Understanding and Applying Standards (A Reflection)

Activity 1 - Unpacking a Standard

I have had to work with the Common Core State Standards since we adopted them at my school in 2010.  Prior to that all of the schools that I worked at had not adopted any national or international standards.  After working here for the last 6+ years and completing this activity it does shock me that there are schools out there that do not have a set of standards to anchor their curriculum.  I must admit, however, that while I have worked with Common Core State Standards for the last 5 years this is the first time that I have actually taken the time to unpack them.  Unpacking the standards was an invaluable learning experience.  I actually took the time to unpack a standard that I had already worked on a couple of months ago and now find myself wanting to go back and reteach because there is so much more I could have done with it.  From the unpacking the standards activity I learned that it is effective to break the standard down into the how, the what and the why/where.  By doing this is allows me to see the standard in parts and design activities that are scaffolded to meet each part, eventually getting to the bigger picture - the context (or why/where).

Activity 2 - Backwards Mapping

While I have been using this model of unit planning since having attended UbD training in 2009, I have not resisted the trading or attended a refresher since.  Additionally I have never thought of using the concept of backwards planning in my day to day lessons, but in conducting this activity I found myself driven to implement a backwards mapping design to all of my lessons - an ambitious goal I would say.  For me, the value of backwards planning is clear.  If I, as the teacher, know the end goal of the unit (or lesson), then I know what is necessary to complete along the way to achieve that goal.  I can design all of my lessons and activities with a clear purpose.  I can offer formative feedback on the path to the goal that is specific to the big goal for the unit.  By keeping the end goal in mind, I can better deliver a quality unit of instruction and increase the probability of my students reaching the goal for the unit.

Activity 3 - Writing Objectives

It was't until I completed an activity in a previous module that I had ever thought about developing S.M.A.R.T. objectives.  I have heard of, and developed, S.M.A.R.T. goals for the math department when I was the department head, but never S.M.A.R.T. objectives for a class.  What I learned from the previous activity in another module was that actually writing S.M.A.R.T. objectives makes designing teaching & learning activities much easier!  What I learned from the activity for this module was how interdependent S.M.A.R.T. objectives and the standards are and how important it is to first unpack the standard before you develop objectives.  At the risk of sounding corny, a big take away from all three activities for me is that your objectives become smarter if you first unpack your standards and by doing do in corporation with backwards planning, your lessons are smarter and so will be your students.