Transcript Understanding by design

EDUC 410
Fall, 2014
“Teachers are designers. An essential act of
our profession is the crafting of curriculum
and learning experiences to meet specified
purposes. We are also designers of
assessments to diagnose student needs to
guide our teaching and to enable us, our
students, and others (parents and
administrators) to determine whether we
have achieved our goals” (Wiggins &
McTighe, 2006, p. 13).
 Examines,
frames, and attempts to solve the
dilemmas of classroom practice;
 Is aware of and questions the assumptions
and values he or she brings to teaching;
 Is attentive to the institutional and cultural
contexts in which he or she teaches;
 Takes part in curriculum development and is
involved in school change efforts; and
 Takes responsibility for his or her own
professional development (Zeichner & Liston,
1996, p. 6).
 The
primary goal of quality curriculum design
(lesson planning) is to develop and deepen
student understanding:


All students benefit from and are entitled to
curriculum that develops and deepens their
understanding
Given variance in student “ability,” experience,
opportunity, language, and interests, they will
grow at different rates and require varied
support systems to develop and deepen their
understanding(s) (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006, p.
4).
A




recursive process that is:
Based on your knowledge of your students
Based on your knowledge of the discipline…how
knowledge is constructed and develops within
the discipline, as well as your knowledge of
“typical” misconceptions within the discipline
Based on your knowledge of pedagogy,
specifically your pedagogical content knowledge
and knowledge of assessment
Influenced by your frame (fixed or dynamic)
 Attending
to students’ backgrounds and
needs builds bridges that connect learners
and important content.
 Attending to student readiness allows for
academic growth.
 Attending to student interest(s) enlists
student motivation.
 Attending to students’ preferred learning
modes “unencumbers” the learning process
(Tomlinson & Mc Tighe, 2006, pp. 18-19).
 Physical
aspects of your context (affordances
and constraints)
 Climate/culture of your context




Attend to each student in ways that
communicate respect and positive expectations.
Seek out, affirm, and draw on the unique
abilities of each learner.
Elicit and value multiple perspectives on issues,
decisions, and ways of accomplishing the work of
the class
Ensure that all students participate in the
learning…the dialogues, the tasks, the
assessments
 Climate/culture




of your context
Help students identify and make use of
constructive ways of interacting with one
another
Design tasks that enable each student to make
important contributions to the work of the
group.
Ensure that the languages, cultures, and
perspectives of varied cultures are represented
in the work of the group
Help students reflect on the quality of their
contributions to the learning and to developing
the classroom community (Tomlinson & McTighe,
2006, p. 46).
 Stage
1: Identify desired results (your
goals/objectives for learning)



What should students know or be able to do?
What content is worthy of understanding?
What enduring understandings are desired?
 In
stage 1, we consider our goals, examine
established content standards (national,
state, and district), and review curriculum
expectations.
 Based
on what you want your students to
learn/understand in this lesson:



What prior knowledge/skill must students possess
in order to make progress?
If students do not have this prior
knowledge/skill, how will you help them to gain
this knowledge/skill?
If students do not have this prior
knowledge/skill, how might you differentiate the
lesson so that they can make progress toward
your learning goals.
 Stage
2: Determine acceptable evidence of
learning—



How will you know if students have developed
the learning/understandings you desire? What
might they say/do?
What will you accept as evidence of student
understanding and progress?
What assessments will provide opportunities for
students to represent/demonstrate what they
have learned?

Stage 3: Plan learning experiences and
instruction—
What prerequisite knowledge (facts, concepts,
principles) and skills (processes, procedures,
strategies) will students need in order to perform
effectively and achieve desired results?
 What learning tasks will equip students with the
needed knowledge and skills and actively engage
them in the learning?
 What will need to be taught and coached? How will
you support students in their learning? (anticipatory
reflection…if students do not respond as expected,
how will you support them in revising, refining,
extending their thinking?)

 Stage
3: Plan learning experiences and
instruction—

How will your frame (fixed or dynamic) influence
your teaching and student learning?



How will you provide opportunities for students to
focus on the “process” of learning/thinking?
 What are you thinking?
 How did you do that?
 How do you know that? Why do you say that?
How will you encourage students to rehearse agentive
narratives? (Johnston, 2012).
What materials and resources are best suited to
accomplish these goals?
 What
progress did specific students make
toward your learning goals…and how do you
know?
 In what ways was the progress students made
toward your learning goals influenced by
your teaching?
 Based on the evidence students provided of
their learning/understandings, what would
you do next for specific students…and why?
 What
have you learned from studying your
teaching?






About
About
About
About
About
About
 What
your students
teaching and learning
assessment
the disciplinary content
your context
curriculum development
more do you need/want to learn? How
will you go about seeking opportunities to
make progress toward that learning?
Johnston, P. H. (2012). Opening minds: Using
language to change lives. Portland, ME:
Stenhouse Publishers.
 Tomlinson, C. A., & McTighe, J. (2006).
Integrating differentiated instruction +
understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
 Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005).
Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson.
 Wiggins, J. (1998). Educative assessment. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 Zeichner, K.M., & Liston, D. P. (1996). Reflective
teaching: An introduction. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
