UbDDI+B2+Chapter+1

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Jason Malbon
Chapter one explains and defines very effectively the idea behind Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design. My initial reaction to the chapter is wondering how these two ideas could ever have been separate. A well designed curriculum paired with insightful teaching techniques seems symbiotic. Another initial reaction is of feeling a little overwhelmed. Understanding by Design in short, focuses on the “what” and “how” we teach while Differentiated Instruction looks to the “whom”, “where” and “how”. A deep understanding of curriculum and recognizing and reacting to the specific needs of learners will surely come with time and experience. Reading these chapters only brings home to me the daunting task I am undertaking. The ideas I want to put into my teaching toolbox are; gaining a total understanding of curriculum design, and learning to present that curriculum effectively to students with a variety of learning styles.

Eric Cole
What this first chapter essentially says is that we need a curriculum and system in schools that does two things: First it teaches the student in such a way that not only do they understand the material being taught, but they are able to develop a higher level of thinking. They are then able to use this higher level of thinking to deepen their understanding of the material and incorporate it into their own lives. Secondly, this curriculum needs to be developed so that it incorporates all learning styles into it. It doesn’t just focus on one learning style, but all of them. I honestly don’t think this chapter impacted me very much for two reasons. First, it seems like most of the stuff addressed in this chapter was common sense stuff. Of course you want to help develop student’s minds, and incorporate everyone’s own individual learning style. Of course you want to incorporate technologies, and review the curriculum every so often. It really is just common sense to do that stuff. Secondly, I was planning on doing most of this stuff anyways. I am a very big supporter in new ways of teaching as I think the old model is flawed, and pretty ineffective nowadays. So, most of the stuff addressed in this first chapter is stuff that I am already going to use in my classroom.

Susanna Cooper
This chapter helped me start to understand the concepts this book is presenting. The terms axioms and corollaries were both new to me. Once I understood that “axioms are the fundamental principles of UbD” and “corollaries demonstrate the way DI works” I could start to piece things together. In the examples of axioms and corollaries I picked up on some key points. The teacher made sure to group students by their needs and levels. This is a key point in DI, creating an equal learning environment for everyone. Another important point was that the teacher talked with his colleagues to get ideas and to evaluate the effectiveness of their model. I feel that the grouping method and the communication with other teachers is really important to all teachers, but especially new teachers like me. I have seen how effective grouping students to their “ability levels” is from my own experiences and I know that I won’t have all the answers my first few years. Therefore I should get advice when I feel I need it from other experienced teachers. These two points will really impact my class and teaching styles my first few years.

Jared M.
Chapter 1: UbD and DI: An Essential Partnership

The main focus of this chapter seemed to be to remind – or perhaps inform – its reader that every student in the classroom has specific learning styles, deficiencies, and/or excellence pertaining to their culture, race, interests, etc… It actually took me a while to accept, even realize the fact that, once I become an educator, I will encounter these barriers just like any other. However, the first chapter in this book alleviated my fears, at least to an extent. Its suggestions for slight changes in the curriculum and the degree of attention paid both to individual students and to the classroom as a whole will surely be useful. The chapter was especially easy to read, considering that each aspect of UbD and DI was thoroughly explained along with a scenario. The chapter revealed that being a teacher is more work than most people think, and somehow, this both excites me (because I know I will make a difference as a teacher) and adds slightly to the stress (because I know it will be a difficult task).

Sarah McGinley
Understanding by Design Chapter 1: An Essential Partnership 1/21/10

This chapter talks about how teachers need to have a plan for teaching that covers most of the standards. Students are very diverse, not just in their learning styles but in other ways too, and we as teachers cannot ignore that fact. Teachers are trying to combine the concepts of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction to teach students more effectively. I agree with this new way of thinking because I want to be able to teach as many students in my classroom as possible. In my classroom, I want to be able to take the content knowledge and combine it with this curriculum model. This means reaching out to the students who have difficulty learning and the students who are the advanced learners. One idea to keep track of how well I am doing teaching the wide variety of students is to keep a running chart of the student’s progress.

Sarah R.
Through out reading Chapter 1 there are many things learned about how to be a good teacher and how to adapt to different learning styles of your students. I have learned that it is very important to deepen and develop the learning of every student in your class, but due to various learning styles of students, that can sometimes be difficult. I have learned that through each students learning styles that you have to give students choices in order to help them enjoy learning. I have also learned and know I want to use this in my classroom that you have to spend extra time with the slower learners, and make sure you have enough information for the more advanced learners. I have also learned that in my classroom I want to review everything I have taught to ensure that everyone knows the subject that was taught. Giving children choices is one of the best ways to make learning fun and exciting. As the world is changing, as teachers we need to become learners and make sure we can use technology in our classroom, and to make sure students are always up to date with the most recent technology.

Alicia Kenison
Throughout this chapter Tomlinson and McTighe emphasize the fact of diversity. We must adapt our curriculum to match the abilities of all our students. First, we have four questions that we need to focus on while creating a curriculum for each class and then carry it out by adapting it and using it. These questions include (1) who are we teaching, (2) where we are teaching, (3) what we are teaching and (4) how are we teaching it. In coming to these questions at a higher level we must know the goals of understanding by design (UbD) and Differentiated Instruction (DI). DI and UbD work together to create a better way of learning. Their goals include ensuring focus and emphasizes on how we teach by asking “how,” “why,” and “what.” Tomlinson and McTighe emphasize that learning is for everyone, so our curriculum should meet the standards of all our students (disabled, highly advanced, lack of income, lack of English proficiency, etc.). I will keep some of their Axiom’s and scenario’s in mind when I am in my own classroom. As a teacher, I do not want to bore my students, but I do know that everyone learns at a different pace. This chapter illustrated some strategies to keep focus and know that all students understand and are having fun as well as learning.

Scott Bowden
This chapter was interesting in its setup. It showed, not just told how the workings of curriculum design and instructional methods go hand in hand. I think this material can help me as a teacher and impact my classroom by allowing me to retool my lesson plans and curriculum goals based on how well my students understand the material I’ve presented in addition to changing how I teach to fit what my students’ specific needs are. These would go together in my classroom by me changing how I teach to fit the changes in the lesson plans. I would need to be flexible enough to modify my own style when I have to modify lessons for my students. It makes sense to me for instruction to be modified as my students change and to match how I need to change my lessons. That’s the act of learning while teaching.

Mike Lawson

 * Chapter 1: UbD and DI: An Essential Partnership**

Being able to incorporate both UbD and DI seems to be a challenge for teachers, at least using them well together. I really liked reading the Axioms and the scenarios after them. They give you a good idea about how a classroom should be run, which is always nice for a new teacher. This chapter will allow me how to base my curriculum in order to meet the requirements. By following these steps my class will automatically become richer and hopefully more helpful to my students.

Jared Boghosian
Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction are existing models that educators use all the time. However, Tomlinson is putting forth the argument that UbD and DI need each other in order to work effectively, she has made a convincing argument thus far. While UbD is used to extract understanding and meaning from a lesson, DI is used to address the many needs of a diverse classroom. To justify the combination of UdB and DI I learned that they are attached to four elements that teachers need to be successful: “whom they teach (students), where they teach (learning environment), what they teach (content), and how they teach (instruction)” (2). UbD addresses the what and how of these elements and DI covers the who, what, and how. Once I fully grasp these models I will be able to add them to the top of my bag of tricks.

Amanda Fitzpatrick
This chapter was absolutely enlightening for me. After the reading in Chapter ten that we did for last class, I was still quite puzzled as to what Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction actually was. However, after reading this chapter, I found out exactly what it all meant- that in order to be a really good teacher, it is not all about the curriculum any more than it is all about teaching to the different learning styles because without both working in harmony something is going to be lacking from the lesson. The section of the reading that really stood out to me as helpful in describing what I had to do as a teacher were the Scenarios following each of the Axioms. Separate the two would really mean little, however when paired together the true meaning is really justified. I could see myself as a teacher using this method- describing what it was that I wished my students would learn, or some assessment that needed to be reached but then use different literary works that would be interesting to them and would also explain what it was that I wanted them to do. I thought that the chapter did a sufficient job in explaining Understanding by Design as well as Differentiated Instruction in a variety of different ways so that readers could first, verbally read it, but then have the components backed up with a storytelling activity that forced the reader into the position of the teacher. During this reading I was able to rework the way he was teaching his fictional history class into ways that would benefit my potential English students.

Diana Quinlan
//Integrating Differentiated Instruction + Understanding by Design// is a great resource for future teachers. In chapter one alone there is so much information that can be applied to a classroom situation. For example, there are four things that teachers should always be thinking of. Those things are who am I teaching, what am I teaching, where is the environment I am teaching in, and why am I teaching this information? The DI model is a model that helps to address different learning styles in the class room. It is dealing with the “who” part of what teachers should be thinking of. Likewise, the UbD model is a model that helps teachers plan a curriculum that will incorporate all the different learning styles in that particular class. I realize that using these models are important because they will help me assess my students and provide them with the opportunity to learn as much as possible in my class. After all a successful classroom is a classroom that accommodates every student’s individual needs. This chapter also provided me with some good ideas to use while I am teaching. For instance, on page 7 Mr. Axelt preassessed his students to find out their strengths and weaknesses before beginning a certain unit. He also walks around while his students are working and meets with them in small groups to address any content issues they might have or to simply keep them engaged. Lastly I would like to design my curriculum like Mr. Axelt does by meeting and collaborating with colleagues within my department. This way we can continue to meet and evaluate how our curriculum is working as well as give advice on how to make it better.