Many teachers across the county have mentioned how the new 2.0 curriculum seems to make it easier to practice UDL. This is because the curriculum team included someone who helped to embed that UDL lens as it was being written.
This morning I was able to spend some time with the UDL PLC at Sargent Shriver Elementary School in Wheaton. I just have to say how interesting it was to spend some time with a group of educators that have been practicing the implementation of UDL over time. This particular team started working with HIAT about two and a half years ago, so the conversations have shifted from what UDL is to how can we find ways to embed our UDL lens into team planning sessions? This team took the time to look at their vision of UDL at Shriver and make a plan to move the school forward. There was much discussion about the metacognition of kids- how do we help kids reflect on what choices are good ones to help their learning. One action item from the meeting is for several team members to pilot test an updated version of their planning template that embeds a UDL lens. Also, the team decided that on their next curriculum focus planning days, they will dig deep to highlight the UDL connections. It was exciting to feel the energy in the room about improving practice and finding ways to design curriculum "to the edges" so that all kids can learn. Great stuff!
Many teachers across the county have mentioned how the new 2.0 curriculum seems to make it easier to practice UDL. This is because the curriculum team included someone who helped to embed that UDL lens as it was being written.
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Recently, I have noticed a few excellent examples of collaboration between classroom teachers and media specialists. At Harmony Hills, media specialist Holly Buchanan was teaching students to use the program Pixie to show their thinking about math. The teacher demonstrated how to "think aloud" to explain her thinking about solving the problem.
I also observed Weller Road media specialist, Naomi Samuels, as she was collaborating with a fourth grade class who was conducting research for their economics study. She was also collaborating with a primary class as they were beginning research on animals. I've included a few pictures to illustrate their work. You can practice UDL, even if you have limited technology, but it definitely makes offering flexible options a bit easier. If you are not sure where to start with technology use, your media specialist can help you tap into an array of appropriate online resources or help you by co-teaching on research projects. There are a variety of multimedia publication tools that your media specialist can teach kids to use to represent their work. As they say, "Many hands make light work"! Of course we know that teaching will never qualify as "light work", but using every resource in the building makes good sense. |
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AuthorsWelcome! I am a media specialist at Brookhaven Elementary School. I began this blog when I was hired to work with the HIAT team as a UDL Project Specialist for the Expanding Bridges Grant. Since the Grant ended, HIAT staff now collaborate to contribute to the blog and share UDL stories from MCPS! Archives
December 2016
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