Maybe this resonated with me because I'm sure I must have done this at some point in my teaching career- decided to place a poster on that certain skinny wall but maybe not completely obsessed about if the kids could see it or not!
I've started reading bits of Design and Deliver: Planning and Teaching Using Universal Design for Learning by Loui Lord Nelson and I was struck Ms. Lord's comments about how one might unknowingly create barriers for learning by decisions that are made as a classroom is set up. One example that she used was that the simple placement of a poster or display can become a barrier to learning if one decided to place an item on the wall based on where it might fit rather than where the optimum viewing space for students might be. Maybe this resonated with me because I'm sure I must have done this at some point in my teaching career- decided to place a poster on that certain skinny wall but maybe not completely obsessed about if the kids could see it or not! I thought of this today when I was in the Kindergarten classroom of Ms. Perkins at Harmony Hills ES. Of course, everyone in MCPS needs to have their word wall displayed in a prominent area of the classroom but Ms. Perkins went a step further and eliminated a barrier by choosing to make her word wall even more accessible. She accomplished this by creating small desk sized copies of the word wall words that kids could choose to use whenever they might need it at their personal work space. These kid sized, laminated word wall sets were in a basket and were easily available to all students. This decision allowed the kids to have two good options for accessing their sight words. Keep breaking down those barriers, Ms. Perkins!
4 Comments
Carter
2/7/2014 01:49:49 am
Great idea! However, I wonder how many versions she makes each year since new words are added constantly. Does she do it weekly, monthly, or quarterly?
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Ms. Perkins
2/9/2014 03:07:32 pm
Thanks Carter!
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Loui Lord Nelson
6/26/2014 08:38:56 am
Ms. Perkins,
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Kathie
6/29/2014 05:19:01 pm
Hi Loui-
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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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