MI chapters 5, 6 and UbD chapters 6,7 combined response

One of the biggest points that all four chapters agreed upon is that students should be able to find meaning in what they are learning as well being able to make connections to real world scenarios.  However, all students will come to conclusions at different paces and through different mediums.  Lesson planning must be differentiated and flexible so that material can be “translated” from one intelligence to another (known as multimodal teaching), and the chapters provided tools that can aid teachers in achieving this—I will certainly refer to them.  The chapters also place emphasis on the idea that understanding often leads to meaning; Tomlinson and McTighe state that “we believe it is through the interplay of drill and practice in combination with authentic tasks (i.e., playing the game) that meaningful learning in achieved.”  Along these lines, the UbD chapters often compared students in the classroom to athletes and teachers to coaches, which is a metaphor that is easily relatable for me.  UbD chapter 6 discusses the importance of giving all the students the opportunity to “play the game” while also participating in “sideline drills.”  This resonated with me because, as an athlete, there are times when I would rather not compete because I am nervous or do not feel that I am ready, but my coach enters me in the race anyway, telling me that it will be a good experience even I don’t hit the time I want.  Then, after I finish the race, I feel much more satisfied with myself and I learn something new each time, even if I don’t run a personal best time.  If I didn’t have the opportunity to compete, I wouldn’t have the chance to run a fast time let alone learn anything from the experience.  Then, after the race, I know exactly what it is that I need to work on or refine for next time, whether it’s going out a little slower, finishing speed, or keeping a consistent pace.  In my future classroom, I will always have my students combining “sideline drills” with opportunities to apply their skills.  That way, they can learn from their experiences and know what they have mastered and what they need to refine while I can adjust my lesson plans based on how my students are doing, just like my coach refines my training regime after each race.