Universal Design For Learning

As educators, it is important to address individual differences in students’ recognition, strategic, or affective networks, thus providing the best possible support by individualizing pathways to learning through Universal Design for Learning (UDL). A study on alternative education for children suggests oversimplifying learner differences by categorizing students into two groups, regular and special, fails to accurately represent the full diversity of learners in the classroom. ( Meo, 2010, p. 21) Therefore, UDL is a framework for designing curriculum which provides all students equal opportunities to learn, with no discrimination to individual needs. In order for students to have equal opportunity in their learning and achievement,

These children just don’t fit the mold for so many reasons. Many “twice exceptional” parents and students seek out Bridge Builder Academy because they have gifts in one subject but struggle significantly in other areas. The school’s trained administrators and teachers are prepared to design coursework and study plans aimed toward such students with often considerably disparate skills. While the curriculum follows a variety of curriculum resources specifically designed to support students’ range of learning needs, teaching methods vary considerably from standard public schools and private schools, with instructors offering auditory, visual, and kinesthetic ways of learning subjects and concepts that might otherwise present difficulty. Bridge Builder Academy teachers focus on the ways in which brain types affect learning. For students who are right-, left-, or “whole-brained,” classes and activities adapt to learning styles, and instruction both addresses weaknesses and encourages awareness of personal strengths through specific one on one instruction with opportunities to work on social skills throughout the

Darragh starts off pointing out the issues that are taking place when providing special education and early childhood education together. She suggests that every childhood professional should be given a training and textbooks or special chapters with materials regarding special education or alert them issues related to inclusion in order to provide a proper “framework”. Darragh states that Universal Design for Early Childhood Education (UDECE) provides the best “framework” for combining special and early childhood education. UDCEC understands the concepts of inclusion and flexibility and that every child views the world differently on every growing year and also the views of the world towards the child changes as well. Therefore UDECE “designs

When you walk into Amy Zache’s warm and inviting first grade classroom at Beiger Elementary School, you are greeted by twenty three of the most beautiful smiling faces. These thirteen boys and ten girls have a passion for learning that is clearly fueled by the positive energy of Mrs. Zache. Although all of the students are Caucasian, with the exception of one Caucasian and African American boy, she does an excellent job of integrating other cultures into her lessons. Along with worrying about the integration of different cultures, Mrs. Zache must worry about how to make accommodations for the four students with speech IEP’s, one student with a sever cognitive disorder who has an IEP, four boys on ADHD medication, and multiple other students

Northside Elementary School (N.E.S.) is located in Warner Robins, Georgia, and consists of an array of classes. Observations were conducted at N.E.S., ranging from second to fifth grade. All classes were coed, composed of female and male students. A mix of ethnicity’s, as well as abilities, were observed. Some of the abilities observed were Gifted and Talented students (G.T.E.) and special education. This title I school allows for educators to form their own approaches to education, deciphering which learning theories best fit their classroom and teaching styles. Overall, the environment was welcoming and supported education.

This article by Wink is significant because it exposes how linear teaching does not always work for every classroom. Teachers are taught to teach one specific way and often times they neglect the needs of their classrooms because they do not adjust to the student’s needs. I liked that Wink talked about learning, unlearning, and relearning because it shows the process of effective teaching in a new classroom. It is significant because we need to realize that the process of learning should be mutual between the

What do separate water fountains for African Americans, civil unions instead of marriage for gay couples, and special education classes have in common? The answer is segregation. In 21st century America, segregation in classrooms should be non-existent. Unfortunately that is not the case. All too often students who are considered to have lower cognitive abilities are removed from the classroom and placed in a separate facility. This is commonly called “Special Education” and it takes the “separate but equal” approach. Ignacio Estrada, director for grants administration at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, once said, “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” It is possible to include all

The idea of a Universal Design was originally based in architecture design of the 1970s by Ron Mace (King – Sears, 2009). The concept grew from the idea of building design that would meet the universal needs of all people by removing barriers. Cut ramps in sidewalks for wheelchairs, door handles rather than knobs, and other accommodations that removed barriers to access and unrestricting flow for all possible visitors, etc.

The “Universal Design for Learning (www.udlcenter.org)” consists of a group of principles that require all children to receive the same form of education and learning. There are three main principles which aid in protecting students with disabilities. These three principles make sure that the students with disabilities receive the same education as any other student as well. The following will explain my opinion on the learning of all children and how the UDL principles apply to this.

Work together with other colleagues in order to implement the Universal Designed Learning tool. Working together with other colleagues allows teachers to help others within the school, open the door for themselves to become mentored, and also allow everyone to have more detailed information on all the different students. Building a community of educators to work together is essential in order for there to be a strong foundation of collaboration to occur. For example, if Johnny is not turning in homework in science lab, but his teacher knows that he is striving in math class, the two teachers can collaborate and determine how to encourage him to turn homework in for both classes. Specifically for the Universal Designed Learning (UDL) tool,

In the reading from the week, I learned the meaning and origin behind the term Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This term which is often associated with education actually originates from the architectural field as a concept for designing services or products utilized by people with diverse functional capabilities (Beard, Carpenter, & Johnston, 2011). For educators, it is important that UDL incorporates educational accommodations, including assistive technology (AT), that allow all students to have the tools available to achieve success in the classroom. As noted, “UDL provides equal access to learning” (Beard, Carpenter, & Johnston, p. 26). It is also important that the IEP team correctly matches the assistive technology to the learner

Briefly describe Universal Design for Learning. Make sure to include the three principles of UDL.

When it comes to education, it is important to determine what method of content delivery is going to be the most effective for each individual class. Furthermore, it becomes increasingly important to determine the most effective strategies for each individual student. Within the concept of a universal design for learning (UDL), it becomes important to ensure that students have more than just access to information: “Non-educators often make the mistake of equating access to information with access to learning” (Rose & Meyer 2002). With UDL, students not only have access to information, but they are enable through the access to learning. This can be manifested in a number of ways, but is characterized by the availability of environments that promote learning and education that promotes learning. UDL then becomes the method for which educators provide students with a variety of methods to engage cognition, and allow for educators to meet the needs of diverse learners.

As I walk into a second grade classroom, I take notice of all the colorful posters and the children happily chatting. The teacher acknowledges me with a wave while she is sitting with the children reading a story. I am there to observe John who is a 7-year-old male student in the class who had been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder by the psychiatrist at Jewish Family Children’s Services.

As a teacher it will always be my responsibility to keep up to date on new research done on learning theories. That way I am able to provide a fun and exciting learning environment for my students. After learning about Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences I now realize how important it is to make sure I work hard to include every child into my curriculum. Gardner’s theory is that everyone is able to recognize a student that does scores great on an exam is smart, that does not mean that a student that falls short of doing good on the same test is not as brilliant as the other student. Howard Gardner’s, theory opposes traditional methods that view intelligences as unitary, and perceives intelligence to contain eight