Reading Response Chapters 3-5

The main focus of these chapters, that stood out to me, was the purpose of the backward design process and creating the KNOW/DO/BE Bridge. It's very interesting to me to think about planning lessons and curriculum in this way. Many times it is easier to say "This is a great activity, what standards can I use in order to implement this?" By doing this, we are not focused on the students and their needs, but more focused on what may be easier and more comfortable for us. It makes complete sense to identify what results you would like to see from your students and plan accordingly. Everything we do as teachers must have a purpose and this seems like the logical way to do it. We need to follow the backward design process in order for students to gain a deeper understanding of the material being taught. When we know our purpose and expectations, we know what it will take to get there. In the past, I feel that I have not planned in this way. When reflecting on past assignments I feel that this method would have been more effective. Even when just following standards, I don't always know what I want or expect the end result to be. The "So what?" should be evident to students by the end of the learning process.

The KNOW/DO/BE Bridge puts great focus on three important questions:
*What is most important for students to know?
*What is most important for students to be able to do?
*What kind of person do we want students to be?

Before reading this chapter I had never of this framework. However, I feel like these are three very important questions that should guide our thinking and curriculum planning. It is hard to be effective when we don't know the answers to these questions and when we don't have a purpose. We need to identify the needs of our students and what is important for them. I love the idea of this framework and how the know, do, and be build on one another. I plan to consider these questions when planning in the future.

Chapters 4 and 5 focused on using standards to integrate the curriculum and aligning assessment and instruction with the KNOW/DO/BE Bridge. Chapter 4 discusses how the curriculum should be aligned internally and externally with the standards and testing objectives. All things being taught and tested should follow the expectations set by the standards. This goes back to the idea of purpose. What is it that the students are learning? Why is this important?

While planning and implementing are important, assessment determines whether or not a student has learned what they should know. Chapter 5 discusses the importance of assessment and how it does not have to be a paper and pencil test. I think this is really important because too often, teachers feel that this is the only way to assess their students' knowledge. Figure 5.1 on page 69 was very helpful to me in understanding how instruction strategies affect what the student does in order to reach the desired results. Everything we do as teachers determines what skills a student uses to learn. This is something I've really never thought of before.
These three chapters will be very helpful when planning, implementing, and assessing in the future.