Chapter I : Backward Design

In this chapter the authors argue that the planning should start from the back of the traditional planning that most of the teachers (at least in Chile) use. This means that the authors propose to start by "identifying the desired results", here teachers should state goals; review content, and curriculum focusing on students' understanding of it. As a second aspect refers to "determining acceptable evidence", here the teachers should assess students to get evidence that reveals students' understanding. Finally, teachers should plan activities that enable knowledge and skills for students to be able to "perform effectively and achieve the desired skills" From my point of view, it is necessary to understand that the focus of our teaching practices is to help students learn. For meeting that goal, this proposal lets teachers focus on the objective of the lesson, the Whatfor! (as they mention in the book). I would just add another step to follow that I think is really important: to realize of our context. It is very important to have a clear idea of what our students like, what our students lack of (values and content), and from that start building our objectives, joining them with what the curriculum establishes. From that, we can start following the Backward Design!