Reading #3 - UbD

So often text books are looked at as the "ball and chain" of the classroom. From the student perspective I have to agree with the text book stigma. My high school and college experiences with text books have been less than favorable. Classes are either structured to the tee in accordance with a class' text, leaving no room for differentiated learning, OR the text is not used at all (the latter is the most common pattern in college). The regimented teaching style that most commonly accompanies text book usage includes an introduction to the text, reading the text, followed by answering the chapter questions in the text. HOW BORING?! As an aspiring teacher, however, I am less skeptical on the use of text books. 

UbD is a refreshing approach to teaching out of a text book and reading as a whole. Not only is the reading process changed in a way that is more intriguing, but the material is covered in a way that helps the student better absorb the content. The largest aspect of backwards curriculum in which I most agree with is the assessment portion. The idea is to assess throughout the entire learning process, not just waiting for the end of the unit. It has always been my contention that "end of the unit" testing is too late. If a teacher/instructor waits until the end to assess their students learning they are putting themselves in a tricky situation. The assessment format provided by UbD allows the teacher to gradually check their students learning process, and ensures that the students are learning all of the necessary steps along the way. Through the traditional reading style a teacher cannot be sure that their class is following along if they wait to track the student's retained knowledge until the end. In most cases it is too late to reteach what has been taught because, of course, the teacher is obligated to move on to the next part of the curriculum. 

I know full well that many schools mandate the use of text books. This, however, does not make me fret. I know that if I can utilize the text in a way that is effective then my students will not loath text books the same way that I did when I was in high school. 

The below video gives a good summation on what UbD hopes to accomplish (I think it does so successfully). Jay McTighe says that "the devil is in the detail" and that "just because our students know something, doesn't mean that they understand." McTighe delves into how beneficial the assessment process is to learning