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Read
Read Chapter 1: Surfacing Backward Design from Small Teaching Online. Come to the next session ready to apply backward design to creating your open pedagogy assignment.
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Draft
Begin drafting your assignment, applying advice from the Surfacing Backward Design chapter for what to include in assignment instructions:
- Here’s what I want you to do: I explain the task.
- Here’s why I want you to do it: I explain the reason this task will contribute to the student’s success in class and beyond.
- Here’s how to do it: I provide detailed instructions, rubrics, checklists, and exemplars to help students clearly see and understand my expectations.
Post
Post a rough sketch of your assignment below (really rough is okay!). This can be notes or bullet points–a first attempt to capture/structure your ideas about the assignment.
Bonus
If you have time and interest, here is a podcast episode interviewing the author of Small Teaching Online, Flower Darby.
7 thoughts on “Open Pedagogy Backward Design”
Here’s what I want you to do: I explain the task.
Over the course of the semester, we will be creating the first edition of “Concerts You Missed”, an online journal dedicated to reviews of concerts and artist performing live in NYC in 2024. Each of you will attend a concert of Western Classical music. This may be music from the Medieval period through living 21st-Century composers. Over the course of the semester, there will a number of small assignments and discussion boards that build tot he completed review.
Here’s why I want you to do it
Music is a live art. While we have amazing recording technologies today, nothing replaces the experience of hearing music in person. Being able to describe this experience is a difficult task, but when you can explain the impact (or lack of on) to someone else, you will understand the music on a more significant level.
Here’s how to do it: I provide detailed instructions, rubrics, checklists, and exemplars to help students clearly see and understand my expectations.
Ok so here I am giving a very rough draft
Select a concert, explain why you chose it
There will be a few Discussion boards and assignments to focus on the focused listening and research aspects of this assignment
Attend the concert and write an informal response to it
Research one of the works on the concert
Rough draft of review
Edited review
Possibility to do added content — YouTube link or audio content.
A really rough sketch using the backward design model above:
Here’s what I want you to do: Draw a 9-panel comic strip that helps illustrate and explain one important moment in Frederick Douglass’s chapter, “How I Learned to Read and Write.” No drawing experience required! Stick figures welcome! I want you to use your own words and images to reflect on a portion of Douglass’s chapter that is particularly resonant for you.
Here’s why I want you to do it: There are two reasons I’m assigning this. First, this assignment is meant to help you find YOUR voice on the page. Some of you may enjoy drawing more than writing; others may write in the voice of a character or imagined person more comfortably than in the voice of an academic essay; others may prefer to write no dialogue at all, only narrative explanation. I welcome any and all submissions!
Second, this is assignment is a way for you to reflect on Douglass’s chapter and further examine its content. Does the chapter make sense to you? The part that makes the most sense to you will likely what you are drawn (pun intended) to illustrate in your panels. The better you understand the chapter, the better prepared you are for longer and more in-depth writing later in the semester.
Here’s how to do it: Still working on this part! I’ll likely refer to Lisa’s wonderful superpower assignment.
Here are some very rough draft ideas for the Modern and Contemporary Art website I will ask my students to contribute to:
Enduring understanding:
The more we look, the more we see.
How will we know we have arrived?
Meet students where they are.
Minimum: that each student has created something to add to the collaborative project.
Clear rubric so students can decide if they want to go for the C or go for the A.
Make the purpose of the activities explicit.
Incremental, scaffolded activities
Activity before content:
I use the same thinking routines throughout the semester. Perhaps I can require that students save the Close Looking sheets to create a portfolio and use them as resources for their final entry for the text book/website.
Learning outcomes addressed:
• Students will complete at least 10-12 pages of formal writing assignments that have gone through the revision process.
• Students will be able to gather, interpret, and assess information from a variety of sources and points of view.
• Students will be able to analyze how arts from diverse cultures of the past serve as a foundation for those of the present, and describe the significance of works of art in the societies that created them.
• Students will be able to articulate how meaning is created in the arts or communications and how experience is interpreted and conveyed.
• Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the skills involved in the creative process.
Here’s a first draft of the initial logline assignment.
> HERE’S WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO
First, learn what a logline is and why it is so important to the script-writing process by watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvlWd2tz4xg then read at least five examples of the loglines on the logline page.
Then write a first draft of a logline for your script containing the following elements:
• protagonist
• protagonist’s want or goal
• antagonist
• conflict
• inciting incident
• setting
You will be revising this logline with each subsequent assignment for the fiction script, and the logline revisions will be cataloged on the Logline Building page to track your progress on creating a strong summary.
> HERE’S WHY I WANT YOU TO DO IT
One key takeaway from this course is to learning that writing is rewriting. One piece of writing that students will revise multiple times is the logline, which is a sentence or two that summarizes your story in a specific way.
Remember: a logline written at the start of the writing journey is more than a summary of the story. It is a road map for you the writer of that story that has yet to be created. That road map must include a number of ingredients that are crucial to a story.
Writing a successful logline will help you attain two goals of the course, namely conceptualizing character and story from beginning to middle to end and
evaluating your own and your fellow students’ work.
> HERE’S HOW TO DO IT
Read through the “formulas” below and personalize the one that best fits your story, or find the best one to use as a guide to create your own. Note that writing the logline is a discovery process; it’s not a one and done, not a hit it and quit it. It is something that should be tweaked and tinkered with to get it good.
In revising it, you may realize that there’s a better way to set up the story than the present draft, and that might mean changing it slightly or starting from scratch. The important thing is to craft an engaging sentence that features the essential ingredients of your story and entices the reader to crave learning more about your story.
1. inciting incident + protagonist + action + antagonist
2. protagonist + action + antagonist + goal + stake
3. When the inciting incident happens, a protagonist takes action until an antagonist threatens.
4. After a shocking back story happens, a protagonist pursues a difficult goal.
5. An interesting protagonist pursues a familiar goal, in an unexpected way.
6. Driven by motivation, a protagonist pursues a unique goal.
7. Special circumstances force a protagonist is to engage in morally ambiguous behavior.
8. An anti-hero makes it his or her mission to rise to power with a certain methodology.
9. A protagonist and an antagonist with limited resources must unite to accomplish a mission.
10. A negatively changed world can only be fixed with the accomplishment of an impossible task performed by a unique person, your protagonist.
11. When inciting incident happens, your protagonist must take action and overcome his/her antagonist to get his/her goal.
This Open Pedgagocial lesson is for Eng. 201, an introduction literature course. After each component, there would be a mock panel discussing one of the works we discussed in class.
Students will create a mock panel discussing the literature that ranges from a poem to a story to a play. For instance, if they discuss Sonia Sanchez’s “For Tupac Amuru Shakur,” one student will pretend they are Sonia Sanchez, the poet. Another student would be a Tupac Shakur expert, one of the students would be the panel moderator, and another would be an overall expert on hip-hop in that period.
To play these roles, students must study their roles before presenting them in class. Students will also get to select their roles in the panel. If a student chooses to play Sonia Sanchez, they will have to study Sonia Sanchez and her various bodies of work. The same thing applies to someone who is an expert on Tupac Shakur. That student must know why Tupac wrote the songs and his agenda. The panel moderator must know the poem and Sonia Sanchez’s overall work, and be familiar with the hip-hop period to pose poignant questions to the panel. Another student would have to study that hip-hop period during Tupac’s reign. I also would assign understudies in case a student drops out and assign them to accountability groups at the beginning of the semester.
This panel will only have five students. The overall class will have to create one question for the panel during the Q&A session. The mock panel will rotate to another four students to discuss literature in the class. If Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is the piece we select in class, then the same rules would apply as the previous panel.
I will have to start small with small assignments. Some students will be too shy to do this in front of the class. For instance, in the backward design, I would have students select which poem they want to discuss overall as a class at the end of the poetry segment. The small assignments will warm them up for the larger assignment at the end of each component. Therefore, the class would have agency in their assignment, and everyone would be happy “in the car to the beach.”
pedagogical*
Lesson For Backward Design:
The lesson for ENG-201 (Introduction to Literature) that I plan to implement backward design is one that I used a few years ago. The assignment is based on two readings from— “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros and “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie.
Original Lesson
Below are questions based on two readings from— “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros and “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie. Read the three questions carefully and then choose only one. Write a thesis centered essay in response to this one question. Be sure your essay addresses all parts of the question.
1. What is the relationship between education and self-determination?
2. To what extent does identifying as an outsider (from community and/or family) give a person a certain level of freedom?
3. How do the reading patterns of our family influence our own relationship to reading and writing?
4. What are the gains and losses associated with challenging cultural stereotypes through reading and writing?
As you develop your essay, make sure that you provide sufficient support and explanation by integrating examples from both readings(“Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros and “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie) throughout your essay.
Analyze your examples to show their relevance to your argument. Use your own observations, experiences, or other sources to develop your claims. When you cite directly from the readings, use proper MLA page citation.
Your essay must use at least four sources: at least two of them should be articles that we read for the last two most recent course modules. But you must also use at least two additional sources that we did not read in class. You will have to use the library or Internet to find these additional sources.
I then included a skeleton outline for students to model.
Then redesign is as follows:
Here’s what I want you to do: I explain the task.
The task for this lesson is for students to work in groups and choose one of the critical thinking questions to explore. They will create a podcast episode discussing their chosen topic, incorporating analysis of the texts, personal experiences, and outside research. The podcast will be shared with the class, fostering discussion and engagement.
Here’s why I want you to do it: I explain the reason this task will contribute to the student’s success in class and beyond.
This task is designed to enhance students’ critical thinking skills, communication skills, and their understanding of the texts. By working in groups and creating a podcast, students will develop their ability to analyze complex ideas, articulate their thoughts clearly, and engage in meaningful discussions. These skills are essential for success both in the classroom and beyond, as they promote effective communication and critical thinking in various contexts.
Here’s how to do it: I provide detailed instructions, rubrics, checklists, and exemplars to help students clearly see and understand my expectations.
– Form groups of 3-4 students.
– Choose one of the critical thinking questions provided.
– Conduct research on the chosen topic, utilizing both the texts and outside sources.
– Create a podcast episode that addresses the chosen question, incorporating analysis of the texts, personal experiences, and research findings.
– The podcast should be 10-15 minutes long.
– Use appropriate audio recording software or platforms.
– Ensure that all group members actively participate in the podcast episode.
– Submit the final podcast episode to the teacher.
b) Rubrics:
– Content (40%): Thorough analysis of the chosen question, integration of textual evidence, clear connections to personal experiences, and relevant research.
– Organization (20%): Clear introduction, logical flow of ideas, and effective conclusion.
– Presentation (20%): Clear and articulate speech, appropriate tone, and engaging delivery.
– Collaboration (20%): Active participation of all group members, effective teamwork, and equal distribution of tasks.
Cisneros_Alexie_ Backward-Design-Planner-Adapted