Standard 3 Meta-Reflection: Curriculum

Standard 3 Curriculum: Provides knowledge and skills that bring academic subjects to life and are aligned with state content standards.

I created a unit on evolution for a high school biology class using the Understanding by Design (UbD) format. I began by searching the Washington State EALRs for appropriate standards. Using those as guides, I developed essential questions and enduring understandings to keep instruction focused on the larger picture. While designing the actual learning plan, I included formative assessments in the form of numerous interactive labs and activities so students can experience the process of evolution themselves. A wide variety of media were used such as PowerPoint presentations and documentary videos to appeal to students with different learning styles. Finally, a Socratic seminar on alternative origin theories served the purpose of a summative performance assessment as well as a good way for students to compare and contrast the theory of evolution with other ones such as intelligent design. This requires a high level of thinking and a deep knowledge of the theory of evolution. This activity tied together the state standards, essential questions and enduring understandings into one activity which will serve students well in the future.

Artifact: UbD Evolution Unit

Standard 1 Meta-Reflection: Instructional Planning

Standard 1 Instructional Planning: Designs and monitors long and short-term plans for students’ academic success.

My main artifact for this standard is an evolution unit plan for a high school biology class. I used the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework to design the unit beginning with the state standards. From the state standards, I determined what the essential questions and basic understandings needed to be, broke those down into skills and knowledge students would need, designed summative and formative assessments to test those and finally designed a learning plan to guide them to mastery. The lesson plans are broken down by week and day but allow for flexibility. The unit starts out by reviewing information students learning the year before and other prior knowledge they may have from other sources. The three overarching essential questions are written so that they are applicable to students in their future outside of high school. Every step of the unit, including skills, knowledge, assessments, enduring understandings and essential questions are aligned with the standards. Finally, the curriculum is differentiated to allow for student differences such as interest, background knowledge and learning style.

Artifact: Evolution UbD Unit

PLC + UbD

Professional Learning Communities and Understanding by Design are two current trends in education which have more in common than it might appear. The All Things PLC website gives a concise overview of PLCs which reveals many similarities with UbD curriculum design and both strategies, when used together, can greatly improve student learning. I would like to share two ways UbD and PLCs work together and one way UbD can be improved to match PLCs.

Shared mission, values, vision, and goals: The creating of statewide EALRs and GLEs has greatly increased the use of shared goals in classrooms, schools and districts. Teachers have a similar target they are aiming towards and this also allows for more collaboration and sharing of UbD unit plans. Our school has a common pacing plan which further allows us to collaborate and develop effective lessons and units.

Collaborative teams focused on learning: The emphasis of UbD is clear from the beginning. The first step in unit planning isn’t the daily activities but the goals, enduring understandings and standards. Then assessments are developed and finally lessons are created to support those assessments. The focus is on learning a small number of significant ideas.

Results orientation: UbDs work ends when the unit has been designed. There is no emphasis on re-evaluating the unit after it has been taught or analyzing data from the assessment. This is a key aspect which could improve the unit for future years. UbD would be greatly improved by a focus on data and results.