This week, I have tried to focus on the desired understandings for the Inventions of the Renaissance unit that I am designing. The Understanding by Design text was helpful in providing simple phrasing for my unit that could lead my students to meet objectives. I found it intriguing that changing the start of my learning objectives from "Students will be able to..." (which is preached in most teacher education programs) to "Students will understand that..." made it easier to phrase desired understandings as more specific generalizations rather than tasks or knowledge recall.
The text also discussed the differences between the two kinds of understandings - topical and overarching. "Topical understandings are unit-specific, and overarching understandings are broader and (as the name implies) offer a possible bridge to other units and courses" (p. 145). In my opinion, both topical and overarching understandings are needed when designing instruction. In relation to the project we are working on in this course, I think I may need to be more clear and specific in generating the essential questions and desired understandings for my unit.
I'm hoping things will become clearer (and my own understanding about backward design will increase) as my unit continues to develop.
The text also discussed the differences between the two kinds of understandings - topical and overarching. "Topical understandings are unit-specific, and overarching understandings are broader and (as the name implies) offer a possible bridge to other units and courses" (p. 145). In my opinion, both topical and overarching understandings are needed when designing instruction. In relation to the project we are working on in this course, I think I may need to be more clear and specific in generating the essential questions and desired understandings for my unit.
I'm hoping things will become clearer (and my own understanding about backward design will increase) as my unit continues to develop.