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UDL: Learning Opportunities for All

Differentiation seems like a 101 concept in comparison to Universal Design for Learning, which is the horizon for working with 21st-century learners. I feel like I've discovered the tip of the iceberg on a concept we ought to know how to implement. By checking a webinar sponsored by the National Center on Universal Design for Learning, I discovered that VDOA addresses it through Special Education Departments, which makes sense on one level. Nonetheless, it seems like every teacher needs professional development that presents the tools and concepts that are at the core of UDL philosophy: "The way we learn is as unique as our fingerprints." The goal behind UDL curriculum is creating expert learners; that's radically different from creating experts! I wonder what Lisa, our Special Ed. math teacher, can share about her experiences with UDL?    

Plagiarism has been my main concern about students using the Internet for projects. Copyright? Hadn't given it much thought until this lesson. Wow! Where have I been? Of course, we have to know and explain copyright because it's a legal issue one has to respect and abide by. And, like technology, the law is evolving. It's exciting to learn about sites like Creative Commons, which can help you find the photos, text, and images that can be used for free. It's like a whole new world has opened up for me! Duh!

Visual Learning Update on the Past

Forgot to list my article, Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom, from ERIC Digest, which was written by Charles Bonwell and James Eison in 1991--21 years ago. What interested me was the emphasis placed on engaging students and moving beyond the lecture format, which echoes what we hear on a regular basis in 2012. "Students must engage in such higher-order thinking tasks as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation," they say. They talk about the resistance to change among teachers, and how critical it is for teachers to be supported by administration so they're not working in isolation. Importantly, they stress the necessity of adopting strategies to promote learning, like visuals, so that students retain meaningful information. I found it hugely ironic that I could have slapped 2012 on that 1991 year and essentially had a current paper. Of course, we would add a section on tech tools that enhance learning. The task going forward, in my view, is creating the grounded research that supports that it works!  Teachers, now more than ever with the emphasis on test results, need proof that utilizing technology does in fact boost learning outcomes, because resistance to change is human nature.  

My Clown Fish Recreated

Visuals: All in the Mind's Eye

While traveling abroad some years ago, I developed a series of horrific eye infections, which kept me awake at night with fears of eventually going blind. Yes, it's said that other senses are enhanced when one is lost;  but, is there really an adequate substitute for sight? Not in my mind. Visuals are our way of framing the world, framing ideas, conceptualizing. Caves, with the delightful scribbles of people we refer to as "cavemen," reveal that we have an instinctive need to express ourselves in pictures, through pictures. What is most captivating to me about tech tools is the ability to frame words and ideas differently; it's like unlocking a new toolbox for creative expression. I realized this when I did my first Wordle. I dread self introductions because I edit out or in the essence of who I see myself as within a certain context. However, a Wordle takes words that I associate with myself and puts them in a frame bursting with energy, potential, expression. So many students struggle with creating a solid paragraph. Why not liberate their minds with other tools of expression, like Wordle and Digital Storytelling? If the process is creative, then somehow the "pain" associated with some types of learning naturally disappears. 

Flipped Learning in My Mind, My Class

Passion to learn, explore, create, and connect with others is the driving force behind my interest in being in a classroom. To imagine that one needs to know it all is frightening, if nor crippling. Hence, I'm encouraged by Andrew Miller's admonition that you have to learn how to implement and master engaging models like Project Based Learning and Authentic Literacy in order to fully utilize the potential in Flipped Learning. Like everything, you have to start somewhere, test things out, enhance what worked, tweak what didn't, and reflect on every angle. It's what Peter Pappas addresses in his posts on the importance of reflection among everyone involved in the process.

I imagine beginning with brief podcasts on poets or music as a way to begin a subject. It would in essence be my hook. I'm also intrigued with having students create essential questions that become the frame for the podcast and/or launching a unit. Frankly, I never understand the nuances of anything until I dive into the process, the experience. In that sense, I imagine my ability to harness the usefulness of Flipped Learning will hinge on how I integrate it into a student-centered learning environment. That integration will also depend on my ability and opportunities to pursue things like PBL.

Negotiating Student Centered Learning

"The Four Negotiables of Student Centered Learning" in Peter Pappas's blog is an excellent starting point for teachers to consider and reconsider how students' voices can be heard in the classroom. Teachers are often looking for the student voice that indicates he "got it," i.e. the voice that affirms that the objectives in the lesson were understood. Why not have your class be more of a Socratic forum for learning in which students deliberate which areas of content and skills need to be studied in depth; which types of products that would demonstrate learning; and guidelines for assessment. I've seen countless numbers of high-school students dissect rubrics, trying to figure out the minimum required steps to get a C or a B. I've even asked several students why they don't shoot for an A. The bored look on their face says it all: What for? We have to respect our students' intellect, ability, and natural curiosity. Engagement begins with willful participation. It's not a power struggle so much as it's a "buy in" process in which students propose how best to tackle the learning objectives. Teachers can't negotiate what has to be learned, but they can allow students to help mold the learning process.    

Flipped Instruction as a Starting Point

As Andrew Miller points out in "5 Best Practices for the Flipped Classroom," it's an approach that is simply a starting point within the context of running a class that has the teacher as the Guide on the Side as opposed to the Sage on the Stage. What's exciting about Flipped Learning is how it can open avenues for content delivery. Frankly, the thought of listening to a taped lecture makes me cringe, while the thought of having students frame the "So What?" objective in learning is exciting. I'd enjoy creating a podcast centered on their essential question. Better yet, why not have a motivated student create the podcast? We have so much talent in a classroom that is never tapped into because students don't have an opportunity to use or express those skills. By allowing them to help frame the content and objectives, aren't we creating the engagement that's so essential to all learning, no matter what one's age!

"High School Stinks"

I checked this link in the earlier assignment on Project Based Learning and included a response in that blog, because Lehmann speaks "the truth." I have two teens who talk about the classes that "stink" and the ones that are amazing. Without exception, it's the classes that utilize PBL and collaborative learning that they enjoy the most. Anything hands on, from building rockets and cars in Tech Ed to sewing pillows in Home Economics, scores high on interest and satisfaction. When teachers assign work in order to check off the teaching of material likely to be included in the SOLs, the complaints about being bored or unable to understand the point come in. However, it raises the question of what content---what knowledge base---should be included in school in order to create a unified sense of what it means to be a part of the American fabric in the 21st century. As Lehmann says, the class is a lens to look at the world, and school is a place to make sense of the world. Can teachers find time to craft projects that have the required content of SOLs and also enable students to see the world in a different light?

Pearlman: Students Thrive on Cooperation

My favorite teacher is The School of Life, which, in some sense, encapsulates the essence of Project Based Learning. We all learn by doing, not by sitting and listening to a lecture. What's interesting to me about the skills PBL is supposed to nurture is the fact that sports also develop and refine many of those skills, including teamwork, critical thinking, oral communication, and effective application of content. Moreover, employers have long noted that some of their most successful employees are ones who played club sports, including Ultimate Frisbee, in college. In that regard, when I read articles on 21st century skills and the imperative that students must collaborate, it strikes me that these thinkers are attempting to redefine individualism in the classroom. It will, as Pearlman notes, take talented and dedicated teachers to bring about that transformation. The real key is transforming educators and parents because kids will always team according to friendships and interests. As long as teachers can frame a compelling question or task, students will rise to the challenge. Indeed, curiosity directs learning.

Benefits & Barriers of Podcasts

In regard to flipped-learning, podcasts are the means to the end. Moreover, a well-done podcast can be catalogued and used for as long as it remains relevant, saving teachers' time and classroom time for other activities. The primary difficulty is ensuring that students watch/listen to them in advance. Keeping that in mind, I imagine that truly effective podcasts shouldn't run longer than 10 minutes, so students can check them anywhere when they have a spare moment or access to the Internet.

Besides being a tool for removing the teacher's lecture from the classroom, it also serves as a dynamic tool for assessing student learning. It's hugely complex: a student has to discern what's worth presenting, script it, and present it in a way that's both informative and interesting. That's a lot of "idea" packaging, which requires critical thinking, organization, and deep learning. Once posted, it becomes a catalogue of student learning and even instruction, depending on the content.

Barriers to its usage would primarily be lack of technology. Also, students with disabilities would have greater obstacles, but not insurmountable when teamed with other students.

Podcasts in the Classroom

It's not a question of "if" podcasts can enhance or support learning but rather how can you best incorporate them into learning. A student-prepared podcast, with audio and video, is far more compelling and complex than a PowerPoint presentation or report delivered in front of the class. Moreover, they can be done in groups or alone. What I like best about the format is the ability of the creator to sit in the audience and assess audience reactions. Did it work? Was the evidence/material convincing? Was it packaged right? In this regard, it's a powerful tool, drawing on creativity, writing skills, and organizational, to name a few!

Podcasts and Professional Development

I'm relieved that I don't have to have a Smart Board in my future classroom, even though I think it's cool. If you grew up in the chalk-board era and had the pleasure of banging erasers at the end of the day, you recognize the brilliance of this fun device. BUT, James O'Hagan, the commentator in Razor's Ed, contends in The Death Throes of the Interactive White Board that the Smart Board is on its way out unless it can evolve into a technology that allows kidS to interact with one another; coming to the front of the room won't cut it anymore. The Ipad was the game changer, in his view, because it meant every student could have their own screen. Then Apple came out with a device that could project images from any Apple device onto a screen. Next came Reflection software that could be installed on any Apple device, which allowed multiple students to project their work on a large screen at the same time. With a $500 projector, a laptop already in the class, $15 for Reflection software, and a $600 Ipad, students can take control of the class, making it really interactive. He thinks it's a much smarter and cheaper investment than a Smart Board, which costs $5000 and doesn't allow for student collaboration. I love the idea of students having their own tablets because they truly are the "textbook" of the 21st century. It's another means to harnessing creativity, attention, and our basic desire to share with one another.

Will I use podcasts for professional development in the future? Hmmm, isn't Steve going to keep us plugged into all the amazing tech tools coming on the market for years to come? No? OK, then I have to use podcasts. Through this assignment alone, I've discovered some really impressive tools, like educlipper and storyjumper.

High Tech vs. No Tech

When I read the stark contrasts between these elite private schools--one embracing technology, one holding fast to 20th-century traditions---I couldn't help but wonder why there couldn't be a middle ground that draws on the strengths of both approaches. Particularly at the elementary-school level, where the world is being unveiled on a daily basis, we know children thrive by touching, exploring, experiencing. You can't eliminate that type of learning nor the importance of play; but, technology can enhance those endeavors.  As echoed by both girls, there are situations that call for traditional methods and others that call for technology to enhance the overall experience. Which avenue to pursue depends on the student. High-tech Nina wrote her poems with paper and pencil, while low-tech Nina longed to explore the web links in her arts and science magazine.
Children thrive when provided with choices. Part of being an informed educator is to discern when traditional approaches to learn are most effective and when technology tools are best. I'd say a blended approach can be used in most cases with most children. And within that framework, they teach each other the value of both. 

The Nuts & Bolts of 21st Century Teaching

"High school stinks!" is what Chris Lehmann says as he launches into a powerful talk on the necessity of training students to be citizens, not workers. That line resonated with me because high school has to be interesting, has to be fun, has to serve a higher goal of self discovery. "21st Century Teaching," almost by definition, has to be linked to the Internet, today's library, today's corner of civilization. Classes should be "lenses to open the eyes of students," says Lehmann. But, as Shelley Wright learns through her experience using an inquiry-based collaborative project on the Holocaust, the teacher's lenses also need to remain clear, open to change, open to redefining goals and expectations. Stepping out of the traditional role of imparting knowledge means teachers have to be in the learner's seat as well to remain effective. The real challenge, as Wright talks about, is framing the task and goal; ensuring everyone is invested; enabling everyone an opportunity to contribute. My questions are: How do we assess it? Can we fit it into the Pacing Guide? Can we test it? Those are questions from the 20th century that dog creative collaborative projects today. How do we change the lens on how to impart content and measure what was learned?

English Grade 10 SOL target

The 10th-grade English student is expected to "become a skilled communicator in small-group learning activities." I'd like to tap into digital tools that have the potential to push learning and student interaction in more dynamic ways than the traditional approaches of Reading Circles, which are research-based, i.e. proven to improve learning outcomes, and journal writing.