The Importance of Planning Backwards
Today I want to talk about everybody's favorite topic--curriculum development. Why curriculum development you ask? Well clearly I want this blog to be a screaming success. *cue the audible crickets* Have you left this page to Google cute cat videos yet?
No friends, despite my sarcasm, I want to talk about curriculum development because even though it is quite possibly the drollest part of teaching--it is essentially where all good teaching comes from. Stay with me now. I know what you're thinking:
"Me no likey all this tiny print and thick language."
I know. I know that nothing seems to crush that 'start of the year spirit' quite like being handed a giant binder of standards and outcomes within the first hour of teacher orientation. Admit it, reading through the standards and outcomes is no fun. We all wish that we could push the fast forward button to where we are teaching awesome lessons, with our awesome students, in our awesome classes. Nobody and I mean NOBODY goes into teaching because they are excited about the standards and outcomes. We go into teaching because we are excited to make a difference, connect with our students, and you know, make the world a better place for all humankind (no sweat right?). There will be times that you want to hide your curriculum binder away and pretend that it doesn't exist. I understand. I've been there. But the truth is--if you don't take the time to get to know your standards and outcomes--how can you be sure you're teaching the necessary skills?
See, planning your lessons is like going on a journey. You need a destination.
We've all been on those family road trips where nobody seems to know where they're going. It seems like fun. It seems pleasant. It SEEEMS like everything is all well and good... that is UNTIL your father gets you lost in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, stuck in a snowdrift, and he's then yelling at eight year old you to 'hit the gas' or else 'we'll have to wait for the MEDEVAC helicopters to come and find our frozen bodies." (not that that's happened or anything.)
The moral of the story is, as teachers we need to know where we're going. So when planning I suggest this:
Tip One: Read the Standards and Outcomes. Pull the band-aide off, pour yourself a glass of wine, and be like Nike--just do it y'all. You don't have to memorize the standards and outcomes. You're going to have ALLL year to get to know them. But do read them and start to get a rough idea of where the year is going to take you.
Tip Two: Highlight the Verbs: Why? Because this is the stuff that your students actually need to do.
Example: Australian Curriculum Math Content Describer:
Compare, order and make correspondences between collections, initially to 20, and explain reasoning (ACMNA289)
Tip Three: Glimpse into the Longer Journey: Read not just your year level, but the level above and below your year level. Why? Because to get a full scope of your student's learning journey you need to understand where they've come from as well as where they are going. It can also give you a good idea of how to differentiate instruction for your higher and lower learners. It will give you the full picture, the entire spectrum, the whole enchilada.
Tip Four: Use the Buddy System: Find a teammate to plan with. You may even find that planning is dare I say it.......enjoyable??
Once you've read, it's time to:
.....oooo..... sparkly....
If you aren't familiar with the Understanding By Design Framework, I highly recommend getting to LOVE IT because it is 'Oh so awesome!' and will change the way you approach your planning.
You can view their full page here--but the essentials of this Framework can be viewed here:
As noted here, once you've gone through the trouble of thinking of your desired results (Step One), it's time to think of your evidence (Step Two). This is our assessment portion of the topic. How will we know when we've reached our destination? How will we know when we've arrived? When will we know that our travels are at an end? Are you tired of the journey metaphor yet? Good. Me neither.
Basically, how will we measure our student's knowledge and most importantly--how will we tie this assessment into the standard we were trying to address?
Again, take a look at the verbs. If it says your students need to:
* compare
* order
* make correspondences
* and explain......
...then your assessment should probably have the students comparing, ordering, making correspondences, and explaining.
Makes sense right?
Assessment can come in many forms, but for today's purpose, let's stick to the summative assessment.
Here's a sample of my summative assessment:
That's right friends--until you've done this part:
You don't get to think about part number 3.
Not EVEN if you've got an excellent plan for popsicle art AND you have all the popsicles sticks you'll need to make it AND you bribed the janitor to give you a bottle of surplus Elmers glue from the storage closet. No. Nyet.... Or in the immortal words of Newman from Jurassic Park:
"Uh,uh, uh..."
Does this whole process seem...I dunno backwards? It's because it is! Hooray! We've come full circle! See by addressing our standard first, our means of assessment second, we are free to then plan our lessons with the end product in mind!
Here's a sample of my rough plans. More on how I set up my guided math time to come soon! These lessons are taught in differentiated groups--meaning that students are receiving content catered to their specific levels and development.
S mall Group Instruction: Ms Sam to lead:
*Guided Game: Make a Snake
* Guided Game: Card Draw
*Guided Game: Bears in the Cave
* Ordering Numbers to 20:
A pply: Students to work with Ms Ploy in our school mandated Go Maths workbook to practice skills learned during small group instruction:
C reate: Student math journals (completed independently)
Ordering, making collections, determining which is more with pictures and numerals
K inesthetic: Students play games learned at Small Group Instruction table on their own for practice:
*Make a Snake
*Card Draw
*Bears in the Cave
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Do you use another format when planning backwards? Let me know in the comments below!
Here's how we play Make a Snake!
No friends, despite my sarcasm, I want to talk about curriculum development because even though it is quite possibly the drollest part of teaching--it is essentially where all good teaching comes from. Stay with me now. I know what you're thinking:
"Me no likey all this tiny print and thick language."
I know. I know that nothing seems to crush that 'start of the year spirit' quite like being handed a giant binder of standards and outcomes within the first hour of teacher orientation. Admit it, reading through the standards and outcomes is no fun. We all wish that we could push the fast forward button to where we are teaching awesome lessons, with our awesome students, in our awesome classes. Nobody and I mean NOBODY goes into teaching because they are excited about the standards and outcomes. We go into teaching because we are excited to make a difference, connect with our students, and you know, make the world a better place for all humankind (no sweat right?). There will be times that you want to hide your curriculum binder away and pretend that it doesn't exist. I understand. I've been there. But the truth is--if you don't take the time to get to know your standards and outcomes--how can you be sure you're teaching the necessary skills?
See, planning your lessons is like going on a journey. You need a destination.
We've all been on those family road trips where nobody seems to know where they're going. It seems like fun. It seems pleasant. It SEEEMS like everything is all well and good... that is UNTIL your father gets you lost in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, stuck in a snowdrift, and he's then yelling at eight year old you to 'hit the gas' or else 'we'll have to wait for the MEDEVAC helicopters to come and find our frozen bodies." (not that that's happened or anything.)
The moral of the story is, as teachers we need to know where we're going. So when planning I suggest this:
Tip One: Read the Standards and Outcomes. Pull the band-aide off, pour yourself a glass of wine, and be like Nike--just do it y'all. You don't have to memorize the standards and outcomes. You're going to have ALLL year to get to know them. But do read them and start to get a rough idea of where the year is going to take you.
Tip Two: Highlight the Verbs: Why? Because this is the stuff that your students actually need to do.
Example: Australian Curriculum Math Content Describer:
Compare, order and make correspondences between collections, initially to 20, and explain reasoning (ACMNA289)
Tip Three: Glimpse into the Longer Journey: Read not just your year level, but the level above and below your year level. Why? Because to get a full scope of your student's learning journey you need to understand where they've come from as well as where they are going. It can also give you a good idea of how to differentiate instruction for your higher and lower learners. It will give you the full picture, the entire spectrum, the whole enchilada.
Tip Four: Use the Buddy System: Find a teammate to plan with. You may even find that planning is dare I say it.......enjoyable??
Once you've read, it's time to:
.....oooo..... sparkly....
If you aren't familiar with the Understanding By Design Framework, I highly recommend getting to LOVE IT because it is 'Oh so awesome!' and will change the way you approach your planning.
You can view their full page here--but the essentials of this Framework can be viewed here:
As noted here, once you've gone through the trouble of thinking of your desired results (Step One), it's time to think of your evidence (Step Two). This is our assessment portion of the topic. How will we know when we've reached our destination? How will we know when we've arrived? When will we know that our travels are at an end? Are you tired of the journey metaphor yet? Good. Me neither.
Basically, how will we measure our student's knowledge and most importantly--how will we tie this assessment into the standard we were trying to address?
Again, take a look at the verbs. If it says your students need to:
* compare
* order
* make correspondences
* and explain......
...then your assessment should probably have the students comparing, ordering, making correspondences, and explaining.
Makes sense right?
Assessment can come in many forms, but for today's purpose, let's stick to the summative assessment.
Here's a sample of my summative assessment:
So far so good? Great! Now and only now--this is important to planning backwards-- do we go back and think about our actual lessons.
That's right friends--until you've done this part:
You don't get to think about part number 3.
Not EVEN if you've got an excellent plan for popsicle art AND you have all the popsicles sticks you'll need to make it AND you bribed the janitor to give you a bottle of surplus Elmers glue from the storage closet. No. Nyet.... Or in the immortal words of Newman from Jurassic Park:
"Uh,uh, uh..."
Does this whole process seem...I dunno backwards? It's because it is! Hooray! We've come full circle! See by addressing our standard first, our means of assessment second, we are free to then plan our lessons with the end product in mind!
Here's a sample of my rough plans. More on how I set up my guided math time to come soon! These lessons are taught in differentiated groups--meaning that students are receiving content catered to their specific levels and development.
S mall Group Instruction: Ms Sam to lead:
*Guided Game: Make a Snake
* Guided Game: Card Draw
*Guided Game: Bears in the Cave
* Ordering Numbers to 20:
A pply: Students to work with Ms Ploy in our school mandated Go Maths workbook to practice skills learned during small group instruction:
C reate: Student math journals (completed independently)
Ordering, making collections, determining which is more with pictures and numerals
K inesthetic: Students play games learned at Small Group Instruction table on their own for practice:
*Make a Snake
*Card Draw
*Bears in the Cave
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Do you use another format when planning backwards? Let me know in the comments below!
Here's how we play Make a Snake!
Comments
Post a Comment