Today’s class was full of ideas that are complex and, perhaps, tough to grasp quickly.  As a result, I’m typing slowly and more loudly to help make my points sink in.  Here goes…

Administrivia

• Please take the triplicate Anecdotal Forms we handed out in class today to your SA for the purpose of note taking during observations.  Your SA can also choose to take notes on their computer and print out the document.

• Please remember to give a copy of your practicum teaching timetable to your FA ASAP.  This information is invaluable in the planning of our observations of your teaching.  Here’s a sample so you know just what you need to hand in:

Example of a Middle School Timetable

• We’ve revised the calendar to better meet our goals.  The focus for each remaining 310/316 lesson is noted below:
  • Wednesday, 11 November – NO CLASS due to Remembrance Day Holiday
  • Monday, 16 November – Microteaching Presentations
  • Wednesday, 18 November – Microteaching Presentations
  • Monday, 23 November – UBD Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
  • Wednesday, 25 November – eFolio Workshop (with your genial and knowledgeable hosts, Adam and Joe)
  • Monday, 30 November – Unit Planning Conferences (in lieu of a formal class)
  • Wednesday, 2 December – Dr. Management or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bumps

Melissa’s EDUC 315 Extravaganza

Melissa orchestrated some time for you to meet in a small group with fellow TCs from different schools to talk, compare experiences, and – ultimately – come up with 3 or 4 ideas that you thought warranted sharing with the whole group.  Melissa collated the key ideas from those conversations, sent them to Shep and I for posting on this blog and here they are:

Melissa 315 Extravaganza Notes

UBD Stage 1: Unpacking a PLO

In answer to the question – How might I determine the desired results for a unit?  – we played with the process of Unpacking a PLO.  The goal of this process is to determine the big ideas, enduring understandings, essential questions, knowledge, and skills related to a learning outcome.

In a nutshell, here’s how the unpacking works (this is a section of a previous lesson’s reading):

Wiggins and McTighe, the developers of UBD, also identify another way to tease the big ideas out of PLOs:

The I DO portion of the lesson was me modeling the unpacking with an LA 7 outcome (Outcome C2, if you’re curious).  For the WE DO we used an HCE 8 outcome related to Substance Misuse Prevention and the YOU DO piece comes in when you apply your understanding on a micro level to your Microteaching task (What are you trying to achieve exactly?) and on a macro level when you develop your 2-week practicum mini-unit.

Here’s the template we used to unpack the PLOs:

UBD – Unpacking a PLO

We paid particular attention to the concept of essential questions.  These EQs flow directly from the big ideas and enduring understandings and can serve to guide the unit and even lessons.  In fact, one way to conceive of the lessons in a unit is that the content of them works to answer the essential questions.

We started with a concept attainment activity on EQs found here:

Concept Attainment for EQs

We spent some time considering the common characteristics of essential questions and developed a list of criteria very similar to those developed by the UBD authors themselves.  According to Wiggins and McTighe on page 91 of their Understanding by Design Professional Devlopment Workbook, EQs:

• Have no simple “right” answer; they are meant to be argued
• Are designed to provoke and sustain student inquiry, while focusing learning and final performances
• Often address the conceptual or philosophical foundations of a discipline
• Raise other important questions
• Naturally and appropriately occur
• Stimulate vital, ongoing rethinking of big ideas, assumptions, and prior lessons

Here’s the handout given in class that provides more information on Essential Questions:

EQs Definition, Samples, and Tips

Also, here’s a document with a variety of Essential Questions for a wide variety of subjects:

EQs for All Subject Areas

Before I wrap up, here’s a clip of teachers from a school in New York talking about their real world experiences working with UBD.  Watch if once for the interesting ideas but watch it twice to see the worst voice syncing since the English dub of Godzilla vs. Mothra!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wp2fdmfBnk&feature=related[/youtube]

We had planned to end the class with some time for groups to work on the Microteaching task but we ran long and there was no time for planning.  We apologize for that and look forward to seeing interesting and engaging mini-lessons in class next Monday.

– Lawrence