I currently teach 3rd grade ELAR, and was in this position when given the UDL guidelines. We were of course encouraged to do as much as we could, but then it pretty much got thrown to the side, unfortunately. Reading back over this, I can see how this would help guide us through our daily challenges with such varying students, especially now going through this whole pandemic thing! I would have to say that I am pretty in touch with the Representation part, the WHAT of learning. I am always open to differentiating the ways that the students can present what they have learned. I find myself always clarifying and providing background knowledge, especially due to the fact that I teach in a low economic district where the children do not have much exposure to the world outside their little one stop light town. It is hard for them to visualize and make connections with many things because they have never been able to experience or witness such ideas, events, etc. Even something as simple as reading a book about a circus and having them reflect on what they would see there can be a challenge because the majority have never been or seen a circus on television. It is always breaking my heart the limit of exposure a lot of our students here have.
As I look through the guidelines, I realize that I could begin to implement a majority of the Action and Expression column! Technology is such a huge factor in education now, and it is everywhere. I feel that this column points towards using different medias to learn, understand, and respond to the learning. The students are more tech savvy than me anyway, so this would give them the opportunity to teach me a few things! Also, giving the students the opportunity to learn and respond in different ways may establish a sense of relief, comfort, etc. We all learn and absorb information in different ways, and we also respond in different ways. Letting students have those different opportunities can only advance them and help to make them more successful.
information at them and hoping that they soak it in. I need more interesting and invigorating ways to excite students about learning, even when I know it will bore them to death! I want them to want to be here! And what do you do when there is no parent support at home?? How can we be the only one that encourages them enough to make them crave knowledge?
We all always want to know more about how to improve our teaching strategies. UDL can do just that. There are many resources on line that can be found to help us implement UDL. You can find a few links below. For me, it's all about learning MORE about the UDL and how to implement each area, where to begin. These sites helped me understand so much more than just the graphic organizer you saw at the beginning of my blog! They really brought the light to the Universal Design of Learning!
Hi Sabrina, I enjoyed reading through your linked articles! I know we all work hard to teach our students in ways that is inclusive to all. It can be tricky to remember or think about it for every lesson tough. The texthelp article had great suggestions for quickly implementing UDL in simple ways that I think would be manageable.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Sabrina! I see where you're coming from when mention engagement. I struggle a little in that area as well when it comes to reinforcing why learning the subject is important.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing those links!! It's great that your admin have presented your campus with these guidelines. Agree, the design does work for everyone! I heard about UDL for the first time this semester but have learned so much. I know have more learning to do but thanks to this assignment I know where I stand and what my specific goal and steps are for implementing UDL.
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