I can solve two-step equations and check my answer by substituting it back in.
I can find the claim in an argument and underline the evidence that supports it.
Use it at both ends of class
The target earns its place when you come back to it. Point to it after the bell ringer. Then close the period with a quick self-check: thumbs up, sideways, or down on today's target. Better yet, make the exit ticket a direct question about it.
Free tools
Learning Targets: How to Write One a Student Can Actually Use on Elevate the Norm has more examples by subject.
An exit ticket template makes the end-of-class check fast.
Executive Functioning Strategies for Students helps students who struggle to track their own progress.
Want it ready to print
Everything above is free. If you'd rather skip the prep, my TPT store, Teacher Emergency Toolkit, has print-ready packs for grades 6–12, including a free resources shelf and teacher forms and templates.
Need a warm-up for tomorrow? A new set of free bell ringers goes up every morning at Daily Bell Ringers.