Planning for Learning

                 Chapter 9 presents key aspects to consider when planning our lessons in order to achieve real learning. This is the stage in which we need to decide on what approaches, resources and experiences students need in order to achieve the desired results and performances.

                It is essential for a successful plan to be both engaging and effective. How do we get that? The authors suggest a list of characteristics of engaging and effective designs such as hands-on and meaningful activities, personalized challenge, balance between cooperation and competition, clear objectives and purposes, provision of models, and opportunities for self-assessment among others.

                Closely connected with that is what the authors call the WHERETO of instructional planning. According to this model we need to make sure our students know Where the unit is headed and Why. We must also Hook and Hold their attention, and Equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to achieve the goals. It is also vital to give learners the chance to Rethink, Reflect, and Revise what they do as well as Evaluate their progress. Finally our design must be Tailored, considering students’ individual needs, and Organized to enhance deep understanding.

                In my opinion this can be a quite user-friendly checklist to apply whenever we plan not only a whole unit but every lesson. Though I am certain we are all aware of these aspects, it is always helpful to have them organized in such a clear way that we can easily put it into practice.

Crafting Understanding

As we have read before, “understanding involves the grasp of big ideas, as reflected in thoughtful and effective transfer.”  It is interesting, therefore, to consider the difference between understanding and factual knowledge presented in chapter 6.

Facts are evidence, data and they must be accepted as such. Understanding, on the other hand, is the interpretation or significance of those facts. In order to get real understanding we must “ask questions about facts, connect them to other facts, and try to apply them in various situations”.

It is essential for us teachers to be aware of the difference between these two concepts, particularly when we set the objectives of our lessons. Many times we expect students to “understand” certain contents, but we are not able to clearly state what exactly they should infer from them. To avoid this common mistake, the authors suggest using the prompt “student should understand that…” so we ensure a detailed description of our goals. Personally, I believe this suggestion is very useful as it can make a real difference in the way we approach our planning and our lessons.