Universal Design for Learning

 Universal Design for Learning

 

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework based on research in the learning sciences, including cognitive learning sciences, that guides the development of flexible learning environments and learning spaces that can accommodate individual learning differences.

 

1.     Provide Multiple Means of Engagement

I don’t put a limit on what types of books students are able to read in the classroom. I let them choice through the classroom library. I don’t have my library organized by a reading level so that students are not student in one area based on their reading level. I have it organized by fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels. I then have the fiction by authors last name. Non-fiction is sorted by topic. Graphic novels are organized by title. I did this more in the past but I want to be able to get more into using it in the classroom. I used to do a First Chapter Friday, when students have a book that they think the class should read they can or I can will read the first chapter and tell the class a little bit about the book. I think one thing I would like to do in the classroom but will take time is create book talks that are done by the students to engage other students into wanting to read the books. I think learning what a book talk is do a few for them as examples and then start letting students have the opportunity to present or create a video for the class would be fun and will help students find books they may not have in the past. 

 

2.     Provide Multiple Means of Representation

When using things in the classroom for instance a reading. I provide the visual of students needing to have that to read. I also read the text to them to provide a different way to learn. I think it is helpful for students so that they are able to follow along, whichever way they listen. 

I do not have an American Sign Language (ASL) alphabet in my classroom. I would like to provide it in my classroom for this year. This last year we did a reading on sign language and then watched a little video about different phrases you could use in ASL. We ended up using those phrases all year long in the classroom. One thing that will take time and money is I would like to get whisper phones for some students. My teaching partner loved having hers for students so students who don’t have that accommodation but would like to just have a chance to listen to themselves read and learn through that could use it. 

 

3.     Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression

Before we start a new unit, we review vocabulary as well as introduce new vocabulary that we will cover in that unit. For students who have the accommodation, they are provided Text-to-Speech in everything we do. It could be me reading a part or having headphones to listen to it. I provide anchor charts for students to go back to in our lessons. They create one for themselves in their journal as well as I have them posted on the walls for easier access. I provide multiple types of graphic organizers to help students break down questions and to show their comprehension of learning in an easier way.One thing I would like to include more into my classroom is more multimedia options for my students. That could be embedding videos, charts, graphs that are helpful for students in a lesson. One thing I want to work on but would take time is adding supports for students in their exams. I started doing this at the end of last year going through each exam and adding visuals and definitions for uncommon words. I have now moved districts, so I don’t have access to those exams. 

 

 

When using the UDL I want to be more involved with using technology. Now that we have technology with being one-to-one, I can rely more on using it without the hesitation of not having enough computers. On Marshall University website they have a ton of technology tools that you can use in your classroom for accommodations and engagement. I like how they have it broken down with topics and then they have different websites available. I think the websites I would use the most are Flipgrid and Padlet. I already use Google forms, Kahoot, Quizlet but can definitely use it more. One thing I want to spend more time with and looking more at is text to speech options and having stories read to students. There are a few websites provided and I want to go through each once I meet my students to see what would work best for them. 

 

Citations:

Technology. Universal Design for Learning. (2021, December 7). https://www.marshall.edu/udl/udl-and-technology/