Backwards Planning Discussion

1. How will the identification of the learning goal help you design learning activities that are rigorous and relevant? I am stealing this idea from Elana, but Backwards Design also reminds me of one of my favorite quotes. Mine is from Alice in Wonderland.

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

 If we do not know what our end goal is, we are all going to be wandering around aimlessly. Eventually we will get somewhere, but nobody knows where that might be or how long it will take. Time is a precious commodity in schools and we need to use every bit of it to the fullest.

 2. Does backward planning support a standards based system? Why or why not? I think that backwards planning definitely supports standards based grading. The point of standards based grading is that we know where we are headed: towards the standard. How we get there is up to us and it is our job to make sure the kids reach the standard. Backwards planning is starting with a goal in mind (like the standard) and figure out how to get there.

3. What would be important to keep in mind regarding your learning activities as you backward plan? I need to keep in mind my end goal. Is everything I am planning going to move my students toward the goal? If it’s not, I don’t need it.

4. What are some examples you have seen or used regarding backward planning? The curriculum my school uses is Core Knowledge, and it does a great job of catering to backwards design. Core Knowledge gives each grade level a big huge teacher guidebook with all the topics that need to be mastered in a particular grade level and it is our job as teachers to figure out how to get that information to our students. The curriculum tells us important concepts and vocabulary words that need to be mastered or introduced. It also tells us what students have already learned in this topic and what they will learn in the future. We design our learning activities and assessments based on what Core Knowledge says our students need to know.