Undergraduate teacher candidates at Northwest Missouri State University have unique opportunities through Teaching and Learning Initiative Grants and Undergraduate Research Grants to participate in conferences, co-teach with university professors, attend and present at conferences, and participate in research projects with faculty. One such professional learning opportunity occurred recently when undergraduate candidates, Nicole Dean, Melanie Hollingsworth, Emmy Wells, and Kelly Woods attended the Fall Iowa ASCD Conference in Des Moines, to learn more about the Understanding by Design model from Dr. Jay McTighe. Their instructors, Dr. Vicki  Seeger and Dr. Sue Wood, use the model in the course, Social Studies in the Elementary School, so that candidates learn to "backward plan" a social studies unit based on effective practices.  

Following the conference, the candidates commented from the perspective of soon-to-be teachers and how learning extensive information about the UbD model influenced their thinking on lesson design, specifically intentionally crafting elements of the model like essential questions, student understanding, and other unit elements. The candidates discussed the confidence to plan with purpose now. Woods commented, "Essential questions and understandings help focus the lesson design process by identifying the broad concepts you want students to learn and be able to apply in other situations." Hollingsworth noted that her own experiences with units in school were not particularly positive; teaching during the units often focused on reading a textbook and taking a test at the end. She stated that learning more about transfer goals, essential questions and enduring understandings "...help to guide the planning towards more authentic and transferable information," so that learning in her classroom will be very different than what she experienced as a young student.

Planning for meaningful formative and summative assessments was another take-away the candidates experienced at the conference. The idea of planning assessments before the lessons and activities was a new concept for them and resulted in rethinking the purpose of "...what is being taught before the teacher plans the activity. Most teachers plan the lessons first which then allows for a margin of error when it comes to exactly what the teacher wants the students to get out of the lesson. Ultimately UbD has opened my eyes to purposely creating units that will lead to successful students," relates Dean. She continued, "This method allows the teacher to gauge the students learning with formative assessments daily allowing the teacher to adapt their teaching before the summative assessment (or final project) which ensures student learning."

One element of the UbD model that had not been taught in coursework was writing the transfer goal. The candidates' first opportunity to learn about and write this type of goal occurred in Des Moines. Their view of the unit plan's purpose and intent was deepened by this experience, and they returned to campus in Seeger's and Wood's courses to share how to write transfer goals with their peers. Dean described the experience of learning to write the transfer goal as a "...light bulb moment for me. As a future teacher I want my lessons to have a purpose that is transferable to other subjects and to life." The candidates now discuss how planning has become a clearer process allowing them to "recognize larger concepts," plan with "end results in mind," and focus on a "much bigger picture." Wells said, "Learning about a transfer goal allowed me to realize that every lesson we teach should help our students achieve long-term growth."

Anyone who has used Understanding by Design principles knows that the focus shifts from delivering instruction to ensuring learning. While exposed to this in their coursework, the students were immersed in this thinking at the conference. This is reflected in their comments about how their thinking "shifted," and often focused on student engagement. Woods noted, "With this design method, teachers can develop units that engage students in authentic, challenging ways instead of feeding students facts and creating a disinterested learning environment." Hollingsworth echoed these sentiments, passionately discussing how learning has to be student-centered and how students need to have a say in their education. "We are no longer teachers whose sole job is to stand in front of the class and teach; our job is to plan lessons and units to guide our students to making their own opinions and formations of understanding."

While participating in field experiences in their courses, Dean, Hollingsworth, Wells, and Woods are all about to embark on practicum experiences and student teaching in literacy and content area teaching. When asked to reflect on all of their pre-service coursework and how taking a deeper dive into Understanding by Design principles has affected their knowledge base, the candidates spoke about purposeful planning, students who are in control of their learning, and ensuring student success through inquiry unit planning. Dean summed up the candidates' experience in this way, "Attending the Iowa ASCD conference in November featuring UbD by Dr. Jay McTighe helped me to design my own lesson plan format to include essential questions and formative assessments at the beginning of the lesson. Understanding by Design will be the format I use for unit planning in my education courses from now on."

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Seeger and Wood are Assistant Professors in the Department of Professional Education at Northwest Missouri State University. Dean, Hollingsworth, Wells, and Woods are undergraduate teacher candidates; all completed an application process and were selected to attend the Fall Iowa ASCD Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, made possible by University grant funding.

Registration is $50 for members of Iowa ASCD and $90 for non-members. Upon registration you will receive access to tools for advocacy and influence, including talking points for major issues (e.g., competency-based instruction, teacher leadership, readers by third grade, kindergarten readiness, instructional time, teacher and principal evaluation, professional learning), sample letter and telephone script for contacting your legislators, and a rubric to evaluate your skills in advocacy. Iowa ASCD will also provide you with contact information about your legislators so that you may schedule visits "on the hill" as part of this opportunity.

A block of rooms has been reserved for February 10^th at the Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel (515.244.2151).  Be sure to ask for the Iowa ASCD block of rooms.

Agenda:

                                                                                                          

February 11, 2015, 8:00 A.M. - 12:30 P.M.          

Location: Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel, 401 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA

• Continental breakfast and working lunch provided
• Legislative Update - Dr. Brad Buck
• Professional Learning with Drs. Pecinovsky and Vogel 

February 11, 2015, 1:00 - 4:00 P.M.             

Visits "on the hill" (Capitol - East 12^th and Grand)  

• Planned visits on the hill with Democratic and Republican  Caucuses of the House Education Committee
• Meet with YOUR Legislator(s)
• Informal (and optional) meeting at the Capitol to debrief visits with legislators and share possible next steps for Iowa ASCD members around advocacy and influence 

Register NOW! - Contact Bridget Arrasmith with name(s) of registrant(s), district and mailing address, e-mail address(es), phone number as well as check or purchase order. She can be reached at the following address: 

• Iowa ASCD, Drake University, School of Education, Room 123, 3206 University Avenue, Des Moines, IA  50311  
• Phone: 515.271.1872
• FAX: 515.271.2233
• E-mail: Bridget.Arrasmith@drake.edu

 

You may register online as well with a credit card at the following URL on the Iowa ASCD website: 

 https://iowaascd.org/index.php/events/event-registration/ 

 

Register Now! Limited Space!

 

The registrants will receive $50 coupon toward attendance at an upcoming conference in 2015-2016.

 

And educators who send picture of themselves with their legislators will receive free admittance for the workshop for themselves and a colleague as well as a year's membership in Iowa ASCD. 

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•  Are you looking for resources for standards-based grading.  Check it out here.  And watch for upcoming podcasts on standards-based grading - coming soon on Iowa ASCD website.