Chapter 8

I don’t believe in a grading curve, and I like how this book backs me up. It seems natural to me, to want all of my students to get the best grade they can. If they all wind up with A’s, that would be amazing. I know of other teachers, and I’m sure even some from my own high school, who are pressured into grading on a curve, or are just personally out to fail 7.5% of their class, plus or minus 4% depending on their class size. I don’t understand why teachers do it; I will never do it in my class.

UbD/DI - Chapter 7 - Teaching for Understanding in Academically Diverse Classrooms

I agree with all of the information in Figure 7.1. It must be hard, as a teacher, to fit in all the activities you want in one class, and also allow your students the time they need to internally process information. Many teachers are impatient when it comes to lessons, rushing students from one point to the next, without letting them make the proper connections in between. Wow, a lot of information looks familiar. I hope that after awhile, I won’t need to make a WHERETO for every lesson, and that it will just come naturally and basically be imprinted on my brain FOREVER. I am still a little confused about what exactly the WHERETO is, but I think by the end of this week I will be amazing

UbD - Chapter 6 - Responsive Teaching with UbD in Academically Diverse Classrooms

I agree with this chapter when it states that information needs to be uncovered and not coverage, as you would find in a traditional classroom. The balance between what students can learn without help, and what should be explained to them, is quite delicate. I think it differs from class to class, and even from student to student, but as teachers we should always be looking for ways to allow our students to think for themselves because that is the only way they will feel a sense of accomplishment and security that they’re on the right track. When I was at Mt. Blue, my mentor’s instruction differed from class to class based on his student’s previous comprehension. In my own class, I’d like to utilize as many constructive methods, as opposed to direct methods.

Chapter 5: Consider Evidence of Learning in Diverse Classrooms

This chapter explains the different techniques and views that can positively assess students and their knowledge. After being in the classroom for three weeks, I can definitely say that assessment is important and shouldn’t be handled lightly or in the wrong context. The assessment type needs to match the assumed knowledge and there is never only one way to test students. Simple conversation can provide enough assessment for some kinds of curriculum such as movie analysis. In my classroom, I’ll try to limit my formal assessment such as tests and quizzes, and bank more on informal assessment such as in-class activities and homework.

UbD - Chapter 4 - Teaching Students About MI Theory

After all these years, now I understand why my teachers thought it was a good idea to have those stupid bingo games on the first day of school. The scavenger hunt in chapter four seems like a good idea, but I think it’s a little too tame for the age group we’re teaching. I’d probably do something I little more wacky. I just can’t think of anything right now. As far as talking to the students about their eight intelligences, I might approach it from more of a psych way by having them do something similar to what we did in class, and I wouldn’t use it as a first day ice-breaker. Overall, I thought this chapter really missed the mark when dealing with middle and high school students, but maybe I am just getting too old.

UbD - Chapter 3 - Decribing Intelligence in Students

This chapter was interesting...in a weird way. I definitely agreed with the author when stated that looking at a student when they’re misbehaving is a good indication of their suppressed intelligence. Going along with misbehaving, I am starting to think that students don’t really misbehave, they are only expressing unused energy that could be spent actually learning in school! If you went by traditional guidelines for misbehavior, I would have detention in every one of my college classes. So, that part I really enjoyed and could relate to. On the other hand, I got a little creeped out when the author suggested taking pictures, video, and audio of the students to keep in a folder that could be used for years to come. I think it’s great that as teachers we’re keeping notes on our student’s learning styles, but I don’t think we need all that media for middle and high school students.

UbD - Chapter 2 - What Really Matters In Teaching? (The Students)

The concept I agreed with most in this chapter was the dismissal of the “take-it-or-leave-it” delivery of information. Many years ago, a student would sit quietly at their desk, the teacher would talk, the student would learn. I don’t know how they learned but supposedly they did. Nowadays, teachers need to make sure ALL of the students are learning, and if they’re not, teachers can’t just say “oh well” and move on with the rest of the class. In a way, it’s like the motto “the customer’s always right.” If students aren’t absorbing what we’re teaching, than we need to find a new way to teach them because at the end of the day, our job is to teach.

UbD - Chapter 1 - UbD and Di: An Essential Partnership

This chapter helped to explain exactly what UbD and DI are because after last classes readings, I was still a little confused. The two words that really jumped out from the beginning were instruction and curriculum. The axioms and corollaries made a lot of sense to me, especially after looking up the definition for axiom and corollary. Axiom 5 was the most interesting. I liked how Mr. Axelt provided different “routes” for the students to take based on their learning difficulty for the subject. I would definitely incorporate something like that into my classroom but make sure that every student completed the same amount of work, no matter their level of understanding.