UbDDI+B2+Chapter+7

Chapter 7:

Abstract - Sarah McGinley
2/9/10 toc There are certain ways to teaching in an academically diverse classroom. Teachers need to uncover the content that needs to be taught through a series of essential questions. We also use the six facets to teach understanding in the academically diverse classroom. The facets are useful in a way that they help academically diverse students show their understanding of the content. This directly relates to Bloom’s taxonomy because learners need to be working at all the levels of the taxonomy. There is something called the [|WHERETO framework] that is used to help uncover understanding. All of the letters ask certain questions that need to be answered in order to understand the big idea. “W” stands for three important questions, “How will I help learners know what they will be learning? Why this is worth learning? What evidence will show their learning?” The “H” stands for the question, “How will I hook and engage the learners?” The “E” stands for two questions, “How will I equip students to master identified standards and succeed with the targeted performance?” “What learning experiences will help develop and deepen understanding of important ideas?” The “R” stands for two more questions, “How will I encourage the learners to rethink previous learning?” “How will I encourage ongoing revision and refinement?” The last “E” stands for the question, “How will I promote students’ self-evaluation and reflection?” The last part is the “TO”. The “T” stands for, How will I tailor the learning activities and m teaching to address the different readiness levels, learning profiles, and interests of my students?” The “O” is for the question, “How will the learning experiences be organized to maximize engaging and effective learning?” This step brings everything together because these are the questions that teachers need to answer in order to create a good lesson plan for the academically diverse classroom.

Chapter 7:

Synthesis - Sarah McGinley
2/9/10

One of the main focuses of everyone’s entries was the WHERETO framework for lesson plans. Many people mentioned that their favorite part of the WHERETO model was the hook. This is understandable because you have to be able to get your students engaged and most times it starts at the hook. We discussed how important it is to answer all the questions in order to make a good lesson plan that will engage the students in their learning. This is done through backwards planning. Sometimes it’s better to know what you want out of a lesson before you actually make up the lesson or activity. There are many steps to teaching and one of them is to uncover the content within the students. Find out what your students know by having them answer a few questions. These relate to our essential questions that we have been working with in our lesson plan. Teachers today need to be able to teach understanding in an [|academically diverse classroom]. The six facets allow students to demonstrate their understanding in many different ways about a specific topic.

Sarah McGinley
Understanding by Design Chapter 7: Teaching for Understanding in Academically Diverse Classrooms 2/4/10

There are classrooms that are academically diverse and to be able to teach understanding in these types of classrooms is not an easy thing to be able to do but in the end it is not impossible either. There are certain tricks and practices in order to accomplish this. Teachers need to be able to teach understanding by uncovering the content through a series of essential questions. I believe that these essential questions are extremely helpful when trying to accomplish this method of teaching because they are part of the lesson plan we have been working on. This relates to stage one and these questions make great guide lines for the rest of the lesson. The next thing is to be able to use the six facets to teach understanding in academically diverse classrooms. These facets give students different ways to show their understanding. Although there is another way through the idea of WHERETO. Most of these letters stand for a question that needs to be answered in order to understand the big picture. This step brings everything together because these are the questions that teachers need to answer in order to create a good lesson plan for the academically diverse classroom. These are all excellent steps that we have been working with so far in this semester and through all three steps we are going to make a well thought out lesson plan that should work in the majority of classrooms, including academically diverse classrooms. This will help me become a great teacher.

Scott Bowden
This chapter introduced the idea of uncovering the key ideas in content and using the WHERETO formula of lesson planning. It makes sense for me to consider what kind of knowledge and interests my students have before I make a lesson. A hook has to target everyone and be a unique way to pull in the topic. I think some of the Type II lesson performance indicators can integrate themselves into the hook. It's a lot of information for me to wrap my head around and it seems like information overload right now because there's so much to it. I can use the information in my classroom, however, by figuring out more effective ways of introducing and reinforcing content by asking important questions and picking the minds of students, not merely telling them and lecturing.

Sarah Robinson
This chapter has taught me many things but most importantly it has taught me that the student actually understanding what they are learning is one of the most important concepts of education. Teaching so students understand is something that can be done in many steps, first the teacher needs to uncover the content, really get under the top surface. This chapter has explained that students don’t all understand the learning concepts the same, so as a teacher you must be open to different ways of understanding. As a teacher you have to ask them questions on the concept you are trying to get them to understand, because this will help you as a teacher realize where you need to start and how much needs to be done, and this chapter has taught me that. The six facets that were taught earlier in book can be very useful towards students understanding, when students show certain strengths in the facets it will allow students to explore other content in other creative ways. This chapter has taught me something very important and it is called “WHERETO” each letter stands for something important students should be taught to understand concepts better. The letter that impacted me most was “W” which stood for students understanding why they are learning this and why it is important. I feel that this will help students be motivated to learn.

Jared Merrifield
Chapter 7: Teaching for Understanding in Academically Diverse Classrooms

While reading the first section of this chapter, I had a distinct feeling that the six facets of understanding would play an essential role, and lo and behold, that was indeed the case. Before I delve into that, I found the concept of erroneously using the term “covering the material” to be interesting. It is a rather overused and misunderstood euphemism, and when I think of it, I actually think of “skimming the surface” instead of spending plenty of time on the material in order to understand and master it. The metaphor of the iceberg helped put it in perspective - I would have used the same analogy. I also appreciated the clear incorporation of backwards planning, referring back to the essential questions. Of course, with every answer there must be a question to compliment it, but sometimes, especially in school, the question is not always clear. In fact, the question most of the time is: “Why do we have to learn this?” The way the chapter dismantled each subject area into essential questions was quite helpful; I will have to refer back to them whenever I aim to pose such specific questions to my class. Of course, the six facets of understanding made another appearance in this chapter, but it did not seem to mention anything we have not encountered in the past. However, it also mentioned Bloom’s taxonomy and some false beliefs it may have sparked, primarily the belief that every student is climbing a cognitive “ladder” and cannot grasp the more abstract aspects of the lesson before mastering the basics. I know too well that this is false; it’s like I said before: sometimes, lower performers need a bit of a push to do better. I believe the WHERETO plan will be effective as well. It seems to be a linear process, in that it should be considered step-by-step in the specific order – at least, I think that will be the easiest way to apply it. It’s almost like a slightly more elaborate version of the backwards planning process, giving each tidbit a little extra explanation.

Diana Quinlan
Chapter seven of //UbD/DI// deals primarily with the acronym WHERETO. These letters represent questions that should be considered before each and every lesson plan is created. It is the framework which makes it possible to teach in a diverse classroom. I plan to use this is my classroom. It is important to get students hooked on a topic so that they will be able to gain a better understanding of the big picture. This chapter also reviews the six facets of understanding which are explain, interpret, apply, perspective, empathy, and self-knowledge. These six facets are important to keep in mind because they allow students to demonstrate their understanding of a topic in several different ways. If a student can use all six facets when discussing a topic then it is a clear indication that they have mastered the content and that it is time to move on.

Jason Malbon
The UbD method of teaching emphasizes that students must take ownership of their knowledge. This philosophy is engineered into the UbD classroom. Starting with a big idea and working backward means students will eventually have to think, rethink, reflect, and apply knowledge. Essential questioning is an important way teachers uncover content. Large overarching questions can give opportunities for students to share what they already know such as: what would happen if our government changed from democracy to communism? Students would have to have an idea of both types of governments and use compare and contrast thinking. Essential questions can be more broad such as “What is a number” (p112). I like the idea of using essential questioning as a diagnostic tool. I can imagine posing a question at the beginning of a unit and asking the same question at the end to measure true learning. Another enlightening theme is the use of the ladder analogy in learning. It is simply not correct to assume learning must methodically follow Bloom’s Taxonomy in a step by step manner. The author states that toddlers have little understanding of grammar before they speak. Older students should not be kept on the sidelines doing drills while others are kept in the game. Students should be challenged in a meaningful way. I believe students who are engaged will most likely succeed. Which means less drop-outs.

Susanna Cooper
One of the big things this chapter mentioned was the concept of “mile long, inch thick content” that we mention in class. I think this is a very important that should go on a check list that I refer back to every now and then. I think even experience teachers should remind themselves to make sure they aren’t just rushing to cover all that they can, but really diving into certain topics that are the most important and will benefit the students to know inside and out. I loved the argument about “climbing the ladder”. I think that the point about students not needing to understand something completely before using it is true. I know from my experiences, it was making the mistakes and then trying again after having something re-explained that helped certain concepts click. Even though I didn’t nail down certain math concepts, I could still use certain rules that I had learned when doing them and apply them to the next level of math I learned. I think it is going to be a challenge to figure out when my students have “mastered” enough of the material to apply it. Then, after they apply it, and I see the results, how can I then help them to get a step closer to really mastering that material and not just throw in the towel?

Mike Lawson
UbD/DI Chapter 7: Teaching for Understanding in Academically Diverse Classrooms I really liked this chapter. Immediately Tomlison refers to teachers complaining about not being able to cover enough material to stand up against standardized tests, while also providing them with an authentic and unique learning experience. As a social studies teacher I really empathize with any teachers who have this concern. I know I will never try to talk faster to squeeze in material. I must help my students uncover the material, to discover it by throwing their ideas amongst themselves and mastering my content. The hard part is making sure I do that while differentiating my teaching style. I liked the essential questions. “Whose “story” is it?” (p. 113). This reminds me to make sure all my lessons are connected with basic ideas and knowledge of my lesson plan. I’ll have to address almost all of these questions. History and writing cross many times. History and music cross many times. Pages 112-114 will be referred to many times in my teaching career. Maybe I’ll be stuck on a lesson plan and I will look back to these pages and work through it. The WHERETO framework makes creating lesson plans much easier. The hook was my favorite. That is what sparks the first interest in the curriculum. I must get the attention of my kids before I try to throw material at them. I also liked the self-evaluation section. I believe that this is how I would be able to become a great teacher, through self reflection. As a teacher I will incorporate all the aspects of WHERETO framework in my lesson plans. Every letter serves its own purpose in becoming a better teacher.

Eric Cole
While this chapter has a lot of interesting ideas, and good advice for teachers, the part that really helped me out, and the part that really struck me was when the chapter described the WHERETO Framework for putting a lesson together. Besides standing up in front of a classroom, the biggest fear I have as a teacher is putting together a successful lesson so that ALL of my students are learning what I want them to learn. It is hard to be successful at doing something like that because there are so many questions that need to be answered when putting together a lesson, and there are so many different learning styles out there. The WHERETO Framework though kind of helped eliminate some of that fear because it is a solid way of doing things. It breaks down all of my questions into manageable sections. This helps me a lot because I am a person that does things best when they are broken down into different sections that I can tackle one at a time.

Jared Boghosian
Right out of the gate this chapter lets me know what it is all about, "Understanding must be earned" (108). The students have got to want to make meaning for themselves before they achieve understanding. I do have to point out that this book does like to bring up the "covering vs uncovering" argument a lot. Contrary to what the authors think, I understood it at least by the third read through. When thinking about how many essential questions I should have per unit it is comforting to know that the experts think less questions will yield better understanding of the material, it is good to know they practice what they preach. The WHERETO framework is still a little fuzzy for me bit I do understand that at least when I am making my lesson plans, I need not include every aspect of WHERETO in order to create a successful and engaging lesson. However, the "hook" might be particularly important to fashioning a nice lesson plan, in that case I wont have too much trouble with that...I hope.

Amanda Fitzpatrick
Perhaps the most important aspect of this chapter was that of the WHERETO model. This is an acronym that uncovers how students should learn, and how they learn most effectively. The concept that I plan to use in my classroom the most is that of "H"-- how will I hook the learners? I think that if students can be hooked on what they are learning then they will be more apt to want to learn and be engaged in what they are learning. This chapter also reviewed the six facets of understanding, in context of of uncovering the lesson.

Alicia Kenison
 How do we “uncover” content? Won’t that take too much time? Tomlinson showed us how we can make group-work relatable and reasonable. This comes from “Big Ideas” using the 6 facets and the WHERETO framework along with essential questions. Essential questions come work reasoning and open up doorways to understanding. I believe I will take the WHERTO framework and use it in my teaching as a set-up to lesson plans and units. Tomlinson and McGighe show that a good teacher is willing to work with his/her students and learn to be flexible to questions.