Practice: “Life” Standards Alignment
Prepare
- Read the Weekly Lesson and Chapter 7: Standards Alignment and the Appendix: Standards Alignment section in the Lopez (2013) text.
- Review the Speed Map Template.
- Review the Sample Speed Map.
- Read the Wiggins and McTighe (2005) Introduction, including the section titled The Twin Sins of Design.
Reflect
- For this assignment, identify a specific and practical life skill as the “standard” your learner needs to master. Refer to Lopez’s example table in Chapter 7 under the heading Two Activities to Get Started.
- Specific guidance on how to write specific, student-centered, attainable, observable, and measurable learning outcomes are presented in the Weekly Lesson. This is important to know as it applies directly to the second column in the template: Specific Skills.
Content Instructions
Your assignment should consist of a single document (Speed Map Template) including two parts:
- Five-column table (Speed Map Template)
- Practical Life Standard: Identify one specific life skill.
- Specific Skills: Identify 1-2 specific skills needed to master the identified life skill/standard. Phrase the skills as statements of learning outcomes/objectives as modeled in the Week 1 Weekly Lesson.
- Assessments: Select at least two ways to assess the skill(s). In other words, how will the learner show what he/she knows?
- Instructional Methods: Describe at least one engaging method for teaching the identified skills.
- Resources: List at least one source to support your instruction.
- Written Reflection: Below your table, include a brief, but specific explanation of the following:
- Explain in your own words why it is important to align standards for learning with measurable learning outcomes (skills), instruction, assessments, and resources.
- Describe how your previous understanding of standards alignment has shifted as a result of creating a Life Skills Speed Map.
Written Communication Instructions
- Length Requirement: Two to three pages including the five-column template and reflection, title, and references pages.
- Syntax and Mechanics: Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar.
- Source Requirement: Reference both assigned resources: Chapter 7 in Lopez (2013) and the assigned pages from the Wiggins and McTighe (2005) Introduction. Exemplary assignments will include at least one other resource from your own research, from those listed as a Recommended Resource, or found in the Weekly Lesson.
- Ace homework tutors – APA Formatting: Use Ace homework tutors – APA formatting consistently throughout the assignment. Refer to the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.) for assistance with Ace homework tutors – APA style and formatting.
Submitting Your Assignment
- Submit your assignment for evaluation. Get custom essay samples and course-specific study resources via course hero homework for you service – Include the link to your ePortfolio in the comments box when uploading. Instructions for creating or accessing an ePortfolio through Folio can be found in the Weekly Lesson.
- Archive your assignment in your ePortfolio by uploading to your Folio account. Once assignments are uploaded to your ePortfolio, they are considered artifacts and will be referenced as such.
- Once in your Folio account, select “Add Work.” Follow the step-by-step instructions.
- Once uploaded, add a title (e.g., Speed Map: Aligning Standards) and a one- to two-sentence description.
- Select “Education” as the category and give it the same title as the previous step.
- Your artifact should now be viewable in your Portfolio.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
