Why+UbD?

=Watch Simon Sinek talk about why "WHY" is important:= @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4

media type="youtube" key="qp0HIF3SfI4" height="315" width="560" =//*You wouldn't want to use UbD if you didn't understand WHY it's important to use - the same way that if your students understand WHY they are doing something you'll get better results with them.//=

=The BIG ideas of UbD=
 * ==UbD Big Idea== || ==Why Important?== || ==If not...== ||
 * Backward Design || Plans need to be well aligned to be effective || Aimless activity or coverage ||
 * Understanding transfer || The essence of understanding and the point of schooling || Students fail to apply themselves, poor test results ||
 * Understanding via Big Ideas || How transfer happens makes learning more connected || Learning is more difficult, less engaging and fragmented ||

=Twin Sins of Teaching=
 * COVERAGE

also known as marching through the textbook || ACTIVITY FOCUS

doing a variety of many themed activities about your content. || =*Neither of these has clear intellectual goals.=

Two Key Understandings

 * You must design "backward" from understanding if you want to achieve understanding "by design"
 * Without transparent and important priorities - stated as performance, //not content// - neither teacher nor student can be effective; nor can they make wise decisions when inevitable adjustments have to be made.


 * The course is NOT the content

Don't confuse the INPUTS with OUTPUTS :
 * Thousands of car parts with ability to drive
 * Drills & skills with playing the game well
 * List of ingredients and kitchen skills with the ability to prepare and cook meals
 * The 700 page manual with the ability to use software to write letters and reports

Are you confusing "teaching" with "having learned"?
 * 1) Teaching does not cause learning
 * 2) successful attempts by the learner to learn and use what they have learned to achieve causes learning.