Has this ever happened to you? You're planning for the week ahead and open your teacher's guide to the next series of lessons: "Students will understand the water cycle." Simple enough—you could copy it onto your board and check that box.

But something feels off. Your students just finished a weather unit, so they already know the basics. Half your class struggles with academic vocabulary while the other half is ready for deeper connections. And honestly, "understand the water cycle" could mean anything from memorizing steps to analyzing climate change impacts.

We've all stared at publisher objectives that are technically correct but don't quite fit our students or context.

When "Good Enough" Isn't Good Enough

Those ready-made objectives might be perfectly fine—they could even be spot-on for your situation. But we can't assume that just because they came from the publisher. Here's why publisher objectives might not be sufficient for your specific context:

The quality of how they're written. Some are too vague ("Students will understand fractions") while others get lost in activities ("Students will complete the fraction worksheet"). Neither gives you the clear learning target that drives instruction.

The scope or direction. An objective might be accurate but not the right emphasis right now. Maybe it covers too much for one lesson, focuses on skills students already have, or ventures into topics beyond what your state standards require while skipping areas the standards do emphasize.

The "everything is essential" trap. Programs can present every activity and resource as equally important, but experienced teachers know better. Some activities may be core to learning, others supplemental, and some might distract from what students actually need to master.

The Control Tower of Instruction

Jon Saphier, in his book The Skillful Teacher, describes learning objectives as the "control tower" for lesson planning and instruction. In an airport, the control tower coordinates every decision—which planes take off when, how they approach, where they park. Nothing happens without that central coordination.

Learning objectives work the same way. They should coordinate everything else: which activities we choose, how we group students, what materials we use, how we assess, where we spend time. When objectives are clear and well-crafted, all those other instructional decisions become easier and more purposeful.

But here's the key: if your control tower isn't calibrated for your specific students and context, everything else gets thrown off course.

Programs Are Tools, Teachers Are Professionals

A textbook program is a tool—often a very good tool—but it's not a replacement for an informed, skilled teacher. There are too many real-time decisions needed to match instruction with students and context.

Programs may be over-stuffed because they serve diverse classrooms nationwide. Teachers need to determine what's essential and what might distract their particular students. We need to create "on-ramps" and entry points based on our students' actual background knowledge and experiences, especially given possible gaps from COVID disruptions.

A published program written years ago couldn't account for what your specific students experienced or what strengths they've developed. Only you can bridge those gaps.

The Standards vs. Program Distinction

Here's something that gets lost in curriculum fidelity discussions: the program is not the curriculum. The state learning standards are your curriculum. The program is a tool to help navigate toward those standards.

When districts conflate program fidelity with good instruction, they miss a crucial point. What makes curriculum effective is the teacher's professional judgment in adapting and connecting materials to serve students' learning needs.

This doesn't mean going rogue. It means using your expertise to evaluate whether the publisher's objectives will actually guide your students toward mastering the standards.

Taking Professional Control

What does this look like in practice? Approach publisher objectives with professional curiosity rather than automatic acceptance:

• Is this objective clear enough to guide my instruction?
• Does it focus on what my students most need right now?
• Will this help them progress toward the standard, or get caught up in less essential details?
• How might I adapt this to create the right entry point for my students?

Sometimes the publisher's objective will be perfect. Sometimes it needs tweaking. Sometimes you'll craft something different while still using the program's resources.

Roger That, You're Clear for Take-Off

You're not failing the program when you adapt objectives to serve your students better. You're doing your job. Someone needs to make thoughtful, informed decisions about how all the pieces of instruction work together.

That someone is you.

The published program can provide valuable resources and activities. But it can't know your students' faces when they're confused, their background experiences, or the specific context of your classroom and community.

When you take professional control of your learning objectives—using them as a true control tower for your instruction—everything becomes more purposeful, responsive, and effective for the students you actually teach.