WALTs and Success Criteria

I stumbled across an interesting piece of writing around the currently common practice of needing Learning Intentions and Success Criteria for lessons. I haven't done any other reading around this particular writers ideas or theories but it definitely made me question and challenge the belief that all lessons need learning intentions and success criteria.

I also thought particularly about one of my students in reading recovery whom I am forever trying to keep on track, but his own thinking is brilliant. The time constraints of fitting the lesson into half an hour means I am stopping his train of thought which often shows fabulous connection making and understanding. He links things together from books he read weeks ago or something he has done or seen at home. I fear that I am actually stopping him from being such a wide thinker every time I have so say "come on lets just read the story" "we don't have time to talk about that". I am killing his learning and desire to connect the new with something he knows.

How can we let kids learn in natural and authentic ways that follow their own understandings and questions when everything has to be pre-planned and linked back to assessment data to fit a very narrow and specific criteria?

https://networkonnet.wordpress.com/2014/06/01/reuben-and-walts/