It is exciting to go around PHRD to see what great things are happening with respect to Inclusive practice. It is an honor to work with so many teachers that are passionate, life long learners willing to look at various ways to connect and engage students. My blog posts will focus on this journey. I am excited to have been given the opportunity to engage in a 14 day professional learning experience with 4 other PHRD colleagues. Colleen Toews, Margaret Benham, Michelle Rau and Raimie Drake and myself are involved in the "Teaching To Diversity" training that ERLC is hosting. Jennifer Katz came for 4 days at the end of September with the balance of the 14 day training occurring in January and April. The focus of the initial training sessions was around Block 1 of her model. This first block examines social and emotional learning. It is all about building compassionate learning communities, using the Respecting Diversity Program that she outlines in her book, Teaching To Diversity, and on her website as well as democratic classroom management. http://www.threeblockmodel.com/_ Many teachers across the division are implementing Block 1 practices with their students in their classroom. Creating environments that provide a sense of belonging, a sense of self-worth and awareness of the strengths and challenges of others, helps students develop the collective responsibility for the well-being of all. Isn't that what Alberta Education is speaking about with the "Inspiring Education" document and the Ministerial Order? We want Ethical citizens, Engaged thinkers with an Entrepreneurial spirit! I hope to highlight the time I am spending with a grade 3 classroom to 'practice' my learning this year. It is very exciting to see students think about their strengths and the strengths of others in their community. As Jennifer Katz articulately states, "We will not have inclusive societies if we do not first have inclusive schools."
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The other day, I overheard someone say, "Here is another new thing they want us to try." This is not something new, I have heard this comment made many a time during staff meetings and PD days. It made me think is Universal Design for Learning (UDL) just another new thing that we are making people do? Will our practice really change? Last week my grandfather passed away. While my aunt and mother were going through to clean out his room, they came across a book on my grandfather's bookshelf titled, "Learning to Speak and Write". It was published in 1924. When I opened it and read the foreword to teachers, I was shocked and disgusted. "The above-average mind is the most valuable single asset of the race" This statement made me realize that, although it seems that we go back and forth or seemingly in cycles in education, we are making progress. In 1924, it was acceptable to value the above-average mind as our single most valuable asset and I have no doubt that this above-average mind was judged based on their reading, writing and math skills. Currently, we are focused on building community and respecting diversity in our division. We are teaching our students that people learn differently and that we all have different smarts or intelligence. No longer do we believe that those, who are strong readers, writers, and are good with numbers are the smartest people in the room. People are smart in many different ways. We talk about word smart and how it can be applied in various ways: number smart, picture smart, body smart, nature smart, music smart, people smart and myself smart, all equally valuable. This is a relief to me, as growing up, I never felt like I was "smart". I was the kid that was pulled from class to go to the reading resource room. I have never been a strong writer, in fact this is my first blog post. I have been building up the courage to write for the past 5 months. Number smart would also not describe me. Strange that I wanted to be a teacher, even though I was never a strong student. Through UDL, we are headed towards true inclusion. Jennifer Katz explained it well at a session she did at the Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium. She discussed how that in many schools we are still in the parallel play phase. We have many students, who in the past were excluded by being taught in separate schools or classrooms are now in our classrooms being taught parallel to most students. However, they are being taken out of their class into small groups or working on other things even in the same room with their Educational Assistant. That is not inclusion! Inclusion means every student at the table. It means all students get the same task but could have different goals. While, we are not there yet, we are moving in that direction. Education has come a long way since 1924. It is important to think about our practice and consider why and how we are doing things. Focusing on UDL has made me question the way I have done things in my class. Do my students feel safe, cared about, and loved? Are ALL my students at the table? What barriers are there for my students? How can they best show what they know? Does this take time? Yes it does, but it is important work that we are doing. UDL is not a fad, it is just a part of our journey to true inclusion! Christine Quong http://christinequong.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/is-udl-just-another-fad-in-education/ |
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AuthorsThis blog and resources website has been developed through the work of various AISI coaches in PHRD. The lead collaborative teachers for the 2015/2016 school year, Cheryl Frose, Christine Quong and Tammy Tkachuk will continue to update this site. If you have resources you would like to share or would like to contribute to the blog, please contact us. Archives
May 2016
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