A conversation*: “Mrs. Huff, are we going to do another project soon?” “Fairly soon. I want to finish The Iliad.” “I really like projects. I think they’re better than quizzes or tests because you really think about it and analyze it more.” “I agree.” “Plus I know when I study tests, I might do fine,…
I’ve said this every year, but I’ll say it again: you sure can tell when school starts again around this blog. Anyway, our students come back on Wednesday, and my own children went back today, so I feel like we’re all back in the saddle. Meanwhile, I’ve had a few new visitors coming by looking…
Regular readers of my blog know I am really invested in backward design (Understanding by Design or UbD). I have several UbD units posted over at the UbD Educators wiki, but I decided maybe I should explain them a little bit more just in case you are interested in using them. After I wrote my…
The end of the year is drawing closer, and today I was thinking about backward design. This year was the first year I implemented backward design planning. I have been really impressed with how much students have learned. My 9th grade students in particular really seemed to connect to this type of learning; furthermore, unless…
Toni Morrison’s first novel The Bluest Eye is frequently challenged due to situations involving rape and incest. When I first read it several years ago, I found it shocking, but I think it teaches us interesting things about how we define beauty in our society, what acceptance and love are, and how we harm not…
I think the Death of a Salesman unit I’m doing with my seniors is going well. At any rate, they seem engaged in the material and are making good connections. I am very excited about starting the part of the unit when we make connections to The World is Flat and globalization and outsourcing. Speaking…
I have been struggling with writing a UbD plan for Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. I think have have one sketched out, though I still need to create guiding questions for various pieces of the unit, including YouTube videos and a selection from Thomas L. Friedman’s The World is Flat. In looking at the…
Miguel Guhlin has joined the UbD Educators wiki and wants your help. He is posting UbD chapter summaries and wants input from other wiki members. I want to ask wiki members a question: Miguel suggested that we unlock those summary pages to allow nonmembers to participate. What do you think? My idea was that allowing…
I have mentioned before that the UbD Educators wiki has grown quiet. I think there may be two reasons for this: We’re all busy educators who have difficulty finding the time to create, post, and/or comment on others’ posted UbD units. We’re not getting what we need out of the wiki. It’s not in my…
I just finished writing UbD units for Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet at the UbD Educators wiki. As I finished writing the unit for Hamlet and saved the page, I lost half the work I had done, and I am still not sure how it happened, so I had to re-do it. Word to the…
