Fog Lights

The Bad News: Fog Warning

New learning is always a bit messy.  As teachers, we recognize this reality with our students, but it doesn’t make it any easier to be on the other side of the experience.  We like being experts and tend to be uncomfortable as beginners.  You are likely feeling some of this discomfort with Understanding by Design.  This feeling of discomfort is compounded if you feel uncertain about the final destination.  It may feel like driving in heavy fog, seeing only what the headlights illuminate.

The Good News: The Right Road

Administratively, we spent time this past week looking at the first drafts of UbD units that you worked on last Thursday in an attempt to assess where we stand in the process.  It may or may not feel like it right now, but we are heading in the right direction.  The “Understandings” you are developing and the “Essential Questions” you are asking are spot on.  The “Performance Tasks” are especially interesting, and we are excited to think about how HSE students will benefit from this type of assessment. 

Awareness and Exploration: Lifting the Fog

Remember that the district goal for this year is awareness and exploration.  At this point, if you are getting glimpses of how Understanding by Design weaves together all of the various topics we have been working on this year (and in previous years) you are right on track.  If you already see many of the natural connections to school-wide and district-wide initiatives, you are out ahead of the timeline.

As examples, below are three ways in which the pieces of the professional development puzzle fit together:

• The Teacher Effectiveness Rubric:  We spent most of last year’s professional development time looking at the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric.  The TER includes direct references to UbD planning.  The rubric lists good questioning techniques, student engagement, formative assessments, differentiation, and higher order thinking as part of the “Effective” and “Highly Effective” categories.  All of these are included in a solid UbD unit.
• Professional Development Sessions: We spent time in the first release day working on integrating technology into classroom instruction in order to increase student engagement.  The HSE21 Committee introduced inquiry-learning during the second release day.  Engaging students and asking “Essential Questions” fit seamlessly into UbD units. 
• Best Practice Instruction: The four quadrants of HSE21 are 1) Student-Centered Approaches, 2) Cognitive Curriculum, 3) Fundamental Classroom Conditions, and 4) Transfer of Learning.  Read through the HSE Best Practice Model and you will see that UbD units hit all four quadrants.

To Repeat…

The goal with UbD for this year is awareness and exploration.  This first semester the focus is on awareness.  Next semester it switches to exploration.  If you find yourself saying, “It’s too much, too soon,” or if you are thinking, “It’s something new—again,” please give yourself permission to relax.  All of the work we have been doing is leading us in the same direction.  In time, the lines between the initiatives that seem so bright and bold now will begin to blur and blend as you make more and more connections between UbD, HSE21, Inquiry Learning, and TEDS. 

The UbD products you created last Thursday are another step forward in this process, and they are a solid indication that we are heading in the right direction.

Essential Questions for Right Now

• Do you have at least a beginning understanding of the UbD framework?
• Do you see how asking Essential Questions, focusing on Big Ideas, and requiring Performance Tasks might help students transfer learning beyond your classroom? 
• Do you understand that we have until 2017 until full implementation if the UbD framework? 

If so, the rising sun may be breaking up the fog bank.

I would be interested in hearing back from you about what would help you as we continue down the road of implementing UbD across the district.  If you have time, hit “reply” and tell me what might deepen your understanding and/or what you need as a next step on the journey.

Have a great week.  I hope the sun shines brightly in your part of HSHS.

Phil

Kudos this week to all of our marching band students—and their directors.  They started practicing in the blistering heat of summer and finished last weekend in the cold and wind of the Ben Davis High School stadium.  Their performance and perseverance is commendable.

This picture doesn't do justice in capturing the impact of the performance, but it may give you a feel for the cold and wind!