The Final Exam

I want to wish everyone a great winter break. You earned a bit of a vacation this semester. It truly has been a pleasure to get to know all of you. I am a fan of hiring the rookie teacher because you often bring so much energy, ideas, and hope to the table. Our classes revealed to me you all have something to offer in this profession. Please know if you need anything in the future you know where to reach me. Good luck on the exam. Remember...this is an individual exercise. Email them back to me by December 10th. Your file name should be your last name.

These should look pretty familiar

Final Exam: Pick 3. Answers should not be for than 250 words.


1. What is the purpose of having “essential questions and enduring understandings” in unit design? How does this connect modern research on how most people learn? How does it connect to the notion or processing our media rich world?

2. What is the purpose behind the GRASPS acronym and rubric in UbD design?

3. What should a reformed social studies teacher / curriculum look like according to James Loewen? How might you defend using this as supplementary resource in a conservative school district? Why might you defend a conservative position and not employ Loewen’s research or criticisms?


4. Discuss the merits and reservations of using _____________(you select a strategy)in a social studies classroom.

5. How do you make cooperative learning work in the classroom considering the shortcomings you reviewed in the workbook?


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How might you answer the below question in an interview? Pick only one.

1. A parent calls up complaining about how their child only learned from the chalk and talk teaching approach. The child was successful in those types of classes in which the teacher required passive learning and memorization. Your class has been taxing to the child because you have employed methods that stem from the spirit of UbD and a constructivist classroom. What would you communicate to the parent to assure them that learning was real in your class? (FYI: real question—and a real situation).


2. Let’s say you were in an interview situation again. Let’s say the district you were applying to arrived at the Classrooms of the Future grant. What might you explain in an interview that makes you the right fit to carry out the district mission of infusing technology using this grant money.