Whitney provides review of diversity officers training series, review of our emphasis on outcome-based approaches to our work, overview of the day, foundation and inspiration for this training, and Backward Design. Thanks for the opportunity to share some time with you. I started to bring in one of my jack games as an ice breaker but my accountant sister warned me against it. She suggested that I should simply get to the point. The point I want to get to is that diversity isn’t about the other person, it is about me. The issue of diversity starts with me not with you.
Whitney: Review: bullet point #1 Whitney ( or Jason?) overview of objectives of the day: bullet points #2, #3
Whitney
Whitney Why “backward”? Because for most of us, this design model asks us to re-examine our curriculum development practices and to look at them in different light.
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Let’s take a closer look at Stage 1 which involves identifying the desired result of what students should know, understand and be able to do.
Whitney Specifically, we will focus on identifying the enduring understandings, essential questions, the knowledge and skills we want students to achieve and the content standards that will be explicitly addressed by the unit.
Whitney Because there is typically more content than can be reasonably addressed within the available instructional time, we are obligated to make choices and to establish curricular priorities. Lesson 3 of your ASCD Professional Development course asks you to use the framework of concentric circles as a framework for decision making in this regard. We’re going to get a head start on the process. (Wkst 4.1 Establishing Curricular Priorities) Think of your unit and with the outermost circle begin identify the knowledge that students should be familiar with. During the proposed unit, what do you want students to read, hear, view, research or otherwise encounter? Using the middle ring, sharpen your choices by specifying important knowledge (facts, concepts and principles) and skills (processes, strategies and methods). These are the “essentials” the prerequisite knowledge and skills that students need in order to successfully accomplish key performances. The smallest, innermost ring, requires us to really focus on our intellectual priorities. Here we select the enduring understandings that will anchor or unit and establish a rationale for it. Here we will consider the larger purpose for learning the targeted content. Ask yourself: What is it that I really want students to “get a hold of” and retain long after the minor details may have been forgotten. What is it that I want them to remember 5 years from now? What is it that I want them to be able to apply outside of school? You may wish to consider the prompts provided on Handout 1 to help you focus on your unit. When you’ve completed your initial brainstorming, use the filtering criteria (Wkst 4.2) to further target your possible understandings. (Support Material: Handout 1)
Whitney, Transition to Jason A key design strategy for engaging student inquiry, uncovering subtle ideas, and developing understanding is to build curriculum around the kinds of questions that gave rise to the content knowledge in the first place. Such questions help in designing a curriculum that is more coherent, making the student’s role more inquisitive and in focusing the teacher’s priorities. Wiggins and McTighe suggest that students who have complete and mature understandings are able to explain, interpret and apply concepts while showing insight from perspective, empathy and self-knowledge. While generating possible essential questions, it is helpful to take these facets into consideration.
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If keep previous slide (#20): Whitney If condense previous slide: Jason Let’s move right along into Stage 2: Determining Acceptable Evidence of Understanding.
Whitney ? Use the prompts provided in Figure 9.7 to brainstorm ways that students might reveal their understanding of a topic within your unit. Then, brainstorm types of evidence that might be most useful, insightful, and fair in providing a sufficient range of evidence (Worksheet 7.1).
Whitney, Transition to Jason ? What is evidence of in-depth understanding, as opposed to superficial or naïve understanding? Where should we look, and what should we look for to determine the extent of student understanding? What kinds of assessment evidence will anchor our curricular units and guide our instruction?
Whitney, Transition to Jason When planning to collect evidence of understanding, teachers should consider a range of assessment methods.
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Jason or Whitney
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Whitney or Jason Ready for Stage 3: Planning Learning Experiences and Instruction
Whitney As we begin planning learning experiences and instruction, we’ll want to ensure that work is both engaging and effective in leading towards maximum achievement. Use Wkst 12.1 and 12.2 to identify conditions and criteria for engaging and effective design. Then, in a small group discussion, use Wkst 12.3 to show the relationship between engaging and effective work. (Support Materials: Handouts 4, 5 and 6)
Whitney Considering what needs to be uncovered is vital when designing curriculum because big ideas are often subtle, abstract and unobvious. Simply covering the material leaves students to guess what is most important. There are several exercises to assist designers in thinking through the coverage vs. uncoverage dilemma. (Participants may wish to refer to the UBD Handbook, pages 189-197) Students often leave school with misunderstandings about what they (we thought) they learned. After stating an understanding target as a set of possible generalizations, educators can better appreciate the importance of confronting student misconceptions in assessment and lesson design. The challenge is to better anticipate misunderstandings and attack them more aggressively in our design work, not just as they arise and surprise our teaching. Use Wkst 14.1 to consider the types of ideas that typically confuse students and frequently cause misunderstandings. Then, consider the likely misunderstandings for your own unit of study. (Wkst 14.2 and 14.3)
Whitney With clearly specified understanding targets and assessments, we can now begin to identify instructional activities and sequence to make performance success most likely. Wiggins and McTighe use the acronym WHERETO to guide teachers on where to focus their efforts. All of these elements may not be needed in each unit, but as design guidelines and self-assessment criteria, they alert us to considering students as would=be performers. Use Handout 7 to consider these elements for you unit, then discuss the considerations with a partner or small group.
Keep? Whitney The primary purpose of peer review is to provide feedback to designers to help them improve their unit designs. Review sessions also provide the opportunity to share and discuss curriculum and assessment with colleagues providing a powerful approach to professional development because the conversations focus on the heart of teaching and learning. Use Wkst 21.1 and 21.2 to review your overall unit design with a peer or small group.
![Objectives ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],© 1998 Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe Modified by Whitney G. Harris and Jason A. Cardinal, 2007](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)