Schedule

=Revised Course Schedule and Assignments=  Updated November 6, 2008

Visa Approved! We will meet next weekend. Steps to be completed prior to our meetng can be found on these **new** pages.


 * 'Like' Groups Collaboration**

=
Collaboration and feedback are important parts of the learning process. We are a large group, so to facilitate sharing I have created small group pages where you are requested to post your unit (Stage 1 and one assessment blueprint only, at this point). Your group members will review and respond to your unit, while you view and respond to theirs.======


 * Feedback protocol**: Offer at least one commendation and one recommendation in relation to the prompts.

> Unit Design Assignment > > > > Unit Design Scoring
 * Directions for Joining a Group**
 * 1) Select the group to which your unit is most closely related.
 * 2) Post your draft units design for stage 1 on the page that most closely matches your unit. Be sure that your name and course are included.
 * 3) Once the designs have been posted, review your group members' designs and give feedback according to the posted prompts.
 * 4) For directions on the design process go to:


 * Assign yourselves to 'Like Groups' here.**

Update November 5 In the light of the recurring delays I met last week Carolyn Bruner, SUNY Director of International Graduate Programs, and Susan Baum, the Adademic Programs Director to consider our options. Basically what we agreed on was to lighten the load for you as follows:
 * As you are already aware we have dropped from two weekend meetings, to one (hopefully!).
 * In addition I am cancelling the design standards paper and reducing the requirements for the assessment task to the extent that the expectation to administer it, and develop exemplars is being waived. The content will still be covered when we meet, but the application requirement has been dropped. The assessment piece will fall soley within the unit design.


 * The Course evaluation has been modified, therefore, as follows:**
 * 1) Readings and Responses (30%)
 * 2)  UbD Instructional Unit Design (70%)
 * 3)   Design Standards Paper (30%) - Cancelled
 * 4)   Assessment and Exemplars (20%) - Cancelled

Everyone concerned regrets the inconvenience and challenges this has presented to you, as participants. Our concern is to ensure that we bring things to a reasonable conclusion in spite of this. So thank you for your flexibility. In the meanime let's proceed on the assumption that we will be able to meet next weekend.

= = = = =Week Ending November 12=

We are gong to engage in a collaborative process for giving feedback and refining your unit designs. As these now constitute the main assessment, they will be the focus of our efforts through to the conclusion of the course.


 * See the final Unit Design Asignment here** http://instdesign.wikispaces.com/Unit+Design+Assignment
 * Assign Yourself to a 'Like Group' here** http://instdesign.wikispaces.com/Groups

Stage 1 - Identify Desired Results

**1. Key Design Elements**
>
 * Read/ review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 61-67.
 * Review your focus unit and consider the types of knowledge it ecompasses.
 * Complete the //Structure of Knowledge// chart on Page 68 in relation to your focus unit.  Print and keep to submit. 
 * 2. A Big Idea**
 * Read/review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 69 - 76
 * Consider your Focus Unit. Use either the chart on P 75 or P 77 (if yours is a skill based unit) to brainstorm possible Big Ideas for your unit.  Print and keep to submit.


 * 3. Clarifying Content Priorities**
 * Read / review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// pages 78-89
 * Review the prescribed standards and benchmarks for your unit. (If your school uses different terminology, or if you are using an external syllabus such as IB / AP refer to whatever goals/outcomes are prescribed.) Use the Clarifying Content Priorities chart on P 80 to classify them into
 * 1) Worth being familiar with
 * 2) Important to know and be able to do
 * 3) Big ideas / understandings  Print or copy and keep to submit.


 * 4. Essential Questions**
 * Read/review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 88-106. (Focus on the examples most relevant to your discipline.)
 * Refer back to your big ideas and the Tips for Using Essential Questions on P106 and develop essential questions for your unit.   Print/ copy and keep to submit.


 * 5. Enduring Understandings**

__Response Journal #6__
 * Read P 114 and 115. Knowing vs. Understanding:  What behaviors do you associate with student understanding?
 *  How do you distinguish between students "knowing" and "doing" versus understanding what they are studying?


 * 6. Established Goals**
 * Read/review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P. 107-116
 * Select either the chart on P122 or 125 to complete a plan for Stage 1 of your focus unit.   Print/copy and keep to submit.

**Stage 2 - Determine Acceptable Evidence**

 * Assessing Understanding**
 * Read / review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 136 - 142
 * Read [|6 Facets of Understanding].
 * Read / review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 156 - 166
 * <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">Complete the chart on P 166 in relation to your focus unit. <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> Print/copy and keep to submit.

<span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)">
 * Performance Tasks**
 * Read / review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 168 - 175
 * <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">Draft an assessment blueprint on P 176 in relation to your focus unit. <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> Print/copy and keep to submit.

== ==

Week Ending September 24
Access your wiki page. You will find guidance by clicking the Help link and viewing Tours. Your page will serve as a Process Journal for the course. Assignments will be posted weekly.

__Response Journal #1__
 * Introduce yourself - include your discipline, the age group you teach and any aspect of your professional profile that you would like to share.
 * Reflect on your expectations for this course.
 * Reflect on the following: How do you believe deepening your knowledge of curriculum design and assessment will help your teaching practice? How might it help your students?

__Response Journal #2__

Read and respond to Knowledge Alive
 * What is the author's point of view with regard to the //knowledge arts//?
 * How would you respond to his ideas and suggestions?
 * What are the implications of his ideas for curriculum designers?

Read and respond to Preparing for Today and Tomorrow
 * In Eisner's view what //aims// are appropriate for schools seeking to prepare students for today and tomorrow?
 * In your experience, what factors give rise to the 'preparatory' and 'hoop jumping' conception of education that runs contrary to his beliefs
 * To what extent are you able to focus on Eisner's //aims// in your present teaching situation?

Week Ending October 1
__Response Journal #3__<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> Visit the website //Concept to Classroom// and read [|Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning] workshop.
 * Read all 7 pages
 * Open 'What Do You Think?' and 'Buzzwords' links as you read
 * The curriculum design and assessment models that will be the focus of this course are informed by a constructivist view of teaching and learning. Describe some of the benefits of constructivism.
 * What should educators be cautious of in relation to constructivism?

__Response Journal #4__
 * Read [|PowerfulLearning.pdf].
 * Give an example from your own experience for each of Brandt's conditions for //powerful learning//.
 * Which of these conditions are viable in your present teaching assignment?

=Week Ending October 8=


 * Read through the Introduction of //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// p3-27
 * Identify and begin to collect materials for a unit you will develop following UbD principles.

=October 15 - October 22=
 * An Overview of the Framework **

In reading the introduction //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// p3-27, you will be aware that it provides a framework, a language, and a toolkit of strategies and processes for curriculum and assessment design.

It addresses the following essential questions. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> __Response Journal #5__
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> How can we teach for understanding, rather than just knowledge/recall?
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> How can Understanding by Design provide a language and a framework to support schools and districts to achieve this goal?  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Why do certain teachers and classrooms ensure that students achieve an in-depth understanding of what they are studying, while others encourage students simply to “recall” information?
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> What instructional conditions promote students’ in-depth mastery of the curriculum, rather than just a superficial coverage of it?
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Why should we be concerned with student understanding? What exactly is understanding—and what distinguishes it from student behaviors reflecting formulaic knowledge or mechanical “doing”?
 * Read the following except from //Understanding by Design//[|The Backwards Design Process]
 * Complete the self assessment [[file:SelfAssessment.doc]] <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)">Print and keep to submit.
 * <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">Justify the claim that the best lesson and unit designs are “backwards.”

=<span style="COLOR: rgb(17,0,255)">Please note: = <span style="COLOR: rgb(17,0,255)">**Focus Unit** For the remainder of the course we will be exploring the elements of the UbD framework in greater depth, and applying them to your FOCUS UNIT.We will move through each of the three stages of backwards design. This will be a parallel process in which you will explore the elements of each stage, and then apply your learning to your FOCUS UNIT.

In order to do this successfully you must have identified your focus unit. This should be a substantial unit of work to which curriculum standards or an external syllabus can be applied, and which offers opportunities for authentic assessment and engaging learning experiences.

Most of the remaining reading assignments come from the //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook.// As you know, the book is comprised mainly of charts, diagrams and examples. So while the assigned 'reading' assignments appear at first glance to be lengthy, in most instances a brief 'review' will suffice.
 * Reading Assignments**

**1. Key Design Elements**
>
 * Read/ review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 61-67.
 * Review your focus unit and consider the types of knowledge it ecompasses.
 * Complete the //Structure of Knowledge// chart on Page 68 in relation to your focus unit. <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> Print and keep to submit. <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)">
 * 2. A Big Idea**
 * Read/review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 69 - 76
 * Consider your Focus Unit. Use either the chart on P 75 or P 77 (if yours is a skill based unit) to brainstorm possible Big Ideas for your unit. <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> Print and keep to submit.

<span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)">
 * 3. Clarifying Content Priorities**
 * Read / review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// pages 78-89
 * Review the prescribed standards and benchmarks for your unit. (If your school uses different terminology, or if you are using an external syllabus such as IB / AP refer to whatever goals/outcomes are prescribed.) Use the Clarifying Content Priorities chart on P 80 to classify them into
 * 1) Worth being familiar with
 * 2) Important to know and be able to do
 * 3) Big ideas / understandings <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> Print or copy and keep to submit.

=October 23 - October 29=

==**Stage 1 - Identify Desired Results<span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(248,254,241)"> **<span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(218,211,211)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(224,220,220); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(248,254,241)">**(Continued)** ==


 * 4. Essential Questions**
 * Read/review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 88-106. (Focus on the examples most relevant to your discipline.)
 * Refer back to your big ideas and the Tips for Using Essential Questions on P106 and develop essential questions for your unit. <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> Print/ copy and keep to submit.


 * 5. Enduring Understandings**

__Response Journal #6__
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Read P 114 and 115. Knowing vs. Understanding: <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What behaviors do you associate with student understanding?
 * <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">How do you distinguish between students "knowing" and "doing" versus understanding what they are studying?


 * 6. Established Goals**
 * Read/review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P. 107-116
 * Select either the chart on P122 or 125 to complete a plan for Stage 1 of your focus unit. <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> Print/copy and keep to submit.

**Stage 2 - Determine Acceptable Evidence**

 * Assessing Understanding**
 * Read / review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 136 - 142
 * Read [|6 Facets of Understanding].
 * Read / review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 156 - 166<span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">
 * <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">Complete the chart on P 166 in relation to your focus unit. <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> Print/copy and keep to submit.

<span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)">
 * Performance Tasks**
 * Read / review //Understanding By Design Professional Development Workbook// P 168 - 175
 * <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">Draft an assessment blueprint on P 176 in relation to your focus unit. <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> <span style="COLOR: rgb(171,150,150)"> Print/copy and keep to submit.