6714 Week 8 Reflection

Before beginning this course, I already had my class immersed in technology from blogs, to wikis, to digital storytelling. I can say with passion that I do in fact agree with Week 1’s premise: customizing instruction is not as difficult as it might seem. This is not to say it ISN’T at all difficult, but it is manageable. I try to differentiate my instruction in teaching, as well as choices for my students to showcase their knowledge whenever possible. I also try to work technology into that differentiation, and technology oftentimes makes my job easier on that front. I feel was pretty savvy in the area of differentiated instruction thanks to my first Masters degree as well as my school district I work in (before starting this class), but I wasn’t as familiar with UDL. Through this course I have learned how to take more of a starter approach to differentiation. If I can help alter the curriculum when certain subjects are re-written, my district can account for learning differences in our classrooms. This will make it easier to differentiate instruction because the curriculum will already provide for various setups. Every summer teachers are asked to be part of the curriculum writing committee, and this summer I finally feel that I have something concrete to offer. I can show my UDL website that I designed for this class. In my classroom however, I will continue to set my students up for success and provide them with the opportunities to learn and demonstrate their knowledge in ways that fit them, not their neighbor using many of the tools and resources that my Walden colleague have shown me, including CAST sites and my newly made beginning of the year survey. The self-made survey will inventory my students’ learning styles, interests, intelligence preferences, learning profiles, and their academic strengths and weakness. This will be extremely useful in setting up my classroom and determining how to best differentiate my instruction.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFgtMzZzUXl4NEczYVJUbFA4R0Z2OEE6MA



Differing instruction for our students can be made so much easier by incorporating a bit of technology into our lessons. Something as simple as projecting images on the screen as we talk to our students makes a world of difference! Teachers can use textual information as well as supplementing it with pictures, audio, and movement. By using assistive or adaptive technology we can more easily reach our learners (Rose, D., & Meyer, A., 2002a). I will ensure that I also give my students choices of presenting information in different ways to reach their strategic mind. From experience, I know that many of my students also benefit from being shown how to manage their time effectively and plan their goals. A specific tool I would use to help me in this is the CAST Strategy Tutor (2008). It is geared more for third grade and up, and would greatly help my students in our research assignments. The website allows for students to plan and do web research all while being guided. This site is extremely helpful for students who want to do web research but are not sure how to start, or need assistance in summarizing and synthesizing their information. I will also be using VoiceThread for digital storytelling in our upcoming Colonial Times Unit. By using technology to help meet the needs of all students in content, process, and product I am setting my students up for success in our current society.





References

CAST Strategy Tutor. (2008). CAST. Retreived April 13, 2010, from
http://cst.cast.org/cst/auth-login



Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002a). What brain research tells us about learner differences. In
Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Reprinted by permission of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development via the Copyright Clearance Center. Located at http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/chapter2.cfm