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.