Moving on to "Backward" design. Let me just start by saying I'm happy to see some level of common sense does exist in teacher education! I was beginning to think teacher education only consisted of "you'll always be wrong" theories like Bloom's Taxonomy and impossible questions such as "How do we reform the American school system?"
"Backward" design has renewed my faith in teacher education, and at the same time save my brain from overheating for the night. It's such a common sense theory! Start with what you want the kids to know, figure out how you'll assess that knowledge, then formulate a lesson that will allow them to be successful on that assessment. That's it! (well, its the generalized version.)
Despite being a straight-forward, common sense theory, I can definitely see how it can be overlooked. Most of our lives we are told, "this is what you need to accomplish, get it done." Whether that be in work, school (for myself at least), or sport, the emphasis was not focusing on how you assess if you know it, but simply to get it done. Therefore you focus on your first step and move from there, hoping to reach your goal.
But as teachers we need to be able to not only see the steps, but also the whole picture. "Backward" design helps keep the big picture at the forefront of your mind, helping you determine the most effective and efficient steps to take to reach your overall goal (which in this case is your students obtaining in depth knowledge on a certain topic). From what I've read it seems like a very straight forward theory, and one I look backward to test driving!
Fun Fact:
Awesome graphic - where did you find it?
ReplyDeleteYeah, this makes so much sense to me, too. Was it easier or more difficult than you anticipated when you tried it out today?
This was the exact light bulb that went off in my head today as well! I was so excited when I learned this because it was completely logical. The methodology of teaching all came to place. Instead of starting with a topic, how to approach the topic, how to assess, then figure out what they should come away with, this presents a much more efficient way to teach.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, if Bloom's Taxonomy was the basis of our teaching, I feel that there would not be as much of a good basis as we have seen in our study groups where one can be convinced of another level at anytime. This definitely is a tool that I'll use in teaching forever.
Kyle, I completely agree and I wrote some things similar in my blog. It's ironic that the theory is called backward design when it makes so much sense! I really like that we can be straight forward with our students so they are not being fooled in the classroom. I want my students to learn just like it sounds like you do and helping them understand what they need to accomplish will help us reach that goal. Although I have not had that much practice in lesson planning, I think that it will be a lot easier to hash out lessons when I have clear objectives in mind, do you agree? Or do you think it might be harder to create a lesson around certain objectives?
ReplyDeleteNice blog post title :) Props.
ReplyDeleteI love your fun fact!
ReplyDeleteI think Backwards Design worked really well for our group ( you, me, and RJ ) when trying to incorporate a current event back into a historical lesson. Maybe the backwards stuff is easier for us because we spend so much time think about lessons from the past as social studies people. But this is further evidence that history, and we for liking it, are awesome. There is value in looking at the past, and looking at the end goals, and trying to make sense of it all.
ReplyDeleteNice post - I like your point about how backward design really helps us as teachers to keep the whole picture in mind. This is important in everything we do and really ties in with what we have learned so far!
ReplyDeleteLove the fun fact!