Instructional Design

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I have mixed feelings about the quote, "Education has missed the boat, with respect to instructional design. Teachers come up with lesson plans on the fly, with little thought to why they are presenting information or even who their audience is. Teacher training, at the university level and during Professional development, needs to focus on helping teachers become comfortable with instructional design principles." As a teacher, I admit that I have come up with lesson plans on the fly. As educators, it is our job to do this occasionally. We sometimes have to scratch our plans for the day or for a specific subject and pull something out of our back pockets, because our students aren't ready for what we originally had planned, or a lot of students are absent that day, or we were going to use technology devices and the internet is down, or who knows what! We are juggling a lot in our classrooms and sometimes it just happens, we have to teach on the fly! I wouldn't say that I do it with little thought to why I am presenting the information or who my audience is though. I always know who my audience is, my 4th-grade students and I always have a reason for presenting information to them. If there are really teachers out there doing this, then I feel that they aren't doing their job. They are doing their students a disservice and that would start to reflect in their school work. I would hope that all teachers are teaching their students with a purpose and it is designed for their intended audience. I think having State Standards and/or Common Core Standards that have to be taught and met, help teachers to design lessons with a purpose and are for our intended audience since each grade level has a different set of standards. From there, teachers have to know their students in their classrooms well enough to be able to differentiate where it is needed. Also, most schools/districts have curriculum available to them that was designed with a purpose and for the audience in their classrooms. Maybe I feel this way because my teacher training at the university level and within professional development at my school/district has made me very comfortable and aware of instructional design principles. How do other educators feel about this quote? 
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Comments

  1. Karen DingmanJune 5, 2018 at 8:54 PM

    I agree! I have mixed feelings too. Maybe it is because we are educators and we are taught to follow the rules and look at things in a glass half full perspective. Teaching definitely has its moments where flexibility and teaching on the fly happen. But maybe the instructional design is to plan more what happens if not all the stars line up? What do you think?

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  2. UnknownJune 10, 2018 at 4:43 PM

    Every teacher has to teach on the fly at sometime, but I almost feel offended reading that we are not doing what is best for the students when we do this. I don't know if there is a teacher out there that hasn't looked at their audience and what the outcome will be when they make a plan. I feel where the teacher may miss the boat is how they are looking at the means of teaching it. Students want to learn but it needs to grab their attention and hold onto it until the end.
    I read in one of the articles that we were given that this type of learning is not meant for every lesson, because of the time and effort that you have to put in to create these. Therefore, that gives teachers the opportunity to be able to make a fabulous lesson on the fly!

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    Replies
    1. Chandler FreemanJune 11, 2018 at 11:37 AM

      Hey Abby! I agree with you and feel the same way! I like what you said about looking at the means of teaching it. Teaching on the fly can be done in a lot of different ways, we just have to be careful about how we do it!

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    2. UnknownJune 11, 2018 at 4:44 PM

      I agree that teaching on the fly can be done in different ways and yes we just have to be careful that we are doing what is best for the students.

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    3. Karen DingmanJune 12, 2018 at 11:28 AM

      I also feel that when students ask questions it can guide and direct the lesson in to a whole teachable moment that wasn't planned. If we did not embrace those moments, students might lose that curiosity that is needed to develop their critical thinking skills.

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  3. UnknownJune 12, 2018 at 11:43 AM

    I so agree with you Karen! We have to meet the needs of the students.

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