Courtesy University of Minnesota

Effective educational planning reflects the need for instruction thoughtfully designed to consider content knowledge, curriculum goals, students’ learning needs, and best educational practices.  It realizes the diversity that exists within a learning community, and the need to address this variety of learning styles and abilities.  The following paragraphs will illustrate and reflect upon aspects of planning at the course and unit/lesson levels, as well as address the role of diverse learners in the planning process.  They will also show how I incorporate these ideas into my own planning.

Meaningful instructional planning should begin at the course level.  In order to effectively do this, a curriculum calendar or course schedule should be created.  Alan J. Singer (2003) writes in his book, Social Studies for Secondary Schools:  Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach, that the value of social studies curriculum, and the willingness of educators to teach this curriculum, lies in the creation of such a course calendar.  He continues by implying that curriculum calendars for academic subjects are often created at the state level, such as with New York State.  Singer provides an example of a calendar in his book, for greater detail.

Some experts in the education field believe that it is at the course level where planning for diverse learners should begin.  Two such supporters of this idea are B. Keith Lenz and Donald D. Deshler (2004).  In their work, Teaching Content to All:  Evidence-Based Inclusive Practices in Middle and Secondary Schools, the authors claim there exists great importance in planning instruction—that includes varied methods, activities, and modifications—when done at the initial level of planning.  Further, Lenz and Deshler think selectively choosing instructional content for diverse learners at this level is just as important as choosing instructional methods at the individual lesson level.  By keeping in mind who is in the classroom an educator can better select what to teach each student.

After planning at the course level is complete—when a curriculum calendar or course schedule containing units to be covered is established—planning can begin on individual units.  Effective unit planning requires a great deal of thought and strategy.  One such strategy is illustrated in the following paragraphs.

Backward planning is a concept that results in the creation of purposeful units and lessons.  It was developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (2005) and documented in their book, Understanding By Design.  Backward planning stresses the importance of beginning with identifying the expected learning outcomes students should gain as a result of the unit or lesson taught.  Creating an assessment structure that allows students to show measurable evidence of reaching these outcomes is the second step.  The third step is designing activities that will give students the necessary skills to demonstrate mastery of learning objectives.

Looking at backward planning in more concrete terms, learning outcomes are derived fromidentifying and interpreting state or local standards, choosing enduring concepts students need to understand by unit’s end, naming skills that are needed to achieve understanding, creating an assessment for tracking progress in skill acquisition and understanding, and choosing lesson activities that will teach these skills (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005).  By following Wiggins and McTighe’s model, purposeful instruction is created and curriculum standards are met.

Wiggins and McTighe (2005) also wish to point out that this planning structure must not only take into account state and local academic standards, but also the diversity of the students being taught.  This point necessitates thoughtfully selecting activities and assessments that will enable all students to achieve the expected learning outcomes.

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In applying the instructional planning concepts mentioned to my own practice, I first address the use of curriculum calendars.  I do not have much freedom in deciding the units I teach, but that does not bother me because I appreciate having a set foundation with which to use as a beginning teacher.  I imagine the calendar is something I will utilize more regularly once I am a full-time teacher, and that it will make unit and lesson planning much easier for me.

Courtsey LifeSip

Backward planning is the primary strategy I currently use to create lessons, and the strategy I plan to continue using going forward in my career.  As mentioned in the reflection section, it is something I find very natural.  A backward plan greatly helped in designing a unit on the Civil Rights Movement during the fall semester, and in designing a lesson on the Harlem Renaissance that I taught to in October. I expect backward planning to serve me well in designing a Cold War/Communism unit this semester. Two additional tools that aid in this strategy are the unit organizer and concept map models, advocated by Lenz and Deshler on page 181 of their book. I am currently using these tools and the same backward planning format from the fall semester in designing the Cold War unit, which will be taught in March.

Finally, taking into account the various learning styles and abilities of students in any given inclusion classroom, I plan to continue creating lessons that are modified for the needs of my students.  In this document, modifications exist that I plan to use regularly, such as important words and concepts on the board, repeating instructions and responses to ensure clarity, and scaffolding activities whenever possible.

REFERENCES

Lenz, B. K. & Deshler, D. D. (2004). Teaching content to all: Evidence-based inclusive practices in middle and secondary schools. Boston: Pearson Education.

Singer, A .J. (2003). Social Studies for secondary schools: teaching to learn, learning to teach. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wiggins, G. P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.