UbDDI+B1+Chapter+9



toc Chapter nine brings both UBD and DI together using lesson plans, [|backwards design and unit plans]to tie them together. It provides many complete units that use backwards design to create the units. By doing this the chapter has shifted the idea of to overall schema of things being displayed to actually piecing everything together using essential goals as a root. This chapter discusses how teachers use the guiding principles to determine what students should know, what students understand, and what students are able to do. A good measurement of these abilities of the student is through assessment. A summarative assessment would not be a good tool for this becasue it is focusing on the end of the educational process. A formative assessment would work on the other hand because by figuring out what students know befoe a unit is taught, teachers will be able to know which students know what and what level they are on right now. I believe that through the backwards design model, many questions about the main goal can not be lost. The whole reason for doing backwards design is for the goal to hit you in the face and show you which way to go. This design is a great tool. Being a teacher, I will need to assess the student to be able to know what they need to know. It seems confusing enough, but with a [|starting point assessment], middle assessments to motivate students, and a final summative assessment, a teacher will be able to identify what works and what doesn't.
 * Abstract & Synthesis**
 * by Dylan Stefani**

Courtney Burns
This chapter truly does “bring it all together” by giving an actual example of a curriculum based on UbD and DI. The first thing I notice about the example was that it was clearly organized and well thought out, it was obvious the teacher was well prepare for the lesson. The second piece of information that I believe will be essential in developing curricula is that after you have used the backward design in developing a curriculum, pre-assessment steps in. As a teacher I will need to use the result of the pre-assessment to see where my students are in terms of content knowledge and from there I will need to tweak my plans to fit their needs.

Olivia Wandelear
Chapter nine really helped me actually see the final product we are aiming for in CIA. I was struggling to comprehend how all three stages eventually form together and work in harmony through the backwards design plan, but the sample unit provided a strong visual of the big picture. Equally important, this chapter enlightened me to the proper ways to execute differentiation on a performance task. Every student was equally challenged to his or her abilities in this teacher’s plan. Although it was mentioned before, chapter nine really solidified the idea that pre-assessments and formative assessments serve as primary tools when determining what needs to be differentiated in order to achieve the desired results. These assessments determine student readiness, interest, and learning profile needs. Modifications to performance tasks and their requirements make evidence of student learning flexible yet valid.

Ben Villeneuve
Chapter nine of //UbD/DI// seems to serve as a sort of summary chapter. The chapter contains an example of a whole unit designed using UbD, and then describes how the lessons in that unit could be differentiated according to the levels of the students. This will be very helpful when I am designing my own unit. Already I found myself going through the lists of conditions and checking off ways I need to improve my unit on //1984.// For instance, it really got me thinking about how I can make my lessons engaging. In addition, the section on differentiating instruction got me thinking about the precise mechanics of presenting the lessons.

Tim Grivois
The symbiosis between backwards design and differentiation is essential to the integration process. Teachers need to be conscious of the manner in which they integrate the system into their classes. The process is ninefold; the identification of desired learning results, acceptable performance indicators, perceive importance of learning experiences, regard for learners differences, addressing learners’ needs for success, review of goals, ongoing assessments, flexible instruction, and finding evidence of student learning. This chapter gives an example of a backwards design lesson plan, which is very helpful in planning out my own. The range of performance tasks is very applicable to real world situations. Teachers who understand that every student in the classroom has the potential to be a variable learner have an inherent advantage in relating to students and fostering growth in them. Several signs of learning can be observed by teachers who see with a watchful eye. By observing the dynamics in the classroom such as the behavioral and interpersonal relationships between students, teachers gain perspective on the different methods they should begin to introduce. Integrating differentiated instruction into the classroom means shifting frameworks constantly, and a flexibility that encompasses many different learning directions and styles. Teachers cannot be afraid to step outside their comfort zone in order to pull students out of their own.

Erika Tingley
This chapter gave many examples of ways that differentiation can be used alongside the backward design unit to ensure student maximum learning. The point that really had an impact on me was the idea that teachers need to teach with an understanding of where the student is at the beginning of the unit. It would be useless for a teacher to start to teach students concepts that they already know, or to teach material that is too advanced for them. Once a teacher has some understanding of where the students are with the material, than he or she can proceed to use the unit that has been designed in a differentiated manner so that students can effectively learn. This idea is going to be very important for me, as I will need to be prepared to adapt my units according to the understanding that my students already have of the material. The students will also appreciate that I know where they are coming from with the concepts I am teaching and that I have kept their knowledge level in mind when teaching on the topics.

Shila Cook
Chapter 9, //Bringing it all Together: Curriculum and Instruction Through the Lens of UbD and DI,// talks again about the essential goals of UbD and DI. It explains that together they describe a comprehensive was of thinking about curriculum, assessment, and instruction. The most important part of the chapter for me was when it said “In teaching, it is necessary to precede form considering where students begin the unit in relation to the desired results.” I plan on using this in my classroom because it makes complete sense. If I have a class where everyone is already very knowledgeable in the area of a unit then the desired result is not going to be far off, whereas if I have a class that is really struggling in the area of my unit then it might take me longer then expected to reach the desired results. Being able to read where my students are is very important in making my lessons and units as well.

Kay Sue Collins
This chapter brings together in summary form all of the pieces of UbD and DI that have been studied indepth throughout the book. It was enlightening to see it all laid out in a comprehensive manner. We have been studying it in a piecemeal fashion, and I work better when I can see the big picture first so I know where all of the pieces fit. Stage three especially makes the rest of it connect to what actually happens in the classroom, which makes it all make sense. This can be a really powerful tool in planning the actual lessons to be taught in the classroom and making them work together to maximize student understanding and capability.

Andy Shorey
In chapter 9 of Ubd and Di the author talk about the importance of the backward design in the classroom. It gives great examples of ways to differentiate instruction in the classroom for varied learners and also gives great lesson design It really focuses on strategies to differentiate the instruction for the students. The chapter also highlights some of what we have already learned which is all the steps to the backward design plan. I think getting the differentiated classroom idea's was a huge help I think that I would like to use some of the strategies in my classroom. I like the specific example about after pre assessing giving the students different work based on their level. That also helps out the special ed students and students with learning disabilities.

Josh
This chapter gave an overall description of what the backward design is all about. It showed the steps and reinforced the importance of all the steps. The chapter also talked about remaining flexible. This is important to my future class because I never want to be that teacher that is stuck in the past. When we forget that we are there for the kids we will be terrible teachers. That is why you need to remain flexible and change your lessons to fit the students that are in your class, not try to fit your students into the lesson you made last year.

Heath
As the title suggests, chapter nine “Bringing It All Together” ties the ideas of UbD and DI together as one with a summation of the guiding principles of UbD/DI and an example of a lesson plan constructed using UbD with opportunities for DI built in. I will be referencing this lesson plan as I continue to develop my own skills in this arena. When using these design and teaching methods, teacher need to wear many hats. Only by stepping back and forth between the roles of student, teacher and assessor can a teacher really understand what they are asking of students and know whether that is realistic or effective.

Dylan Stefani
Chapter nine discusses the steps that teachers go through when they are working on guiding principles of backwards design. When teachers work is guided by these principles they determine what students should know, what they understand, and what they are able to do. Teachers find evidence on the subject that will clearly show the students what is expected. They use the principles to guide there lessons and address needs from the students if there are any. I liked that the chapter also had a unit plan about health. This could be a great source I could use when designing a unit for nutrition. This chapter also reminded teachers to assess their students to see what they know before entering into a new unit. This will create an overview of who knows what and what you need to emphasize on when teaching. At the end of the chapter ideas are presented about the learning environment, the curriculum and the teacher that are useful to know.

Dan Horne
This chapter gives an example of a complete unit done using the backwards design model. The example was very professional and well organized and you could tell the teacher put a lot of time into the planning of that unit and lessons. This chapter also spoke about the ability to have a more flexible lesson plan to better cater to your students at that time. A good tool for that are pre-assessments to see where your students are at and to determine a starting point for your lessons to better prepare and teach your students. The pre-assessment is also a good tool for us as teachers because it shows us what concepts we have to focus on more deeply and others we can just go over.

Kasey Darnell
This chapter illustrated what it looks like when UbD and Differentiated Instruction is effectively implemented in the classroom. It provided a comprehensive list of 9 things that a teacher following these models would do. The list included planning learning experiences based on desired learning results and evidence for assessment, addressing the variety of learning needs in the classroom, using pre assessment and ongoing assessment, and a few other key components of the UbD and DI models. This chapter gave an example of a teacher who used UbD and DI to design a unit on nutrition. This was extremely relevant to me since it is my content area, and is a good example of how I should be planning and implementing lessons. Also, examples on how to differentiate the lessons and meet different students' needs were shown. This chapter was helpful because it showed a concrete example of how to use the UbD and DI models, instead of simply reading about the theories.

Caitlin Alexander
=== In chapter nine of //UBD/DI// the authors talk about using differentiated instruction and understanding by design in a classroom. There is a section in the chapter where a nutrition activity is presented, but there are separate, tiered versions of the project made ready for each student, in order to reach every level of understanding of the material. It also offers different ways to apply the interests of the student to the activity so that it not only engages the student, but makes them interested in participating in the activity. This is something that I found very useful, because I understood before the idea of modifying an activity to make it available and accessible to all levels of understanding, but I was slightly confused as to how to go about doing it. As a teacher, I need to make sure that all of my students are able to participate and contribute to the activity, but it does not help the student or myself if the activity requires information beyond their own understanding. This will either discourage the student or it will result in half-finished work. If I want all of my students to succeed, I need to make sure that I am prepared to teach multiple levels of understanding of the content, despite how far the class has already progressed.

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Tyler Brookings
Backwards design is the focus of this chapter, specifically, an outline of a complete unit done with backwards design. Also this chapter focuses Heavily on using Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design in the classroom. the chapter gives 9 examples of how a teacher could transfer the information given using UbD and transfer it into DI so that they could reach each individual level of the students in their class. Examples include addressing the variety of learning levels throughout the class, and using pre-assessment and on-going assessment, which is essentially assessment given during the lesson. I feel that this way of teaching will be invaluable in my career, especially since being able to meet all the needs of each student is seemingly the toughest obstacle.

Kyle Rines
Chapter 9 tells us how to design a unit and lessons around different levels of students. The author doesn't come out and tell us how to do this, but gives an example of creating a unit in a differentiated classroom. There will always be challenges when designing units and lesson plans, especially in a differentiated classroom. Learning how to adapt and change your units is key to understanding and educating all levels of students.