November work on unit plans

November began with a 2-day in-service by an external presenter on all three stages of UbD. The break-out session gave us opportunities to work as a dept and revamp some plans.
We worked with each stage of a chosen unit to get a sense of how to critique each others units constructively. Marty and I worked on each others IB English units.

Stage 1: The focus was on
the EUs - were they broad enough and comprehensive enough?
the EQs - did they relate to the chosen standards and benchmarks?
- were they comprehensive and specific?
Content/Knowledge - did they represent the benchmarks?
Skills - did they cover the skills necessary to reach the intended learnings?
- a set of general skills categorized as Trans-Disciplinary skill
- subject-specific skills related to English Language/Literature

Stage 2: Linking assessment with the intended learnings (expressed as content and skills).
Attempting to ensure a match
Ensuring that each assessment tool was expressed in terms of the acronym GRASPS

Stage 3: Expressing Learning Plans in terms of WHERETO

This was accomplished for both chosen units.

The in-service provided some insight into the details of each stage in UbD. It helped me focus on areas that need strengthening in my unit plans. Gave me practice on how to review and reinforce a plan.
Now this process could be applied to the other plans.