Ch.+11

Wiggins Ch. 11- This chapter talks about the "design process". When you asked me how many pages this design project was going to be and I said it may be just one page, many of you were thinking, " yes... this will not take me long at all. I will just take one my units and shove it in this template". I am wondering if you all find the process that easy. Even if something is one page long, how long does it take to think about what the Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions are? Have you ever developed a unit where you really throught about what one or two things were most essential? And then there is Assessment... have you considered assessment under six facets? Have you considered authentic assessment, performance assessment? How is planning using this design so much different than what you do normally? Read my post...one page (mine is 2) took me 5 hours. It is not easy. It really made me think and still I am not sure I did it all correctly. But it did made me really think of the questions I want them to ask and answer and really made me think of what I want them to understand. I must say I still get a bit tripped up with what hte students will know and what they will understand...is this normal or have I not learned anything this semester?????????? hahaha!(Karen)


 * I think all things equal how much effort you put into them. I could easily throw together a one page and jam one of my lessons/units into the template. However, it is more beneficial to me as a teacher to actually use this and think about what I am teaching... how authentic my assessments are, etc. If I bs a paper, it does nothing for me... I want to expand my knowledge and be a better teacher, not a better BS' er... haha(ally) **


 * Based on experience using this template during undergrad, I can definitely say that I don’t think it’s a “quick, one-page process.” Haha, agree. I remember one that took me 4-5 hours for a two day lesson. Haha I went to Otterbein for undergrad too, and using this template took hours. I wonder if that is because we didn't have the experience to put it together and think about it more quickly, or because we were thinking more in depth back then... (ally) I As someone who has never used the template I can see where it would take a lot of time the first time using it. I think it's something where you get more comfortable with it the more you use it, making it easier as you go. (Jen) think that you can make the UbD template a quick thing, but what you end up with will completely defeat using the template in the first place. On page 255, it says “Treating the template as a set of boxes to be filled in one at a time is likely to result in a poor design, because such an approach won’t involve the kind of revising and aligning needed to produce a coherent plan.” Haha, I also thought the same thing as I read this. Rushing through it and not seeing it as a continuous flow, isn’t beneficial for anyone. Like Diane suggests, if you truly spend time developing a unit/lesson using the UbD, a lot of time is required to make it effective. I think the hardest piece for me, is taking the standards and creating the enduring understandings & essential questions. I can come up with some, but never really be satisfied with them. **Same here... I always second-guess myself with those, too! (Michelle) ** It’s hard for me to come up with things that will be “truly meaningful” to hook students all the time. Once I have these down on my template, I find it easier to get the ball rolling, and continue on with the process. As far as assessment, like we discussed in chapter 7, I don’t feel that I necessarily use enough variety in how I assess students. Completely agree. (Jen) I think this year I have been a cop-out. It takes so much time for me to come up with a truly authentic, performance assessment, that I typically go with the traditional paper/pencil assessment for my summatives. One of my co-workers just sent me an OAA test template, where you can plug test questions in and make it look like an OAA test, with answer doc and everything. I think it’s good to use every so often so students are used to “seeing” the test, but I feel that it all goes back to us putting too much emphasis on “the test.” Don't be so hard on yourself. Unfortunately the OAA is a reality for our students and you presenting them with opportunities to experience this outside of the actual test are good practice to reduce anxiety and increase familiarity. Part of our job as teachers I feel is prepare our students and help them to be successful for all situations they will encounter whether we agree with them or not.  **Agreed - we're helping to train them for the real world which, nowadays, is a combination of performance-based experiences/assessments (i.e., knowing how to measure when making something like an object or a cake) and paper-and-pencil tests (i.e., standardized tests). (Michelle)


 * T **** here were a few key pieces I pulled out of this chapter. The quote that started the chapter “Architects have the patience....” p 254 really stuck with me because I feel that one of the big things about being an effective teacher is continually changing and improvising what you’re doing, in addition to being extremely flexible! **I agree with you about this; teachers are improving and learning 24/7, it is a career that never ends. Therefore, we can express our motivation to the students. I also like the second part of this quote that says "..teaching come through artful and spontaneous interactions with students during lessons..." If teachers have a positive interaction with students, their classrooms will be 100% success, because the students will be motivated to come to those classes (Silvia). **I also thought it was good to see all of the different approaches (page 256), of how you can start using the design process. I think this goes to show that this process can be used by everyone, no matter where they are in their teaching career. I agree. I also think that different ways of starting can help to get the creative juices running in different ways. When a person is restricted in their thinking, their creativity is also restricted. I appreciated the fact that it showed the different ways to start the design too. Like it was stated before the flexibility in teaching is key. The template has a great structure but it still has flexibility too. Which I did not think was possible when we started learning about this process. ****I also think it was great that this chapter pointed out the dilemmas that come with designing lessons. I feel that I’ve struggled with many of these, but like the book says, you don’t solve them, you work through them. When planning your units compromise is a must! As I'm sure we've all come to learn, flexibility is key as a teacher! (Jen) The last piece that I really thought about was the reflection/feedback section. I feel that I do a decent job of having students reflect on their own learning. They reflect after summatives, looking at their learning targets and seeing where they’re at with each target. I also have students do a 3-2-1 exit slip every so often: 3 things I learned, 2 things I still have questions about, 1 thing that I’m confused about. I think that I need to do a better job of getting student feedback on my teaching, not just their learning. It only makes sense to see how they feel about class, and make adjustments to my teaching based on how they feel.** I **feel like I always remember to have myself reflect on the units, but not the students. Throughout the unit I will have them answer questions or exit slips, but not at the very end of the unit. Not after the summative assessments, which is a time that it is very important because we are about to move on to another topic. The actual verbal or written feedback that students can give you is important, but do not underestimate your own teacher intuitions too. This information that you can get through body language and their participation or involvement (hook) can be worth a lot too. I have to utilize these items because some of my students can not talk and some are not ready to write yet for me to get that kind of feedback so you learn to find it in other ways. **


 * I did also use this UbD template during my undergraduate years. It is not an easy task but I enjoyed doing it. I do like challenges and this is one of them. Wiggins' book helps you step by step to fill out the template (p.256). It is an easy guidance but you need to put your part on it. I do like to apply different type of assessments, not only summative assessment but also formative or performance assessment such as projects, labs, etc. Students like the class or subject when teachers offer them a variety of activities. They also like that environment when teachers give them choices; they have to choose from different activities. It is a challenge for the teachers, because it is more work and takes more time that usually, but it keeps the students motivated to come and learn for that class. But that's the problem teachers see this as an issue when its actually a chance to see your students range in creativity and their understanding of the lesson. Some teachers get so focused on their plans instead of leaving them more flexible for different outcomes.Julie **Yes, but I also think that the part about "it's a challenge because it's more work and takes more time than usual" has a lot to do with why teachers don't give their students as many choices. I've tried to give my students more choices in the past and it's crazy how much time is involved in 1. planning the extra activities, 2. creating them, 3. evaluating them, and then trying to figure out how the point values will all be comparable for their grades. yeesh! (Michelle)
 * I don't see the UbD so much different than the regular lesson plan. In a regular lesson plan, a teacher need to write the objective of the lesson before anything. The same thing happen with the Ubd template, we need to write the goal for the lesson or unit first, then comes the knowledge, the skills, assessment, activities and so on. The only difference that I see is that in the regular lesson plan we think of the activities first and the last step is the assessment and in the UbD template, teachers need to think in how to assess first and then which activities go along with the assessment. I agree with this. The more I see UbD and actually start using it it's not much different from a "normal" lesson plan, it just requires a change in how we think. (Jen) **
 * Last but not least, I want to say that the weekly feedback form in page 272 will be my backup from now on. I will ask those questions every Friday because I need feedback for myself. I will also ask my students for feedback on my teaching because it is very important for me as a professional (Silvia).** I liked that too! But I think I'd use it at the end of each unit, maybe? I wouldn't have time for them to do it everyweek. (Michelle)

The main thing I took away from this chapter is that using UbD to design a unit doesn’t have to be a major, time-consuming undertaking, which is what I’ve always viewed it to be. Don’t’ get me wrong – I definitely think that you need to take your time with it and carefully consider what goes into your plan, but it shouldn’t be something that completely consumes you when attempting it. When the authors said on page 255 that it doesn’t matter where you start the design process, just that you end up with a coherent product, it really made me realize that all I need to do is change some of what I’ve been doing, not completely get rid of it and start over from scratch. I agree we just need to be mindful of what we are doing. Does x make sense for y. What are the students taking away from this? The example they gave of the 3rd grade social studies unit was also helpful to me in seeing that.  I really liked seeing that too! I thought it helped to see a before and after example of the UbD. (Nicole) I enjoyed reading the Math one! I also liked that the authors finally addressed some of what we’ve all been questioning in our posts – the unavoidable dilemmas (pages 268-270). Although I felt the advice they gave on how to deal with these dilemmas wasn’t really all that helpful, it was nice to see that they realize that backward design is not necessarily perfect, just a way to better direct our teaching. I did like the weekly feedback form (Figure 11.8), although I’m not sure how I would be able to use it with younger students. (Jen) I take it as feedback for myself not for the students...(Silvia) Silvia, I agree that it's feedback for us, not the students, but I think Jen makes a valid point. I thought the same thing, I wondered if my middle schoolers would take it seriously or not. Jen, for younger kids, I think you may need to phrase the questions differently? Not sure, I feel that there's a way to make it work, just not sure how. (Nicole)

Chapter 11 was on the 'design process'. Wiggins showed us many great examples of how to attack and start the process of designing a unit with the correct steps. Two large sections of this chapter that I thought spoke volumes were the doorway to design and the unavoidable dilemmas (which some people have already mentioned). Personally, I haven't designed that many lessons. Maybe just a handful, if I'm lucky. But both of these are nice checklist to quickly go over to see if you need to revisit or adjust any of your unit.

This chapter discusses design process and this sentence stood out to me because it is so true. (The best designers creatively play with unit ideas and they test their ideas.) We as teachers test out our ideas on our students then we even share them with our colleauges, who then tweek them and share their comments with us. I know I said this last week but I am very lucky to have a husband who is in the same subject area as me because we have tested our ideas together and helped each other out with different creative input. As a social studies teacher I like the importance they put on "desired real-world applications" this is so true, one of the things I always have my students focus on throughout the year is current events. I use the current events to show how history repeats itself. I like how it reminds us to adjust the design in light of misunderstandings or unanticipated rough spots. I would get so mad at past teachers in high school and college that would test us on information that we did not cover or that they did not tell us to do on our own so we could be prepared. We would do all this work and then the test wouldn't reflect what we did during the unit/chapter. I think the key thing to keep in mind is that the design of a unit/chapter/lesson can be altered and changed as much as needed. It should look like a chopped up research paper that has been proof-read by 20 people because the more you adjust things the better off the lesson will be and the more relevant it will be to your students. (julie) Hey everyone, very interesting and insightful feedback...had to read in little pieces to take in. When I read this chapter-I thought to myself, slowing down a little won't hurt anything. Things are only as fast as allowed or accepted. I had read the chapter before I read these postings and reflections, ideas-thoughts...its sounding like flexible is feasible. Sounds like the teaching profession can relate to fexible and feasible. So my take-away from the reading was that design is a non-linear process. Its beginning to sound like a mantra for when I'm challenged, stumped, and un-motivated. There's no sequence to it, you just gotta go with it sometimes. I can relate to the idea we're reading in the chapter a lot clearer now that I have concentrated on the wiki. I also found it encouraging for teachers to learn they don't have to start from scratch, but they can revise existing designs. Perhaps this is the kind of feedback that will help improve everyone's teaching performance? Do you ever find though that there are too many cooks in the kitchen or that at some point the feedback has to stop? Let me clarify: I don't mean that you don't continue to improve the unit and the lessons, but is there ever a point where you have to stop allowing other teachers, parents, and legislative figure heads give their two cents? Yes, because I feel things can sometimes come to the point where you (the teacher) are trying to make all of those people happy or atleast feel like they've been heard but it's really not possible to make everyone happy. I think that if we're able to design our lessons with the students' best interest in mind and if we're able to really assess their learning/understanding in meaningful ways, then we're doing a pretty good job (... hopefully that's what you were referring to! :-p). (Michelle)

I think using the ubD design is very similar to differentiating your instruction, assessment, and content. Students are more likely to be motivated to learn when they are given options and are presented content in different ways. Using ubD does not need to be a time consuming and overwhelming task, but does need to be carefully thought out. UbD is not much different than creating my regular lesson/unit plans. The biggest difference for me would be the order in which I create the unit plans. Thinking of the outcomes and how we are to assess the students in the beginning stages of planning is different than what I’m used to. (Jason) I agree with Jason here. I feel this does look a lot like differentiating your instruction. However, I do feel overwhelmed sometimes and frustrated by the amount of time this does take. I feel that it is essential to being a better educator! The part that I think depresses me is the time constraints because you have these grand ideas and like it was stated earlier our job in many ways consumes us 24/7 but you only have those students so many hours a day and so many days a year. Then you add to that all of the standards and other things we have to accomplish. It makes for a serious balancing act and in many ways it feels like the deck is stacked against you. I have a coworker who teaches in my room too and her planning takes about half the time that mine does. However, she doesn't account for all students abilities and needs in her planning nor does she adjust along the way. I get down on myself but then I realize the time and energy I am taking is reaching my students and making a difference. Yay!!!! That means you really care about what you do and about your students' success! Keep thinking those positive thoughts! (Michelle)

KAREN-Wiggins Chapter 11-I just got done reading Chapter 11 and it is Monday and I wish I had read this chapter yesterday and before I spent 5 hours doing my UbD design. I must say for the first time I really consentrated on the essential questions of an activity instead of the resourses and the activities I was going to use. I was wondering if 5 hours is too long. The chapter states that we must improvise and play around with the lesson, but how much is too much? At times I felt really good about my goal and my essential questions, but then at times I felt like they were not enough. I do think that the questions I raised are thought provoking and are open-ended. My topic was how did appeasement cause WW II. One of my EQ's is, Did Neville Chamberlin cause WW II. To me this is thought provoking and does not have a wrong or right answer. For thouse who understand a bit about history, most think Hitler stated WW II, but looking at appeasement, one may come to another conclusion. I really liked the recipe analogy that the process I went through was messy and it was, (but I had fun and I learned a bit more about the topic and about what i really want my students to understand and transfer) but even thought the making of my lesson was messy, the product the students see is step by step product. That made sense to me! I am wondering if anyone else has or will have the problem I do. I always have do much stuff I want to teach or cover that at times I have a really hard time really deciding what is really the most important content to teach. I have so much I can do with them that how do I decide? Does it really boil down to the test?????????????/ ** Karen, I agree. How much is too much is really the question. Naturally I believe teachers go through the big ideas in their heads as well as the essential questions. I think the UBD gives us a template and model, but I don't know how realistic it is... Although, it could be fairly realistic for each unit, just not every single lesson. (ally) **