UDL Educator Checklist

So far I have given some tips on how to begin incorporating the UDL principles and guidelines into you instruction. In the last post, we identifed barriers that students might experience in the curriculum using the Curriculum Barriers Template.

Another great tool to use when incorporating UDL into your instruction is the UDL Guidelines-Educator Checklist. This list is broken down into the three main principles of UDL: multiple means of representation, multiple means for action and expression, and multiple means for engagement. The elements of all three should be inculde when developing a lesson in order to make learning accessbile for all.

I tried out the educator checklist on one of my recently developed lessons to see how I was making learning accessible for my students. After going through the lesson with the checklist, I could see that I did not provide enough options for perception as well as options for physical actions. Below you can see some of the adjustments that I made to the lesson highlighted in yellow. The digital copies of the article that had previously just been paper copies can now be viewed more easily and the text and visuals can be enlarged or highlighted on the Smart Board if necessary. We can also use the Smart Board to watch a video on gorillas or fossils if more background information is needed.  The option of alternative keyboards and computers would also provide an additional way for students to respond for the assessment portion of the activity.

Some characteristics in my lesson plan that I identified as being very useful and covering multiple points on the checklist were: my modeling of the strategy, the use of a powerpoint to build and review previously learned information, the use of a graphic organizer and the use of a rubric.

Experiencing the Curriculum Barriers Template

After previously going through the process of the Curriculum Barriers Tutorial where I explored a template that can be used to identify barriers that a student might face in the curriculum, I decided to complete a template on one of my own students. 

I chose to examine a visually impaired student of mine and how they would be effected by the 4th grade reading curriculum. When looking at the template below you can see the materials and methods that the student would use and experience as well as the qualities of that student. Identifying all of theses factors helped me to determine the barriers that this particular student faces when engaging in the reading curriculum in the classroom. 

After completing the template and reflecting on the barriers this student would face, I found myself referring back to the UDL guidelines and my previous posts to see how I could eliminate the barriers for that student. This is the great thing about the template. It really gets you thinking about how to improve instruction and make learning accessible for all. 

Here are some ideas that I came up with to eliminate this student's barriers in my classroom:

• Read the textbook online so that the text and visuals can be enlarged
• Provide the student with grade level books on tape
• Copy portions of texts and enlarge them on the copier
• Partner the student with a peer for seat work assignments
• Enlarge tests or allow student to type the essay portions
• Conduct the test orally

Curriculum Barriers Tutorial

In my previous posts I have explored various resources in which to assist educators in making learning accessible for all students (Universal Design for Learning). When thinking about incorporating the UDL guidelines into everyday instruction, deciding where to start may be a little overwhelming. The curriculum barriers tutorial on CAST.org guides you through the creation of a template that can be used to easily identify your students characteristics and the barriers that theses may create in a learning environment specific to an area of curriculum. Once these barriers are identified, educators can look to UDL guidelines on how to eliminate or reduce learning barriers for students. 

To complete the tutorial:

1. You will be prompted to choose a student.

2. Choose a curriculum.

3. After reading about your student and the chosen curriculum, you will identify characteristics of your student will analyzing the barriers that they may face with that curriculum. 

4. Finally, you fill in and create the template. 
 

My student was Jamal, a young man with cerebral palsy who is an enthusiastic student, but struggles with motor skills that affect his writing and speech. See the finalized template that I created on Jamal below. 

After completing this tutorial, I can see how helpful it would be when implementing UDL into my instruction. The template is a quick and easy-to-understand reference that an educator can refer to when creating lessons to be sure that there are no barriers are present. Doing so will make learning accessible for all students in the classroom!

DO IT: Equal Access: Universal Design for Instruction

After learning and exploring the ins and outs of UDL or Universal Design for Learning, I was left wondering how to make my classroom more "UDL friendly" as quickly and inexpensively as possible. With funds for technology not easily accessible in my school district, I was happy to read the article, "Equal Access:Universal Design for Instruction" from the University of Washington's DO IT website. DO IT is and international center that promotes the success of individuals with disabilities. Although they focus primarily on post-secondary education, I was found their resources to very useful at many levels. 

                                                             

The article was an easy to understand checklist for inclusive teaching without having to purchase costly software programs or technology. UDI as they call it, was described by the author as, "rather than designing for the average student, you design instruction for students who potentially have broad ranges with respect to ability, disability, age, reading level, learning style, native language, race, ethnicity, and other characteristics" (Burgstahler, 2012). I found this definition to fit perfectly with my topics on UDL in my previous posts. 

Besides recommending that you check out the article, be sure to print out the "Communication Hints" that was provided at the close of the article. It's a great reference that educators or anyone who interacts with people with disabilities can use immediately. It clearly provided respectful ways to communicate with people with various disabilities. As a classroom teacher this list will assist me in creating a comfortable learning environment for all of my students.

REFERENCES

Burgstahler , S. (2012). Equal Access:Universal Design for Instruction. Retrieved June 9, 2013, from http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/PDF/equal_access_udi.pdf

PAL "Planning for all Learners" Toolkit

PAL or “Planning for all Learners” is a toolkit that will assist educators in implementing the UDL guidelines and principles into their instruction. In my last post, I examined a digital textbook that deepened my understanding of UDL which is necessary in order to implement PAL. When putting this toolkit into effect there are 2 prerequisites to keep in mind:

1. A basic understanding of UDL.
2. The commitment of the participating educators to make the curriculum and learning accessible for all learners.

Once a PAL team is established, they will follow these 4 basic steps based on the UDL principles to implement PAL into the curriculum:

 

 

As the common core standards will soon be implemented, I think that the PAL tutorial would be very useful to educators when reexamining their curriculum. One specific resource that I saw to be extremely valuable to myself and especially beginning teachers when thinking about how to use UDL most effectively was the UDL Class Learning Profile. “The Class Profile Maker tool supports you in creating a learning profile for the students in your class. By noting the key strengths, needs, and interests of each student in each of the three networks, you may learn things about students that were not obvious before" ("Tool: UDL Class Profile Maker: Tools and Activities: Teaching Every Student", n.d.). You could also develop individual profiles for students and merge them into your class profile. As a teacher, I like how this tool would help me to adjust my teaching according to my students’ individual needs.

 

Here is a model individual profile that was provided about a girl named Sophia.

	Strengths	Needs	Interests / Preferences
Recognition (learning "what")	Good ear Good language comprehension; understands nuance	Legally Blind
Strategy (learning "how")	Excellent singer; quick learner auditory; reads Braille well	Cannot sight read music
Affect (learning "why")	Strong social relationships		Loves music

 

 

REFERENCES

Tool: UDL Class Profile Maker: Tools & Activities: Teaching Every Student. (n.d.). Retrieved June 8, 2013, from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/tools/classprofiletool.cfm

 

Teaching Every Student:UDL

On CAST.org, there was yet another useful resource to support my understanding of UDL. Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning is a digital textbook that allowed me to furthur explore the components of UDL. Universal Design for Learning provides specific principles to allow educators to remove barriers from teaching methods and curriculum. Thus, making learning accessible for all students. Now that I have become familiar with the three main principles of UDL and how to incorporate them into my instruction,  this online manual provided me with many additional visuals, videos, and links to continue my learning experience. Because it was so UDL friendly, this online text reminded me of the digital books that I explored in my previous post, but on an adult level.

In my previous post, I discussed ways to incorporate UDL into the classroom. As a teacher I have learned that in order to incorporate new learning techniques, it is important to know the different ways that your students learn in order for them to find success in your classroom. Sometimes putting yourself in someone else's shoes is the best way to figure that out. The website provided two interesting activities to help you understand how your brain works and how that connects to the principles of UDL. Although I found these activities would be too challenging for my elementary aged students, I found the activities particularly useful in deepening my understanding of how my own brain works according to UDL. Additionally, they gave me a new perspective on the different ways that my students learn in the classroom.

 

Get to Know Yourself the UDL Way!



Universal Design for Learning = Learning for Everyone

As a teacher in today's classroom, it is important that I continually create and modify instruction that works for all of my students. After reviewing the three major principles of UDL on the Wiki site and now on cast.org, I feel better informed and equipped to provide equal opportunities for learning and assessment in my classroom.

As a  teacher in a Title 1 school, on major challenge that I face year to year is found in Principle I of UDL, Providing Multiple Means of Representation or referred to earlier as "how the learning is presented". With many students in my classroom who struggle with language, one specific area under this principle that I plan to improve in my instruction with UDL in mind is to promote understanding across languages. According to CAST'S website, under checkpoint 2.4, this can be incorporated in a variety of ways.

To promote understanding across languages in the classroom I can:

• make key information available in English and the student's first language (e.g. Spanish, ASL, etc.)
• show connections for vocabulary and pronunications to English and first languages
• provide electronic translation tool or links to mutlilingual glossaries on the web
• embed pictures and videos that support vocabulary clarification into instruction

The website also provided a variety of resources that I can use to implement these actvities into my teaching immediately. All educators trying to improve the langauge of their students would benefit from exploring the links found on that page.





Watch this video or read the article to see an example of arts integration to promote academic achievement. "Opening Minds Through the Arts (OMA) is a student-achievement program that uses music, dance, and visual arts to teach skills used in reading, writing, math, science, and other subjects" (Edutopia, 2009). This is a great example of Principle I of UDL, Providing Multiple Means of Representation.

REFERENCES:
Edutopia (2009, January 26). http://www.edutopia.org/arts-opening-minds-integration-video.

Wiki:UDL

Welcome! This blog will serve as a document of my journey of learning about assistive technology in special education. I hope to discover and share with others the various ways to make learning accessible for all students in the classroom.

This Wiki provided information on the CAST Universal Design for Learning, a set of principles that educators should follow when making learning accessbile for all students. Universal Design for Learning, when implemented, allows educators to meet the varied needs of the learners in their classrooms. The three main principles under UDL were presented on the Wiki as:

• multiple means of representation (how the learning is presented)
• multiple means of expression (how the learners demonstrate their learning)
• multiple means of engagement (how to engage students in learning)

When exploring this Wiki site, I found some web links for UDL. I chose to check out the CAST UDL books where I discovered digital books that could be easily modified for students with various learning needs. As a teacher you could choose to alter the book according to maximum, moderate, or minimum support. Students were also able to change the size of text, have it read to them by the computer, easily translate any word in the text, as well as look it up in the dictionary or conduct a google search. These adaptations could be achieved by using an easy to understand toolbar located at the top of the page. I thought that these books were a perfect fit for implementing the principles of UDL. There were only seven books at various grade levels, but I really loved this feature and wish it was available through the reading program that I use in my classroom. In my classroom, students are able to read the texts online that are in our shared reading books, but do not have access to features like these.

Click on the picture to check out the digital edition that I explored titled, "All About Coyotes"!





WIKI SITE