UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN

1. How are teachers designers?

a. Yes, all teachers have to have the ability to make lessons that have a purpose that
the students need to learn. We also have to make the lessons to be able to be
taught to the parents and the administrators so they can know what is being taught
and that we know our job.
2. Who are our primary clients?
a. Students because we have to teach them and be able to design our plans to best
help them achieve success.
3. What determines the effectiveness of our ability as designers?
a. If the student has learned the material by our lesson and teaches it in a manner
that best helps them.
4. What do standards specify?
a. The standards tell us what needs to be learned by the students to help them move
on to the next level of their education.
5. What role do standards have in education?
a. Standards set the foundation of what we teach and give us the ability to use them
to build lessons into one another.
6. How is the saying “If you don’t know exactly where you are headed, then any road will
get you there.” apply to education?
a. This is a perfect example of a winding road. Without the goal in mind we could
be taking necessary steps in teaching something.
7. Why is backward design best?
a. This allows for the bare minimum of steps to teach something efficiently.
8. In your own studies do you ask “why?” and/or “so what?” as you are reading and
learning? Explain why or why not.
a. Yes, because things can seem to be unrelated to the lesson and seem unuseful.
9. Describe each of the twin sins of traditional design.
a. The first one is activities to be fun and engaging, but may not have the needed
content. The second one is covering a lot of material in the hope something will
stick.
10. How do you think each of these “sins” can be avoided?
a. I think teachers need to be able to combine the two within reason and have
purpose lessons that have the knowledge and are still engaging.
11. List and briefly describe each of the stages of backward design.
a. Step 1 Desired Results: Identify the standards in the lesson/ what needs to be
learned.
b. Step 2 Assessment Evidence: Find what will show that the students have learned
the material.
c. Step 3 Learning Plan: Find the materials needed to get the students to that level of
understanding.
12. So in backward design, what order should a teacher plan the following parts of a lesson:
instructional activities, find standard, assessment?
a. Standards are the first to be identified, then an assessment to meet the standards,
lastly, activities to teach what is required to show understanding.
UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN
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13. You have just read the most important point in this book (in my opinion). Stop for a
minute and process what you have read so far in this chapter. Can you think of an
analogy for how teachers should lesson plan?
a. I loved the video that was shown in class about people making plans with this
design and everything was worse when the outcome was not thought out.