UbDDI+B1+Chapter+7

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Amy
CH. 7 The ability to understand a subject is far from the same as being able to memorize facts, and develop skills through practice. Just because someone is able to regurgitate the readings assigned when given a multiple-choice test does not mean they understand what they are regurgitating. I know that the above statement is true because I struggled in my high school math classes-I never understood what was being taught, and teachers “never had the time” to explain- therefore I only memorized concepts for tests. When I was asked to show how I got my answer and include an explanation, my explanation was always wrong because I did not understand. We went through the units so fast because we had to cover the material before the assessments. Instead of “covering” the content, chapter 7 focuses on “uncovering” the content, from how to “uncover” it to why, and strategies for doing so. It is crucial to uncover the content by starting with the basic facts and ideas, and as students’ progress and understand what they are being taught teachers can uncover the bigger concepts and ideas. Start with an essential question that everyone will have to understand before moving from the “big picture” to the little details. The importance of framing the “big ideas” is to accurately lay out what the students are expected to understand, and how they can go about learning it. A teacher must first “hook” the students into the essential question, which will lead to a sense of interest and purpose. Since essential questions are open ended, all students will feel comfortable answering and therefore developing an understanding, regardless of how general of an understanding they have. As Vygotsky once stated, “ we construct meaning and deepen our understanding when we discuss ideas with others, hear different points of view, and collaboratively “uncover” content” (UBD/DI p.117)

Darren
There is a section in this chapter that I think is extremely helpful. The author writes that "a straightforward and practical strategy is to pose an essential question at the beginning of instruction for diagnostic purposes...The same question can be posed midway through a unit...and at the end of instruction" (114). This is a basic idea, really, but I think that too many teachers don't do this. I never experienced this method of teaching. It is certainly an easy technique to employ, but it helps in so many ways. By doing this, your students will be able to see the big picture of the unit. It was also keep them mindful of the goals and questions they should be looking to achieve and answer.

This chapter also introduces the **WHERETO** model. In this model, each letter represents a different stage of learning and/or instruction. For example, **W** represents learning reflected through //what// or //why// questions. **R** would refer to revision and refinement. This stage is about complete understand through a process, which could be essay or story writing in my future English classroom

Jennifer
Many students just want to memorize the material, take the test, pass, and then move on to the next lesson. As teachers we need to go deeper into the lesson and not just cover the material. Essential questions are the open-ended questions with no yes or no, right or wrong answer. This is a better way of teaching for understanding, and will push students to create their own opinions and understandings of a topic. This chapter also talks about the six facets of understanding. We should use these facets to come up with ideas for activities that will engage the students and draw them into the lesson. While planning these lessons and activities, teachers should take into account the WHERETO framework, which is like the "blueprint for instructional planning" (UbD/DI p.120). The WHERETO acronym will help teachers ask the right questions about their curriculum which will help them develop a better lesson plan for their students.

Dan
For my reflection I decided to break down the WHERETO design model. WHERETO is just a set of letters that correspond with a word that is something a teacher should follow when they are starting STAGE 3. The most important thing about the W that the teacher can help the students understand from the beginning What goals they are going to be focusing on. A good trick is for the teacher to keep a bulletin board of sorts so students can see it everyday. The most important thing about the H is that the teacher needs to Hook the students into being excited about the subject. So no matter what the unit is on, it could be preceded by an activity that makes the students want to learn. I felt like the first E was a hard one to grasp but from my understanding it is asking the teacher “What are you going to do to bring real life Experience or Equip students so they can master the goals?” The R stands for three words actually and they are Rethink, Revise, and Refine. It is important for a teacher to make students rethink or recall previous material so they may make connections. When a connection has been made the teacher can then use questions or props to make students think deeper so they refine the knowledge they thought was all that was true. The second E stands for self-Evaluation. Students must be able to self-evaluate or they wont be able to ask questions or meet any of the following letters. However it is the teachers job to encourage them to do so. The T stands for Tailor. The teacher has the role of Tailoring their lessons and unit to Tailor the needs of the individual student. Finally the O stands for Organization. The organization refers not to the teacher or student being organized but the unit. What order of lessons and activities will maximize learning in the classroom?

George
Chapter 7 This chapter attacked the vital issue of understanding. We as teachers would be wasting our time if we just dumped the knowledge on our students without devoting time and effort to make sure the students are actually getting and understanding what we are trying to teach. Most classes are geared to allow students who are able to soak up the knowledge for that week or so that it is being taught and regurgitate it on a test later, you pass. I would know, I got away with it a few times. Essential questions were introduced on this topic, these are questions with no right or wrong answer but help students think on the subject at hand. It also introduced the WHERETO model, which is a guide to help teachers ask the right questions to help students understand what is being taught to them.

Andy
In this chapter we find out what WHERETO means a stands for. To briefly sum it up: **W**=What will they be learning/Why is it worth learning/What evidence will show learning? **H**= How will I Hook the learner? **E**= How will I Equip the students/What learning Experiences will help develop them? **R**= Rethink previous learning/Encourage Revision and Refinement. **E**= Promote students’ self-Evaluation. **T**= How will I Tailor the learning? **O**= How will the learning be Organized? Hearing and knowing that this stuff is one of the hardest parts of this class I made sure to read this. The one that was new to me is the second “E”. I would have never thought to encourage the students to self-assess themselves on their own. I would provide self-assessments in class, but the book makes a good point by saying that independent learners are distinguished by this capacity.

Sean
This chapter discusses something very important. Students know when they are actually learning, and when they're just doing busywork. By giving students multiple choice questions, or true/false tests, they know that they can 'get away' without really understanding the material. By giving them questions that force them to think, to analyze and comprehend, they realize that they're actually learning. Making students think for themselves makes them feel like they're walking away from the classroom with more than when they walked in.

Cassandra
WHERETO is a great tool for all teachers to slow down the lesson planning and pay attention to a whole lot of important features their lesson should have. So many teachers just focus on the What, Equip, and Organize. The Hook, Reflection, Self-evalation, and tailoring are all steps that are often neglected. The hook creates interest in students; they are already bored, so teachers need to make students actually want to learn. My grammar teacher used scare tactics to get us on board with learning (not saying that is the right way to do it). The reflection is also skipped over often for the sake of time. Teachers want to move on to the next unit or lesson and don't take the time to give the students some closure before moving on to the next hill to climb. This often gives students a chance to prove what they know if they finally understood the information at the very end of the lesson. This will help them be proud of themselves and allow them the chance to prove to you that they can do it. The self-evaluation should be positive; they shouldn't leave a lesson or unit with the idea that they fail at life.

Damian
Does one need to memorize a fact to understand it? Does one need to understand a fact to memorize it? Should the two concepts even be used in the same sentence? I would contest that anyone can understand a concept without memorizing the framework. You don’t need to know the facts surrounding the battle of Thermopylae to understand how a cinch point works. You don’t need to understand how a cinch point works to recite the timeline of Thermopylae. How our students learn is heavily based upon the methods we employ to teach them. Is our emphasis on understanding or memorization? I would think that every teach //tries// to teach to understand, but if that gets too hard then memorization will suffice for them.

Zack
This chapter focuses on how to change students from just remembering what will be on a test, to understanding what the material is really talking about. A student who is just remembering will not learn anything in the end. Once we can bring the six faucets into teaching we will be able to go much further with our students. The students will learn much more from the material if they have specific questions to answer about it in the end. Students who can answer these questions that deal with the facets will understand the subject. A student that can not, but can state what they have memerized has not fully understood what they have learned. In the end we must head towards the WHERETO model to learn how to teach students effectively using the faucets for the understanding of students.

Ethan
This chapter’s focus is on giving teachers some ways to insure understanding takes place in the classroom. They focus on three instructional approaches: essential questions, the six facets of understanding, and the WHERETO framework. The first two ideas we have already covered in stage 1 and stage 2 but the WHERETO framework is something that I just read about in this chapter. This seems to be the most effective way of combining all the methods into one general concept to ensure that understanding takes place in your classroom. Essential questions I also found very interesting. They seem to me to be the best way for a teacher to insure that all the students understand what is trying to be taught. When you can break down the material into a few essential questions then you can begin to work towards an understanding together with your students.

Brian
Again alluding to understanding the skills needed to learn vs. memorization chapter seven begs that educators start with broad essential questions and work down to the nitty-gritty details that is the content. Using very broad very open ended essential questions students will feel more motivated to produce their own ideas, and then in time develop a deeper understanding of the content. This is where an interesting hook can make all the difference. By peaking interest and curiosity at the beginning of every lesson we can expect that our student’s willingness to learn will be much greater than if we educators just ramble into a new section of our curriculum.

Chapter seven is helpful in discussing how to cover the content with limited time usually given in the classroom. I like the method outlined in this chapter about using essential questions. Throughout the design of the unit we are creating in class, I have learned that the development of creative essential questions is an important part of gearing students minds to learning the appropriate information. I will use essential questions in my classroom as part of the introduction to the unit. Essential questions give meaning to each lesson because it gives the students the answer to where their learning will end up, and also gives teachers a a place to refer back to, in order to keep each lesson on track and stick to the big idea. The essential question in this idea is constantly repeated to frame the lessons, so students can relate one lesson the the others in the unit. I really took to the idea of using a series of lessons with in one unit.

Liz
Chapter seven asks teachers to think about asking questions to encourage further thinking and to allow the students to supply answers. The next step is for the teacher to implement a framework called WHERETO so as to refine how you, as a teacher, communicate goals, hook the students, get the students to explore further, allow students to review upon themselves, fit each lesson to make it individualized, and structure and sequence your class. Some of parts of the framework are focused on by teachers while other essential parts are ignored. The chapter also explores ways to evaluate the six facets of understanding. This helps when making questions that you wish to develop a lesson around. These also help when developing activities so you understand what you are asking students to do.