Unusual Time for Teaching

In It’s okay to throw stuff out. Now’s a good time to rethink a lot of what we’re doing.

History Tech, glennw shares,

“Simply put, what we’ve always done in the past probably isn’t going to work today.”

With the unusual start of school where some people are going in person and others are virtual or part time virtual, it is time to do some unusual teaching.

We can’t go back to the “old way” of teaching. Gone are the lectures and the push information type learning.

Now is a good time to try all the new things you wanted to but was afraid to get away from the traditional way of teaching.

Now more than ever would be the perfect time for Project Based Learning. Within Project Based Learning, you can implement Universal Design for Learning.

If you are an elementary school teacher and you teach a variety of subjects, creating a project that would incorporate all of the subjects will make learning more fun and teaching easier. Students will be more engaged when they are going back and forth from virtual to face to face instruction. This project will be the constant that can tie all of the learning together. The teacher may have to do more work on the front end of the project but during the project, the teacher becomes more of the facilitator and helps to guide the learning. Teachers of the same grade levels can meet to share ideas and./or collaborate on projects.

In upper grades, teams of teachers can get together to create the project together and incorporate their different areas of study into the assignments. With a team, it will be easier to bounce off ideas and share the workload. The final assessment can include a finished project or presentation that incorporates all areas of study.

By doing a project that is relevant to the students, they will be more engaged and excited about learning. All of the negativity and the fear factor from the media has to weigh heavily on the teachers and the students. Something like a project can pull everyone together and help them less focused on the media.

How do you feel about Project Based Learning? Please share.

Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash

Dealing with Behavior

In 7 Tips for Limiting Problem Behaviors in Your Classroom from @DavidGeurin Blog, David Geurin asks,

“What are your best tips for dealing with problem behaviors?”

I feel the best way to deal with behavior is preventative rather than reactive.

I assess my students before teaching so I can find out what their instructional level is. Then I teach them at that point so this might mean students are doing different lessons at the same time. I feel that if students aren’t bored, they are engaged in learning and less likely to misbehave.

I believe in using Universal Design for Learning and look at the individual needs of my students. Some have different learning styles and I try to incorporate activities so that the students have some choices in how I assess their learning. Students complete more assignments this way and are more successful in the classroom. When students feel successful, they tend to misbehave a lot less.

I also like using some kind of token economy system where they receive rewards for working and are fined for not. That is what happens in the real world when we get a job so why not simulate what will happen in the real world. Students like to feel they are earning something for their hard work and can use their rewards to trade for something that they want. But I also believe that they should get docked pay if they are late or don’t follow directions (just like on a real job) or get fined if they break the rules (just like getting a speeding ticket).

I also think students misbehave to get my attention so I have small square foam blocks. One side is red and the other is green. If they need help, they turn the block to “red” on the corner of their desk. Once I help them, I turn it over to green. In this way, no student is having to watch and wait for me while I help another student and can continue on their work until I come to their desk. Students seem to like this system and it works really well.

The biggest thing that I do is that I stay in contact with their parents. I mostly brag about their good behavior so they are getting attention for behaving well. I try to call at least every other week and since I call often, these calls are short and to the point. Parents appreciate that I touch base with them and they are so happy to hear good news. Unfortunately there are times I have to call about problem behaviors but by then I have established a rapport with the students and their parents. Parents are very supportive at this point and we usually can correct the problem easily.

How do you handle problem behaviors? Please share.

Meeting Everyone’s Needs

In Curb cut theory applied to education from Blue Skunk Blog by Doug Johnson talks about how curb cuts have benefited more people than just wheelchair users. Then he asks,

“Might this curb cut theory also apply to educational practices? Might interventions we use with our struggling learners benefit every child in a school?”

My husband and I have argued about this for many years. When I talked about having IEP meetings to meet the needs of my students, he always asked why isn’t the school meeting the needs of all of the students? I didn’t have an answer for him then or now.

I was so excited when Universal Design for Learning(UDL) came out because this was something that all teachers could use for all students. But the problem I see over the years is that teachers are coming up with excuses about why they can’t/won’t use this strategy.

During my graduate courses that I teach, I’m requiring that all of my students use UDL when planning their lessons.

I hope with practice that more and more of my students (the teachers) will make this a habit. Instead of having to make a conscious decision to meet the needs of all students, it becomes ingrained and done naturally.

Growing up, I saw too many students expected to fit the cookie cutter mold. Those who didn’t fit the mold, was either ridiculed or ignored. Teachers weren’t surprised when these students failed and focused only on the ones who fit the mold.  There were times that I struggled and felt bad about myself because I felt like I was the only one struggling. This meant that I wasn’t like everyone else and was afraid that the teacher might ignore or bring attention to my differences.

When I became a teacher, I was shocked to see many of my colleagues continuing this practice. I saw students in general education classes whose self concept plummeted when they didn’t fit the norm. I couldn’t be involved because I was a special education teacher and it was hard to watch this from the sidelines.

I don’t think that teachers plan on being this way but many are teaching the way they were taught. It is time to stop teaching that way and teaching the way we wish we were taught.

We shouldn’t just be meeting the needs of special education students. We should be meeting the needs of all of the students and if we aren’t trying, then someone needs to stop and ask why.

What do you do in your classroom to meet everyone’s needs? Please share.

Universal Design for Learning Webinar

Last week I attended an online webinar on:

Designing Options for Every Learner: Universal Design for Learning

Presented by Christopher Bugaj, Assistive Technology Trainer, Loudoun County Public Schools; with Mark Nichols, Special Education Supervisor, Loudoun County Public Schools

You can watch the recorded webinar HERE.

Here are my notes (I got so involved in watching the webinar that I stopped taking notes):

1. The Myth of Average – TED talk; All cars have adjustable seats. Our classrooms are the cockpits of our education system. We need to design our classrooms to fit our students.

2. Universal Design Principles:

·      Equitable use

·      Flexibility in use

·      Simple and intuitive

·      Perceptible information

·      Tolerance for error

·      Low physical effort

·      Size and space for approach and use

3. Mounting an interactive whiteboard with obstacles in front of it is not UDL

4. UDL – is put in the planning process; meets the needs of every student; a framework for removing barriers by anticipating the needs of all students.

My takeaway: I think this is really necessary to reach all students and give all students an opportunity to succeed. I think it takes a lot of planning and organization on the teacher’s part before the lesson is presented to the student. I think all lessons should be designed for all students to take an active role.

How do you feel about Universal Design for Learning? Please share. 

Heading Down the Rabbit Hole

In The learning monster… from Blogush, Paul Bogush  shares,

“I think somewhere in the last few years I slipped into trying to control their learning.  I wanted to capture their excitement and curiosity by making them do incredible things…and we did.  But at what cost?” 

This is why I try to ask students what they want to learn. Of course at the beginning of the year, they don’t trust me or anyone else. They think this question is a trap. So, I try to work out ways to help them feel comfortable sharing this information.

I try to get them to share things that interest them. I have them work with a partner and their partner has to introduce them to the class by sharing at least 2 things they are interested in. I put a limit on it because they may say that nothing interests them but by giving them a specific number, most can come up with at least 2 things. I keep a list of all the topics to use for lessons later.

A month later as we learn to trust each other, I may ask them to list 2 things that they are good at. I want to know what topics they would be bored with and they are usually quick to tell me what they don’t want to learn about. They feel they know all they need to know about certain topics. I keep a list of these and who gave me the topic. This can be used to have them talk more about these topics in a lesson.

Some lessons can be individually designed so each student can learn more about what they are interested in. Sometimes I can make a list of 5 topics and have students check off the top 3 that interest them and then I have them learn in small groups. I might think the topic is worth having the whole class learn more about it but work on individual assessments.

I think it is important to allow students input into the topics that are taught. If I have to teach a specific subject area, I may chose topics within that subject and let students have some choices about the topics. Then I can bring all of these topics together at the end for a big conclusion.

Just because I am given standards of some kind, there is no reason that I can’t adapt them to fit my class’s individual needs and interests. The more input that the students have in the decision making process, the more vested they will be in learning. When they feel they are getting something useful out of the learning, the more engaged they will be. Isn’t that the way most of us feel?

How do you involve the student’s in their own learning? Please share.

Image: 'Down the Rabbit Hole'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54357435@N00/311526846
Found on flickrcc.net

Celebrate Uniqueness

In ReThinking: "He Doesn't Want to be Seen as Different" from EdTech Solutions - Teaching Every Student, Karen Janowski says,

“Unfortunately, I realize another team is unaware of Universal Design for Learning principles.  If they understood UDL, they would appreciate the importance of offering MULTIPLE methods of engagement, presentation and expression. Instead, they are sticking to the "one size fits all" approach, an approach which fails to meet the needs of all learners. It's an approach that allows teams to agree, "He doesn't want to be seen as different." 

My challenge to the team is to change the culture, don't let the student be seen as different. Offer multiple methods of expression. Give choices. Offer alternatives to the traditional methods which fail many kids.”

Maybe we need to think about what message we are telling kids. By trying to make everyone fit one size, we are telling them that it is wrong to be different. I’m not sure that they start off believing that they don’t want to be different. As children grow and observe, they learn that adults expect them to fit in, to conform to the rules, to be the same. We teach them that they don’t want to be seen as different.

We need to start spreading the message that it is okay to be different because we all are different.

Isn’t that why we all have our own unique fingerprints?

Don’t we all like different foods? Different clothes? Have different personalities?

We are not made to be carbon copies of each other!

I believe when we stop trying to force this message on children, everyone will be much happier and our children will be more successful, not just in school but in life.

Maybe if we start changing the way we see children, there will be more tolerance in the world for those that are different. Maybe it won’t be such an issue to be different. Suddenly by being different, we all fit in the same group – the Different group. Suddenly we all belong.

By allowing students to learn in different ways we are acknowledging their uniqueness and teaching them that it is okay. We are showing others that it is okay too. Suddenly being different is okay. Eventually this message will spread but it has to start somewhere. Will you start sending that message today?

It is time.

Celebrate uniqueness.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'rain rain go away'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/3555181787 by: Nina Matthews

No More Self Contained Classes

I recently found out that a local middle school will be doing away with all of their self contained classes except their class for students with autism. All of the students will have inclusion services but this person wasn’t sure how that was going to work. When I heard this, I really hoped that the teachers were given a lot of training on inclusion and collaboration. Then I thought about some suggestions that I would make. Here are some notes that I made from the CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) website that I would share with them.

1. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for designing curricula that enable all individuals to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for learning.

2. The framework of UDL consists of instructional approaches that provide students with choices and alternatives in the materials, content, tools, contexts, and supports they use. But in addition to challenging teachers to be more flexible, UDL provides guidelines for creating flexibility that is both systematic and effective. These guidelines are derived from research on the learning brain and knowledge of the qualities of digital media.

3. Multiple Means of Representation: The content is represented in multiple ways including text, audio clips and video.

4. Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Online activities, discussion questions and lesson plan assignments allow students to express their understanding in different ways.

5. Multiple Means of Engagement: Text, audio, video, activities, additional resources, information, links to more information and to other web sites allow students multiple ways to engage with the content.

6. Traditional classroom materials and media, like books and speech, come in one size for all, but they do not fit everyone. Inflexible media actually create barriers to learning.

7. New classroom media, like digital text, sound, images, and the World Wide Web, can be adjusted for different individuals and can open doors to learning.

8. Students with various kinds of disabilities are likely to be the earliest and most obvious beneficiaries. Media such as talking books, descriptive videos, and American Sign Language (ASL) tracks vastly increase both access and learning opportunities. Using digital tools actually changes those students' capacities and makes them far more capable. An extreme example is a student with severe physical and language disabilities who, independently, might be able to communicate only by indicating yes and no. With a computer and the right software tools, this student can be on an equal footing with others.

9. Use the UDL checklist to plan.

10. A lesson does not need to address each UDL bullet on the checklist. If several guidelines under each principle are met, lessons will support many more students than a traditional lesson.

My Recommendations:

1. Understanding that both teachers are equal. This is very important.

2. Planning sessions between teachers on a weekly basis to plan, discuss, evaluate lessons.

3. Look at the UDL example to see how UDL can be applied.

4. Ongoing training at least once a month.

I hope their program goes well because students can benefit from this if it is done effectively.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'Introduction to monstering'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76074333@N00/318034222

Assistive Technology

Last week we had a Council for Exceptional Children Chapter 877 meeting and the topic was Assistive Technology. If you are interested in seeing the recording of the meeting, please click here. It was really interesting and I got new links for resources which I will be posting on my Assistive Technology Wiki. If you have any great links that I should add to it, please send them to me either as a comment on this blog or email it to me at successfulteaching (at) gmail (dot) com.

As I look at Assistive Technology, I see it going hand in hand with Universal Design for Learning so there may be links for both on this wiki. There are some items that will cost money and there are also some that are free. In my classroom, I was always looking for the free things but my district did buy WYNN and Test Talker, which I used often. Both of these were instrumental in improving my student’s achievement.

I think using Universal Design for Learning and Assistive Technology if necessary is what is needed in order for all students to be successful.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: '2009 Apple Workstation (Top)'

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30285260@N02/3486668960 by: Raul Gonzalo