I did not go to school to be a teacher...at least not initially. My focus was on journalism, mass media, and all things MarCom. I was a Communication major who was fortunate to land some great jobs with the local CBS station and several radio stations as a college student at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas.

     Teaching came into view about 3 years after graduation. I'm not sure if my professors planned my classes and lessons with UbD (G. Wiggins et al., 2005) in mind, but they certainly gave me some transfer goals that worked well moving from a career in journalism to a career in education. These include: Knowing my audience, writing with intentionality & in a non-editorialized manner, getting to the point and heart of a story, flexibility, and working within a set timeframe to accomplish a specific individual or group goal.

     As I thought of my course design for 5313, and my greater INNOVATION PLAN, I began with the end in mind, just as I would in producing a news report or lesson plan. I had to ponder what I wanted to accomplish for my organization and for the individual learner. In a newsroom, this is how we planned a newscast. In the classroom, this is how I planned a Unit. Making this work for an organizational change in processes took a bit of a mind-shift, but again, transferable skills came into play.

I see the 3-Column Chart and my UbD Plan, below, play vital, but very different, roles. In planning for the overall purpose and goal of my project and innovation plan, Fink's (2003) 3-column table helps set the overall guidlines. In planning for the individual lessons to be taught and learner's goals to accomplish, planning with UbD allows for a deeper level of planning and intentionality. Overall, in order to achieve the goals set forth in the 3-Column Chart, I'd be looking at a minimum of 9 classes using the UbD Planning Template.