I have heard "unpack your standards" a hundred times in all of my EDUC classes. However, I was never given much explanation on what that means and how to do it myself. In math I am able to go to www.dpi.state.nc.us, click on K-12 curriculum - Mathematics - Standard Course of Study, then I click on the appropriate grade level and the standards are already unpacked for me. This is the resource I have always used for lesson planning, so I was a little confused when I heard that we were going to learn how to unpack the standards.
This week we dove into unpacking our first standard. We did this using a KUD chart - Know, Understand, Do.
Know: What are the facts? The vocab? What are all the little pieces that the students need to know?
Understand: What are the concepts? How do all those little pieces come together to make a whole?
Do: What are the skills needed for the student to demonstrate understanding? What is a tangible piece of evidence that shows mastery?
I know more than I did in regards to unpacking standards, but I will admit I am still confused. I am sure with more practice and class discussion the light bulb will flicker. As a teacher it's important that I become competent in this area. Standard 3a of the NCTCS says "Teachers align their instruction with the NC Standard Course of Study. I can't do that if I don't have the skills to take a standard apart and apply it to my lesson appropriately.
Unpacking a standard was really confusing for me as well. Just like you mentioned with your math standards, when I look at the standards for music, they're already so specific that I'm not really sure how to break it down even more. I'm hoping that we can unpack a standard that relates to each of our teaching field. I'm a visual learner, so if that can happen I feel like I will understand unpacking a standard a whole lot better.
ReplyDeleteYeah I understand what you're going through. I remember growing up and wanted to be a teacher. I just thought that the lesson plan was a game plan. I short strategy but now it's a lot more complicated than I thought. Man I miss the thought of just going in, teaching, cleaning the chalk board, and going home.
ReplyDeleteI am with both you and Kristin; unpacking standards is hard. However, you did a really good job today in class unpacking the example that you were given. I think that the biggest help for us right now is to practice unpacking standards as much as possible, before it's a requirement of our job, and have Dr. Clark or another professor check over our work to make sure that we are getting the concept. From what I've seen you're going to be a really good teacher, don't stress, you'll do great.
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