Annual Plans - the big advantage

My first reaction is that there are numerous advantages to the annual plan and few, if any, disadvantages. The main advantage of the annual plan is that it fits perfectly in the backward design. As we are just learning, the backward design is the best approach to get to where you want to go. The main concept is that you are first figuring out what you want as the desired learning result. Next, you would be figuring out the evidence the student must demonstrate to show they have reached the desired result. After that, you would do the planning for the project.
It is interesting to see how we have been doing everything in the reverse order, although in thinking this through, I do not completely believe that we have been doing this in the reverse order. On some levels we have to be thinking of the desired result, as we are carrying out our plans in forward order. This change in strategy would mostly impact the middle level. For once you decide on the desired result or the lesson plan, the necessary information one must obtain is the evidence that the goal will be achieved.
I specifically look back to one lesson that I had planned on doing. I had the idea for my lesson for at least 3 weeks and was excited about the idea. It was not until I flushed out the idea that I realized a major component of the idea was not “doable.” This process became clear when I was exchanging emails with my field experience teacher. Had I planned from the backward design, the flaw in my planning could have become apparent much sooner. The flaw was in the middle part of the process
This concept ties into the annual plan as we are figuring out the desired result, so when we arrive at our location, we will be in the correct spot.
The only potential disadvantage that I see is getting used to working backwards, as it is a different orientation. Starting with resources when designing units is essential, in that if you cannot find the resources than you cannot implement the plan.