The Big Picture: UbD as Curriculum Framework

On this last reflection , I can express my interest in this challenging curriculum framed around UbD elements.
On the one hand, this framework made me realize that our typical curriculum aim is focused on covering lists of content knowledge and skills in a mechanistic way ,mainly fostering a less coherent and effective learning on our learners; it helped me think over the reasons for using it ,both the simplicity and objectivity of the tasks, adding the easy way to organize it on the other.

     So, a new way of thinking should help us understand how the learning of a second language works efficiently .Indeed, framing this curriculum UbD  through big ideas, essential questions, core performance tasks and developmental rubrics will enhance  self-assessment, self-adjustment and understanding of the teacher's final judgement .Besides, it will make use of interesting and connected ,meaningful activities.

Therefore, can it be possible to take aside the logic of content instead of the logic of learning?
It is our hope to meet the standards that improve learning regardless of the educational setting in which we find ourselves and the hard work required . To perform it a recipe for UbD framework is suggested.

Ingredients: -a portion of big ideas, essential questions and big spoons of performance tasks.
Preparation: Take this curriculum to team meetings.Then provide a big dose of time and analysis.
Use textbooks as resources and prepare a syllabi through circular learning to use big ideas with understanding in performance for the sake of our learners'depth of development,behaviour and experience in order to get an effective organization.
   

Crafting understanding

When working out "Understanding" in the backward design, I wonder , when does an understanding become meaningful for teachers and students?

 Doubtlessly when it is based not only on facts but also on experiences.This is absolutely true, because students need to inquire, think, ask questions of the facts instead of getting only the meanings of data.
Besides, teachers must guide our learners to get more transferable knowledge and apply the big ideas in real-life situations.

As a concrete example in my teaching environment, I make use of specific comprehension strategies such as summarizing, making inferences, questioning the texts and predicting to get understanding and at the same time to develop reading skills on the learners, especially with upper -intermediate  students who have acquired prior knowledge and have experienced a more creative thinking.

But, how can we increase the use of Understanding as a worthy target in our teaching reality? Unquestionably, it is a challenge in our teaching -learning process, but we can not deny the benefits our learners can get in order to enrich  their learning process and live more stimulating experiences.

 I think it is time to be up and start doing it little by little!!!

Chapter 9: Planning for learning

This chapter highlights key words that I describe as meaningful elements to achieve a good understanding on our learners. I mean: a learning plan , learning activities, engaging and effective and the Whereto elements.
Firstly, a learning plan will work if it is covered with activities that foster understanding, knowledge, skill, student interest and performance goals. This aim continues being a challenge for us when thinking less about teaching and more about learning with the time constraint that impedes to devote our time on getting the feedback our learners need to revise  and improve their learning .
Secondly, what helps a learning plan be more engaging and effective? Apart from planning appropriate activities, it is relevant to take our sts to different intellectual levels that must be centered on either big ideas and challenges or an interesting and motivating work. In order to be effective, both teachers and learners must be aware of the unit goals and the activities must conduce our learners to be more competent and productive in skills, knowledge, understanding, intellectual power and self-reflection.
Therefore, the emphasis is constantly focus on interesting  ideas meaningful feedback , clear goals and explicit challenges. Again, a hard task to be performed by teachers nowadays?
Finally, the Whereto elements will probably guarantee an apropriate learning. These elements emphasize the student's performance obligations and the criteria by which sts work will be assessed. Moreover, it helps sts to create interest in a subject making use of different issues and mysterious and funny stories.
Besides, the teacher 's responsibility is to make our sts explore and experience the big ideas and essential questions, adding scaffolding  and graphic organizers for the sake of a meaninful learning. What can teachers of English do to make it applicable?

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fernandareports: Chapter 5: "The big idea - questions."

How can we engage our students to a deep understanding, inquiry and transfer of learning?
According to the UbD template, this can be accomplished through goals that are established in terms of Essential questions. Thinking about my teaching experience, this is absolutely true and meaningful if we want to develop our students'understanding and creative thinking.
Moreover, we as educators, must reflect on the routine teacher- talk that makes us sometimes feel so tired and our students so bored. On the contrary, the big-idea questions can stimulate our students'thought , and deepen their understanding of the concepts, topics, and other issues.
Another reflection is to take aside in some way the pat answers from our students and give relevance to think about important content ideas so that they can understand the key issues of the subject and foster the transfer of ides to other fields.
Nowadays, it is not easy to change our students'minds in response to reflection , curiosity and thought because students love the easy way out in their learning process, so it also requires great care to provoke discussion considering the sustaining of big ideas and the goals of the unit. In this way, questions can become essential due to the clarity of our intentions and expectations for learning activities and assessments.
Equally important is to make use of a mix of questions - topical and overarching - that deals with the deep use of big ideas and not the learned facts. These questions provide the units balance, variety and more effective work adding the students'role more intellectual and active.

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BIG IDEAS:" IMPORTANT ISSUE TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING
OF OUR PLANS AND SYLLABI"

I feel highly convinced that it is relevant to establish a set of clear and appropriate ideas
when planning, teaching and assessing in order to make our students think deeply ,and as
teachers become more analytical about our learners' goals.

Moreover, if we focus our attention on learning priorities, our contents must contain not only big ideas
but also core tasks with the purpose of exploring and transferring ideas.

These tasks must also encourage our learners to discuss, reflect, research and debate instead of
memorizing concepts and passing tests to recall the information. Equally important is that our students
must be involved in the practice, coaching and feedback of these essential ideas to become more meaningful.

In this way, students can make sense of their learning and apply these ideas, topics, questions to real life
situations.
Apart from this, if our students interact with techniques for the sake of modeling, guided practice and feedback,
we will improve the productive skills. For example, when students have to do a power point presentation.

Therefore, we as educators, must foster these key elements such as "big ideas, core tasks, understandings. essential
ideas, knowledge and skills so that we can help our learners to get an effective learning.
Despite being a hard task, we are aware that clear, consistent and coherent educational goal are essentially meaningful.

Report nº 1 "Backward design"

What grabbed my attention in this chapter? Firstly, there are some key ideas such as "understanding" as our learners' goal. It is vital to mention that our students must understand what they are asked to learn and not only to make them take in and recall the information given by the teachers.This idea is logically opposed to the typical instructional design used in some schools nowadays.
Personally, I agree on this point because not only teaching must focus on covering contents and activities, but also students must grasp the meaning of these issues and use the language in real-world situations.

    Secondly, as educational purpose is understanding, the idea of a "backward design" will make our students' learning more effective and productive. This is because the backward design, as a first step, provides the vision of desired and specific results so as to see the purpose of the activities and achieve the goals. Equally important is to take into account our learner's needs, interests, previous achievements before designing learning experiences, assignments and assessments.

   Finally, we as teachers, must reflect on these relevant ideas that will deal with time-consuming,but it will provide meaningful results in the teaching-learning process.
Thus considering the learners`needs, the output more than the inputs, the "why" and "so what" questions about learning will help this design achieve the goal student understanding of the language and teachers think more deeply.

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