Class 1 Reflections

It is clear to me that this course will be an interesting one to journey through, and I anticipate much learning that will be brought back to my classroom.  This is, of course, the most practical type of course – one that applies directly and immediately to the classroom setting, and one that significantly impacts the students that I work with.

Some of the vocabulary discussed during the first class is new to me, including UDL – Universal Design for Learning.  As someone expressed in class, the principles of UDL are not necessarily new to me, but the terminology and research surrounding it are.  The idea of presenting students with multiples means of representation and assessment is so important, and that this leads to a more engaging learning experience for students seems somewhat obvious.  Providing students with the opportunity to learn in the way best suited to them, and to show that learning in their own way is integral to engaging our 21^st Century learners, many of whom we are ‘losing’ or ‘failing’ in today’s classrooms.

The following link shares interesting information about UDL, including a brief video clip introducing the concept to the viewer. 

http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl/3principles

Aside from being interested in the integration of UDL principles and Assistive Technologies in my classroom, I also have an interest or motivation to learn that stems from the difficulties my nephew has in school.  He has a diagnosed learning disability, and has to work extremely hard to succeed in school.  He is currently in Gr. 11, and has, to this point, managed to take a regular course load, with learning centre support.  His difficulty with reading and writing has had a major impact on his confidence – he often states “I can’t read that – I’m dumb”.  I’m not sure to what extent he really believes that  - with his supports in place he usually makes 70’s and 80’s in school – but he states it enough that I know his challenges bother him.  Worse yet, he feels limited in what opportunities are available to him upon graduation.  He told me once that he wished he could go to university, and it breaks my heart that he thinks he can’t.  I try to encourage him and tell him that with the appropriate supports in place, he has more options than he thinks, but I sometimes wonder – does he?  I don’t really know the answer.  In hearing about the Apps that can be used to scan a text and read it aloud, I wondered how this might help my nephew.  I have already spoken with my sister about it, encouraging her to look into this technology as a tool for him.  I can’t wait to learn about more Apps that might assist him in achieving goals that he thinks are unreachable.

In January, my students used iMovie to create movies about their learning in our Science unit.  I have a particularly 'busy' and somewhat challenging group - certainly challenging to motivate.  During the 'production phase' - when I had students all over the school, I had many comments about how engaged they were in the assignment.  Success!  In addition, I was able to witness my students who are on IPPs become involved, excited and included in their group's production.  One student's mother shared how her child had come home talking about the activity and (more importantly) sharing her learning as she explained what the movie was about.  Repeating her lines over and over as they took retakes had assisted her in retaining some new information that typically would require tremendous effort, possibly with no/little success.  Awesome!  I think some of the conversation in class has encouraged me to give more freedom with the choice of App used to share their learning.  It's time to let go of the (usually well-intended) need to control what all students are doing, so they can let their creativity take them to places I couldn't even imagine.  Sir Ken would be proud.