2/20/15

Thinking About Curriculums

“This doesn’t sound radical” and “It’s actually logical” were my initial thoughts on backwards design. Understanding by Design (UbD) is not a new concept and it reflects research. So what’s new here? A step-by-step process and supplementary tools provided by Wiggins and McTighe are new. When teachers sit down to arrange and plan their curriculum, helpful steps and visual organizers now exist.

Before I read chapter one, I imagined that I was a first year teacher who was ready to start planning a curriculum. Where would I start? I would begin by looking at the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and write a list of the standards I was responsible for teaching. Next, I would spend lots of time researching and writing down ideas. I would have lots of questions for my new colleagues and mentors about their opinions or experience. I would spread myself so thin asking so many questions and overthinking every step. By using the UbD framework, my time spent planning would be more productive. I’d also be more confident about my curriculum because I would be focusing on learning goals, not the activities a colleague suggested or a book I want to incorporate by any means.

One of my favorite processes that Wiggins and McTighe suggest is using full sentences when planning, specifically when formulating an essential question. A detailed, well thought out plan is the goal so quick notes jotted down will not suffice.  This will help me create a solid curriculum as a new teacher.


A general question that came to mind after reading all about UbD is, how often should teachers plan a curriculum? I’m not talking about making updates each year to an old curriculum; I’m referring to major changes like learning goals. Should a teacher make changes to a curriculum if the CCSS and essential question doesn’t change? If not, the same curriculum can last 5-8 years or longer, right? Is that effective?

2 comments:

  1. I agree that creating a solid curriculum requires a well written objectives. Reading into the chapter I did not realize what a difference a well-written objective does to the whole outlook. Not only does it make it easier for us as teachers but also for the students.
    I also felt like the backwards planning of lesson plans made so much sense. It took away my fear of actually writing curriculums on my own. But it also made me happy that I have a plan to fall back on some day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Casandra,

    I really liked the 'Establishing Curricular Priorities' figures and table of cues to think about while designing curricula/lessons. Through that I think the curriculum can be quite stable: what is worth being familiar with, important to know and do, should be enduring will likely change over time with reflection and experience, but the implementation will likely change much more -- over time with reflection and experience. I think getting to "effective" is a trial-and-error process - just like our CFHS host said: "We make lots of mistakes, we learn from them, and we keep trying".

    ReplyDelete