Activity 6.A.3 - UDL discussion

Universal Design is not just for special needs students.  UDL is useful for all students for a huge variety of learning topics.  All 8 of the components defined by Burgstahler are very useful for lesson planning in general, not just for special needs students or special topics.  I found that most of the tenants of universal design relate to constructivism.  The ideas of teacher/student interaction, cooperative learning and allowing students to set their own objectives within certain guidelines are applications from universal design and constructivism.

I found some parallels between marzano's 9 and UDL in that they both promote cooperative learning and feedback.  They both also encourage students to set their own goals and objectives.

Class climate, delivery methods and interaction are all easy methods for me to implement.  In my class, we use many different delivery methods as well as methods of execution and there is a fairly constant flow of interaction between teacher and student.  I also try very hard to create a climate of respect and honor individuality.

Learning Topic 8.A.1

When I first started thinking about this, I thought that I don't really incorporate a lot of student reflection into a  lesson, but then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I do more than I thought.  When we work in the classroom, I will record the students playing or singing and have them listen to and evaluate how they think they've done and see if they can identify any key problems or positives.  When we do our composition projects we do a lot of listening and evaluating and identifying, then moving to say what needs to be changed, removed or stay the same.

I think that reflection is always a good thing.  It requires students and teachers alike to really look at what worked, what didn't and what would be more effective.  So often, we complete a project and then we are ready to just move on to the next thing, without taking the time to realize that lessons learned can be applied either elsewhere or to the same activity down the road.

When asking students to reflect I would have them ask themselves these questions:

• What did I do that worked really well?
• What could be changed to make it better?
• Is there anything that shouldn't be there/isn't relevant to the subject?
• What was my initial reaction to this piece/performance/project and why?

Reflection doesn't always have to be in written form.  I find that discussion among groups is good as it allows for other perspectives other than our own.  Many times an outside perspective offers very valuable input.  reflection could even take the form of visual art.  For instance, how would this piece look if it were a picture?

Reflection gives all of us an opportunity to open up our minds to delve deeper into how we are really doing and how we can be even more effective at what we are doing, even when we are doing things really well.  There is never any shame in deciding that something should be omitted or changed.  I think that reflection is a great way to open up a door into letting students and teachers know that it is ok to know that we are doing things really well, but there could be something there to make us even better.

Activity 4.B.1

Not everyone learns in the same way.   It is very difficult for teachers to try to reach every single student because there are so many different learning styles.  When we teach we often think of the three theories of kinesthetic, auditory and visual, but there is much more to the way people learn.  It is not just one, but a variety of different combinations of these things that creates a persons best way of learning.    I

When I develop a lesson, I try to take into account the many ways students have of learning, along with age-appropriateness of certain activities.  Technology should be used to help the teacher enhance the lesson and reach more students with a variety of learning styles.  When designing lessons with technology incorporated, the teacher should not just keep in mind how interesting the lesson might be, but how it will incorporate these theories to best reach every student.  How can technology be used to reach more students more effectively, should be essential question when designing a lesson.

Marzano's 9

1. Identifying similarities and differences
2. Summarizing and note taking
3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition
4. Homework and practice
5. Nonlinguistic representations
6. Cooperative learning
7. Setting objectives and providing feedback
8. Generating and testing hypotheses
9. Cues, questions, and advance organizers

Marzano's 9 strategies cross over different learning theories.  Reinforcing effort and providing recognition can be found in behaviorism and Cognitivism.  Nonlinguistic representations is an important part of the dual coding theory of Cognitivism but is also found in constructivist theory.  Setting objectives and providing feedback are in some way a part of all three of these and Universal Design.  Cooperative learning are very much a part of constructivism and UDL but Cognitivism also points out that learning can be achieved by observing others.  I think that this proves Marzano's point that the research he has done shows that no one of these is perfect, but a combination is necessary to create a successful learning environment.

I certainly didn't know anything about Cognitivism when I began my definition of instructional technology, but I included information about how technology is especially useful in dual coding (although I didn't label it that at the time).  Other than that, I have to admit that I didn't take into account any specific learning theory in my definition, but only how technology can make instruction more engaging, efficient and effective. The research not learning theory has now provided me with the why concerning its effectiveness.

During the school visit I saw a lot of what would best be labeled as behaviorism and Cognitivism.  Lessons were very structured with a great deal of choral response.  Students were doing the same assignment, not assignments tailored to their specific needs.  Technology was used for presentations, note taking and filling in worksheets (document cameras).  The teacher is required to follow a specified curriculum and plan.  He or she is allowed some leeway late in the day but is generally required to follow the prescribed plan.

I saw some great lessons from the art teacher using art to teach the directions on a compass.  The unit was all about pirates so she had the students making treasure maps.  Each map had to have certain elements and one of the key elements was a correct compass rose.  The students studied the uses and correct directions of compasses and then created their own to go on their maps.

Learning atopic 7.A.3- Using the planning template

Using the template was a good experience as it forced me to really organize a lesson.  It wasn't just laying out the steps, but thinking about the time frame and how to incorporate different learning styles was very helpful.  Having taught for a while I know from experience that even when things don't go exactly as I have envisioned them, having a well thought out plan make my life so much easier.  Looking back on it, I think that I should add something to the template which shows how to incorporate different learning styles and what those styles are.  That might be useful for explaining why a particular activity was chosen.  I kept in mind the 21st century skills reached but did not specifically state or label those on lesson activities.  I think that would also be something helpful for administrators when evaluating.