Instructional Decision Making

In lieu of blogging this week, I ask you all to start writing your next TWS artifact: Instructional Decision Making. This narrative assignment asks you to describe and explain and reflect upon TWO significant instructional decisions that you made mid-stream in your unit based upon observational, formative, and summative data you were receiving during the unit.

Please be aware that the nature of your instructional decisions is SPECIFIC in the instructions for this piece of writing: one decision needs to have been inspired by a group of students, and the other decision needs to have been inspired by a SINGLE student. I've pasted the actual directions below, so you can work from the same language with which I'll be judging your artifact.

I'm feeling the pressure of this high-stakes assessment for you here, folks. I need you to feel it, too! And, I need you to get started. Please take the time you normally set aside for the blog to get to work on drafting your narrative for this artifact. No excuses when I ask for drafts of this on Thursday, okay?

Part I

Think of a time during your unit when learning or responses for a group of students within the class caused you to modify your original design for instruction. (The resulting revision may affect students besides those who prompted the change.)

• Generally describe the students’ learning, motivation, engagement, or other responses that caused you to rethink your plans for class instruction. The students’ learning or response may come from a planned assessment (not the pre-assessment) or another task
• Describe the revisions in the instructional unit that you made and explain why you thought your decision would improve students’ progress toward the learning goals and unit objectives.
• Include specific evidence that supports your decision-making and describes the effect on student progress.

Part II

Now, think of another time during your unit when an individual student’s learning or response caused you to revise a different portion of your original design for instruction. (The resulting revision may affect students besides the one who prompted the change.

• Describe this student’s learning or response that caused you to rethink your plans. The student’s learning or response may come from a planned assessment (not the pre-assessment) or another task.
• Describe what revisions you made and explain why you thought your decision would improve this student’s progress toward the learning goals and unit objectives.
• Include specific evidence that supports your decision-making and describes the effect on student progress.