What do your lesson goals teach students about learning?

In this episode of The Culture Centered Classroom Podcast, Jocelynn explores the hidden power of lesson goals and how traditional objective language can unintentionally center compliance over growth.

Many educators were trained to write goals that begin with “Students will be able to…” While this format aligns with standards and accountability systems, it does not always communicate the deeper purpose of learning.

This episode challenges educators to rethink how goals shape:

• Student identity as thinkers
• Classroom culture
• Perceptions of rigor
• Motivation and engagement
• Belonging and intellectual confidence

Listeners will learn how to move from task based objectives toward goals that reflect identity, agency, and meaning.

The episode also connects goal writing to the AnchorED for Achievement framework, demonstrating how instructional clarity supports agency, reflection, and empowerment.

As part of the ongoing Black History Month reflection, the episode encourages educators to consider how lesson goals help students see history and culture as dynamic, relevant, and connected to their lives.

In this episode:

• Why traditional objective language can unintentionally center compliance
• The difference between task completion and intellectual growth
• How to revise goals to reflect identity and belonging
• Leadership language that supports teachers without adding compliance
• A reframing of rigor through clarity and purpose

Coaching Corner Reflection

As you plan or observe instruction this week, consider:

What will students learn about themselves through this goal?
What will they learn about others?
What will they learn about how knowledge works in the world?

Using the AAA Reflection Framework, ask yourself:

What am I becoming aware of in how I write or review goals?
What am I choosing to accept, challenge, or release?
What is one small shift I can make this week?

Implementation Intention

Use this sentence frame to move toward action:

This week, I will ______ at ______ for ______ in ______.

Small. Specific. Sustainable.

If you or your team would like additional support, contact Jocelynn at: hello@customteachingsolutions.com

What if lesson planning started with who students are becoming, not just what they need to cover?

In this episode of The Culture-Centered Classroom Podcast, Jocelynn introduces three powerful planning questions that help educators design lessons rooted in identity, belonging, and meaning. These questions move instruction beyond compliance and coverage and toward connection, purpose, and deep learning.

Inspired by a conversation with her uncle, a former high school teacher, and grounded in years of coaching educators, Jocelynn reflects on how assumptions about student motivation have shifted over time. She names a hard truth many educators share: as students, they followed rules, avoided trouble, and made it through school without experiencing meaningful learning.

This episode explores why that model no longer works—and why it may never have truly served students in the first place.

Rather than asking students to simply “pay attention and learn,” Jocelynn invites educators to intentionally design lessons that help students understand why learning matters and how it connects to their lives, their communities, and the world around them.

In this episode, you’ll explore:

• Why meaning is essential for engagement and motivation

• How identity and belonging shape students’ relationship to learning

• The difference between compliance and authentic participation

• How instructional choices communicate powerful messages to students

• Why today’s learners need support developing a “why” for learning

The Three Anchor Questions

As you plan lessons, Jocelynn encourages you to return to these guiding questions:

• What will my students learn about themselves?

• What will they learn about their peers?

• What will they learn about the world?

These questions apply across grade levels, content areas, and roles, and they help shift lesson planning from task completion to meaning making.

Coaching Corner Reflection

Pause and reflect using the AAA Reflection Framework:

• What am I becoming aware of in how I plan for meaning?

• What am I choosing to accept, challenge, or release about student motivation?

• What is one small action I am willing to take next?

Implementation Intention

Use this sentence frame to turn reflection into action:

This week, I will ______ at ______ for ______ in ______.

Small, specific steps create sustainable change.

Closing Thought

Students do not disengage because learning is hard.
They disengage when learning feels disconnected, unsafe, or meaningless.

When educators plan with identity, belonging, and meaning in mind, classrooms become places where students are invited to think, reflect, and grow—not just comply.

What if classroom culture isn’t something you set at the beginning of the year—but something you create every single day through instruction?

In this opening episode of Season 7 of The Culture-Centered Classroom Podcast, Jocelynn reframes a powerful idea many educators already feel to be true: culture is a vibe—and instruction plays a major role in shaping it.

This episode invites teachers, coaches, and school leaders to move beyond thinking of culture as just norms, relationships, or classroom climate, and instead consider how daily instructional decisions communicate belonging, expectations, and value.

Whether you’re in your first year of teaching or your twentieth, this conversation offers a grounding reminder: students learn just as much from how we teach as from what we teach.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL EXPLORE:

• Why classroom culture is not separate from instruction, but built through it

• How students experience culture through tasks, questions, pacing, and feedback

• The connection between instructional design and student identity, belonging, and confidence

• Why culture is not a checklist, but something students feel

• How small instructional shifts can create big cultural impact

This episode introduces a reflective pause designed to help educators turn insight into action.

COACHING CORNER:

Instructional Anchor Questions

• What will students learn about themselves through this lesson?

• What will they learn about their peers?

• What will they learn about the world?

AAA Reflection

• What am I becoming aware of in my instructional practice?

• What am I choosing to accept, challenge, or release?

• What is one small action I’m willing to take next?

You’ll also be guided to create a simple implementation intention—a small, specific step you can take this week to intentionally shape classroom culture through instruction.

RESOURCES:

To support the ideas shared in this episode, Jocelynn references tools that help educators better understand students and design instruction with intention:

• Student Data Dive – A reflective tool for getting to know students beyond the numbers

• Student Learning Perspective – A planning guide that centers how students experience learning

Links to these resources:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/custom-teaching-solutions

FINAL THOUGHT:

Classroom culture isn’t just what we say we value, it’s what students experience through instruction, every day.

🎧 Listen in, reflect deeply, and consider how your teaching helps create the vibe your students feel.

Until next time, seek joy, affirm culture, celebrate diversity, center equity, and strive for liberation through learning every single day.