Monita+Chowdhry

Ty Response Journal #1 My name is  Monita Abrol Chowdhry and am a mother of two girls .I teach History & Geography to students in KS3(Yrs 7,8&9)at Dhahran British Grammar School. I expect this course will help me deliver my lessons more effectively by teaching me how to plan them better. I hope it will show me what I need to incorporate or modify in my lessons to improve the quality and content of my teaching. The knowledge of curriculum design and assessment will help my teaching practice because it will help me answer the questions: What do I want the students to learn from this topic ? How can I help them learn most effectively and if possible enjoyably? How can I make them ‘Understand’ what we are doing in class better? The students would be the ultimate beneficiaries because if the activities that I plan to do with them ,the skills that I focus on teaching them and the methods of assessment that I adopt are driven by sound education principles then the student’s learning experience would be enhanced.  Response Journal #2 Responding to ‘Knowledge Alive’  The author David Perkins believes that having knowledge –facts, ideas and skills in itself is of little value. What is more desirable is to have the knowledge arts which means being able to handle this knowledge. It is not just WHAT we know but having the skills to create it, to communicate it effectively, organise it and then to act on it which makes knowledge meaningful. The teaching of knowledge arts is however, neglected in the current education system as the dismal report card on schools would suggest. According to Perkins, knowledge arts, which includes thinking critically and creatively and putting school knowledge to work in the real world, could enliven teaching and learning. It would treat children not merely as vessels into which knowledge must be poured but as active collaborators who would be aware of the how they know what they know as their thinking becomes visible to them .They would develop skills of intense reading, compelling writing, problem solving and decision making that would enable them to be life long learners. Thus according to the author knowledge arts are critical to the learning process and must be an integral part of school curriculum.

I agree with what the author is suggesting about knowledge arts because he is talking about making education relevant and meaningful. In my experience students who just take in a lot of information (knowledge) and do well in a test that assesses information- based knowledge do not necessarily do equally well in real life situations and it’s so true about students not being able to connect knowledge within the disciplines in school- because they lack the skills of problem solving and decision making, of thinking creatively and critically –they lack the knowledge arts. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">So I would agree with his suggestion –“we need to put the knowledge arts on the table and celebrate them for the ways they make knowledge meaningful’. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The implications of his ideas for educators and curriculum designers is that we need to constantly be in touch with the real world in order to make learning for our students relevant ; we need to help students to make connections between what they learn and the real world ,to be able to apply the knowledge in real life situations creatively. In other words we must teach them how to fish and not just give them the fish. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Therefore the curriculum needs to be more creative and teachers more imaginative, energetic and committed. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">In a fast changing world this becomes particularly important for survival. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Responding to ‘Preparing for Today and Tomorrow’ <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">In Eisner’s view the following aims are appropriate for schools seeking to prepare students for today and tomorrow : <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 1. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">To develop the disposition and the critical acumen to make good judgements. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 2. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">To critically examine explore and explicate ideas –to find out what their implications are and to apply those implications to today. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 3. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">To cultivate the ability to create and comprehend meanings in all media of human expressions- be it artistic, literary and /or musical. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 4. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">To promote individual excellence as well as social harmony by encouraging collaborative work. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 5. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">To inculcate moral values in students that sensitise them to the needs of the larger community instead of only fulfilling their personal ambitions. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">In my experience factors which give rise to the ‘preparatory’ and ‘hoop jumping’ conception of education that runs contrary to his beliefs are: <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 1. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">An outdated conventional curriculum that doesn’t meet the exigencies of modern life. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 2. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Lack of understanding of what is required in the real world so creating a mismatch between ‘skills learnt’ and ‘skills required’. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 3. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Not involving children in their learning process or not regarding their social & emotional needs. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 4. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Any teaching practice that doesn’t encourage children to connect what they learn to their lives or teach them how to apply what they have learnt in real situations. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Teaching History &Geography provide opportunities to incorporate the aims laid out by Eisner, although I would like to do more now. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">I am often limited by my own imagination or time schedules and often experience ‘oases of glory between desert of neglect’ syndrome. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">However we do critically examine certain popularly accepted notions and evaluate whether popular perceptions about historical events and people are reliable or not and why. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Collaboration is encouraged by way activities that are done in a group that fosters cooperation and sometimes bickering. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">I could and would like to develop the student’s abilities to ‘encode and decode meaning in any of the symbolic forms’ used in the various cultures that we study about to help students better connect to the people we are studying about. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">History would offer many examples of individuals who are worthy of being examples of selfless community workers. These I would like to highlight. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> Response Journal #3 Benefits of Constructivism Constructivism is a theory that says that learning is a process where people are not passive recipients of knowledge transmitted to them but that they actively construct their own understanding and knowledge by their experiences in the environment and then they build on their previous knowledge by reflecting and gleaning from their experiences. Some of the benefits of constructivism are: 1.   Children are actively involved and engaged in the process of learning which means they are able to make sense of WHY they are doing what they are doing. They arrive at their OWN conclusions and no doubt moments of self discovery will be exhilarating and the whole business of learning will be enjoyable. 2.   Constructivism does not encourage rote memorization where students reproduce a series of facts but rather emphasises on the process that leads to that knowledge –learning how to think and understand; ‘make thinking visible’ to the students so they know why they think the way they do. 3.   This ability to think things out for yourself means students become independent learners who carry their organising principles with them and are able to construct their knowledge in other learning settings. 4.   Students have been in charge of creating their own understanding as they build on their knowledge and this involvement on the part of the students makes the learning process a unique experience for each student. It means the students will be able to express that understanding more clearly and creatively. It means they will be able to retain it better and the knowledge thus acquired will be transferred and applied to real life more effectively. 5.   Constructivism encourages an environment that as far as possible deals with real -world problem solving; knowledge is therefore not abstract but has real life application making it more meaningful. 6.   Constructivism promotes communication and interpersonal skills because students are encouraged to articulate their ideas. They exchange their ideas ,evaluating individual contributions they may need to collaborate, negotiate, convince or accept as they ‘navigate’ among the ideas of others. And that’s a very important skill to have for success in real life in any field. Some of the things educators need to be cautious or at least be mindful of in relation to constructivism are: Since knowledge is built on previous ideas and experiences what we will learn at present will depend on something we should have learnt in the past therefore as educators we must be careful to provide experiences that will be necessary for future learning. Reflection needs to be dwelt on –allow time for it in the curriculum Teachers would benefit from building on their techniques of questioning. All knowledge acquired is not necessarily ‘constructed’ (experiential). Knowledge can be and is gained through imitation (social)as well as arrived at by deducing it logically(reason). A lot of knowledge that is part of school curriculum is not self-discovered or constructed like trigonometry and the periodic table or relativity. Some knowledge is useful when it is learnt by heart or by rote-for example the times table, spellings, chemical formulas etc. So rote learning need not be avoided completely. Some knowledge cannot be understood but must be accepted- why ‘put’ and ‘but’ are pronounced differently for example, or the arbitrary division of time into periods and epochs. Sometimes you know first and you understand later –A glass water bottle bursts inside the freezer-you know that at any age you might have experienced it(maybe 5) but you need to be able to understand molecular theory of matter and properties of matter first to be able to understand why (not likely to happen at age5). For all these reasons Constructivism should not be the exclusive ideology that should be embraced in a learning environment. Included indeed for all its benefits, it should be used in conjunction with other practices. Children come from different backgrounds and their material and intellectual exposure might differ greatly therefore their base knowledge maybe varied. Each student would ‘construct’ knowledge at a different level. The teacher must therefore create an environment of freedom of expression and respect to avoid a ‘tyranny of the majority’. The pace of learning maybe slower and the teacher would need to be very patient and resourceful in engaging students in the learning process. Accountability of student’s progress is equally important –a basic level of know-how and skills must be maintained so that these students don’t lag behind those in more traditional classrooms. If anything their practical skills should be better extended depending on the uniqueness of their ‘construction’. Response Journal # 4 Powerful Learning An example from my own experience for each of Brandt’s conditions for ‘Powerful Learning’ would be: 1.   What they learn is personally meaningful – I don’t find students connecting to history so readily when it deals with kings and governments or wars and battles but everyone paid attention to and remembered details of the lesson which dealt with how children were treated in 16th century Tudor England. It was relevant to them, they could connect to it, their level of involvement and interest was high, learning was better because it was personally meaningful to them. 2.   What they learn is challenging and they accept the challenge- I encourage students to stick to their point of view even if it is not an opinion widely held and then think ways to justify their viewpoint-they like to push themselves to prove their point most often very intelligently. 3.   What they learn is appropriate for their developmental level- Learning is structured in other words. A topic may be dealt with at various grades but in higher grades the level of knowledge and insights provided are more complex. For instance in year 5 the students had learnt about rivers –definition, uses and the three stages-upper, middle and lower course. In year7 ‘Rivers’ were studied in greater detail as we dealt with the landforms created by the river in each course which involved understanding what moving water does to things in its path.-which is more complex. 4.   They can learn in their own way, have choices, and feel in control- I’m not sure how in a class each child will learn a subject in his own way though at different times different ways are used but ‘Choices’ are given to students in terms of the opinions they form and the conclusions they arrive at for example when they examine evidences especially in history. And when they know they can interpret the evidence according to their understanding they tend to spend more time to study it. Students are also free to present work in different ways. 5.   They use what they already know as they construct new knowledge.- A new idea when it is introduced in the context of something familiar is always better understood. The concept of globalisation for eg was taught by using a familiar piece of clothing namely a pair of jeans. 6.   They have opportunities for social interaction – Project work done by a pair or a group whose members are motivated is more creatively presented than an individual assignment. Each member brings his or her own talent to the task and each one learns a better way to do the task. 7.   They get helpful feedback – Students who get feedback regularly know where they are lagging, what they need to change in order to excel and if they are self motivated really look forward to your feedback and act on it. These students are the ones whose work shows the most improvement over the year –an obvious indication of their learning. 8.    They acquire and use strategies. – Note taking is a practice that I often encourage in the class. Its useful not only to organise all that you learn in history but in any subject. 9.       They experience a positive emotional climate-. Students are treated fairly and a dissenting voice is not allowed to be disrespected or jeered at. Differences of opinion are respected. This is particularly necessary in Social Studies where we study people holding varying world views. 10.     Environment supports intended learning – learning is not just a text book experience its multifarious- they watch movies, enact a scene, use models there are relevant wall displays II intend to have a ‘Castle reading corner’ to create that medieval feeling. Most conditions are viable in the present teaching assignment, though some more than the others. A positive emotional environment is always encouraged ; feedback given as often as possible. But every topic in History or Geography may not be personally meaningful to all students (so some strategies need to be employed to motivate students). All topics or teacher’s strategies may not be equally challenging all the time. Learning in their own way always may not be possible. I am looking forward to learning some more strategies to be able to create these conditions more consistently.

The principle behind backward design in lesson or unit planning is to focus first on the big picture, on what’s worth learning ; to establish first the desired learning outcome of what is taught rather than be guided by the syllabus that needs to be covered or activities that can be done most easily. Lessons that are designed backwards focus therefore not on the activity but look beyond at the purpose of that activity, not that a particular activity is to be done but what enduring understanding we want the students to have long after the details of the activities are forgotten .The overarching purpose of the unit helps them to see connections and links between various learning experiences which might otherwise have been missed. Neither the students nor the teachers are vague about why they are doing what they are doing and where they are headed. Having established that we move to the next stage which is to decide on the acceptable evidences of the student’s understanding that validate that the desired learning has been achieved. The objective shifts from achieving a desirable test result to being able to meaningfully demonstrate their understanding where assessment is not merely a statistic at the end of a topic but a reflection of our grasp of facts and our skill in applying them to real life situations. Instructional activities, learning experiences and teaching strategies that will enable and prepare students to give evidences of their understanding form the third stage of the backward planning. The underlying purpose is to develop understanding such that the student can explain, interpret, apply the facts and knowledge gained and then empathize and develop perspective and self knowledge from what was learnt. All teaching is focussed towards achieving this goal. Clearly a lot of thought and vision goes into lessons that are backward designed making them more purposeful and result oriented than traditional lessons. Learning therefore is more productive and efficient in the long run. Backward design helps us to ensure that learning revolves around students and not books, activities or syllabi. Students develop attitudes that help them become life -long independent learners because they arrive at their own understanding and are not merely told what the teacher understands. Learning is relevant to students, involving activities that are ‘hands on and (because goals are well defined )minds on’. Learning is engaging and they are focussed and clear in terms of what is expected of them. Having gained ‘enduring understanding’ they are able to apply it to real life situations better where it really matters. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Backward design adds more take- home value to the lessons than it would otherwise have. Response Journal#6 What behaviours do you associate with student understanding? In my opinion behaviours associated with student understanding include : <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   Being able to explain the facts or propositions in their own words showing their grasp of facts preferably giving examples from real life situations <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   Being able to connect facts in dissimilar situations and explain the connections meaningfully. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   Asking searching questions that show that the child’s engagement is beyond the superficial absorbtion of data. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   Being able to apply or transfer the knowledge or facts to a new situation. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   Creating something innovative showing skilful manipulation of knowledge and information. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   Being able to infer various insights without they being explicitly highlighted for the student. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   Being able to move from the concrete to the abstract ,general to the specific and vice versa with ease. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   Students performances and products ,be they written ,oral or visual exhibiting a clear comprehensive coverage of details. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §    Being able to self -correct. In short student’s efforts that show that he/she can adapt ,prove or use the knowledge acquired. How do you distinguish between s tudents ‘ knowing’ and ‘doing’ versus understanding what they are doing? When a student recites a poem he is ‘doing’ (the recitation) because he ‘knows’(the poem). When he recites the poem with ‘expression’ he does because he understands. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   There is a difference in the level of engagement and enjoyment between knowing and doing and understanding what they are doing. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   When a student understands he is able to see the pattern and logical progression and the Big Idea in the unit for himself. When he does what he does only because he knows, he is not able to see that pattern till explicitly shown. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   When a student only knows the task he is not able to explain the how and why of it when a student understands it he is able to extrapolate, explain and reason out the more subtle aspects and then extend that understanding to a new situation. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings"> §   Last but not the least when he commits to memory with understanding he can recall the information more easily and readily than if he had only known the fact and not understood it.
 * Response Journal # 5 **
 * // Justify the claim that the best lesson and unit designs are ‘backwards ‘. //**