Back it On Up!

So it's been a great journey with this Standards Based Grading business.  So far, I think I love it.  My students might think otherwise, but that's a different story.  Only time will really tell how we all feel!  All SBG business aside, I want to take a moment to talk about designing lessons - specifically with Backwards Design in mind.

Backwards Design forces us to think about the big picture.  What do we want our students to know and be able to do?  Well gee, last time I checked, that's kind of the point behind SBG...I know, I know, I said let's put it aside, but really, they are related.

The best part about Backwards Design (BWD) is that it makes us think about the end result.  In math, it is really easy to think about it - we want our kids to be able to solve a certain problem.  OK.  Great.  But in other content areas, it's not so cut and dry (which is why I teach math - let's hear it for the left brain!).  So when you social studies people are teaching about the Civil War, what is it that you want your kids to learn? Or when you read To Kill a Mockingbird, what do you focus on?  What is the point behind the art project that you make your kids turn in that's worth 10,000 points?  BWD makes it so that we are thinking about the end result...which translates into our Learning Targets (the basis of our SBG!).

This is why I love BWD.  It makes it all so cut and dry.  Of course, this works for me, the left brained person.  And it works for all of your left-brained students.  For all the people who claim to be in their "right mind", you still have the freedom and flexibility to be creative - as long as you show an understanding of the big picture in your end-product.