a group of friends decide to organize a day out.

Katie's excited because she thinks a day at a folk festival would be perfect.

Sam is excited because he sees everyone heading out of town for a long peaceful

bush walk.

Sue is excited because she imagines the group visiting the snowfields

and having their first ever ski lesson. The group arranges a meeting time

a place then get busy with their own lives.

On the appointed day the three friends meet, pile into the car and set off.

As time passes Sam becomes grumpy because the group keeps driving past

all of the exits to the best bush walks. He wonders why he has his hiking boots on.

A bit later Sue becomes grumpy because Katie is turned off the highway

away from the snowfields and Sue is regretting putting her thermals on this

morning.

She wonders why she has been working so hard on her quads at the gym.

An hour later Katie pulls the car over and lets her friends know that she is

lost.

By the end of the day none the friends have achieved their goal.

What if the three friends approached their day out differently.

Katie, Sam and Sue get together to talk about what they would like to do.

They decide on a common outcome for the day, plan what each will need to do to get

ready

and what the group will do together to make sure the day out

is a big success. As the weeks go past the group talks often to make sure

everyone is moving towards being able to participate in the daytrip.

Katie gets used to using contact lenses.

Sam buys a new wetsuit and Sue speaks about working on her swimming

skills.

The group also plans what they will need to take,

book to surf school and organise how they will get to the beach.

On the nominated date the three friends meet,

pile into the car and set off. They reach the beach in time for their lesson

and have a terrific day together. Backward design

is like the second scenario. Teachers start unit planning with the end in mind.

They consider the outcomes of a unit of work before mapping out how each

individual student

and therefore the entire class will get there. This way the learning and teaching

in the classroom

gives every student the opportunity of reaching the final destination.