My Notes and Reflections on

Integrating Understanding by Design & Differentiated

Instruction

Chapter 1: Introduction

• Reasons for merging the two frameworks.

• In an environment that focuses a lot on high stakes testing Understanding by Design has helped teachers make meaning out of standards. Nevertheless, standards alone will not yield the results we desire without addressing the various needs of our students. Therefore it makes sense to combine the two approaches since they complement each other. Together, they help teachers address who, what, where, and how they teach.

• The authors seem to be addressing the flaws in their respective framework as they suggest that focusing solely on one approach is incomplete.

• Examples provided in the form of scenarios in which a teacher acknowledges the Axioms (UBD) and Corollaries (DI) needed in order to teach the whole child.

Chapter 2: The Students

“The unique lives of the students lives of the students significantly shaped their experience with and response to school.” p. 15

• Teachers must keep students in mind. Learning is a “shared endeavor” and lesson plans should be modified to meet students’ needs.

• Students have various barriers to learning. They include:

Personal—Something has happened to make it difficult for the student to learn. Identity—As students struggle to find themselves it gets in the way of learning. Learning Difficulties—The student is willing but tasks seem insurmountable. Idiosyncrasies—Students who do peculiar things.

• It is not enough to understand your students; you must also put things in place to address their barriers.

Chapter 2 Cont. “Learning is a process of making meaning that happens

one student at a time” p. 22Differentiated instruction matters because the teacher is attuned to students needs and creates an environment that enables them to succeed. Teachers can attend to student needs in the following ways: Positive teacher-student relationships encourage students to take academic risks. A positive climate is good but does not guarantee student success but it “paves the

way” Acknowledging a student’s background makes it easier for students to feel

connected to their learning. Each of theses approaches help improves the student’s readiness to learn and their

ability to meet their target

Chapter 2 Cont.

“Differentiation does not advocate ‘individualization’” p. 19Teachers should look for patterns by close observation of students. Some

suggestions:• Get to know your students• Have small groups work together so that teachers can work individually with

certain students • Start with the high achieving students and differentiate for the rest • Allow opportunities to learn through a variety of ways • Assess students informally • Use basic reading strategies • Working in small groups, alone or in pairs • Use clear rubrics• Cultivate diversity

Chapter 3: Content

• The standards movement, which originally wanted to clarify what students should know has resulted in content overload. A study by Robert Marzano and John Kemball concluded that if teachers spend 30 minutes covering each benchmark that it could take nine more years of school for a student to go through all of them.

• UBD specific skills should be taught within the concept of big ideas. Backward Design, big ideas should stay the same while lessons are differentiated.

Chapter 4

• One of the reasons that more teachers are not teaching the way they would like is because they have not seen differentiated instruction done well. Here are some traits of a teachers who reach every kind of learner: They establish clarity about curricular essentials They accept responsibility for learner success They develop communities of respect They build awareness of what works for each student They develop classroom management routines that contribute

to student success They expand repertoire of instructional strategies They reflect on individual progress with an eye toward

curricular goals and personal growth.

Chapter 4 cont.

Scenarios: A summary The focus should be on enduring understanding. There needs to be clarity of student expectations before any meaningful instruction happens. This usually leads to a teacher differentiating by giving students “more” or “less” of the same type of work. Focusing on enduring classroom is a more meaningful of approaching the work since there are texts at every level that deal with the same ideas.

Chapter 5: Assessment

Principle 1: Photo Album vs. SnapshotsIn the context of standardized testing it is imperative that we use a variety of ways to assess our students, photo album instead of snapshot.

Principle 2: Match measure with goals Declarative knowledge: What students should know and

understand? Procedural knowledge: What students should be able to

know? Dispositions: What attitudes or habits of mind students

should display? GRASPS Frame: Real world goal, meaningful role,

authentic real-world audience, contextualized situation, culminating products, consensus-driven standards.

Chapter 5 cont.

Principle 3: Form Follows Function Summative Assessment- A summary of what has been learned. It is

usually recorded. Diagnostic Assessment- Used to check students prior knowledge Formative Assessment- Used to inform instruction, ongoing, formal and

informal.

Responsive Assessment to Promote Learning in Diverse Communities Assess Before Teaching: This allows, teacher to better differentiate in order to

meet the target. These should never be graded Offer Appropriate Choices: Students vary in ways that they can show what they

have learned. A good idea is to follow tic-tac-toe format. Provide Feedback Early and Often: Timely, specific, students should understand it,

allow for adjustment. Grades are not necessarily feedback, rubrics are better, exemplars are best

Encourage Self-Assessment and Reflection: Students should learn who they are as learners, set goals, adjust their performance. Rubrics may be adjusted to facilitate self-assessment.

Chapter 6: DI in Diverse Classrooms

• The Core Beliefs of UBD Curricula should be rooted in the important ideas and require them to

think at high levels. Teachers should provide opportunities for students to learn the basics. Teachers should provide opportunities for students to “uncover” the

material. Students should know the goals of a lesson/unit and criteria to meet them.

• UBD instruction in a differentiated classroomA teacher must be able to see how all the pieces (Time, space, resources, student groupings, teaching strategies, learning strategies, teacher partnerships) fit together; must be willing to be flexible and use them effectively.

Chapter 6 cont.

• Cluster students by needs: A teacher will not be able to the needs of every student but s/he can look for patterns and organize students in a way that will make it easier to meet the needs of the majority of students.

• Use teaching strategies that meets all students needs: Reading support, vocabulary building, various ways of providing information, address the strong students, targeted instruction.

• Classroom Management: A teacher must be mindful of time, noise control, movement in the classroom, classroom space, material distribution, monitoring student work, small group instruction.

Chapter 7: UBD in Diverse Classrooms

• Understanding happens at a continuum, memorization is not understanding. Teachers must use essential questions in order to provide opportunities for student to uncover the material.

• Six facets of instruction: explain, interpret, apply, perspective, empathy, self-knowledge. Learning activities and assessments should be planned with the six facets in mind.

• Teachers should not think of learning as a ladder, people often learn things out of order.

Chapter 7 Cont.

WHERETO FrameworkW= Communicate the learning goals to students: What they will learn? why

it’s worth learning? what evidence will show their learning ? how their performance will be evaluated?

E= Put students in a position to acquire knowledge: How will the teacher equip students? What Learning experiences will help deepen understanding?

R=Students need to review concepts. Learners need to re-think, revise, refine.

E=Teachers should promote student self-evaluation.T=Teachers should tailor their learning to address the various needs of

students.O=Learning experiences should be organized in a way to maximize learning.

Chapter 8: Grading and Reporting“We believe that the primary goal of grading…is to communicate to important audiences, such as students

and parents, high quality feedback to support the learning process and encourage learner success” p. 129

Guiding Principles of Grading Principle 1: Grades should be based on learning goals and performance standards. The

goals should be set first and grades should communicate a student’s performance in relation to the goal.

Principle 2: Evidence used for grading should be valid; it should not grade factors that are not related to the goal.

Principle 3: Grading should be on established criteria. Grading should ever happen on a curve.

Principle 4: Not Everything should be included in grades. Assessments that are not true measures of what a student has learned should not be included in grades.

Principle 5: Avoid Grading on averages. There should be room for judgment and not pure calculation.

Principle 6: Focus on achievement, and report other factors separately; too many factors muddle the process.

Chapter 8 cont.

• Grading and motivation: There is not a good answer, there are problems with the grading system and it may harm struggling students as well as high achieving students. The problem will persist as long as districts demand single grade reporting.

• A better grading system should report on at least three factors: achievement, progress and work habits.

Chapter 9: Bringing It All Together

• Summary of UBD and DI.

• A unit plan for nutrition planned backwards, including the rubric.

• Differentiating the unit in a diverse classroomFocus on students in relation to the desired results, provide opportunities to support struggling students and support high achieving students.

Chapter 10: Moving Forward

• Stage 1: Identify the desired results

• Stage 2: Think like an assessor, how will you know when you have reached your results

• Stage 3: Create an action plan

My final thoughts

Integrating Differentiated Instruction & Understanding by Design is, exactly what the title suggests, a step-by-step approach for how to integrated the two influential educational frameworks. It claims that the two frameworks complement each other well and in some places suggests that one system by itself is flawed and a teacher will be a lot more effective by implementing the two.

For those familiar with the two schools of thought, there is nothing new here but it is a worthwhile read. It is more than a review of good practice as it suggests specific ways to implement some ideas.

Two things became clearer as I read this book. First, in order to be an effective a teacher needs to have a good command of the content. If not it will be difficult to design the desired outcomes. Secondly, this takes a lot of work. The amount of things a teacher needs to take into account is overwhelming. I would recommend that a teacher focuses on one or two aspects in the book at a time to work on.