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Kelsea Trefethen
Chapter 9 of UbD/DI focused on showing ways to implement the UbD and DI theories in a unit. The book used a good example, of a fifth or sixth grade nutrition unit, throughout the chapter. Seeing real life example really helped me grasp the ideas the book was stressing. Figure 9.1 “Integrating and Applying the Big Ideas of UbD and DI” is an extremely helpful graphic organizer. The organizer breaks all the important steps to blending a differentiated classroom into predetermined units. One thing I noticed about Figure 9.1 was how on both sides of the organizer there are continuing steps, “Continue developing a learning environment that promotes success for each learner” and “Continue actively learning about the strengths and needs of each learner.” I really like how the book displayed this. It is crucial for teachers to continuously monitor student success, comfort, strengths and needs. One quote I really liked from this chapter was, “A teacher who understands that learner variability is also a factor in student success considers students as carefully as content and plans for their needs with equal care.” I think this quote really sums up the chapter. A differentiated classroom is as trivial as a strong curriculum. This chapter gave me a lot of great insight and motivation on how to really incorporate the UbD and DI theories in any curriculum. Before I had read this chapter, I understood how to design a unit and create a differentiated classroom, but I didn’t understand how to use the two together.

Johnny Buys
Chapter 9: Bringing it All Together: Curriculum and Instruction through the Lens of UbD and DI In chapter nine Tomlinson and McTighe review the essential goals of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction while displaying a model as well. Most notable besides the nature of the review is the process that is revealed through the organization. After the initial unit is structured from the major goals of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction careful attention is given to “learner variability” to differentiate instruction further based off of personalization (153). Through focus of students and then analyzing different success rates, the teacher is further ready to address specific adjustments, accommodations, and tiering for students. It is vital for teachers to understand the importance of flexibility in make the right adjustments for different learning styles. Rigidity to content is just as miserable as the “coverage” method mentioned earlier because not only does it forget about being student understanding centered for content centered, but it neglects students as well. The chapter also commentates on what indicators in environment, curriculum, teachers, and learners should display in Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction classrooms. The environment should be designed to respecting students to be productive and collaborative members who are seeking for understanding of big ideas while being comfortable to do so (162-163). The curriculum is reflective of the earlier mentioned principles of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction (163). The teacher is constantly seeking understanding of the big ideas while constantly modifying and adjusting curriculum to the students’ needs (164). The learners reciprocate the teacher’s model.

Leanne Fasulo
The ninth chapter of //UBD/DI// brings together UBD and DI for creating a curriculum and how to teach students. It gives a quick review of the main principles of both theories, which is important towards the end of the book because both theories can be very complex. On page 145 the book displays the figure 9.1 about “Integrating and Applying the Big Ideas of UBD and DI”. This is a good visual to come back too as a teacher, because it gives a quick and simple reference to the main ideas. I know that when it comes time for me to be in the classroom I would probably be so busy that I would not be able to read this book again extensively so this would be a resource that I could use. Using the continued theme of nutrition the book models what a unit would look like if a teacher were to use UBD/DI. It also includes a rubric, which I found interesting to look at since that is what we are doing in class. While the book is reiterating a lot of topics that we have been looking at I really think the examples are pretty powerful. Especially since in practicum we are doing lesson plans, units, and assessments etc. for the first time. It is nice to look at what a professional UBD/DI curriculum would look like when finished. I know that when I am a teacher I will be creating my curriculum around these principles, because it seems like the best way to reach each student and meet their needs.

Kalib Moore
Chapter nine of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction discussed how to plan a unit combining both understanding by design and differentiated instruction. Before this chapter, being able to combing both of these would probably be out of the question. After chapter nine however, I am much more aware on home to incorporate both into creating a good unit. Though I found the chapter to drag on at times, overall it was an interesting chapter that I had a feeling was going to be presented to us in the near future. A quote that stuck out to me came on page 165, "When integrated, the two frameworks certainly challenge teachers, but they also reflect the best of content-//and// learner-centered planning, teaching, and assessing." (Tomlinson & McTighe) Throughout the chapter, Tomlinson and McTighe give many different scenarios of different classrooms that incorporate both understanding by design and differentiated instruction. It was a lot of information to cover in one chapter, but was overall very intriguing. All of what we read in //Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction// is building on top of each other. Each new piece of information on the path to creating a lesson is going to come in good use over the next few weeks, and the rest of my teaching career. I hope that this book, and the others, becomes useful tools when building units as a new teacher, and hopefully I can eventually start creating units in my own unique way once I have mastered UbD/DI.

Richie Johnson
It was interesting to read of the key elements of “backward design” teaching that was positioned in the front of the chapter, as our class has been essentially doing exactly what it suggested during the creation of our unit plans. Chapter nine of //Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design// is mainly concerned with “instructional planning.” This includes all of the things presented in the outline at the beginning of the chapter. To me, this sort of thing appears basic, and only serves as a summary of the gist of the other chapters we have read. However, I also am able to recognize how to many people, especially those who actually trained to become a teacher many years ago, would see this sort of thing as innovative (and in some cases terribly wrong). Last night a friend of mine was telling how worked up she was as she was going to have a test today, and that it was worth nearly a quarter of her final grade (there are 3 major tests all together in the class, each worth a great amount). It seems shocking that testing in this way is still a common practice, especially with all of the information there is regarding how doing so is not, in itself, a very effective way of assessing a student. In fact, I am a bit surprised that there isn’t a big push to eliminate tests all together! I believe that “surveys” (basically ungraded tests) serve as a better function of assessing student knowledge than tests do! This sort of deal goes to show how vital it is that teachers do everything in their power to stay informed and relevant. Technology, theories and knowledge is constantly changing, and if, as a teacher, you’re not with it, then you may easily be left behind.
 * //Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design: Chapter IX//**

Christina L Quach
Chapter 9 talks about pulling together curriculum with the use of backwards design and the incorporation of differentiated instruction. The beginning provided a quick recap of what we have learned so far about differentiated instruction. The chapter provided a list of “observable indicators” that I thought were very interesting (162-165). These indicators can be used to make sure the teacher is being the best teacher they can be and provided every resource for the students and as importantly, they can use these lists to make sure the students are getting a great education. Tomlinson and McTighe also talk about how while a teacher continues to learn and observe their students, techniques and plans will change to incorporate the new information. This is a form of differentiated instruction that never ends. I have had teachers that could not really reach me for a while. After time passed, the teacher tried new ways to lure me into the content. Of course they never said to me that they were differentiating their instruction, but from knowing more about it, it seems like that is what my teachers had been doing. It really is forever changing, and like this chapter mentioned, I as a teacher will need to continue to make changes so that my students can benefit from my teaching. When a student is not understanding the content or not performing as well as others, it is time to step back and try something new. It is the job of the teacher to notice these things and make the changes that will be effective, even if the teacher has never tried the tactic before.

Tyler Oren
Chapter nine of //Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design// by Carol Tomlinson and Jay McTighe discusses applying each of the former chapter which detail and describe principles of differentiated instruction and understanding by design as well as techniques for integrating them into the classroom into the final product, creating a curriculum and mode of instruction that utilizes the two. Tomlinson and McTighe return to a basic overview of the other chapters and summarize the principles of understanding by design and differentiated instruction so that teachers can combine them into the curriculum. The authors go into depth on differentiating a unit to ensure that students learn the most from the unit and suggest gathering the necessary data to do so through pre-assessment. Tomlinson and McTighe assert that once a teacher has gathered an understanding of their student’s unique levels of readiness they can begin to plan their unit through the method of backward design that they discussed in earlier chapters.  Towards the conclusion of the chapter Tomlinson and McTighe discusses indentifyable factors of a classroom that has successfully integrated differentiated instruction and understanding by design and describe them as a learning environment where students feel respected and valued, and students have high expectations and natural incentives to learn at a sophisticated level. The authors describe the curriculum one that uses multiple methods to explore the big ideas and key concepts of a unit, has assessment that is attached to authentic performances that utilize the high level thinking of bloom’s taxonomy and the facets of understanding, application and explanation.

Cyril Lunt
For this chapter of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instructions, the two authors do it again: taking a good idea and making it woefully boring. The first part of the chapter was a summary of what we've read thus far. While this seemed like a good idea, my only problem is that //every chapter does this.// The second part of the chapter, which was the majority of the remainder, was to show backwards designing in action, as well as how to use what you've learned from the previous eight chapters.

Really, this chapter felt like those clip show montages that TV shows occasionally did in the 90s, before we realized that those were really annoying. This chapter was exactly like that, but it was written recently. I felt slightly cheated-- used, even. Here I am, trying to slog through this book, and the second to last chapter is a //clip show?// And it's not like the ending is stellar either, as that was the first thing we did.

I've had it up to here with this book. It must be destroyed.

But, I'll let it live.

//For now.//

Kyle Kuvaja
In chapter nine of //Integrating Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction// discusses how teachers can create a curriculum using UbD and DI. The authors began the chapter by looking at the previous eight chapters to help understand the ideas that are brought up. Tomlinson and McTighe reinforce that teachers need to understand their students before developing an effective UbD/DI unit. Then teachers use the backwards planning process, discussed in previous chapters, to develop that actual unit itself. Not only do teachers need to realize who their students are, but they need to realize that their students will change during the current school year and in future years as new classes come in. Their curriculum needs to accommodate the changes in their students. The end of the chapter discusses how to evaluate success changes in curriculum. One of these indicators is mutual respect between the teacher and student. If students are acting out and not being respectful towards you then it might be time to evaluate the curriculum and make changes accordingly. This chapter summed up a lot of important points that were discussed in previous chapters. I am excited in the direction that education could be headed in. If future teachers adapt MI theory and UbD/DI into their planning, instruction, and evaluation then I feel that future generations will benefit greatly. While many of the points in the chapters seemed obvious, it all comes together to form an original idea that I unfortunately did not experience. I hope that I can one day incorporate these theories to help promote a life-long love of learning to my students.

Evgeni Bouzakine
This chapter tries to cover everything we have learned earlier into real life idea and tips for including UbD and DI together when creating a unit. The backwards design model with the three stages starts of the chapter, followed by an example of a health unit that was created using the backwards design model. This unit looked quite similar to what we have been doing in our class. It also mentions the idea of focusing on students in relation to the unit goals, and what tasks can be done throughout the unit. In order to know if UbD/DI has been incorporated into the classroom, we must look for the signs. Teachers would have to observe the students in their learning environment. The way they act and respond to their peers around them would be on indicator of that. Another indicator would be the curriculum and how well it connects with the students. The learners would be the biggest indicators, providing information to the teacher that is needed. Looking through this chapter I want to be able to develop students learning. But by combining UbD and DI I can have the proper balance for my unit.

Brittany Blackman
Chapter nine is all about how to integrate UbD and DI into an actual unit. This chapter actually supplied us with a lot of beneficial tools. On page 142 there is a detailed description of backwards design. It gives the main ideas and then bullet notes of what the main idea entails. This will be a handy thing to refer back to in the future. Immediately after the backwards design list, there is a chart showing how to use UbD and DI in the classroom on page 145. It talks about giving your students pre-assessments in the beginning of the class and before the unit, and it shows in what order you should create your materials and what not. Right after that chart is an actual unit mapped out for us. Every step and component is displayed with all of the information. This will be a very helpful tool to refer too when making a unit. It is also beneficial, because the topic is health, which is something everyone can understand and follow.

The most useful example in this chapter is the example of how to differentiate the lesson. There are several different things the teacher does for her students, like helping some with the reading materials or differing the assignments to allow for the most growth. My favorite example is allowing the student that doesn’t sit and listen well to videotape when guest speakers come. I thought that was a wonderful idea. A lot of the examples made are things we have already covered in class, but this one was new so it stood out at me because of that as well.