Module 2 Reflection: Curricular Frameworks

This module has helped me think about using standards, CFQs, or 21st-century skills in the following ways: 

    Each subject's standards are used to guide teaching. Standards break down exactly what each student will learn in every grade level. Bloom's Taxonomy provides different levels on cognition or thinking and provides Depths of Knowledge levels for teachers to use when creating questions from the standards. Each level uses different verbs in order to ask higher order thinking questions, rising as it goes from remember to create. This part of the module is a reminder to always dig deeper into questioning. Sometimes I find myself always asking the obvious questions (recall, facts) instead of allowing my students to really "think" harder or critically. Recently, our principal asked us to post examples of higher order thinking questions in our room as a reminder or visual for us when we are teaching.

    Curriculum framework questions (CFQs) lead a unit that is being studied. There are three different levels of CFQs. First, is the essential question which is broad, open-ended, and will be answered throughout the year. Next is the unit questions. These types of questions are broad, but have a focus on the specific unit which is being taught. Last are the content questions. These are the types of questions you might typically see on a unit test or may be linked to vocabulary that was taught throughout the unit. After learning about the different types of questions, it has made me think about whether or not I am using all three types of questions when I am planning. As part of our must haves in our room, we have to have an essential question posted as part of our lesson plan. When my grade level creates lesson plans, our essential question is really equivalent to that of a unit question or sometimes even a content question depending on the subject plan. In the future, I want to take the information to my grade level and ask if our definition of an essential question needs to be more geared towards the definition found in the Intel material for this module.

    21st Century skills elaborate on the 4Cs and using digital tools to further education. The 4Cs: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity are all linked and all are to be taught in the classroom. Critical thinking skills allow students to analyze, evaluate, and interpret what they are learning, all while it is also teaching them a skill needed in work and life. Communication comes in various forms, verbal, written, multimedia messaging, and even listening. Collaboration takes communication a step further. Students are to work together towards a common goal and use their creativity to get them there. I feel like when we hear about 21st century learning, it is mostly applied to upper elementary and above grades. How can we teach these skills in the younger grade levels to prepare students for what they will see and use as they reach a new grade? I really want to challenge myself to use the 4Cs in the classroom. Digital tools also play a large roll in 21st century learning. Everywhere we turn we are seeing technology implemented into lessons, and it is important that it continues. I believe it is part of 21st century learning because that is how the current generation learns best.



 

Module 1 Reflection: Instructional Design

       
    This article has made me think about my role as an instructional designer in the following ways: First, what kind of designer am I? According to the article, teachers are to design instruction that takes them further into content and deeper thinking into the specifics of what the students are learning. Teachers are supposed to design the classroom to be focused on student-centered and learning-centered classrooms. Secondly, this article makes me ask if my lessons are designed purposefully for what I do or do they elaborate on what the students will be doing and learning? When the instructional designer has a student and learning-centered design, the focus is on what kind thinking the students do, developing critical thinking skills, on what students gain from experiences, planning outcomes not just within the classroom and asking what the students will be learning. The lesson plans are meant for the teacher and administrators, however we have to make sure the lesson plan answers the correct questions about our students learning. 

      This article also makes me ask if I spend enough time with my colleagues to unwrap the standards we facilitate? It says the "deep work" can be done independently, but as I just moved to Kindergarten this year, I believe I should take advantage of what my grade level can teach me. When I first started teaching, I was always afraid to ask questions, but then I realized that teachers are constantly learning too. We are learning from each other and our students daily if we are open to it. This type of design may take extra time and effort, but if we focus on the outcome of the lesson instead of the activities, we will be planning smarter not harder. Overall, this article has brought on great questions about planning or instructional design. I hope to use this information in my present and future classroom to better my instruction and classroom.