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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Written by Dana Ariss, a Grade Four Teacher in Fort Assiniboine School. Daariss.wordpress.com Have you ever just paused in the middle of your hectic and over-scheduled life for just one single moment to assess if you are pursuing what truly makes you happy? Lets suppose you did just that, would you even know the answer?
Ask a child that very same question and most can tell you what makes them happy without hesitation and not only that, but they actively pursue those things. The questions then become: Are they being provided with adequate time and opportunity to do so, and what about those who may not know? Over the summer, as I thought about this upcoming school year, I wanted to introduce a free-form of inquiry-based learning. My students have always been the driving force behind the learning in our classroom, but it focused directly on a specific curricular outcome and I wanted to go beyond that this year. I wanted for my students to ask the deep questions and to explore them as they wished. What is it that makes them happy? What are the things that they want to learn about and understand? After-all, school is about learning, experimenting and creation right? With assistance and inspiration from my Twitter PLN, the work of JoyKirr with Genius Hour, Josh Stumpenhorst with Innovation Day, Jesse McLean with Innovation Week and AJ Juliani with 20% Time in the classroom, I set out to find what would work best for my group. If you’ve not heard of these or are still in process of finding out more information, I highly encourage you to read about the incredible possibilities that these educators are providing for their students. There are amazing things happening in Education and it starts with providing students with the opportunity to have control over and own their learning. On the very first day of school, we gathered together on our carpet and had a discussion about what we love to do and why. I’m lucky enough to have looped grades with my current group of students and since we’ve been together for two going on three years, we have built a deep trust with one another. At first, their answers were focused on school subjects, then they branched out to after-school activities and then realizing that I was still asking, their answers became more in-depth. I asked them if they were provided with time in school to build, create or learn about anything, what would they like to do? You could have heard a pin-drop at that moment. I watched with amazement as they pondered the possibilities and then the excitement took over and the real conversations started happening. We are now into week three and they have begun their research. Some students are still learning to question what really motivates and drives them, what they are really passionate about. While others have delved right in, moving full-force towards their projects. Students who weren’t eager readers were asking to go to the library at recess to get more books or go online to find out more. They are reading, organizing, collecting, planning, discussing and collaborating. One student was so engaged with her cake decorating book that she baked and decorated the cake in that photo above after-school and brought in for me the next day! What are they wanting to learn about or create? The answers really blew me away and I’ve known my group for a while. What I had anticipated they would want to do, was nowhere near what they have chosen so far. They have come up with the following completely on their own: 1. Build a running buggy – They have already located a lawnmower engine! 2. Discover the difference between butter and margarine by baking and creating a website to document their findings 3. Learning to sew 4. Exploring how SpongeBob was created and animation 5. How truck engine motors operate 6. All about horses 7. What does a Marine Biologist do and discover My goal is to aid and assist in any way that I can. I am hoping to enlist the help of the local high school and possibly collaborate with the Mechanics and Foods educators and bring our students together to get some of their projects off the ground. I have connections in the automotive industry with my previous career and a Skype session or two with mechanical engineers is on the list as well. I’m going to continue to facilitate as many connections as possible this year to assist them. We also had the failure conversation, especially for the few who have never thought they could create something. We learned that it’s the process and the journey that matters most and that what they start out with may not be what they end with and that’s ok. We talked about how this is something that extends outside of school; that they can create and learn everyday. They are beginning to make the important connections and starting to ask the deeper questions. I am amazed already at the direction they are going and tell them everyday: ”You are a genius and the world needs your contribution!” – the wonderful Angela Maiers .
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On August 20th and 21st, a handful of us from PHRD went to an ERLC session called "Using Technologies to Support Literacy for All Students". The conference focused on five tools: text to speech, speech recognition, word prediction, visual mapping, and symbol writing. I was impressed with the way the tools could help students and easily become such a regular part of any classroom for any student who would want to use the tools. I then thought of students that I have taught in the past who struggled in school, no matter how hard they worked, and found the required assignments extremely frustrating and emotionally draining. At the conference, we saw videos of real students from real public schools using these tools and exemplars showing the improvement in their work. The results for me were indisputable. These tools are a great way to help those students who are capable of learning the content, skills, and other fun stuff that we want them to learn, yet their ‘invisible disabilities’ have prevented them in the past. I love how reading and writing do not have to interfere with a student’s understanding of math, science, social, or any other subject any more with these assistive technologies. In my excitement and enthusiasm, I was discussing what I learned at the conference with another teacher. This teacher listened to me, although I could tell there was plenty of skepticism. After I told stories of the videos we saw of real students using text to speech and speech recognition, the teacher I was talking to asked me, “Okay, fine. But will these students ever actually learn to read and write?!?” My answer, after a brief pause: “Nope. They won’t ever learn how to read. Of course not. That’s why they need these technologies.” I think we can’t get caught up on making sure these types of students learn how to read and write. We have to realize something simple – some of our students are not going to learn how to read or write the way that we've been teaching them and this can have disastrous consequences on their schooling performance and emotional experiences. I don’t mean to say that these students cannot read or write at all. They are simply not going to be able to read and write the traditional way, at grade level or at a place where we wish they could be. Through the use of these technologies, we can begin to eliminate barriers and overcome the ‘invisible disabilities’ that are holding these students back and help level the playing field for all students. I should note that through more conversation, the teacher I was talking with now understands the use of these technologies and appreciates their use in our classrooms. Pembina Hills has purchased Word Q and Speak Q, which have the tools of text-to-speech, speech recognition, and word prediction. We look forward to rolling out these assistive technologies throughout the upcoming school year! Brett Seatter How is differentiated instruction going to help my students when they sit down to write a standardized test? Sincerely, Miss Examsrule Dear Miss Examsrule, This is a question that many teachers find themselves wrestling with, and I think it is best answered by an old Chinese proverb: “Tell me, I’ll forget. Show me, I’ll remember. Involve me, I’ll understand.” Differentiated instruction requires that we plan learning activities that cater to the needs of all of our learners, and Universal Design for Learning guides us in designing tasks that allow all of our students to actively engage in learning. These two elements both place our students at the forefront of our decision-making and look to provide students with learning experiences that are meaningful for them. When we design lessons, we do so keeping in mind the types of learners we have and the strengths they bring to our learning community. Returning to the proverb above, we know that hearing and listening are not our strongest senses, but visual stimuli is one of the most powerful for learning. When we consider a learning activity that requires us to use multiple senses, when we are involved, the experiences we have and memories we develop will strengthen our understanding. As teachers then, we look for as many opportunities to ‘involve’ our students in their learning as we can; seeing, hearing, feeling, touching, smelling, etc. It is these experiences which allow for deeper understanding and application of content. For example, if students are learning about hormones of the body, there are many ways they could learn the material. If I am considering what might be asked on the standardized test relating to this content, I will focus very carefully on vocabulary and factual items related to the concept. However, if I am truly interested in having my students understand the concepts, rather than know the content, I will want them to experience it! I will likely teach the essential front-matter, and then I might have them conduct research to: - write a RAFT, from the perspective of a hormone to it’s target organ - write a resume for a hormone - role play a day in the life of a hormone - create an interview between a hormone-replacement therapist and one of their clients Through these tasks, I am hopeful that my students are questioning the content, communicating their thoughts to others, and taking themselves beyond the factual points into the more global ideas around the concept. When faced with a knowledge-level question, my students would now have a context to relate their understanding to that they can apply to reasoning through the A, B, C, D choices. In addition, there are choices in how they wish to explore the content to show me what they are learning. There are opportunities for individual or partner work, high-tech or low-tech activities, creativity, communication, collaboration, artwork and movement within the options. I do not want students who have memorized every factual point in my course, I want students who can problem solve, think critically and innovatively and challenge themselves and others around them. I want to light a flame for learning, and help them learn to use their strengths most effectively. Jennifer Katz posed a question, along the lines of, “How often in your daily lives are you assessed using a multiple choice exam? You’re not, you are measured according to your performance in your role.” Whatever role my students have when they leave my classroom, I hope they are able to do so as creative innovators and strong communicators, and so, I will plan my learning activities accordingly. 5 Senses Image taken from: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/07/humans-have-a-lot-more-than-five-senses/ Colleen Toews |
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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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