Reviews for Unit Planner
Usage: I would use this product to plan units collaboratively with colleagues teaching high school English in my school and district. I would also use the product to co-plan units in American Literature with colleagues teaching American Literature in my school and beyond.
Strengths: The fact that that the product has global collaborators is its highlight.
Suggestions for Improvement: It would be great if the product
-followed the Madeline Hunter lesson plan format
-provided on-site PD for districts and schools
-provided a comprehensive list of courses available on the site
Verdict: I advocate for this product because it can be used as an accountability measure for lesson planning as well as a resource for novice teachers. Another feature , that this product supports is the ability for teachers, teacher leaders, and administration to identify and provide feedback. Charter schools such as ours have a high teacher turnover rate due to ineffective lesson planning and professional development that supports improvement. This product provides a service that could potentially a teacher's ability to plan and execute effective lessons
Usage: To plan my units for the future.
Strengths: I would like accessible templates and units already made. I like the framework and print out of the units so i can share it a lot easier.
Suggestions for Improvement: 1. Easier pd movement between teachers.
2. A live person to talk to if i have issues planning or using website.
3.
Verdict: Ease of collaboration between teachers. Teachers can work together without the inconvenience of moving around a school as large as my own.
Usage: I teach special ed and it would not benefit me.
Strengths: IT would be a great tool for regular ed teachers. The planning and collaboration would be awesome for them
Suggestions for Improvement: I cannot make suggestions for changes on a product that I have never used
Verdict: IT would definitely help the regular ed teachers
Usage: I think this would be an excellent tool to have teacher teams planning units as well as implement them with accuracy - equaling better student results.
Strengths: I am very impressed with the format and layout. It is very user friendly and easy to follow. It is explicit and direction and can even be shared among teachers so that cross-curricular projects can be planned for - this is so great for students - nothing is better than understanding the connections between content areas to make learning permanent.
Suggestions for Improvement: None
Verdict: I think this tool has all the elements in a friendly user format to design AND execute a strong unit plan - it includes all the essential pieces for a well-planned curriculum unit.
Usage: We're looking for open source textbooks to lower the cost for students to be able to afford them. We also want to promote offering faculty the opportunity to publish their research through an open source product.
Strengths: The product can be accessed from my computer and all of my mobile devices. Also it makes it very easy for faculty to navigate, especially those who are technically challenged!
Suggestions for Improvement: No changes.
Verdict: With the rising costs of textbooks, we need to invest in lower the costs for our students by providing a professional source that can help them. We also want to encourage faculty to publish their research through this product.
Usage: I could see the school working on this to use units that would help student learning across the board.
Strengths: This would help in writing unit lessons. It also allows a school to see what is being taught across curiculum and across grade levels.
Suggestions for Improvement: The cost may stop some but there are deals.
Verdict: This could help the grade levels to collabrate with each other in helping students to achieve.
Usage: Unit plans coordinated with standards
Strengths: The standards are built in so I wouldn't have to research the ones I would need.
Suggestions for Improvement: .
Verdict: Setup seems to be easy to use.
Usage: While it is a great tool for creating an organized Unit Plan...It would be an extra step to input the information AFTER I had already created or written up my draft....unless I took the time and effort to input while I was creating...
Strengths: It really is a great way and format to produce Unit Plans....
It is really cool that it allows teachers to visually see what it being taught and when across the school and grade levels
It solves the problem of varying levels of Unit Plan formats....ensures consistency
Suggestions for Improvement: Nothing....it would work well just as is....
Verdict: It is way too "techy" for my teachers and the Understanding By Design structure of lesson planning is over the head of many and outside the realm of desired activities for others at my school...