In “The Big Picture: UbD as Curriculum Framework,” Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe elevate the discussion of backward design to its application for designing K-16 curricula. OK, I see the benefits, and I’m ready to start, but I don’t see how everyone who factors in designing the curricula for K-16 students would get on board…
In this chapter, “The Design Process,” of Understanding by Design, Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe turn to the process of backward design. The good news for me is that no one “correct” way to design a successful UbD unit or curriculum exists. Teachers can start at any stage and move back and forth through the…
What teaching style do you favor? How do you present material in your class? When I was student teaching (many years ago now), I recall that we were required to observe another teacher in our supervising teacher’s department. I observed the man who happened to be chosen Teacher of the Year for his school by…
I am really excited about the possibilities at the UbD Educators wiki, and I am thrilled with the discussions taking place over there. I have had some very helpful feedback that has allowed me to create what I think is a solid UbD/Web 2.0 unit. But all the teachers over there are English teachers. Now,…
I’d be willing to bet most teachers’ favorite part of planning is brainstorming creative ways to evaluate students. As Wiggins and McTighe noted earlier in Understanding by Design, we are often eager to skip all the way to Stage 3 — planning activities, assessments, and projects. I like that the authors do not necessarily argue…
I usually wait until I’m finished reading a chapter before I start my reflection, but I am finding myself talking back to “Criteria and Validity” (Understanding by Design) a lot, so I decided to blog as I read. Wiggins and McTighe recommend the use of an analytic rubric and argue against “boil[ing] down an evaluation…
In “Thinking like an Assessor” (Understanding by Design) Wiggins and McTighe argue (I’m sure quite correctly, at least from my own experience) that teachers are not used to thinking like assessors; they are “far more used to thinking like an activity designer or teacher” (150). In other words, teachers “easily and unconsciously jump to Stage…
As I read “Crafting Understandings” in Understanding by Design, I was struck by the same realization as the health teacher Bob, whom Wiggins and McTighe use as an illustration throughout the book: “Boy, this is difficult, but I already see the benefits of getting sharper on what, specifically, my students need to come away understanding”…
As I read the chapter “Essential Questions: Doorways to Understanding” in Understanding by Design, I realized that many educators I know have an erroneous understanding of what essential questions are and how to use them. For instance, I can remember the middle school principal I worked with encouraging me to post essential questions on my…
Clay Burell of Beyond School, who is reading Understanding by Design as part of UbD Educators, mentions a “hole” in the authors’ presentation: I look forward to more time with UbD in the coming weeks. But I’m reading it with an eye toward a blind spot in their book (so far, anyway — and maybe…
