Universal Design for Learning

What is Universal Design for Learning? 

Universal Design for Learning is creating a curriculum that supports and challenges ALL students. As educators, we must realize that students learn in various ways and be given choices when showing that they comprehend the material. As a new school librarian, I need to keep Universal Design for Learning in mind when planning out my library program so all students can feel welcomed and comfortable when visiting and using our available resources. Universal Design for Learning may seem like a daunting task, but it will benefit our students in the long run. 

Which of these guidelines is I already using? 

• Checkpoint 2.5- Illustrate through multiple media: Instead of depending on just text to get messages across, I like to include various digital visuals for further understanding. These visuals usually include posters, infographics, diagrams, and videos. 
• Checkpoint 3.1- Activate or supply background knowledge: Activating prior knowledge in students is a critical piece of teaching that must be done. As teachers, we must see what students know about a concept or topic to further build upon it. A KWL chart is a good way to see what students know about a topic beforehand. You can even conduct a poll or a survey to see what prior knowledge the students know. 
• Checkpoint 6.1- Guide appropriate goal-setting: At my campus, we must have our goals and objectives posted in our classroom for students and staff members to refer to at any time. Before we begin our lessons, we always make sure we start off our lesson by making sure we state our goals and objectives first, and we always make sure we repeat them throughout our lesson to make sure the students understand what they are learning.
• Checkpoint 8.3- Foster Collaboration and Community: I believe that cooperative learning is a big part of teaching. Students should have the opportunity to work in groups because it encourages them to problem solve and think critically. I love seeing my students collaborate with one another. When they all work together as a community, it makes me realize that they understand the topic. 
• Checkpoint 9.3 - Develop self-assessment and reflection: On my campus, we display our classroom schedules, I can chart and behavior charts. Students have the opportunity to move them throughout the day as they master certain concepts. Student's work is displayed around the classroom and on bulletin boards around the campus. Students really take ownership of the work that they complete in the classroom. 

Which of these could I add right now to my teaching practice? 

• Checkpoint 1.1- Offer ways of customizing the display of information: As an educator, I try my best to present information in various formats, but I know that I need to slow down my talking when presenting the information. I find myself trying to speak too fast to cover all the material within the time constraints. I need to remember to take it slow so that all students can understand the lessons. 
• Checkpoint 7.1- Optimize individual choice and autonomy: A big part of Universal Design for Learning is providing students with choice, and I believe I could start to implement this checkpoint now. I have participated in many choice board professional development courses, and I can immediately incorporate choice boards. As educators, we need to challenge students and letting them choose how to display their learning, and a choice board is a great way to do it. Having choice boards would be a great addition to my teaching practice, and now that we are also doing virtual classes, this would work perfectly. 

Which of these looks great, but I might need some help to implement?

• Checkpoint 5.3- Build fluencies with graduated levels of support for practice and performance: I would need guidance on how to differentiate lessons and scaffold activities for various learning styles. I think I could work on this guideline with the help of an instructional coach or skills specialist to better understand all learners. 
• Checkpoint 9.1- Promote expectations and beliefs that optimize motivation: I would need help implementing this checkpoint. I would love to focus on this guideline as it promotes self-motivation, helps with outbursts and frustration, and develops coping skills. To be open and willing to learn, they need to first learn how to handle their emotions and be motivated to learn. 

What I would like to explore more in terms of implementing Universal Design for Learning?

I have learned a lot of information on how to implement technology into the classroom/library. I would like to explore in terms of implementing Universal Design for learning is how to use educational technology to change a lesson so it is more accessible to more students. Now that my campus is a 1:1 Ipad campus I find that this is a great opportunity to create educational lessons that can be accessed anytime using technology. If a student does not come to school due to an illness they will not lose instruction, because they will still have the opportunity to complete the assignments using technology. I have heard great things about choice boards and how they are changing the classroom. I believe that implementing choice boards using IPads and having the students choose what they want to complete will increase student ownership of the work they have completed.  TCEA states, " Choice boards facilitate differentiated learning experiences." 

References: 

Jmguhlin. (2021, March 9). Create Interactive Learning with a Choice Board • TechNotes         Blog.TechNotes Blog. https://blog.tcea.org/choice-boards-2/.