UDL Representation

1. How can Principle 1: Multiple Means of Representation be effectively integrated into your teaching?    By finding meaningful ways to represent the same concept. Hanging charts and calendars on the wall, providing multiple visual products, adding audio to written material and using closed captioning on videos.
2. How will this help your students?   Presenting information in multiple ways will help reinforce ideas, and hopefully make an impression on the student.  By using different strategies for the same idea, it increases the likelihood that all the students will understand and make connections to the information.
3. What are your goals with regard to this topic?    One of my goals is to pay attention and learn what strategies work for my students.  If I know which strategies are effective, I can start with those and then add in new strategies and see if they work.  I also hope to provide my students with opportunities for each of them to understand the information. I think by using UDL guidelines I will be able to successfully accomplish these goals.

Digital Citizenship

1. Why is it important to teach digital citizenship?  I think it is important because our students are creating content and publishing it online so early.  It is important for them to understand that what they put online now will be with them forever.  Teaching students to be good digital citizens is so important.  I think that kids don't make the connection that people they talk to on the internet are real people and that things they say or post can hurt people.  
2. How might you teach digital citizenship in an elementary classroom?  One of the first things I will teach my students is that people literally on the other side of the Earth can access what they post online.  I think that if they realize the scale of the internet, they will hopefully be more careful of what they post.  Common Sense Media is a good resource for individual lessons on digital literacy.  They say, "When you teach digital citizenship to your students, you help create a positive school culture that supports safe and responsible technology use."  My goal is to create a positive culture in my classroom.  I think the best way to do that is to show them all of the amazing tools they have at their fingertips and show them how to use those tools to their advantage.  The internet shouldn't be some scary space that we are afraid to let our kids in.  Providing them with the right information will help them become good digital citizens for the rest of their lives.

Standards and PLNs

Twitter: @eledrachelt

Symbaloo

The UEN website has so many useful resources.  The first feature I explored were all the lesson plans.  They are divided by grade and by subject and there are quite a few to choose from.  As a new teacher, I think these will be very helpful.

Another resource that I have found helpful are the educational links that you can find through the core standards. As a parent I have found some really good sites.  When I am a teacher those will be good to use in my classroom as well as recommend to the parents.

I really like that you can access Utah's Online Library through UEN.org.  That is a great place for students to find primary sources and I think it is a site students should get familiar with as early as possible.

Blog #1

Equity and UDL

1. What does the research say about this?
2. How can this be effectively integrated into your teaching?
3. How will this help your students?
4. What are your goals with regard to this topic?
5. How does this shape your vision for empowered learning for your students?

The National Center on Universal Design for Learning says that, "Individuals bring a huge variety of skills needs and interests to learning."  If we base our teaching on this statement it only makes sense that our time will not be divided equally among the students in our class.  In my classroom, I want to set the expectation from the beginning of the year that sometimes students might feel like my attention is not equally divided, and that's ok.  I hope to explain to my students that all of my students have strengths and weaknesses.  One student might be excellent in math and be able to help the classmates that are struggling.  That same student might need individualized help with reading.  I hope to create a classroom environment where my students feel comfortable asking for and receiving personal instruction.  

Universal Design can help personalize a student's education.  When a curriculum is designed for the average student, it leaves out huge portions of students on both ends of the spectrum.  "Universal Design helps address learner variability by suggesting flexible goals, methods, materials, and assessments that empower educators to meet these varied needs."    We would never expect our students to have the same personalities and interests, so they should never expect us to teach them all the same way.  My goal as a teacher is to be able to recognize the learning needs of my students and present information in a fun, interesting way.  Hopefully making in impact that they can carry with them throughout the rest of their elementary school experience.

Initial Blog

Hi!  I'm Rachel Trane.  I am in the Elementary Education program at UVU. I am a returning student, having received an associate's degree from UVU in 2003.  I have a husband and three sons.  Some of my hobbies are: yard work, camping, being outside and keeping my sons alive.  Some days it's harder than others!  I also really like baseball and I like to exercise as a stress reliever.

My goals for this class are to increase my knowledge in technology, learn how to integrate technology into my own classroom and learn how to instill in  my students respect and excitement for using technology in school.  By the end of this semester I hope to be confident enough in my tech skills that I won't feel intimidated to show my students how to use the programs I want to utilize.