Module 3 Planning

Module 3. Planning

Chapter 1. What are the different types of information in the Unit/Lessons document

(Information from http://curriculumplanning.vcaa.vic.edu.au/global/examples)

- Year level, semester, what the unit is called, what is the essential question that this unit will answer, time allocation for unit and number and length of each session within the unit.

- Year Levels achievement standard.

- Content description.

- Lesson sequence plan including: Focus; What will the students know and be able to do?; What are the main learning activities?; and, What are the assessment tasks?

- Example of a work sheet including instructions and information for use.

- An activity for the class to do taken from a relevant text book.

 (Victorian Curriculum, 2016).

What are the similarities and differences between the Victorian and NSW sample units?

(Information from http://syllabus.bostes.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/units/)

NSW unit plan contains: 

- Unit name, stage, duration.

- Unit context: What they are studying and what skills and knowledge they will develop in doing so.

- Target outcomes.

- Unit overview: 

• Unit description with case studies 
• Table with: Content skills; Content knowledge and understanding; Suggested teaching, learning assessment experiences; Adjustments
• Table with: Resources; and, Assessment overview

- Attachments with individual lesson plans

(BOSTES, 2016).

Similarities and differences:

- The BOSTES website has many more examples of sample units than the Victorian curriculum site.

- Unit name, duration are the same

- VIC Year level achievement standard has some of the same information as NSW Unit context 

- VIC Content description is similar to NSW Target outcomes

- VIC Lesson sequence plan is similar to the NSW unit overview table

- VIC Examples of worksheets are similar to the NSW attachments, though the attachments are much more detailed lesson plans.

- VIC has Semester, NSW has Stage.

Chapter 2. The stages of UbC 

Wiggins & McTighe (1998) Backward Design Process has 3 stages:

1. Identify desired results

Identify what is worthy of knowing, and what you want students to know, understand and be able to do by the end of the unit. Design and plan for this to be transferable knowledge and application.

2. Determine acceptable evidence

Use assessment methods to know what level the students are at and if they have reached the desired outcomes. Methods can include: informal checks for understanding; observation/dialogue; quiz/test; academic prompt; and, performance task/project. The assessment of understanding is a collection of evidence over time and not a single test at the end point of instruction.

3. Plan Learning experiences and instruction

"With clearly identified results (enduring understandings) and appropriate evidence of understanding in mind, educators can plan instructional activities" (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998).

Chapter 3. Planning Lessons

Headings I would use in my lesson plans

• Learning Objectives (what I want the students to know, understand and be able to do after the lesson
• Context (how this lesson and its objectives fits into the unit) 
• Introduction of topic (creative and intresting)
• Teaching/learning activities (main body of lesson and in relation to the unit content, including timeline of activities)
• Resources
• Strategies to check student understanding 
  - academic prompt- Specific questions I will ask for student understanding, generally after the introduction.
  - observation/dialogue- group discussions
  - performance task/project- something that should be in every class, and sometimes as a homework activity
  - quiz/test- not as often as the other strategies, and generally after the other checks for understanding are done.
• Conclusion (go over material covered, summarise main points, perhaps prompt students to do this)
• Reflection of lesson (what worked/didn't work, how to improve the lesson)

Chapter 4. Lesson Types

Will these lessons have a place in my teaching practice?

Lesson types

Blended learning-Yes. I don't believe in making all learning online because I think that too much technology is developmentally detrimental on different levels. Similarly I don't think in this digital age it is appropriate to ban all technology from my lessons. I do find the face-to face learning more my style, but I will use Online tools to support learning, to make it a more holistic experience, and to relate to and engage more of my students. Additionally, using both addresses more of the General Capabilities'.

Flipped classroom- Unsure. I had never heard of this, but in my undergrad this is what I was doing in the classes that were new to me and when I found the content difficult to understand e.g. My Biology teacher would post the lecture PowerPoint before the class, I would read it, look up everything I didn't understand, and then when she went through it in class, I could grasp the content and was able to participate in learning and asked informed questions to gain further understanding. When I did not take the time to do this, it was basically a waste of time for me going to the lectures as I had no idea what was going on. This is described to be especially for later years students, which makes sense because the content would be much more difficult, though I hope that their learning would be scaffolded so that my lessons wouldn't be presenting such new information to them that they were unable to understand it without going over it before hand. I am not sure if this would take extra motivation for the students. I am not ruling out this lesson plan, I would need to try it to see how I feel about it, and I think it would vary depending on the dynamics of the classroom.

Collaborative learning- Yes. I think this develops many important abilities that they will need throughout their lives. Again, I need to test this strategy to see if this happens for me , but in the video (La Trobe University LMS, 2016) it seemed as if the students were very mature. This may come from collaborative learning practice. 

References

BOSTES. (2016). New NSW syllabuses: Advice on units. Retrieved from http://syllabus.bostes.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/units/

La Trobe University LMS. (2016, April 4). Collaborative learning builds deeper understanding [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWEwv_qobpU 

Victorian Curriculum. (2016). Curriculum Planning: Examples of whole school planning. Retrieved from http://curriculumplanning.vcaa.vic.edu.au/global/examples

Wiggins. G., & McTighe. J. (1998). Understanding by design. Retrieved from https://www.fitnyc.edu/files/pdfs/Backward_design.pdf