UbDDI+B1+Chapter+4


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Understanding by design and differentiated instruction Chapter 4 abstract and analysis

The main Idea for chapter four is to plan curriculum and things in the classroom so that students can learn the material to the best of their ability. The chapter is telling us as teachers the best ways for students to succeed. The chapter talks about how it is important for students to know exactly what it is that teachers want them to learn. However we can teach what we want them to learn in different ways so that students of all learning styles will understand. Teachers need to pre-assess students in order to build their curriculum around what the students need to learn. Teachers need to base their curriculum on understanding the content rather than just covering facts. The chapter gives us ways of helping the students to learn the curriculum in different ways it is important for the teacher to teach the student in a way he or she can learn. The chapter gives nine ways for teachers to help learners and the main idea of each one is to focus on strategies so that students can succeed.

Analysis of chapter

In chapter four of __Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction__ what we as a class took away from it was that it was about teachers helping students to do well in the classroom. We talk about how we need to be aware that there are different students of different levels and we need to focus on individual success as well as group success. Many people discuss the nine attitudes or skills a teacher must have in order to help students succeed. The chapter talks about how it is important for teachers to have a balanced [|curriculum]and instruction meaning both of them have to be good for [|students to succeed]. It is about how the teacher needs to be responsible for what the students achieve in their class.

Shila Cook
Chapter 4 was all about differentiated instruction and the classrooms they were in. The authors talked about the way many teachers deal with struggling students and advanced students. They do this by giving the advanced kids more work, and the struggling students less work. I agree with UbD in the fact that this does nothing to help get the struggling student caught up, or help the advanced students go above and beyond. I plan on never doing this in my classroom. The chapter gives many examples of ways to better accommodate a class full of different levels of learners. I feel the way discussed above is just an easy way out, a way to fill time and get the lesson completed.

Dylan Stefani
The main idea that I pulled from the chapter after reading is that the students parents believe and trust their kids in your hands. With that in mind, teachers need to be aware of each student and understand that they need to guide the student in the right direction. Sometimes teachers have the mindset of being open to all students learning styles and still do not apply those styles to the classroom. That is why having a curriculum board and other support structures, such as colleagues, to assist you in your adventure as a teacher. Teachers need to be at the students disposal so the student can learn continually.

**Andy Shorey**
In chapter four I learned that to have a successful classroom it is important to challenge the students and keep them thinking. It is just as important for the student to want to learn as it is for the teacher to be a good teacher. Students need to realize their learning styles and develop strategies to study and learn the material. An important thing for the teacher is to try and recognize the way students learn and try to teach to those styles. A good way of doing that is to preasses their students. An important thing is for the student to feel safe in the classroom so if you are challenging a student do not get down on them for they may give up if they feel like they are failures. Also to help students learn make sure that the classroom functions without disruptions.

Erika
All students are different and they have varying skills. The teacher’s goal should be to help his or her students to develop a hunger for the learning process. An effective teacher will encourage each of his or her students to understand the usefulness of a subject to them within their skills. Throughout this chapter, the authors encouraged teachers to look for ways to include each student in their own learning. It was emphasized that students should be given roles in managing their own progress. As a teacher it will be important for me to help my students to realize their own academic goals and for them to take an active role in seeing those goals accomplished.

Olivia Wandelear
Chapter four focuses on the ways teachers can plan and ensure student success. There are many ways to help students learn, so naturally, the methods of helping students will vary tremendously. I learned that giving struggling students less work, and successful students more work does not constitute as differentiated instruction. A teacher needs to establish specific goals and equally challenging plans for students, in order to make them feel completely comfortable and like they belong in the classroom. Likewise, and perhaps the most important thing I took from this chapter, was the reality that if a student is not grasping the materials and ideas in class, then the teacher’s mindset must be, “I have not taught it well enough.” A teacher needs to reevaluate their methods of teaching, instead of simply (and wrongly) blaming the student for misunderstanding.

Josh
The focus of this chapter was the skills needed by a teacher in order to maximize the student’s success as a learner. There were two lines that rang true to my heart when it comes to thoughts about school and learning. The first is, “we are also teachers of human beings” (pg 39). The other is, “There is a kindergarten version and a PhD version of the big ideas of a discipline” (pg 42). The rest of the chapter was spent explaining the nine abilities a teacher should have to create a classroom that successfully differentiates instruction. But those two ideas are by far the most important to me, the students in a class are learning the beginning parts of their persona, who they will become is starting to form in our lessons. It does not matter what skill level the students are at with the content, it is up to the teacher to make sure the students are forced to think and become better learners.

Dan
In this chapter is talks about how teachers know that there are different students in the classroom that learn at different paces and in different ways but fail to cater to these students in there teaching. I found a great example of how some slower students are given less work and more advanced ones are given more. The book goes on to say that giving a student less work in an area they are struggling in is not helping them at all because now they are getting less material to draw the knowledge from. As for the advanced student they are only doing something they know over and over again and progressing no new information.

Kasey
This chapter discussed the use of differentiated instruction, and specific skills that teachers must possess in order for that to happen in their classroom. Nine attitudes and skills were highlighted, but two in particular stood out to me. The first skill was to establish clarity about curricular essentials. Once a teacher sets clear expectations of what students need to learn, it is easier to use differentiated instruction. All of the students are working toward gaining the same knowledge, but can get there in a different way. If the teacher has a clear picture on what that knowledge is, it is easier to make modifications for students and appeal to their learning styles. This is something I will try to use when I am a teacher, because I think it will lead to a more organized, effective classroom. Another skill was building awareness of what works for each student, which is an important step towards differentiated instruction. By communicating with students individually, observing them in class, and keeping notes about each student, a teacher can become better aware of different learning styles. This is also something I would like to incorporate into my classroom. Although it may seem tedious at times, I think it will be very helpful in creating positive relationships with students and help facilitate learning.

Kyle Rines
Chapter Four discusses how teachers have to be aware of how different students learn at different rates. Some students struggle with work, and giving them less work because they are struggling is not helping them. There were nine skills that a teacher should possess for differentiated instruction, and one that stood out to me was that teachers should "accept responsibility for learner success". This is important because even though teachers can be proud of their good students, they must be even more aware and responsible for the slower students. It is the teacher's job to make sure every student gets adequate attention and has the best opportunity given to them to succeed.

Ben
Chapter four of //DI/UbD// is my favorite thus far. This is a chapter where I feel the book has begun to hit on not just concepts which are theoretically important for teachers, but which are in fact important on a practical, day-to-day basis. Early on, one paragraph that caught my eye was part of that aforementioned theoretical knowledge. It had to do with the way curriculum and instruction both feed off each other. If you have one without the other, it may only serve one side of the teacher-student equation. However, when you have both, teachers and students both benefit, and more than they would on their own. After that, the chapter moves quickly into a set of “attitudes and skills” which are important for teachers to have. I could see myself flipping back to this chapter as I begin my career, and am looking for good ideas of how to implement good practices in my classroom.

Caitlin Alexander
Chapter four is a chapter concerning teachers being balanced in both their curriculum quality and instruction quality. Without an equal balance of both, a teacher’s class might end up being either too disorganized or unengaging to be effective (poor curriculum) or too dull to listen to and participate in (poor instruction. The chapter then lists out nine different attributes teachers should keep in mind whilst teaching, including, “accepting responsibility for learner success,” and, “developing flexible classroom teaching routines.” I can understand how these might be very important to the learning process.. I agree that teachers need to be aware that it might actually be a problem with them instead of a problem with the student’s ability to learn, and that they might have to spend some time improving upon their teaching methods. If a teacher does not accept the responsibility for the student failing, they might never realize that it might be a problem with their own lesson plan, and never end up changing it.

Kay Sue Collins
This chapter describes 9 attitudes and skills in lesson planning that are necessary to reach all students. I found that this chapter was a little repetitive. I felt like it was a review of concepts already covered. In a way it was a synopsis of the concepts covered so far and looking at them in a global manner. I think I would need to read it again to really understand what it is trying to say. ===

Courtney Burns
This chapter is filled with suggestions for methods and techniques that will work best in pushing your students to success. The first step in developing success for your students is to make sure that everything is clear. As a teacher I am going to have to know what goals I wish for my student to achieve and more importantly I need to make sure that those goals are clear to my students. In a few words, fog just leads to more fog. In addition to clear goals, the chapter states that teachers need to have a number of teaching methods simply because certain methods work best for certain subject matter. As a teacher I will need to stay up to date on the new teaching methods that arise regularly. Meeting with colleagues is also a great way to collect new ideas.

Tim
The symbiosis between proper instruction and engaging curriculum is a union I should always seek to bolster. Careful systems of checks and balances enable teachers to verify that students are getting exactly what they need out of the material. By helping students to become partners in their own success, teachers can create a support system and a back-up plan. Long-term education goals should be the same for everyone, understanding that individual students will strive towards those goals in different ways. Unit structure should be designed in regards to both what students will learn, and how they will learn it. As a teacher the success of my students should always be my focus. How that success relates to me however, should be carefully self-assessed. I should strive to remain objective in my instruction without taking anything too personally, but without being cold or robotic. It is necessary to develop several strategies for instruction, so that every situation may be addressed and handled with the students in mind. Pre-assessment data can assist in gathering a better understanding of exactly where students are in their studies without creating the pressure of a formal assessment task.

Heath Booth
Where chapter 3 discussed the planning and organization, chapter 4 addresses the need for flexibility. This is accepting that “How you are teaching” could always be better. Human beings are celebrated for both our similarities and or differences. The differences mean than teaching is not “one size fits all.” A teacher should build enough connections to “read” their students and adjust teaching methods to achieve goals.

**Tyler**
In Ubd chapter 4 I was extremely surprised at what the research suggested about teachers giving the lower level learners in the class less work and have it be easier and in turn give the higher level learners more challenging work.I do not believe this is fair and I will go into my classroom doing my best not to differentiate between students. Throughout the chapter the author gives many tools and techniques for helping your students reach their full potential. for example, the book suggests letting the student know how they are doing from time to time, meaning if they need to improve on something just tell them instead of just moving on with the lesson. by allowing a student to be engaged and in control of their own work the may just improve their grades.