UBD Reflection

UBD Lesson Reflection

I think that the UBD concept is an important way in which to teach a lesson, however the UBD format did not make sense. Each teacher should look at what the big picture in a unit. This allows teacher to drive their implementation of the curriculum rather then the book dictating what the teacher should teach. As a new teacher, I was following the book and did not use the curriculum or the big ideas to help me teach. I was concerned about the students regurgitating the knowledge in the book and it was not until I had a few years of experience that I started to look at the big ideas. Focusing on the big ideas allows teachers to teach more effectively. Before planning a unit, I try to find the important big ideas that I want the students to understand when they leave my class.
I found the UBD format very confusing and that I could repeat concept or student objectives multiple times. I could not make a distinction between what the students would understand, will know or will be able to do. It seemed that they were asking for the same concept. In order to plan a true UBD lesson I would need to understand the difference between the U, K, and S columns.