UbDDI+B2+Chapter+6

Emily McGee Class Synthesis
According to Tomlinson and McTighe, all curriculum should share the common focus of providing all learners with meaningful, thoughtful, and applicable information that provokes [|higher order thinking]. They explicate the importance of providing fundamental ideas or concepts to build on through the lesson or unit, and always reassuring students with an immediate connection for meaningful application. By building a [|scaffolding] key skills and ideas can be extended and refines appropriately supporting student readiness. The co-authors support the key instructional roles of a teacher: as direct instructor, facilitator, and coach, while expressing the importance of balance between the three roles. Teachers should always share content standards, desired learning outcomes, and types of assessment with students at the start of a unit so students understand the goals and criteria they need to demonstrate in order to show mastery of the subject matter. Teachers should be responsive and receptive to students needs and flexible with classroom instruction based on formative assessment and observations. Time, space, resources, student groupings, instructional or learning strategies, presentation or teaching strategies, and partnerships, are classroom elements that can be changed ad differentiated in order to maximize success of all students.

As a class, we are most interested in 1.) Using flexibility in lesson plans based on individual, small group, and whole class needs by adjusting instruction, assessment, time, space, and resources. 2.) Being upfront and clear about what out expectations are for our students to allow them to know what to strive for to maximize their success. 3.) Pushing students to the next level, getting them to pursue higher-level thinking and problem solving strategies. 4.) Creating a sturdy foundation for students to grow on. 5.) Providing multiple opportunities for student to learn information and show what they know and can do in order to maximize success. 6.) Get to know students individually to be able to address their needs. toc

Lauren Scheidegger
In chapter six of “Integrating Differentiated Instruction + Understanding by Design” the matter of responsive teaching is discussed. The chapter spoke of how to suit the needs of every student in a diverse classroom. When students are learning they need to be able to gain a firm grasp on the basics and then use them and apply them in a way that relates to them and is meaningful. This made a lot of sense to me. Of course students need to “know the basics” before they can move on, but the only way for students to remember or find it worth learning about is if the instructor can have then use the knowledge in a meaningful way. Also for a student to be most likely to learn a teacher should set out the goals and make them clear to their students. When students are sure of what is expected they are less likely to get frustrated or lose interest. Flexibility is also a must in a classroom. Teachers should be able to tweak lessons or homework as needed for their students. Another way to help all students is to have extra resources available, and creating a space that is quiet for those who are easily distracted or prefer working in a silent area. These things seem like simple ways to make a classroom more friendly to all students, and I think it would be an easy step for any teacher to begin differentiated there classroom. The chapter continued with several very helpful graphs that contained more ideas for assisting student learning and also spoke of instructional flexibility. This chapter teaches many things but the lesson that stuck out to me the most was being flexible pays off and can really aid in students learning.

Megan Millette
This chapter discusses receptive ways of teaching UbD so that students receive the knowledge they need. Tomlinson and McTighe discuss how, “quality curriculum is rooted in the important ideas of a discipline is core to UbD.” This means that if students are able to experience teaching aimed at meaning and understanding their performance levels will increase. Essentially, when teachers use many instructional strategies in a varied way effectively their students will transform. As a future educator I should strive to do this that way all my students will be able to learn and improve. Tomlinson and McTighe inform the reader that in order to plan instruction for understanding one must not only master planned instruction, but also be able to improvise instruction when needed. Educators must be aware of curriculum goals while finding many different ways of making these goals work at informing their students. One aspect of this chapter I found to be significant was the idea that teachers need to be flexible while also using classroom elements to address their students needs in varied ways. These ways could be adjusting time, space or resources to give students the chance to better understand. I thought about how as a teacher I could give my students more time or place them in groups of students at different levels of understanding to help them be familiar with the lesson. I could also put them in groups with students who are on the same level of understanding, so they could discuss and come to a better comprehension of the knowledge together. Through this reading I realized that every student we teach is very unique. I found that the line about using students’ strengths as springboards for success was a wonderful idea to benefit the students learning if I were to incorporate the idea into my classroom. Before I establish the old teaching habits that Tomlinson and McTighe say are hard to break, I should think of positive methods for teaching that are flexible and beneficial to the well being of my students.

Kevin Lind
One of the big ideas in this chapter is that teachers must always be flexible. The first reason this is important is because students can be unpredictable. A teacher could create a series of lessons, only to find out that very few of their students actually understand the content. Also, flexibility is necessary after the assignments are assigned to make sure they are completed. This can mean pushing back a due date or finding a way to give a student extra help. I will definitely use this information to help my students achieve success in my class. This goes along with the idea that there are a few major areas where students will need help. These main areas can include reading, vocabulary, and attendance. Many schools have departments set up to aid students in each of these areas and other. If I do end up working in a school that does not offer this extra support, then I will be willing to put in the effort to help my students learn.

Another factor in how students respond in the classroom is how prepared the teacher is for each class. Classroom management can be incredibly difficult when having to deal with the needs of each separate student and the various distractions in the classroom. Keeping students on task really depends on who they are individually. This is why I want to get to know my students as well as I can. If lessons are taught in ways that keep the interest of the students, then there shouldn’t be too many issues.

Lauren Breton
So far, throughout all of the texts that we have been reading, differentiation has been described as a way to personalize education for all of our students. Although this idea seemed incredibly admirable, I was perplexed and unable to see how it could possibly be attainable within a classroom. This chapter, however, dispelled the sense of being overwhelmed by stating, “sort of ‘clustering’ of student needs seems more attainable than a misconceived notion of differentiation as an Individualized Education Program for every learner,” (p. 95). The text then offered dozens of ways to address the needs of multiple students by clustering their needs together and addressing them. For example, many students need targeted instruction and practice of essential skills. One of the ways to address this need that is common amongst students is to meet with students in small groups on a regular basis. This practice benefits students who have difficulty learning, students who have advanced learning needs, students who are English language learners, students who benefit from and learn best by working in small groups, and students who have been absent from class for an extended period of time. This chapter helped me to understand how to effectively meet the needs of multiple students by using teaching patterns that address a variety of needs on a daily basis. Although I knew that many students benefited from small group instruction, I had no idea that all of these different student needs could be met within this particular teaching method. After reading this chapter, I plan on incorporating such methods of addressing student needs, such as meeting with students in small groups, allowing the option of reading partners when introducing a new text, and encouraging independent studies into my classroom.

Alyssa Amari
Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction are two processes that are forever linked in the classroom. Teachers need to integrate both in the classroom, and create curriculum that requires students to make meaning of information, think at higher levels, have balance between student construction and teacher guidance, give opportunity to learn the basics, and clarify to all students what the units learning goals are. Teachers need to switch between multiple roles of the instructor, facilitator, and coach so that they can reach different groupings of students (whole class, individual, small groups), and be able to maximize student success. The backward planning model for designing curriculum can be used to explain the process and plan of the entire unit so students are aware of what they will learn and what goals they need to meet. Time, space, resources, student groupings, instructional or learning strategies, presentation or teaching strategies, and partnerships, are classroom elements that can be changed ad differentiated in order to maximize success of all students. As an aspiring teacher, learning how to pair understanding by design and differentiated instruction is pertinent to my instructional strategies that I will use in my classroom. Both help to maximize student success and provide a format for the changes I will likely make in my classroom. My students will benefit because they will be able to have a multitude of opportunities that will maximize their success. By paring these two models together, student learning will be the focus of my classroom, and that is something all students will benefit from.

T.J. Hebert
Understanding based curriculum and differentiated instruction are strongly linked and require the teacher to think in both ways. There are four overarching questions that are inter-related that a teacher must think about: Who are the students I will teach? What matters most for students to learn here? How must I teach to ensure that each student grows systematically toward attainment of the goal and moves beyond it when indicated? How will I know who is successful and who is not yet successful with particular goals? There are also four core beliefs related to curriculum. The first is that all students should experience curriculum based in the important ideas that require them to make meaning of information and think at high levels. Rich curriculum is key in ensuring the highest number of students maximize learning, even students deemed as low achievers can benefit greatly from good curricula. There also has to be balance between student meaning and teacher guidance. The students must make meaning themselves with guidance from the teacher, not the teacher forcing it upon them. Student must know the goals in the beginning of the curriculum for them to successfully demonstrate those goals. Keeping the curriculum a mystery and not letting the students know what is expected, this will have a negative impact on the learning. Most of the things listed above can be done through backward design and what seems to me like common sense. For me, all I have to do is think about how I learn and I can begin to connect differentiated instruction with understanding based curriculum. I very rarely was given a syllabus when I was in high school yet I have received a syllabus in every class I have taken since being in college. I think it is a huge benefit to know what is expected of you and what the goals for learning are from the very beginning. I’m not sure what changes have taken place since I was in high school or why things are so different from high school to college, but I think that no matter what classes are being taken at nearly any level should be given something similar to a syllabus.

Rachel Joiner
After reading this chapter, I felt as if I gained a lot of insight and information. One thing that stuck out at me while I was reading that I learned was, that many times low-achieving students receive a curriculum that is of a lower level where there is not much thinking involved. They are simple skill drills and simple facts. I thought this was important information, because I do not want to be doing this to my students. I want to be challenging them so they are able to learn more. I think this was helpful, because it may not be something that most people would think of. I found the diagrams in this chapter extremely helpful. I thought they were interesting, and provided a lot of great ideas and helpful hints for a classroom. I also thought it was important that the chapter pointed out that students should always be seeing the connections between their practice work and the assessments and the real world. I think that for me this can be a difficult thing to do at times. I think it is an important piece to teaching, and it should be brought up so teachers can be aware, and try to work on it. I really liked the idea from this chapter that students need to be aware of what they are doing ahead of time. I thought that was a great idea, because if students know what is required of them, and what they are working towards they can better plan and understand the unit. I thought this was a great idea, and it is something that I would use in my classroom. As a teacher, I would like to give students a broad overview of that the unit will be like, including the understandings and assessments. If students have the big picture, already they can then connect the little pieces to understand the big picture.

Samy Tracy
This chapter made me think about how true it is that students who are at a lower level of learning do not even receive any learning that could benefit them. They are constantly being talked down to instead of receiving instruction that could help them learn on the same level as their peers. It always was more advantageous for me when I was pushed to do more strenuous work rather than things that were easier just because teachers felt like it might be too hard for me. It also shows your students that you have faith that they will do well which is why you are pushing them. At the same time though, pushing them to do better while also reaching towards using their learning style is gold for teachers to use. Another important part of this chapter was to tell students exactly what is to be expected of them during the time that they are in your classroom. This is successfully portrayed through a syllabus. I remember in high school that very few of my teachers would actually hand out a syllabi but those that did were very effective in classroom management. Many students realized that in order to pass this class, they have to do tests, projects, and participate because that teacher would show the percentage that made up their grade. Knowing what is expected really helps plan ahead the assignments and if they have extra time they could get a leap on the next classes homework. Planning ahead and pushing your students to do better works well with Understanding based curriculum and differentiated instruction.

Matt Roy
Chapter 6 of Understanding by Design focused on going with the flow. The author stressed that we must become intimately familiar with the underlying concepts of Understanding by Design and Differentiation in order to truly be effective educators. Once we become learned in these methods then we will be able to adapt and react to the attitude and flow of our classroom on the fly rather than sticking hopelessly (and ineffectively) to our pre-determined lesson plans. The author used the example of a jazz musician (page 89) to liken the necessary skills of an effective educator. Through practice we will become able to recognize the natural flow of lessons and classroom dynamics and even be able to anticipate possible hang-ups in the classroom. The chapter went on to focus on how teacher decisions within the classroom can all help (or hinder) the progression of the lesson and the more we understand about Understanding by Design and Differentiation, the more effective our on the fly decisions will be.

This chapter was extremely useful because, as an aspiring educator, I worry about what will happen when (inevitably) my lesson plan falls apart. This can be due to any number of causes (material was too easy or too hard, the class got hung up on one specific item instead of seeing the whole picture, etc). Ultimately, there are inevitable monkey wrenches that will insert themselves into the overall plan we have for our classes, it’s nice to have a resource to refer back to when this problem arises.

Patrick Hurley
Your curriculum should always push students to think at the next level and strive for understanding of the material. You need to start by teaching the basics and then give the students plenty of opportunities to further explore the topic and apply it to the classwork. Strive for the perfect balance of teacher guidance and student construction and questioning. You need to be sure to clearly outline the course goals and grading criteria so the students know exactly what the will be doing. You need to be flexible, you never know how class conversation is going to go so you need to be sure you can slightly tweak the lesson and keep the desired result. Be sure to promote student success. Try and pick strategies that promote student responses, if the students ask suggestions or make comments, they will feel more involved and may remember that information better.

I will have to be sure to push my students to the next level. I will assign assessments that make them dig deeper and gain an understanding of the topic. I also need to be sure I am willing to be flexible, if I only stick to my original plan the students will get bored and their questions may not all get answered. I want to encourage my students to ask questions and question each other, I think that is one of the best ways to gain a better understanding of the topic.

Emily McGee
According to Tomlinson and McTighe, all curriculum should share the common focus of providing all learners with meaningful, thoughtful, and applicable information that provokes higher order thinking. They explicate the importance of providing fundamental ideas or concepts to build on through the lesson or unit, and always reassuring students with an immediate connection for meaningful application. By building a scaffolding key skills and ideas can be extended and refines appropriately supporting student readiness. The co-authors support the key instructional roles of a teacher: as direct instructor, facilitator, and coach, while expressing the importance of balance between the three roles. Teachers should always share content standards, desired learning outcomes, and types of assessment with students at the start of a unit so they understand the goals and criteria the need to demonstrate in order to show mastery of the subject matter.

The importance of building blocks will be critical in my future classroom. I believe that in order to understand the content standards (based on MLR) required for high school biology, students need to have a firm understanding of the basics first to build off of. Students who do not or are unable to master the basics will struggle throughout the year as the class expands off of those core components. For this reason, I want to allow plenty of time for all students to gain access to and experience the EEKs of the unit or lesson to create a solid foundation before we build off of it.

Mike Kahler
This chapter talks about differentiating instruction while using all of the methods thus far. It truly captures how to teach to a diverse classroom while managing your time effectively. You need to get students to apply even low-level concepts from the very beginning so that they can start thinking on a higher level. Even the students who seem to be a little behind need to do this so that they learn to apply the knowledge that they have. Even if they are behind some of the other students they still deserve to be taught application of their knowledge. The book compares teaching like this to the idea of coaching a team. If they only do drill during practice without understanding how they work their way into the game they haven’t really learned anything and their time has been wasted. The students need to get a real meaning from all that they learn. He book also compares the teacher to a jazz musician who know the melody to the song (goals) but improvises parts of the song so that they are more effective (differentiating). Limited class time needs to be utilized effectively. By clustering similar learners teachers will maximize their time. Having these students together in groups will let the teacher give each group the individual attention that they need without needing to differentiate for every individual student. The same principle works in regards to tiering lessons. If each group’s assignment is individualized for them your class will be more efficient. Also by managing class time the instructor will have more room to be flexible in their classroom. This is all very wise. Differentiating can be a very challenging task, but grouping students together can maximize efficiency and allow you to maximize time.

Morgan Ware
Chapter six talks about responsive teachers and how to make sure that the needs of every student are met. Students should follow curriculum that is rooted in the discipline that require higher thinking. Students need opportunities to learn the basics and to apply them in meaningful ways. Also there needs to be a balance between student learning and teacher guidance. Students need to know the learning goals of a unit or lesson. In order to succeed students need structure and opportunities to learn to the best of their abilities. Students also need teachers to give them guidance but coach them in the right directions. Teachers need to share the goals and purpose of the lesson or unit. The three stages of creating a unit gives the student the goal of the unit and how/what exactly the unit is about. Stage 1 is for telling what the essential understandings and questions. Stage 2 states the types of assessments and projects that showed how much the student learned during the unit. Stage 3 is about the reflection by the students on what the learned and how it will help them with the performance tasks. Teachers need to plan and improvise when planning instruction for understanding. Also teachers need to be flexible and understand that what they planned might not work that day for that set of students. Teachers can use resources in the classroom to their advantage. The thing that I will have to most issue with in the classroom is flexibility. So the skills that the chapter gives about flexibility and improvising are something that will work in my favor. It will make me a better teacher.

Simone Thiry
Responsive teaching is founded on the principle of shifting from being curriculum-focused to being student-focused. Teaching is not an exact science, there is no single way to teach effectively, it all depends on the student and meeting the student’s needs. Important parts of meeting students’ needs include making information accessible, encouraging them to make connections and create meaning, and to think at a higher level. By creating opportunities for all students to develop connections with the material and participate in all levels of the lesson, we can engage students, even if they still require extra reinforcement with the basics. I was drawn to the idea that teachers have several different roles in the classroom, which are all appropriate in different situations. In a mathematics classroom, there is a tendency to rely to heavily on the Direct Instruction portion, with the idea that students cannot discover new mathematical concepts on their own and that feedback can be given effectively through answers in the back of the book. I hope that in my future classroom I utilize all three pillars, didactic, facilitative and coaching in equal measure when appropriate to help encourage student growth and understanding. Flexibility is also a necessary component of responsive teaching, because it includes all manners of rephrasing, renegotiating, and revising until the teacher arrives at a method that works for the individual student. Both the options for ‘flexible use of classroom elements’ and ‘addressing patterns of student needs’ maximize the effectiveness of teaching by allowing greater differentiation, which builds deeper and more personalized understanding. The idea that addressing the specific needs of one student can also assist several others inadvertently really resonated with me. I plan to make tiered and differentiated instruction and materials available to all of my future students, not just some who are deemed ‘at risk’.