Continued... Learning Outcomes and Me

ED-D 425
What I Will Learn Response

1. Evidence is in Assignment #1 and #2
2. This is something I somewhat understood before taking this course, but the UDL outline really helped me to see the different aspects that I must take in to account when I am teaching students with diverse needs. Specifically, I learned a lot in this course about different types of technology that are available for all different kinds of students with disabilities. I was able to see the different technologies and think about people that I know and how these new technologies could help them. For example, there were multiple ATs that could help my Aunty converse with others, as well as, help my past students to learn how to express themselves or help them to read and write.
3. One of the big things we learned about this is that, contrary to American Law, the Canadian Government does not have any laws about AT and supplying it to students in need.
4. There are many different terms and applications of assistive technologies in classrooms. One thing to remember, is that not all AT is high-tech and expensive. Instead, there are many items that are considered low-tech and do not cost a lot. Furthermore, some tools  can be leant out so that the student/family does not have to pay a large fee to use it. Some other terms would be mid-tech, low incidence, and high incidence.
5. I am aware of many different barriers that are experienced by students who have LD. Some of them are physical, emotional or/and intellectual. There may also be a language barrier  that needs to be considered when helping students with LD, as well as, cultural differences.
6. My knowledge of this is most evident in Assignment #2.
7. This is something that I believe I've already touched on in my Blog posts. Many students don't feel included in the learning environment because they have to deal with barriers such as communication issues. Sometimes students do not feel safe participating in class and that is why establishing a safe learning environment is so important. Also, students may have the knowledge that is requested of them but they may have difficulty expressing themselves, that is why it is important to have a range of activities and assignments that students can choose from so that they can pick which best suites their communication style and strengths. Also, AT can help to break down these barriers by helping them to read, write and/or present information clearly. Furthermore, AT can help students to understand information better by being interactive.
8. In this course I was able to become familiar with many different types of AT. For example, I was able to explore Kurzweil, Inspiration, Co-Writer, Clicker 5 and Clicker Paint. Furthermore, I was introduced to the use of switches and things like Brix, Go Talks, Super-talker, Ablenet, Smart 2 (which I could see working for my Aunt Kathy), and much more.
9. Refer to #8 for my response to this question.

Taking this course taught me to have high expectations for each of my students and to make sure they have all the assistance they need in order to meet those expectations. It also taught me about the array of AT that is out there that I can help find for my students. It also taught me how important it is to be aware of the following when planning my future lessons: Representation, the action and expression that is involved in that lesson and how engaging the lesson is. If I am able to take all of these in to account, then I should have resourceful, knowledgeable learners, Strategic, goal-directed learners and Purposeful, motivated learners, who could ask for anything more?

The UDL principles:
1. To Support recognition learning, provide multiple, flexible methods of presentation
2. To support strategic learning, provide multiple, flexible methods of expression and apprenticeship.
3. To Support affective learning, provide multiple, flexible options for engagement. 

Response to DI and UDL Assignment #2

DI Assignment:

I was disappointed in the mark I received on my DI assignment. I honestly thought I took a sub-par Lesson plan and was able to make it in to, what I thought, a very diversified lesson. The one thing I will say, is that I accidentally said I was tiering by readiness when, in fact, I meant ability. The ironic part is, is that my presentation was on the difference between ability and readiness and I was quite aware of the difference and yet I accidentally used the wrong one. This was a big error on my part and I wish I had been able to see that before I submitted the assignment. I also had a Power Point Presentation that went along with my Lesson Plan that I should have handed in as well so that Ruthanne could see what I was describing in my lesson plan.

Creating the DI Lesson plan really helped me to see how important it is to think of all students when you are creating a lesson plan. Each student should feel welcomed and safe and feel as though they belong; because they do. It also helped me to see my Lesson Plan in a holistic way, the beginning middle and end, as well as, making sure to have assessment and an anchoring activity included throughout the lesson. I did mention one anchoring activity when groups were done but I forgot to mention what they would be doing while students were writing their ideas on the board. Having multiple anchoring activities is a great way to keep students focused and the noise level to a minimum.

UDL Assignment #2:
In this assignment, Andrew and I incorporated a student by the name of Melissa in to my Assignment #1 Lesson Plan. Creating this assignment made me realize how important it is to look at every aspect of teaching in a new and different way. It made me more aware of how I am conveying new ideas and information and how important it is to be aware of the learning styles and needs of my students. It made me realize that I need to take a more comprehensive look at my classroom dynamics during my upcoming practicum. This can be done during the first few days when I hand out a questionnaire to the class about how they like to learn, what they consider their strengths and weaknesses in learning, etc.

Also, the UDL assignment really made me look deeper in to how to provide multiple means of representation, action and expression and engagement. It also taught me not to be overwhelmed with all the different aspects of each category but to try to incorporate some aspect of each category in to each lesson. 

The Football

Today we discussed 'The Football' which is when you structure a class so that everyone starts together and then is separated in to groups and then they come back together in the end. This is something I did often with my grade 9 class but did not do very often in my grade 11 class. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons that my grade 9 class went better than my grade 11s.

Throughout this month of schooling, I am hoping to maybe find some answers as to why I felt my grade 9 class went so much better than my grade 11 class and I'm already starting to understand that.

In my grade 11 class, I had one student who hated it when we read stories as a class. He often would read it quickly on his own and then start doing something else (like listening to his iPod). This was frustrating to me because I often thought he was just not interested in the story but then found out he was actually ahead. Therefore, in my UDL and DI assignments I have chosen to allow students to read the story in groups according to reading ability and readiness. Therefore, for the higher-level readers, students may choose to read on their own and come together as a group to discuss the story while all the other groups finish up reading.

I also have decided that my UDL and DI assignments will have to be based on the same lesson because I honestly do not have time to pick apart more than one lesson, which is a shame, because I really wanted to have two amazing lessons to put in to my portfolio.

ELL:

ESL is a very high area of interest for me. I have been tutoring ELL students for two years now and even took a course online on how to teach ESL. The online course, however, was not very helpful but I did feel it discussed a lot of the things we are talking about in class right now (except now we are talking about it in a lot more detail). So far, this summer institute has given me two different lesson planning approaches which can help me keep ELLs in mind. I honestly think I will be able to apply these to my future lesson plans. When I got 'out on the field' I felt like I had forgotten many of the things that I had learned. I was actually really excited to go back to class and review some of the things we have learned and to learn more. I am happy to say that I really do feel like it was worth it to take this summer institute because I am able to reflect on what happened during my practicum and apply what I am now learning to real-life situations that occurred.