Gretchen Greywall
Module 5: Unit 1: Activity 4
Blog Post Summary
Backward Mapping:
Backward mapping or backward design is
simply a method in which teachers plan lessons starting with the end
and moving to the beginning. Teachers do this by creating objectives
for students' learning outcomes. From there the teacher can then
address how students' will demonstrate their proficiency
(performances) as well as how he or she will demonstrate the lesson.
This is an important strategy because teachers can design and select
assessments and activities that are aimed at a specific goal. The
indented goal or end objective of material knowledge is what drives
the lesson and does not become an afterthought. Furthermore, because
it goal oriented, teachers can explain specific expectations to their
students that will aid in their success. Steps I would take to use
backward mapping:
First: Read the standard and identify
and breakdown the specific areas within the standard that need to be
covered and mastered (desired result).
Second: Think about both abstract and
concrete (content and skills) that students need to master.
Third: Create an assessment standard
like a rubric for me to mark against. Create a performance assessment
for the students like a quiz that covers both content and skills that
have been addressed on the grading rubric.
Fourth: Based on the assessment and
standard create a lesson plan that is engaging to students and is
aimed at successfully achieving the pre-determined objective.
Unpacking a standard:
The use of standards are essential to
teaching. Almost every governing body has standards that teachers
must follow to teach students mastery by the end of the semester,
year, etc. It is important to follow standards to make sure that
students are learning what they need to and are on par with their
peers by following consistent guidelines. It allows teachers to
ensure that students are progressing toward being an independent and
successful adult and citizen and that their skills and knowledge are
transferable across the country. Unpacking a standard is the act of
breaking down a certain standard into smaller, more specific detail.
First, the teacher must adjust the standard into out-come focused
objectives. When teachers do this they should be looking for nouns
(content knowledge) and verbs (skills, process) to build objectives
that focus on each step of the standard; core elements. After this,
teachers must then examine and determine essential questions and
problems that the student must be able to answer about the standard.
Finally, the teacher must determine an assessment that helps the
teacher obtain evidence that the students are learning the material.
It is important to unpack a standard because it helps the teacher
break down a lengthly standard into key, attainable, and specific
objective to ensure that the student learns and understands each
element of the standard. It allows for the teacher to break up the
standard between content and process skills and determine if the goal
is content or process based. In doing this you can structure the
lesson appropriately. For example, when unpacking a standard, I
would first look for key verbs that indicate the skills the students
need to learn and then apply the appropriate skill to the content
knowledge that has been listed. To be able to successful master the
content area, the skill needs to be mastered first. Therefore, I
would first teach the skill and make sure to address the importance
of the skill in the backwards mapping model and when creating my
lesson objectives.
Writing Lesson Objectives:
After unpacking the standards, teachers
have to create learning goals. It is important that these objectives
are not abstract. Objectives should follow the SMART model: specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant, and targeted to a level. Specific:
The objectives need to be clear and concrete; expressing exactly what
students need to know and what the teacher expects them to do with
that knowledge. The objective should use active language/verbs and be
targeted at a specific group. Measurable: The teacher has to
determine how they will measure if the student has achieved the
objective. This should not be a vague statement like “students can
write a letter'. The language used should be active like identify,
inform, persuade, explain. Attainable: The teacher has to make sure
that the objective can be successfully completed by students. If it
is unrealistic, than it is rendered useless and will only harm
students confidence. To make objectives attainable, teachers can
break down the objective into manageable parts to help students focus
and not become overwhelmed. Relevant: teachers should make objectives
that have relevant purpose and skills to life skills, this makes them
more credible and encourages students to see the 'why?' in the
lesson. Target: make sure the material is appropriate for the level
so that the objective is specific to the needs of the student and is
attainable. By creating concrete objectives, it is more likely that
students will understand and achieve goals as well as make it easier
for the teacher to measure and track growth and learning.
