“The UbD Template is designed to help educators become more circumspect and analytic about the desired results” (Understanding by Design, p: 56).
In chapter three the authors make us realize that desire results are extremely necessary due to the big amount of aims that are simultaneously played in the classroom. Together with establishing the desired goals, we need to set up long-term priorities for the instruction and assessment within the classroom, that allows having clear objectives, and for that reason being able to take decisions and make choices.
Teachers tend to overload their lesson plan; there is too much content we think is important and necessary for students to learn, but there is not enough time. This is the reason we are forced to make choices and set explicit priorities; for instance we have to choose a few big ideas and design our classes around them and using them to frame teaching and assessment, resisting the temptation to teach everything.
The question is how can we choose our priorities in a unit or a course? According to the authors we can take into account three aspects to consider when establishing priorities: worth being familiar with, important to do and to know and big ideas and core tasks.
Once we reflect about that and concentrate on the important, we can have a real and teachable curriculum.
priorities seem to be difficult to get into lessons plans but it is not impossible. i think if we practice in the future will be easier to apply it.
ReplyDeleteIt´s very true that we don´t have enough time to teach everything. I think this system that they give us can help, but it seems like these authors have all the answers and all the steps to solve all our problems! It can´t be so easy...
ReplyDelete" Teachers tend to overload their lesson plan; there is too much content we think is important and necessary for students to learn..."
ReplyDeleteTotally agree! I do tend to overload my lesson plans because I always think that everithing is too important to be left out. So I'm trying to stablishing key priorities to help my students so they can achieve the goals.
It's time to reflect on our priorities for teaching,planning and assessing and take aside those contents that don't help us improve our learners'understanding and develop their reflective work.
ReplyDeleteOne way to avoid overloading our lesson plans is to set up a working group which can discuss what contents are worth dealing with in class and which ones can be learnt by the students on their own.
ReplyDeleteI agree when you say how important is to set priorities, if we don't work on them, students will feel lost and sometimes they will feel frustrated. It is fundamental to emphasize some contents but not all of them, since sometimes we want them to learn so many things that just overload our lessons without giving wnough time for reflection, feedback and communication.
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ReplyDeleteWe are used to stating simultaneous goals in order to cope with all the needs we have in the classroom. An overloading task ? Of couse it is. As you mentioned, to establish priorities is a key concept to gaing clarity on learning desired.
ReplyDeleteThe problem for us... is that some teacher do not have the time nor the motivation to start reflecting about how much content, what objectives and how to teach. However, I think that if we compromised with this profession we should be willing to do it. It's part of what we must do as teachers.
ReplyDeleteWe can't teach everything, we don't have time to do that!. We need to use some kind of filter and see what we really have to teach: to set priorities. In this way we will be doing something against the frustation of our students.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this kind of texts and reflect on ideas such as those you've mentioned, I can'y stop thinking that "I'm the worst at what I do best"...
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that interferes with my students' own pace is the lesson plan. There is no space for "slowers" at school. Sometimes the lesson plan involves too much in too little. I completely understand the way you feel with it! Anyway, I will never be part of such thing. If my students need more I'll give them what they need! Call me naive, rebel or subversive, but I am the responsible for their frustrations in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteIt's true, we cannot teach everything we want, because of the time, the students,the extra curricular activities, etc.Often we have to adapt or reorganize the content,,and we cannnot do all we want.
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