UbD Ch 11 The Design Process

This chapter gives us a guide in which to begin the process of planning. Here we find the templates. First, a designer (teacher) must begin with the standards. A teacher would be looking for key nouns and verbs in the standards, identify key knowledge and skill called for in the standards, develop essential questions that flow from the standards, list the activities that will enable performance, and refine the unit across all three stages. Second, consider desired real-world application. Third, begin with key resource or favorite activity. Four, begin with an important skill. Five, begin with an existing unit. What stood out most for me in this entire chapter was the 3rd grade social studies unit about Pioneer life and westward movement done the traditional activity based way and then plugged into the UbD template and done the backward design way. It was amazing to see what the results were using both methods. The activities based method was just full of activities that were not connected in a meaningful way to a big idea or essential questions. The unit was just filled with activities some vocabulary quizzes and such. Even the students' reflections were just comments about what was fun in those activities, but sadly there were no apparent enduring understandings generated from the activity saturated unit. How often do we commit this grave error as teachers? Unfortunately, I think it is too often that we plan this way. Once this same social studies unit was designed using the UbD method using the template, it was jaw dropping to see the differences. The standards were at the top of the template defining the established goals, understandings, essential questions, knowledge, skills, assessment evidence, and finally the learning activities were carefully woven out to achieve the desired results. There was a huge difference between the two. This fully grabbed my attention in this chapter. The UbD way is much more carefully thought out and designed. It is much more detailed and clearer as to the destination that a teacher wants to reach. Finally, I would like to end my response to this chapter by using a quote that was at the beginning of this chapter. It states that "Americans hold the notion that good teaching comes through artful and spontaneous interactions with students during lessons...such views minimize the importance of planning increasingly effective lessons and lend credence to the folk belief that good teachers are born, not made." James Stigler and James Hiebert. After exposure to UbD I walk away with the opinion that good teachers are a balance of effective planning skills; however, I still believe in my heart that the really special powerful assertive teachers do have a special talent. One can be very cafefully trained in the best design methods, strategies, etc. and they have the course work, certificates, degrees etc to prove that. However, in the classroom they still do not know how to apply that knowledge and skill in a way that yields effective results in the classroom. That is just my opinion, but I believe in it 100%.