This module has helped me think about using standards, CFQs, or formative assessment in the following ways:
I'm going to latch onto the CFQs part of the prompt for the beginning of my reflection. This module has really helped me understand how much thought needs to go into creating the curriculum framing questions, as well as how much harder it is to write CFQs than I initially thought it was going to be. I don't know if I am the only one who feels like this, but I panicked a little when I first started trying to create an essential question that was broad enough that it could cover my entire school year, yet focused enough that it made sense being used in my classroom. I am pretty confident now, though, that "Why do we read and write?" fits into that space I was trying to work with. As for my unit and content questions, I think I'll probably do a little revising. I just want to make sure that they fit appropriately with the project, as well as with what types of answers they are supposed to encourage. I guess I'm getting a little stress from trying to create my curriculum framing questions because there are so many specific things that the questions are supposed to accomplish, and I want to make sure that I am successful in creating questions that spark my students' minds like they should.
As for using standards, I never really have a problem finding standards I can use; my problem stems from wondering if I'm using too many or too few when creating my unit plan. I want to make sure that I use a variety of reading, writing, and speaking standards for English Language Arts, but I also want to make sure that the standards that I use are the most appropriate. I'm thinking I really need to just do some research on how many standards are appropriate to use in a unit.
I am actually excited about creating the formative assessment of my unit. This is the part where I get to be creative and think of ways other than tests and papers that I can assess my students (although I still think I may have a paper be part of my unit plan because I feel that papers are really important). I know I'm wanting to use project rubrics and checkpoints, as well as some sort of student refection. I'm thinking that maybe my class could have a blog where everyone puts down their thoughts based on a prompt like we're doing in this course. I also want to implement some sort of creative writing assignment, as well. The trick is fitting this all into my unit without worrying that I'd overwhelm students or drag the unit on longer than it should be.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Module 1 Reflection
This module has had me think of my role as an instructional designer in the following ways:
When I consider this prompt, the first aspect of the Module 1 that comes to my mind is what it said about my role as a curriculum designer in the first place. The simple statement that "the decisions [I] make impact the curriculum [my] students experience" is the perfect reminder that I should be delivering material to my students in the most effective manner possible; and although I feel that implementing project-based instruction in an English Language Arts classroom is going to be particularly challenging, I can see from the information that has been provided to me that the approach works. Despite whatever challenges I may face in the construction of my project-based unit, it will be beneficial for my students in the long run to have that kind of learning experience.
Before I get to the aspects of the module that I was particularly struck with, I feel the need to address my concern I briefly mentioned in the previous paragraph: the challenge of implementing project-based instruction in an English Language Arts classroom. I know my concern comes from simple inexperience, but I do feel I am going to be challenged in trying to create a project that is rooted in a literary work and simultaneously has "real world" applications. There was one sample project from the module that came very close to what I would like to accomplish. The students in that project learned how the time period in which a novel was written affected the novel's contents. They also created their own fictional characters for that time period. I want, however, to go further than that, to make the students REALLY connect the novel with their own lives. I would also still like to implement some aspects of critical theory into the unit, as well, because I know theory will be very useful in helping students see the different ways that they can look at Of Mice and Men (which is definitely the literary work I'm going to do my unit on). I know my worry here is just me wanting to be as successful as possible, and I have the tendency to worry a lot about projects before I begin them anyway. I'm just not going to pretend like the worry doesn't exist. Ok! Now that's going to be the end of my worrisome rambling!
I'd like to mention a couple of aspects of the module that I really agreed with while reading. The first is the section about how good instructional design includes in-depth coverage of important subject matter instead of superficial coverage of a wider range of topics in a subject area. This is an idea I completely agree with, and I would much rather design units that help students completely understand a few aspects of a subject than units that left the students with very little understanding of the subject in entirety. I also believe that if I deliver a unit successfully enough, my students will have the necessary skills to pursue other aspects of the subject on their own. It's the cliche (but true) feeding a man vs. teaching him how to fish mentality. The other aspect of the module that I really agreed with was the section that included the comment about how the tasks that the students complete need to be purposeful. I would hate to create a project that included tasks without a real purpose; I would feel like I was wasting my students and my own time.
So to sum up what I've discussed in these few paragraphs, this module has made me think about the challenges I'm going to face as an instructional designer, as well as what I want to accomplish as an instructional designer thus far. I want my project-based unit to be successful and really engage my students, and this first module has really helped me understand what standards I am going to hold myself to as I design my unit.
When I consider this prompt, the first aspect of the Module 1 that comes to my mind is what it said about my role as a curriculum designer in the first place. The simple statement that "the decisions [I] make impact the curriculum [my] students experience" is the perfect reminder that I should be delivering material to my students in the most effective manner possible; and although I feel that implementing project-based instruction in an English Language Arts classroom is going to be particularly challenging, I can see from the information that has been provided to me that the approach works. Despite whatever challenges I may face in the construction of my project-based unit, it will be beneficial for my students in the long run to have that kind of learning experience.
Before I get to the aspects of the module that I was particularly struck with, I feel the need to address my concern I briefly mentioned in the previous paragraph: the challenge of implementing project-based instruction in an English Language Arts classroom. I know my concern comes from simple inexperience, but I do feel I am going to be challenged in trying to create a project that is rooted in a literary work and simultaneously has "real world" applications. There was one sample project from the module that came very close to what I would like to accomplish. The students in that project learned how the time period in which a novel was written affected the novel's contents. They also created their own fictional characters for that time period. I want, however, to go further than that, to make the students REALLY connect the novel with their own lives. I would also still like to implement some aspects of critical theory into the unit, as well, because I know theory will be very useful in helping students see the different ways that they can look at Of Mice and Men (which is definitely the literary work I'm going to do my unit on). I know my worry here is just me wanting to be as successful as possible, and I have the tendency to worry a lot about projects before I begin them anyway. I'm just not going to pretend like the worry doesn't exist. Ok! Now that's going to be the end of my worrisome rambling!
I'd like to mention a couple of aspects of the module that I really agreed with while reading. The first is the section about how good instructional design includes in-depth coverage of important subject matter instead of superficial coverage of a wider range of topics in a subject area. This is an idea I completely agree with, and I would much rather design units that help students completely understand a few aspects of a subject than units that left the students with very little understanding of the subject in entirety. I also believe that if I deliver a unit successfully enough, my students will have the necessary skills to pursue other aspects of the subject on their own. It's the cliche (but true) feeding a man vs. teaching him how to fish mentality. The other aspect of the module that I really agreed with was the section that included the comment about how the tasks that the students complete need to be purposeful. I would hate to create a project that included tasks without a real purpose; I would feel like I was wasting my students and my own time.
So to sum up what I've discussed in these few paragraphs, this module has made me think about the challenges I'm going to face as an instructional designer, as well as what I want to accomplish as an instructional designer thus far. I want my project-based unit to be successful and really engage my students, and this first module has really helped me understand what standards I am going to hold myself to as I design my unit.
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