Reflecting on the NT Curriclum Development Project

The New Teacher Project was an excellent performance assessment. We learned how to use backward design to create a curriculum by experiencing the process. There is no better way to gain the necessary understandings! We experienced UBD in a safe environment. We tried, made mistakes, and were able to adjust based on feedback. If we had tried this at school, the feedback we would have been failed lessons, parent complaints or, worst yet, missed opportunities for student learning. Instead, we gained our experience with Understanding By Design in the classroom. Understand By Design is the type of concept that can only truly be comprehended in practice. Although Wiggins and McTighe have done am excellent job explaining the process and the significance of each step, it is impossible to truly understand the process unless you have struggled through it. Wiggins and McTighe make it seem easy and natural! It is much more complicated when you are doing it rather than reading about doing it. Creating the New Teacher Program allowed me to understand the importance of each step in the process and its relationship to the others. The dependence of the steps is what makes the design so powerful! It all ‘came together’ when our first draft was complete. Considering the program as a whole allowed us to realize how we could improve it. Then, updating each of the related components emphasized the interdependence of the entire program. I am proud to say that each portion of our final product reflected our mission, essential questions and understandings! WE UNDERSTAND UBD – FINALLY!