BD Unit Planning Experience

This week we started working on a Backwards Design Unit.  We needed to choose a unit that we will be teaching and design lesson plans using the Backwards Design method.  This was a completely new concept for.  I had heard about Backwards Design but had never used it to plan a unit.  To be honest, this was a completely overwhelming task.  But I set out determined to figure it out.  After reading several articles and watching a video on Backwards Design, I began to go about planning my science unit on mealworms.  This was a very awkward process for me.  I am not used to planning my lessons this way.  The most challenging part of the process was coming up with the big ideas and the essential questions.  I wasn’t quite sure how do phrase them so I went back to my articles to try and get some more ideas.  It was also awkward in the sense that I normally plan my activities and assessments first as opposed to last.  Through the process though, I have come to realize why Backwards Design is so meaningful.  It is way more in depth and causes the teacher to really look at the state standards as well as their intention in teaching this unit.  I found myself wondering why I had some of these activities planned and what other things could I do that would be more meaningful and better meet the standards.  It has caused me to be much more intentional in my lesson planning.  What’s your experience with Backwards Design?

Big Rocks

I really enjoyed the video we watched on Big Rocks in our last class.  I liked that the video gave good imagery to the idea that we need to prioritize all the things we have going in our lives.  The big rocks all need to fit in our bucket so to speak before we add in all the little pebbles.  I really agree with the idea as a whole but what I questioned was what if all the things in your life are big rocks?  What do you do then? When you need to fit in all those important things and there is just not enough time?  For me, it seems that things for myself always get shoved aside, such as, working out, reading a good book or going on a date with my husband.  I struggle to find ways to fit everything in and to prioritize the big rocks.  I have tried this past week to do just that but am sad to say that I didn’t succeedL  I guess I just have to remember that this is a new week and all I can do is to try again.  How has the idea of Big Rocks impacted your life?