I was pretty happy when watching the video to find that deconstructing the standards and writing TSWBAT.  This was very similar work that have done for the last few years, when I was a 7th grade science teacher.  We wrote "I can" statements and posted them in the classroom, and this way it was posted for the students and anyone else that walked into the class.  

One specific part I want to talk about as a cohort is the "essential question" .  I think it is important to have that question in place to begin working...

I am wondering why the prior knowledge and learning outcomes are listed after the summative assessment in the template...written like that it makes me think that some might be teaching to a test...

The video and template really do a great job breaking down the task at hand.  In the webinar there was a discussion about deconstructing, or unpacking, the standards.  As we look at standards, we want to pull out the nouns/noun phrases, or the "what", and then we need  to look at the verbs, or the "how".  If we do this, we will really be able to tease out what students "will be able to do", and the students will also be able to communicate what they need to understand.  

With the above ideas in mind, it seems as though the most important part is to identify the standards and unit essential question.  After we decide on these two parts of the lesson template, we will need to really consider the "prior knowledge" that students need and guide their inquiry..

On a side note, I am intrigued by the Unit Template.  The  order of the parts seems different than what I would expect.  I wonder why certain elements are ordered in the way they are.  

Part VIII: Prior Knowledge Needed

My group is creating a Modern Physics unit and I feel that our discussion about prior knowledge is going to be lively. This section will help give a lot of focus to how we may need to break up / scaffold the unit to help ensure access to the content for all students.  This will also help to make sure that we are designing a lesson that will allow us to meet our Eq and sub Eqs.

I look forward to discussing a lot of the template.  We have a lot of questions to work out before moving forward.  I think starting with the standards will be important.  A lot of our unit on Modern Physics is beyond the standards of the NGSS,  choosing appropriate literacy standards and really discussing what skills vs. what knowledge we want our students to get out of the unit will be important.  Once we figure this out we will have a better idea of what we are looking for in an anchor text. I find my self looking for readings but have to take a step back and have the initial discussions about the first part of the template first. 

Part VI: Goals for Using Inquiry

I would like to talk about how we can insure that student inquiry lies at the heart of our unit. The science teachers and librarian will develop a good essential question to drive learning, but I'd like to make sure I understand exactly what we need to do to make sure that students are actively inquiring.

Hi all! I watched the video. (I'm admittedly super envious of and impressed by your public speaking skills, Joanna. I could see myself retaping twenty times before feeling comfortable sending out a webinar.) I read over the template as well. I agree with the other commentary that it's not quite in the order I would have expected, but I can also see the logic behind it, too. 

The first thing I'd like to discuss as a cohort is, well, the very first part...The title to our unit. Then, I assume we'd keep moving forward through the template onto the bigger sections to discuss. But as of right now, last I was informed, the unit topic was still undecided(?) so I'd imagine we'll need to start there? My situation is a little different in that I'm not actually in the same school as the rest of my cohort, nor am I technically even a LMS just yet, but my hopes are that we can use this first webinar as an opportunity to start our communcation and collaboration together as a group, even if only online. I'm looking forward to the big group webinar on Wednesday! 

Kaitlyn

From watching the webinar I must say it has changed my outlook on standards. Being able to decode them and create essential questions from the standard has shown me how to actually use a standard for the students case, and not  just as a formality, and to make sure the right standard is being used for a given assessment.  It also brought up points about learning other departments standards which I feel is equally important so you can gather a better idea of the skills the students are learning and using in their other courses.

I think the essential question is the one part I am still having trouble on. Making something that is not too broad yet not too specific that can lead to a units worth of activities.  But once this question is created I like the template that we will be following. In my own opinion the reason why prior knowledge comes after the summative is to pretest and get an idea of where everyone is. Then allow the students to recall prior information to help answer the questions. 

I enjoyed watching the video and seeing how to destruct standards by looking at noun phrases and the verbs in the standard.

I would like to discuss the essential question(s) as a cohort.  I am a little hesistant about letting the students create their own essential questions.  That might just be because I am so used to designing the lesson to include the essential question.  I think that if students design their own essential questions, they may feel more engaged in the unit.  

After watching the video, I better understand why Joanna suggested waiting a while before finding/choosing the anchor text. Creating an essential question is one part of the template I would like to discuss, how to use it to raise more questions and connect to students lives. Choosing the appropriate standards will be important. Learning how to deconstruct the standards from watching the video was very helpful.

I'm particularly interested in discussing the relationship between Part V: Essential Question and Part VI: Goals for Using Inquiry, as I think they're closely related. 

After watching the video, I started to look at standards from the student view. I dont think I have ever stressed standards to my students. I have presented the competencies to them, of which there are four in Biology, which were develpoed from standards, however perhaps the information is too broad for students to understand.  The leap that needs to be made from the standard to the learning objective presented, is of course the prior knowledge that is required.  For me one of the challenges as a Biology teacher is how do I present information at the appropriate levels for my students and more importantly and more diffuicult, is how do I get students to be vested in their learning?  Perhaps starting with learning objectives that students can understand/relate to is the key.

I have been working with NGSS for awhile now trying to implement them into our biology curriculum. There is so much behind both NGSS and Common Core that it has seemed daunting, especially to my colleagues who don't have as much background in curriculum writing.  I like how the video explains how to locate the Nouns as the facts taught to students and the Verbs as the skills they need to accomplish in helping to develop objectives to meet the standard. It seems a simple, but adequte approach to figure out what the statements mean and how they may be put into action. 

My cohort is working on creating a unit for freshmen that centers around excerpts from the Henrietta Lacks case, cancer cell research, and bioethics. The template will serve as an imperative tool for keeping us organized and on track.

The video has been an extremely helpful reminder on how to select and break down each standard to determine the facts and knowledge, as well as the assessment. This will be incredibly valuable for the unit design. TSWBAT...by... was one of the most important takeaways for me from the video and something that I would love to focus on and discuss. Determining what the students will be able to achieve and how they will execute the goals is extremely important while planning a clear and engaging lesson. We envision creating an innovative lesson that offers the opportunity for all students to use both their individual and collaborative capacities to investigate and create multiple possibilities and solutions while immersing themselves in the learning process.

Hi,

This video supports all of us in our teamwork! The engagement of our students is key. I appreicated the connection to Bloom's Taxonomy, too. Selecting the correct standards ... looking at nouns and verbs .... and engaging students with essential questions will make for a incredible unit of study.