Understanding and Applying Standards

The initial preparation of our class lessons can be a journey in which we do not know where to begin. For this reason, we need to get familiarized with specific terminology such as the words: standards, unpacking standards, backwards mapping and objectives to make our journey of planning easier. Also, it is important to realize that each lesson that we plan is not independent from other lessons, but there is a relationship between each lesson which aligns to achieve a final objective.

Teachers are expected to help students meet standards that are part of a curriculum created by a school, state, or national entity. In my case, I am a kindergarten teacher in the District of Columbia Public Schools and we follow the common core standards http://www.corestandards.org/. The first step in the planning process is to identify the standards for the grade and the teaching area I have been assigned to teach. For example, I would like to teach addition and subtraction in kindergarten, so one of the standards related to this is teaching students to “Represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers, mental images, drawings, sounds, acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions, or equations.”

Picture by: http://www.corestandards.org/ 

Once you identify the standards, next is to translate them into lessons, which is the process of unpacking standards. This concept assist teachers in the planning of lessons and identifying strategies that address the standard. Also, unpacking standards helps teachers to have clear understanding about what the standard actually means. This unpacking process requires you to identify what students need to know and what they need to do to demonstrate that they are meeting the standard. Initially, we can focus in the verbs of the standard, these help you to identify what students need to do to meet the standard. In the example of the addition and subtraction for kindergarten, the verb is to “represent”, so students need to represent addition and subtraction. Moreover, the nouns in the standard helps you know the content that students should be learning. Going back to the same example, the nouns make reference to the different strategies to add and subtract that students needs to learn such as how to use “objects, fingers, mental images, drawings, sounds, acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions, or equations” to represent addition and subtraction.

After this deep understanding of the standard, we need to continue planning, and more specifically proceed to next step: backwards mapping. This approach of backwards mapping, which was designed by two educational experts Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, proposes to begin planning with what students should know and be able to do at the end of a lesson or unit. So, we begin stablishing what is the desired result, this could be the standard that students need to accomplish. Then, we determine how to know if students are meeting the goal or standard, the assessments.  Finally, we plan learning experiences or activities that will help students meet the goal or standard. In my opinion this approach helps you to clarify the route to follow in the planning and to include the crucial knowledge and skills to reach the standard. 

Picture by: http://library.gsu.edu/search-collections/lesson-plans/

After the process mentioned above, we proceed to the small part of the unit, the planning of the lesson. Now, it is time to define the objectives of the lesson, which are tied to the standard and should motivate student learning. The objectives identify what a student will be able to do as a result of our instruction, so these are focused in the students’ outcomes. When writing the objectives, it is very important to use a clear and adequate language taking into account the age of our students. Also, many teachers use the mnemonic acronym SMART as a guide for the design of the objectives. SMART refers to Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Target to learner. Having strong objectives affect the quality of students’ work.