Understanding by Design - Chapter 3

By Thomas Hammerlund -
Standards and Big Ideas
Standards provide teachers with a "focus" for which they teach.

Big Ideas from Lynn Erickson (2001)

  • Broad and abstract
  • Represented by one or two words
  • Universal in application
  • Timeless--carry through the ages
  • Represented by different examples that share common attributes (Erickson 2001 p. 35)


Wiggins and McTigue go on talking about how Ercikson's list of big ideas can be generalized (p. 69)

  • Providing a focusing conceptual lens for any study
  • Providing breadth of meaning by connecting and organizing many facts, skills, and experiences; serving as the linchpin of understanding
  • Pointing to ideas at the heart of expert understanding of a subject
  • Requiring "uncoverage" because its meaning or value is rarely obvious to the learner, is counterintuitive or prone to misunderstanding
  • Having great transfer value; applying to many other inquiries and issues over time--"horizontally" (across subjects) and "vertically" (through the years in later courses) in the curriculum and out of school




Popular posts from this blog

My Biggest Regret

By Thomas Hammerlund -
Image
via Google Search I don't like to ruminate , but I do catch myself wishing I could have done things differently in the past. It was the first month into a coaching position that was new to both me and the school. I was asked for some ideas for math ... I had some, but I also had an awesome math book. I am embarrassed to admit what I did next - I went to this teacher's room, handed the book over, and said something like, "Read this. It's good." No offer to come in. No observation. This issue didn't have anything to do with tech and I was a technology coach after all. If I could do it over I would go in and observe. Then I would meet with the teacher. I would then go through the book and pick a few (3-4 perhaps) of the ideas out and make a menu from which the teacher could choose. I would brainstorm ideas along with the teacher how to make it work. I would then offer to model or co-teach a lesson. That's what I would do now anyway. I want ...
Read more

Take Advantage When Opportunities Arise

By Thomas Hammerlund -
Image
In her book, The Power of Inquiry, Kath Murdoch has a chart of what inquiry teachers do. One of those things is to link investigation to authentic contexts (p. 21). This has been a focus of mine for this current unit. The phrase jumped out at me because I missed out on one such opportunity about five years ago , and I have probably missed out on many opportunities since then, but I have always thought about that missed chance. Hopefully, regretting that missed chance has helped me be more confident in taking risks with my teaching and looking for opportunities when they arise. The other day I may have caught the opportunity. The Junior High was having a Pancake Bake Sale fundraiser, but it was during recess time. The schedule worked out so that Grade 1 had class during this time. My students were not too pleased with this development and I got an earful coming up the stairs. We are currently looking at opinion writing, so I decided to try to make a connection to our wr...
Read more

9 P's of Digital Citizenship by Vicki Davis

By Thomas Hammerlund -
Image
This was a good webinar about keys to digital citizenship by the cool cat teacher herself, Vicki Davis. I have tried before of writing out my notes to books and other learnings, but I wanted to try something new. So instead, I made an A3 infographic that I can print and refer back to. Feel free to take it and modify it. Download this template
Read more