Chapter 1 Ubd

A teacher must learn to integrate proper curriculum with appropriate accommodations for all their students. The content, instruction, learning environment, and individual students must all be taken into consideration when planning a unit. Understanding by Design primarily focuses on content and instruction. Differentiated Instruction focuses on students and the learning environment. The books used Axioms as examples of Understanding by Design and Corollaries as examples of Differentiated instruction. The theoretical Mr. Axelt demonstrates how he would incorporate both into his diverse classroom.

            This chapter severely altered my understanding of differentiated instruction. The teacher creates his lesson so that he can accommodate students who lack prerequisite knowledge. Scenario 3 clearly shows that he has planned to help students with knowledge gaps and misunderstandings. Despite their previous setbacks “their focus on the unit’s enduring understanding and skills remains a constant in his planning for them”. Along with the previous adjustments, Mr. Axelt reworks homework assignments and other activities to accommodate students who have a decent understanding of the content.  My previous misconceptions were that multiple lessons plans had to be made based on student variations and could not be altered.

            The impact on my classroom would be having an overarching goal with various ways to achieve that goal. Regardless of a students’ ability, they have the potential to achieve the overarching goal. Another impact would be constantly finding ways to improve my lessons for my students. This could include technology integration, colleague recommendations, or student feedback. All of which was seen in Axiom 6. Scenario 7 confirms that Mr. Axelt is constantly looking to improve his lessons and the experiences of his students.