Universal Design for Learning

52 Responses to “Reflections”

1.   JenE Says:
   March 4th, 2012 at 10:57 am    Reply

   I completely agree with this view of our curriculum. I have struggled more with this fact this year than any other year of my teaching career. The reason is that I have a child in the grade that I teach. It is extremely eye opening. Never before, have I examined so closely what we are asking the 6-7 year olds to do. Of course I knew what I was teaching, but I didn’t have a clear view of how the average child was really feeling. Most first graders aim to please, so much so, that they mask when they are having trouble. They also become very adept at finding ways to get answers without having to understand how they got them. The very specific assessments (especially for math) are so limiting in showing what kids know about the content. It is not enough to be able to count money. No, they must read a problem, decipher all the “lingo”, find what the problem is asking, and then do the math. It is extremely overloading to a young child. By the time they get to “the math” they are so confused by the words that they have lost what to do. They also do not know where to write the answers. I spend so much time with them navigating the test that they often make small, but crucial computation errors once they get down to the business of solving the problems. I have absolutely no problem with high expectations, but I think that we need to slim the number of concepts taught at each grade level and really get in there and learn them inside and out. We are skimming the surface of too much and nobody is getting good at anything. We also need to reexamine the way we are assessing kids. First graders should not already have test anxiety. It’s not fair to them and frankly it is setting them up for further failure.

2.   Val Kramer Says:
   April 21st, 2012 at 11:32 am    Reply

   I agree that often times traditional classrooms and the structure that forms them can prevent some students from reaching their highest potential. This is because not all students will learn best using traditional means and one method of instruction. However, I disagree that it is the curriculum that is disabled. When I use the term curriculum, I think of what needs to be taught, rather than how it needs to be taught. Using this definition, the curriculum can be delivered in a variety of ways, depending on the teacher. If a teacher delivers the curriculum using multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression, then all learners can be reached regardless of the curriculum being taught.