UDL Guidelines

A Blogger's Insight: 

Review of Pre-Assessment: UDL Lesson

   
Throughout this past week, we have been diving into each and every aspect of universal design for learning with both feet.  Before taking this course I felt that the lessons I created were full of differentiation, technology and types of universal design for learning techniques.  The guidelines for UDL are basic around three main targets: 



After evaluating my lesson plan using the guidelines provided, I now, am not so sure I am creating lesson plans that will maximize students' potential and optimizing their success in my classroom to the best of my ability.  View the video to the left, by clicking on the picture.  This video puts in perspective how teachers feel without the implementation of UDL.  I'm confident this is how many teachers, including myself, have felt several times throughout their teaching careers.   

Caution: This video is an extremely creative perspective, it MAY BE SILLY!

What were the major problems, that Mrs. Dolly noticed, occurring in her classroom.  What UDLs did Miss. Dolly implement into her curriculum/lesson that effectively improved her students education?  After investigating the guidelines for universal design for learning, what other aspects of UDL could Miss. Dolly incorporate? 
To change the future, you first have to take a look at the past.  Knowing this, I took a lesson plan that I taught during my student teaching in a special education assignment.  This lesson is designed for grades fourth through sixth to introduce multiplication and repeated addition.  After the completion of the guideline pre-assessment, I noticed that I integrated the following three specific UDL guidelines in the most efficient and comprehensive ways:  

• 1.3 Offer alternatives for visual information
• 3.3 Guide information processing, visualization, and manipulation 
• 5.3 Build fluencies with graduated levels of support for practice and performance 

In addition to the areas that I feel I have been successful at implementing effectively, there are also a few areas that I believe I am obligated to focus on more.  The following are three of the six areas I have chosen to include as I modify and adjust my present lesson. 

• 1.2 Offer alternatives for auditory information
• 7.1 Optimize individual choice and autonomy 
• 8.1 Heighten salience of goals and objectives

When writing a lesson plan and developing the curriculum, diving in without looking is always my first mistake.  Next time when I am about to dive right in, I am going to dive in with BOTH feet first.  That will, at least, provide me some stability to stand on my own while figuring out the rest as I go (with the help of these new-found resources). From the famous words of Dory, I have to... "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."  

References:
 
          Barbie's UDL Classroom - YouTube. (n.d.). YouTube. Retrieved September 11, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgL1jUahGik
       

          Just Keep Swimming with Dory from Finding Nemo - YouTube. (n.d.). YouTube. Retrieved September 11, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBtc254NIMc