UbDDI+B2+Chapter+6

Abstract and Synthesis of Chapter 6 by Matt Towle
Chapter 6 of //Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design// discussed a variety of teacher strategies that can support different learners in the classroom. In a classroom there are various types of students with equally varying needs and learning capabilities. One of the core tenets of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction holds that teachers need to make accommodations for these different situations. For example, low-level learners cant always be given low-level assignments. How are they supposed to progress if they are never given anything to challenge them? Research has in fact shown that low-performing students "increase their grasp of advanced skills at least as much as their high[achieving counterparts when both experience instruction aimed at meaning and understanding" (84). This brings up another important point. Lessons should be created based on the goals that are implied by the standards. If students can "uncover" the information needed rather than the teacher simply "covering" it they will be more likely to achieve the understandings desired.

This chapter seemed to speak to everyone in a similar way. We realized that in order to be effective teachers we are going to have to be flexible in the way we plan, teach and assess our students. If we are flexible, then we are able to differentiate our lessons and assignments to the specific needs of students. This is opposed to the "one-size-fits-all" teaching style which suggests that everyone will learn regardless of what they are given. By changing the criteria or premises of assignments each student can learn what they need to learn and demonstrate that they have gained understanding of the material. Another point that was brought up in quite a few blogs was the importance of classroom arrangement. Classrooms can be set up in many different ways to promote a variety of learning styles. Set up can depend on activities, groups of learners in your class or assignments. Some students learn better when they are sitting at their own desks and some learn better when they are working in collaborative groups. These are both factors we will need to consider when we someday have classrooms of our own. toc

Kassaundra
Chapter 6: Responsive Teaching with UbD in Academically Diverse Classrooms There are 3 key instructional roles for a teacher, one being a direct instructor, another being a facilitator and the last being a coach. With these three responsibilities I am beginning to realize just how many “hats” teachers have to wear. If I want to be an effective teacher I will need to be able to play any role that comes my way. It is also very important that planning and implementing curriculum come from the belief that all or almost all students should work with the big ideas and skills of the given topic. To help with differentiated instruction the classroom needs to be flexible whether it be with room arrangement, textbooks or deadlines because it can help to address the learners’ needs in the classroom. Besides this, teachers should consider student patterns to help them group students together and provide responsive teaching. It’s possible that as a teacher I will find that the strategies that I planned to benefit one group will actually benefit others, so I should never ignore a learning group. By paying attention to the different categories of learners a teacher can then implement instruction that will work well for that class. This means I will need to be highly observant when it comes to my students. Lastly, to use these strategies I will need to be flexible and find time to undertake all these concepts. This worries me because I like it when things go the way I plan and I am increasingly becoming afraid that I won’t have any free time.

Charli Sayward
UBD Chapter 6: Responsive Teaching with UBD The main idea is having flexibility in the classroom in order to create differentiated instruction. Students should always be engaged in the classroom, and making the lessons meaningful for the students will help achieve this. Allowing students to know exactly what goals are expected can be the first step towards making meaning. Through differentiated instruction, students will make even more meaning. There are many ways to be flexible, such as being able to extend due dates, providing a variety of resources to students, using different teaching strategies to meet the different learning strategies, and to create teacher partnerships. In my classroom, I will allow my students to rearrange the seating for different activities. I personally feel more comfortable in group settings, so I will support this in my class. I will also provide my students with many resources because I know this will help them see more perspectives than just the ones I can provide in my class.

Matt Towle
Chapter 6 discussed how important it is for teachers to be responsive to the varying needs of students. It had many examples of how to react to different students' needs. I learned many ways to manage time in different situations. For example, I can provide background activities for students who work faster than others while allowing plenty of time for everyone else to get the assignment done. This will impact my classroom because time management is very important in the learning environment. If students finish too quickly and have nothing to do then they will be more likely to socialize or act out. For this same reason, if students are struggling with their work I will need to be able to address their issues without worrying about what the rest of the class is doing

Kelly Steinhagen
This chapter focuses on how to be a responsive teacher that effectively uses differentiation in a way that ensures students will know the fundamental basics and beyond. I specifically liked the way the book used backwards planning for conveying to the students what they will be learning. There are three stages that go from what they will be learning to how they will be assessed to show evidence of learning, and ways to have the students reflect upon their learning and relate to the real world. I can see this as being a strong guideline for presenting new ideas to my future students. Another aspect of this chapter that will affect me in the future is the fact that classrooms need to be flexible in order for students to reach optimal learning. The book includes charts with examples of how to be flexible through time, space in the classroom, learning strategies, and much more. This combined with the backwards planning for student understanding will be very effective in my classroom and hopefully allow the students to have a comfortable environment.

Alyssa Wadsworth
This chapter made a good point about the type of work that specific students do in the classroom. “Too often, lower-achieving learners are relegated to a steady curricular diet of low-level skill drills and rote learning of facts” (page 85). However, students of all types need to learn the same lessons, whether they know the basics or not because they all need to participate in “the game” (page 85). This affects me because I have already learned that it is okay to make a compromise on the work for some students to make it fair for them to learn in the classroom, but some teachers do take this idea too far and allow—or force—the students to work on a lower level than the rest of the class.

Justin Stewart
Chapter six is about flexibility in a teacher’s instruction. Flexibility is the key to helping students when they haven’t mastered the material. Using multiple intelligences and activities in your lessons helps all students in the classroom. The best grades I ever got in classes were the ones where the teachers tended to flex how their instruction was taught. Giving students more time on certain assignments and giving more time on instruction where students were falling behind. There are classes where the teachers were not so flexible and I had a lot of trouble. I know that I will make sure to give students a second chance on homework, because this can help students to really master the material. Giving them feedback about what they have learned will help them to hone their knowledge.

Ryan Pelletier
This chapter talks about the importance of knowing the type of learner your students are. You need to be very flexible to be able to achieve all these different learning abilities in a differentiated classroom. You learn how some students need motivation, some need support, and others need instruction. By being flexible and prepared your students should get their learning needs met. As a teacher I will have to learn all my students needs through observation and surveys. If I know their need, I will have a much easier time making a backwards design. It will help me plan ahead, and allow me to add room for variations in my backwards design. = =

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Linda McLaughlin
//Chapter Six: Responsive Teaching with UbD in Academically Diverse Classrooms// While reading this chapter, I learned about how instruction should really be focused on the students and decided based on the principles of differentiation and backward planning. As teachers we need to provide support and encouragement to all our learners and be aware of our instruction and how we implement. “A goal of differentiated instruction is providing opportunity and support for the success of far more students than is possible in one-size-fits-all approaches to teaching and learning” (p.100). We need to be flexible in our classrooms, and this chapter gave a variety of examples to help us be able to achieve this. This impacted me because I didn’t fully realize that there were so many different ways to change the classroom environment to be more efficient and supportive to the learners. I’ve not always had the privilege to be in classrooms where the teachers wanted to be flexible and help me succeed. It was their way or the highway. This impacts my classroom because that is the kind of teacher I //don’t// want to be. Therefore, I’m going to be conscientious of how I implement my instruction and be really aware of how to be flexible, but not put some students on a lower level of learning. All my students need to have equal opportunities. The examples in this chapter are definitely going to be good resources for my future in the classroom.

Taylor Kemp
This chapter is all about the need to be flexible while being a teacher. This is really important because not all learners are on the same level. Also the more flexible you are, the more the student has an opportunity to be a stronger learner. Giving them what they need along with what is necessary is the right starter for a good year. Along with being flexible there is also the important task of being positive for your students. I know this will effect my classroom because I now understand how important it is to be able to rearrange plans, and be able to go with the flow in order for my students to have the optimal chance at learning what I am trying to teach them. = =

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Brianna Douglass
In this chapter it talks about how teachers need to be flexible in order to provide differentiated instruction. Teachers are expected to change a lesson in order to accommodate every students learning styles. Being open to every style students and learner is a must for any good teacher. As a future teacher myself I think these are some of the most important ideas to consider. Flexibility is needed in every classroom especially when working with technology because as we all know technology doesn’t always go the way we want it to. In my future classroom I will have to use both of these ideas in order to be effective. Flexibility is useful in many aspects whether it be technology, lesson planning or assessments. Its hard to judge what styles of learners I will have and so therefore I will have to be flexible depending on the circumstances.

Lyzz Stevenson
Chapter 6: Responsive teaching is key to creating a differentiated learning environment. As a teacher you must be flexible in your lesson plans to allow room for other activities or slightly altered activities. This flexibility allows for your students to be fully engaged throughout the lesson/ unit. This flexibility can mean a multitude of things; extended due dates, providing resources for students and background activities for those students who finish faster. This is crucial as a teacher to be flexible in the classroom as it will help you in classroom management. Allowing students to move around and do different activities will also help cover different learning styles.

Jenn Baum
Chapter 6: Responsive Teaching with UbD in Academically Diverse Classrooms A big part of teaching is being able to determine what material is important to teach, how to best teach that material to all students, and in what ways you can determine who has successfully reached the goals set. In this chapter, I learned that one way to be an effective teacher which is similar to being an effective coach, you need to guide your students in such a way that the basic skills/drills that they practice can be applied and used in a larger, more meaningful context such as a game and not exclusively “sideline drills” (85). Another thing that I learned from reading this chapter is that sometimes there are some basic support systems that you need to construct for some students who may struggle in specific ways that are beneficial to many other students as well. Also it is better and more efficient to plan ahead to construct these support systems before you face them than to try to adjust your infrastructure after the fact. In school, I can remember some instances where a teacher provided extra assistance and differentiation in lessons. Even though some of these extra support systems were targeted to help students who were struggling with reading or who had a hard time studying, they also helped students like myself get more practice and refine my ways of thinking and learning. As a teacher, I want to be able to differentiate in a way that helps all students learn without separating students and creating bridges between advanced and beginning stages of learners. Some of the ways that I will do this will be to meet up with small groups regularly, provide graphic organizers, teach in several different ways, and use jigsaw and think-pair-share groups.

Darcie Simmons
This chapter talks about the environment of the classroom, and how it is necessary for the students learning. When beginning to discuss the environment of a classroom, it talks about how it should flow like a melody and that a “teacher is always aware of the melody – the curriculum goals – but finds many different ways to the melody” (89). This goes to show that not only will the teacher need to create a melody for their classroom; they will also need to be able to change that melody to fit each of their students. When the students are comfortable, and know that the teacher is making the adjustments for the classroom to be comfortable, then their learning will greatly improve. Another thing this chapter talked about, which I found to be very interesting, is that in order for the classroom too be comfortable to the students it needs to be flexible. This flexibility exists in many forms through time, space, resource’s, strategies from the teacher and students, and partnerships, to name a few. While in the classroom I will keep in mind of these key elements of flexibility, and use them to help me when I have run out of tricks from my bag of tricks that Dr. Theresa talks about.

Megan Wallace
I learned just how flexible teachers need to be in order to be effective in the classroom. Different students are going to need me to play different roles for them to learn effectively. They need me to be there to teach them, to push them, to listen to them. I need to be flexible in order to help them reach their full potential. As a teacher I will try at all times to remember the needs of my students and to make sure that I fulfill those needs. They are not there for me. I am there for them. I will come up with the best teaching methods that I can in order to reach all of my students.

Erin
Chapter 6: Responsive Teaching with UbD was mostly about the flexibility of teachers when it comes to certain elements of teaching. I learned that teachers need to be flexible in the topics of time, space, resources, teaching strategies, and learning strategies. I discovered many suggestions in this chapter such as negotiating due dates of homework or projects, creating “quiz zones”, using audio and video for resources (which we talk about in every class), making connections to students’ cultures, and encouraging students to work on pairs. Using these and other similar methods will help me as a teacher in my ability to address the different needs of his or her learners. The time flexibility factor impacted me because I always use up all the time given to me, and even more if possible. As a teacher, I would rather have my one of my students go over the time limit if they do not think their work is the best they can do. Of course, I cannot be too lenient all the time because I do not want my students to take me for granted. I also learned about making the environment comfortable and flexible for my students. I was thinking that I could engage their interest by using the classroom arrangement as a problem and they will have to solve it. Maybe I could have them arrange the desks in shapes of polygons? = =

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Kaitlyn Haase
Chapter 6: Responsive Teacher with UbD in Academically Diverse Classrooms In chapter 6 I learned about the roles that teachers play and how certain instructional strategies support those roles. These roles show how teachers have to practice flexibility. The author gives many great examples of ways to be flexible, such as negotiating due dates for timed tasks or encouraging students to work alone or with a peer. I chose these particular examples because many of my former teachers were not flexible with due dates and group work. Most of my past teachers said that the deadlines were nonnegotiable. They also would make it seem like a crime if students wanted to work by themselves while others worked with partners on worksheets or other similar tasks. The authors explain how it’s very common that teachers get set in their ways, and change is hard. It is so important to make changes to be flexible with students because the benefits will prove to be much greater. A second brief thing I learned in the chapter, is that the learning environment has a significant influence on students' learning. In my classroom I will strive to maintain a comfortable learning environment that accommodates all of my students.

Olivia
In chapter 6, the idea of responsive teaching was discussed. I learned in this chapter that there are many things I can do as a teacher to help meet the needs of my students. Students need a teacher who can be flexible in their instruction, and a teacher who refuses to meet the need of their students will become ineffective at being able to teach. Paying attention to what a student requires in the classroom will help them to succeed. Creating a comfortable environment is key to accommodating the students, but it is important to not make a concrete environment that never changes. When I become a teacher, I will choose to have an environment that is ever-changing and still attempt to meet the needs of all my students.