Thread by @PR_Johnson

Many of us are days or weeks away from the fall semester beginning. I thought I'd offer a 🧵 for #gradstudents & faculty to📍 for that course prep.

@GSIG_AEJMC @AejmcS @AEJMC #AcademicTwitter

(1/21)

It never hurts to "start over" as you approach your fall courses. Some have already been doing this; others have been waiting till Aug. arrived. If you haven't "rethought" your courses in a few semesters, then now is a perfect time.

(2/21)

Plan backward (i.e., Understanding by Design, Wiggins & McTighe):

Start w/an ESSENTIAL ? (EQ) your students will spend the semester thinking about. This inquiry-based approach will offer you a starting point to frame your course. We can't cover everything; tell a story.

(3/21)

Build COURSE OBJECTIVES from that big EQ. Objectives should be able to be measured and should be attached to core ASSESSMENT. While the EQ may have broader aims, the OBJs represent outcomes.

(4/21)

I use Bloom's Taxonomy (bloomstaxonomy.net) to guide my writing of objectives. I think about high-level cognitive thinking for my course objectives b/c if I design my course effectively I should be BUILDING/SCAFFOLDING throughout to help students achieve the end OBJs

(5/21)

Once I think about the course OBJs, I start thinking about how students will know they will achieve those. These end up being my summative (SA) assessments.

I consider what options students can have to show they've achieved proficiency in the OBJs & take note of them.

(6/21)

I do all initial planning purely analog. Being able to draw and map is important for me to visualize how the course can/should be seen. I find it hard to plan a course digitally at first, but I'm sure many are far more successful!

(7/21)

When I think my SAs out loud, I'm also thinking about (and annotating) how each possibly fulfills course OBJs. I think about PROFICIENCY, not MASTERY. Mastery, to me, exceeds the objectives. It isn't that I don't want students to master, but I want them to take risks.

(8/21)

So I plan out what proficiency would be for each SA related to each course OBJ.

This becomes the foundation of my rubrics. Thinking above proficiency is mastery; thinking below proficiency is where a student needs improvement.

I'm STILL thinking with the end in mind.

(9/21)

I now turn to the question: SO HOW WILL THEY GET HERE?

This is when I really build backward and plan out what OBJECTIVES need to be included to get to the end. These are my weekly objectives.

(10/21)

When planning out my weekly OBJs, I think about a spiral staircase. If I'm at the top of the staircase - the end of the course - then I need to consider how I got here; I need to think about what skills and objectives built upon one another to help me reach the top.

(11/21)

Much like my course OBJs, I use Bloom's Taxonomy for my weekly OBJs. Throughout my course, you would see all levels of cognition represented; however, more of my earlier content/lessons will represent lower-order thinking and it should progress to higher-order.

(12/21)

At this point, I haven't BUILT my course schedule. I am still writing out how I see students achieving proficiency in course OBJs through proficiency in weekly OBJs.

I start thinking about what would help show students were proficient - my formative assessments (FA).

(13/21)

Summatives represent end-of-course or end-of-unit measurements of student achievement; formatives are short, quick, and low stakes.

When I design FAs, I don't attach grades and instead only provide feedback tied to a rubric (w/o scores) reflecting weekly OBJs.

(14/21)

I also am now processing how long each weekly OBJ would take to instruct, collaborate, practice, and assess. In doing this, I don't constrain myself to the normal semester timeframe. I ask: what does this objective need?

(15/21)

Once I've done that, I negotiate with the curriculum. Yes, sounds odd, but that's what it is. I then map the objectives to reflect that spiral staircase and build the skeleton of my syllabus within the confines of my semester schedule. Some stuff has to go, so negotiate.

(16/21)

I save my reading list for last, and I like to think about how multiple options could reinforce the OBJs I've set out to help students achieve.

Do we need to all read the same thing? Sometimes, but not always. Options lead to strategic & instructional diversity (SID).

(17/21)

If I offer options for a class, then it means I will be preparing different in-class activities or instructional strategies to help students synthesize material collectively. I love that part. Whole-group offers different needs.

(18/21)

If you are someone who wants to add more SID to your curriculum, check out Doug Buehl's Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning: amazon.com/Classroom-Stra…

(19/21)

We also need to consider that we will have diverse learners in our classrooms and that we should think about accessibility.

Check out The Inclusive Classroom (Mastropieri & Scruggs): amazon.com/Inclusive-Clas…

(20/21)

I know this thread was long; I have so much more to say about the nuances of planning curriculum & instruction. But I'm hoping these Tweets can help at least steer thinking in disciplines where faculty don't have formal education training. These will help!

Cheers.

(21/21)

EXTRA: I’ve had a few people DM a asking about what I mean by spiral staircase — my analogy for scaffolding. Spiral staircases overlap, but progress.

Our curriculum does the same. As we go up, we should revisit and build on ideas and lower-order OBJs. Don’t retreat, revisit.

So if I were to introduce a concept students were supposed to be able to define early in the semester, I should revisit the concept (w/ higher-order thinking) throughout. So I may now have students apply that definition, and then have them synthesize it with another.

Scaffold.

EXTRA (p.2)

I’ve been asked for examples of how one could start this. I’ve taken my chicken scratch and transferred it to lined paper to help w/ readability, but here’s foundational thinking for my Social Media for Social Change course.

This is EQ brainstorming. 👀 ALT text.

And here is how I draw out objectives from the EQ. I list out important terms that stem from the EQ and then process what else stems from those.

I then list out possible OBJ (but won’t use all!) according to Bloom level. I’ve defined levels & underlined verbs. 👀 ALT text