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.