backwards design is so top secret, in that several people are making a killing off the idea, which isn't really new if you ask me, that you can hardly find any information on the web about it.
i've been through the training, and, like you probably all realize, there are very few original ideas, but the new vehichles keep coming. Man, I want to design a new vehichle:) Seriously, and this makes perfect sense, backwards design turns the teacher into an artist--design? you think about what you want students to learn. in our case, this is the standards. then, you think about what they need to understand in order to learn these standards. and, how will you assess them. i guess you could say it takes the place of a pre-ordained curriculum, where teachers start at the beginning and keep on going. UbD assumes that teachers are designing units, connecting learning, and basing assessment on the overarching goals and student understandings of the unit. it's interesting, and these consultants have made a TON of money, because you can barely get any information on the process without making a purchase, but it doesn't seem that revolutionary to me. it makes sense, and i don't know how someone would teach any other way. instead of teaching something and then assessing it, you think about the assessment and think about the way you would teach it. that's a very watered down version of what wiggins and someone else (i can't think of his name) has made a career out of, but that's essentially it. in theory, teachers work together as a dept. and come up with a unit that everyone teaches. Again, the work is closely guarded, and schools are paying huge sums of money for the informaiton. caroline _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
