When I was young my family would go out to eat on occasion at some chain restaurant that gave kids an activity sheet and crayons to keep us occupied. On this sheet there would be a word search, a connect the dots image and a maze. If me and my sister were racing to see who could finish the maze first, I would always start at the end and work my way backwards. This is what came to mind when I was reading the UBD articles. By starting out with what larger goals you want to target and working backwards we are able to find the best path to do so. I found these articles filled with information, charts, and examples I am going to print out and save to use when I start to design my units as a teacher. It is especially important considering the common core standards all teachers have to achieve throughout the year. What I found most striking about this reading aside from the detailed instructions and tips is the overarching goal of backwards design, understanding. At its core our educational system is a process of forming productive and beneficial members of society. It is more important that a person has the intellectual capacity to process and use new information rather than simple recite factoids of no consequence. Backwards design works towards long term goals by using the material covered in each lesson. Each discussion, field trip, or reading is another step towards understanding.
Backwards design seems like the most practically instruction method when trying to work within the common core standards. In the future I am going to have to meet these standards to keep my job, what backwards design allows is for the standards to be met without sacrificing the quality of a students education. I know some who view the common core as restrictive and see them as a hindered to the quality of their instruction but these articles show how they can be utilize to pave the way for students intellect to flourish while improving a teacher's profession ability.
A Promo for another resource on backwards planning
Hi Jake. I appreciate your understanding that Common Core is both something that we will definitely have to work with, and understanding that its something that we can (at least a little bit) embrace and use to our benefit, rather than to our detriment. A lot of people do think that Common Core is restrictive, but you are absolutely correct in that backward design allows us to work with these sets of standards effectively.
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