In the chapter 1 of the book “Understanding by design”, Wiggins and McTighe explains what teachers need to design a lesson. Designing a class is more complex as teachers think, because planning a lesson does not imply that be a joyful one, but it need to be meaningful and coneccted to the content and the purpose of the class.
First of all teachers need to realize that lessons have to have a meaningful purpose that has to be connected to what students need. Before the lesson starts, teachers need to organize what they are going to teach to the whole class, that process is called backward design which is important to have a more effective learning process.
Moreover, teachers have to set the design into different stages. First of all teachers need to identify the target results, which relates what teachers want students to perform from a lesson. Apart from doing a lesson without planning it, most of teachers fail in teaching a lesson when they do not have clear what are the desire results. Then teachers need to have evidence of whether learners achieve to understant what they have learned. For this, teachers have to collect information, such as tests, quizzes or exams, in order to identify and judge learners’ performance. Finally, teachers have to focus on the planning of each class and revise what students have learned and understood by make them do activities that will show such evidence. Those stages are important in order to fullfil the desired objectives in the learning process.
The most important issue is to emphazise the importance of backward design in the learning process. It is important to increase students knowledge and make learning more effective for children. This can be possible if teachers focus their attention in the purpose of the lessons or activities that need to be connected to students’ need. Having all these concept clear the expectations of the teacher will increase and students will learn more.
I totally agree on the points that the fact that the purpose of a lesson has to be connected with students' needs is fundamental in Backward Design for making the learning process more effective. And also that is very possible that a teacher fails on teaching a lesson when he or she has not thought on the dessired results before, certainly the lesson would turn into a wrong direction. But, how could you tell that expectations can be higher is a teacher follows what B. D. indicates??
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the fact that the lessons have to have a purpose depending in students´ needs. I believe that is very important that teachers are aware of what students´ needs and also think about external facts that can affect our real plan.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the second idea based on the sequence that a backward deign has to follow. It is important that teachers do not skip any of these stages because it can lead in a disorder in their planning that can affect the whole process of assessment.
ReplyDeleteYes, classes have to be meaningful and representative for students. It means that teachers must connect topics with real life to make students aware about their own processes. But, we know that this point is weak in our system.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of any teacher is the students' learning. That's why it is important that the contents of the lesson should aim to the main purpose of it. But when teachers don't have a real purpose of what he/she wants students to learn about, then the whole teaching process is total fiasco.
ReplyDeleteSebastian I think it is important to understand what backward design is in order to have a effective strategy for designing our teaching/learning experience. but I don't agree that in order to have students' effective learning teachers should be focus on the activities. According to B.D. the importance is on the desired results and then it goes backwards, in order to clear the whole process of designing.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter, we find an emphasis on meaningful purpose connected with what our students need, it is not to have a purpose away from what our students really need, for that reason, as teachers, we must think on desired results, which are going to be as important as a meaningful purpose.
ReplyDeleteSebastián, tú señalaste algo muy importante en este proceso de planificación de lecciones: una lección que es muy divertida no necesariamente asegura que es una lección exitosa. Definativamente nuestra prioridad debe estar en la planificación de lecciones con propósito para que puedan ser significativas y relevantes a los contenidos del curso. Así tenemos nuestros objetivos en mente y podemos definir mejor lo que queremos ver como evidencia de aprendizaje.
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