I thought I would start this blog with a definition of UDL because upon exploring the Cast website, I realized I did not truly know what UDL was! I knew that it was a way of teaching created on the basis of allowing knowledge to be accessed by every child in the classroom. I did not truly realize the connection between differentiation and student-centered classroom to UDL. The website states: "UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs." UDL assists teachers in lesson planning to reduce barriers and to optimize levels of challenge and support to meet all of the learners' needs in the classroom. I am perceiving that is essentially the marriage of differentiation and student-centered instruction! Furthermore, I am reading a book in my small group, Integrating: Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design, which also argues you cannot have one without the other. I connected all these dots after reading the website's definition of UDL and their introduction to UDL curriculum. UDL allows teachers to incorporate technology to include all students in their lessons. From one of the videos I watched, I really appreciated what this one guy had to say about UDL: it is "important for all of education because it allows teachers to rethink critical elements in education like goals, and materials and methods, and assessments."
Why is UDL necessary?
Everyone is different. These differences allow learners to interpret knowledge differently than one another. The website said neuroscience revels these differences are as varied as our DNA! That is wild! We always say everyone is different,but I have never really considered the extent of our differences. Furthermore, there are three primary brain networks that come in to play:
Recognition Networks
The "what" of learning
How we gather facts and categorize what we see, hear, and read. Identifying letters, words, or an author's style are recognition tasks.
Present information and content in different waysStrategic Networks
The "how" of learning
Planning and performing tasks.How we organize and express our ideas. Writing an essay or solving a math problem are strategic tasks.
Differentiate the ways that students can express what they knowAffective Networks
The "why" of learning
How learners get engaged and stay motivated. How they are challenged, excited, or interested.These are affective dimensions.
Stimulate interest and motivation for learning
With these three brain networks, come in the UDL guidelines. These guidlines assist the teachers in planning lessons with access for everyone's different needs. The guidelines are organized in three principles: representation, expression, and engagement. This is much like the three primary brain networks! Thus the guidelines work from the brain networks we use! The connection I am making is the UDL guidelines are based in neuroscience, i.e.: the three primary brain networks.
I. Provide Multiple Means of Representation
II. Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression
III. Provide Multiple Means of Engagement
I skimmed the 1st grade UDL lesson. The main points I really took from the reading was the fact that kids chose what they wanted to read, shared their learning verbally, and chose how they wanted to present what they learned, and they did a complete lesson in two days.
There were four options of books, the kids were allowed to chose based on their comfort level. They were to chose a "just right" book, a book in which they knew most of the words and their meanings. The autonomy in that is amazing! Putting them in charge of determining their own level really puts the responsibility of learning on their shoulders, which is fabulous! It invests them in their learning experience. Furthermore, the children were allowed to chose how they wanted to receive the information. They had access to a print copy, digital copy, audiotape version, etc. So amazing!
Another amazing thing in this lesson, the kids were allowed to chose how they wanted to share their information. There was not a blanket assignment: not everyone had to write a mini-paragraph about what they learned. The students chose how they wanted to present the information.
