

"The most important thing that schools can do is not to use technology in the curriculum more, but to use it more effectively."
John G. Palfrey and Urs Gasser
www.geckoandfly.com
Backward Design for Learning Focused Units
Intentional planning must take place in order for a unit to be successful. Working for a district where teachers have the role of curriculum designers, we must have strong knowledge on how to build and implement a quality curriculum design product. Wiggins and McTighe (2005) have developed a resource which promotes good design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction which focuses on a deepening understanding of important ideas. The Understanding by Design (UbD) template helps guide teachers in dissecting their content area details under a magnified lens. Today many teachers focus on the teaching and activities that will be taking place before taking into consideration what students must learn and what they will need to accomplish that learning goal (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). This template has teachers first identify their desired results and evidence of learning before finally diving into the learning plan, where teachers focus on the progression of key learning events and instruction.​​​​

(Bowen, 2016).
Before creating the unit plans using the UbD template, I previously built an overview of the unit using Fink's 3-Column Table. Fink's model allowed me to reflect on various situational factors that affect the specific course I'm teaching. This model also allowed me to reflect on how to incorporate a multi-dimensional experience for my learners so not only are they learning foundational content, but also applying these plot skills in new situations, integrating these reading skills across disciplines, meeting human dimension and caring goals, and reflecting on their learning. Including all of these aspects ensures I have created a significant learning environment in place of having an environment that follows a more linear path. This foundation benefitted my curriculum design by helping me ensure to have different levels of learning goals to include in my unit plan which was created with the UbD Template. The UbD design begins with an over-arching goal to help drive the planning of the unit along with essential questions and student understandings. Stage two focuses on the evidence of learning. Stage 3 then allows teachers or curriculum designers to describe the instruction and learning events that will take place. ​
In this section, I was able to focus on including learning events that support my Innovation Plan which implements a blended learning model. Although learners are using technology in several of the activities, utilizing Fink's 3-Column Table and the UbD Template ensures that the focus of the unit is on the learning while technology is a tool for students to either access the learning or demonstrate their learning. Various technology tools that will be used by students can be accessed through this document for Technology Tools for Performance Tasks and Projects (McTighe et. al., 2020).

UbD Template
2nd Grade Plot
This template begins with the established goal that my learners must conquer. The plan lays out student understandings and essential questions that will drive instruction then highlighting how students will demonstrate their learning. Lastly, this template orders the progression of instruction and learning events that will take place using the WHERETO acronym which helps to highlight key considerations that should be included (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005).
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References
Bowen, R. S. (2017). Understanding by Design. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/understanding-by-design/.
Serravallo, J. (2023). The reading strategies book 2.0. Your research-based guide to developing skilled
readers. Heinemann.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
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