It is starting to feel a little like a load--- like dragging around the giant elephant in the room. Here again at 1:30 in the morning, feeling like I need to get back to the grades, but knowing that this "thing" is sitting out here unattended. I hate the feeling... So, short. For sure tonight.
Analysis- I've been looking at the stuff that Carl posted up for us this weekend on the wiki. And the very fundamental issue is to decide where your "learner" is and where they should be after the "product" is delivered. What does the recipient want? What does the company want? Are they/can they be the same? Are there any "others" involved? How do you figure this all out? Is everyone honest?
Extension- UbD seems obsessed with the idea of precisely analyzing what the learner "wants" and addressing those wants/needs. It seems based on this narrowness of goal. Most seem really glad of this. As I suppose I should be. But when was the last time a public school teacher had the good fortune of having everyone in the room want the same thing, teachers, students, administrators, state level people, custodians, parents, political leaders and constituents? If that group can't come to consensus, how does the model ever work?
I've got to do the last grades in 3 .5 hours. Some want an A, some just want to pass. Some don't care as they didn't sign themselves up for the class and are still trying to ignore it whenever possible. So, what does everyone want?
Still hauling the elephant.
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I think what you said is very true. The model seems to be targeted toward a select or self-selecting audience. A group that are all coming from the same place and wanting the same thing. However, public school is a completely different arena. Everyone has different expectations. Some students are highly ambitious and others could care less. Do we just target the instruction to the highest denominator and leave the rest behind? Do we target it to the middle and disregard the outliers? I wish this was addressed more fully in the readings. The writers always make the learners analysis seem so cut and dry.
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