Department Meetings on October 17

I am so looking forward to seeing you all on Oct 17.  Our format will obviously be different from our earlier meetings.  On Thursday we will be meeting in departments to discuss your stage 1 work.  Please remember to bring your stage 1  units with you--enough copies for all of your department.  Here is what we will be discussing on Thursday:

1. Unit Summary

• Have you completed the summary of the unit by writing a brief description that gives others a clear understanding of the major content and approach of the unit?

2.  Goals

• Have you identified appropriate content and process goals by looking at state grade level and course level expectations? Common Core Standards? National Documents when necessary?
• Do you have an appropriate number of goals identified given the length of the unit? (Remember we are aiming for thorough and thoughtful teaching of these standards, not superficial coverage. Any more than 5-10 is probably too many.

3.  Enduring Understandings 

• Are the enduring understandings genuine big ideas or processes that are at the heart of the discipline?
• Are the understandings written in clear, kid language? (You can still use the vocabulary of the discipline, but be wary of making these into statements filled with jargon or professional language.)
• Are the understandings specific enough that they mean something? Are they too vague or general to guide instruction or assessment?
• Have you avoided using truisms or straightforward statements of fact as enduring understandings?

4.  Essential Questions

• Are the essential questions important and thought-provoking?
• Do the questions have more than one right answer and require debate and discussion rather than recitation of a correct answer?
• Do the questions provide a unifying focus for your teaching?

5.  Knowledge and Skills

• Are the knowledge and skills identified (where appropriate) with the correct numbering system that will refer back to the Grade Level, Course Level , or Common Core Expectations?
• Are the knowledge and skills addressed in the unit clearly defined and will they help build students’ understandings? (Do they support the enduring understandings?)
• Have you been realistic about what students will be able to know and do at the end of the unit or have you tried to touch on everything?