Reflection: Class #3

3 Main Takeaways

1. Hosting a Dinner Party/Katie Novak
Katie Novak creates a great analogy of UDL in our Education system. Who would have thought Hosting a dinner party would be so challenging? There is one simple solution to both scenarios which Katie Novak does an awesome job presenting in her presentation video explaining the Universal Design for Learning. A MUST SEE!!!

Given the list of dietary restrictions, allergies, likes, dislikes, and other limitations it was clear that it's impossible to create that one dish that would be suitable or a good fit for everyone. We were quick to realize that the best solution to catering a dinner party like this would be to offer choice selection and variety to allow people choice and freedom to choose the foods appealing and suitable to them. This activity really allowed me to put things into perspective and compare this type of situation to the classrooms where we have such a diverse range of learners. Each child is unique and brings to the classroom their own likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, background knowledge and the list goes on. However, just like the "Dinner Party" activity it's important to provide the students in our classrooms with the tools, choices, and options that will provide a comfortable, adaptable and effective learning environment for all our diverse learners.  It's important to accommodate the diverse needs and be willing to offer flexibility, choice/variety, and support to ensure that we are allowing all students to achieve their goals and find success through means that best suit their needs, interests, and learning styles. 

Watch this amazing video presented by Katie Novak: What is UDL??

2. Apps Galore: WOW!!

It was quite intriguing to learn about the countless number of Literacy based apps available and most are free which is extremely helpful. I have used a variety of different apps as a parent and educator for the past 12 years but today I was introduced to a number of unfamiliar apps and ones I had never explored before. We are always looking for good apps to use at home and in schools to help our children/students in various areas of the curriculum. Being introduced to these apps were very beneficial to aid in the learning process of our students and children.

Keeble:
(Writing App) is an app that makes it easier for people to type and speed up your typing. Visually, it's highly customizable. This app allows users to change color and font and also includes a dyslexia font. This app also reduces typos and slipups by selecting keys on release and speaking as you type. There is a predictive feature that offers suggestions based on what you are typing.

y

Montessori Crosswords: 

(Reading Remediation App) Kids can choose the desired level and move up accordingly. It enables them to move from simple 3 letter words to more complex words. It is user friendly and provides sounds, animations, and interactive visual effects. Kids can easily drag and drop letters to their appropriate places to spell the assigned word. Kids can listen and hear the letter sounds while applying the appropriate letter to make the word.  This app helps with Reading/Writing and also building vocabulary. 

Available in French too!!! YAY!!!

 Phonemic Awareness Bubbles:

This app will help prepare your child to develop phonemic awareness skills necessary to set the foundation of the reading process. It will aid the reading process by helping your child learn the primary sounds of the letters of the alphabet. Using this app, children will be able to identify the beginning sounds of words and help them understand that words are made up of sound units known as phonemes. This app is a great learning tool for beginners and students who struggle to read. There are games children can play in this app to allow the learning process to be more engaging, fun, and realistic for the learner. 

One game is a matching game where students/children are directed to match pictures to the same sound. The second game is an elimination game where children are directed to get rid of the picture that does not have the same sound. The Third game is analyzing 2 images and decide whether or not the two images have the same sounds. 

Speech Tutor:

Speech Tutor is a speech therapy app that makes the face visually transparent as sounds are being made. The animation is viewable at three speeds and can be paused at any time for practicing positioning and articulation as you move through the sounds. Speech Tutor offers a "Side View" and "Front View" of each sound production. This app is very helpful in that it allows students to see where they are being successful and where further speech therapy is needed. There are 132 animations and a recording capability. WOW!!! 

Immersive Reader:

This is an app that is a highly valuable tool in that it uses techniques to improve reading for people of all ages and ability levels. It helps to increase fluency for ELL as well as readers of many other languages. It helps to build confidence for emerging readers learning to read at higher levels. This app offers text decoding for students with different learning abilities such as dyslexia. 

Iris:

This is a software that makes computer screens/monitors easy on the eyes. It helps to prevent eye strain by optimizing screen pulsations and controlling the brightness. It reduces eye pain by matching the screen brightness with the light around you and will automatically adjust to a suitable setting. This software can also improve sleep by regulating blue light and this will help your body to produce more melatonin at night. 

Voice Dream Writer:

Voice Dream Writer will help people compose better-written work. It provides Text-to-speech,  proofreading to help reduce mistakes, phonetic, and meaning search to help you use the right words, and an active outline helps you organize and improve the structure of your writing.

Snapverter

Snapverter is an add-on for Read&Write for Google that converts printed documents and inaccessible digital files into readable PDF files to make it  easy to share and for reading aloud in Google Drive. This app can quickly transform classroom papers, images, and eBooks into accessible, Google Drive-friendly files. Snapverter uses smart OCR technology that can easily recognize text from worksheets, handouts, book pages, and other printed materials.  GREAT APP!!! 

There are so many valuable tools and apps available and all we have to do is EXPLORE!!! There is always a solution to a problem. No matter the obstacles, disabilities, or challenges, there is always a way to help our students grow, learn, and achieve their full potential. 

3. The UDL Powerpoint Presentation was so informative and engaging. It's amazing just to see how far our education system has come!! So much improvement and tweaking to meet the diverse population of children in our education system who equally strive to learn and find true success. As most of us recall, life in the classroom in our past was nothing like what we are experiencing today!! All I can say is FINALLY!! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!!! The PowerPoint was a great way to see how UDL started, what UDL means, and various steps and in-depth measures it took to design this universal model with Assistive Technology and other valuable resources playing a major role in its design. Needless to say, it took an abundance of hard work and determination to design the UDL framework and to start incorporating it into our education system. Hats off to the many supporters, developers, Educators, and leaders!! 

THE OLD WAY

This was the way it was!! Was it Fair? Was it right? My answer is NO!!! I recall getting my report card in grade 4 and passing with flying colors but watched my close friend/cousin shed tears to know that he had to repeat the grade!! I felt torn!! Can you imagine how this child felt? Yes, he was trying, Yes he worked hard, Yes he was intelligent!! BUT Was he treated fairly? NO!! I'll never forget that day!! He just needed something more than what was expected. We grew up in that sad old system "One Size Fits All"!!! Sadly, he repeated the grade and moved through school barely scraping by and doing his tasks/work the old fashioned way with no extra support, accommodations,  provisions, etc... Was he successful in life? Hell YES!! Thankfully he found great success!! He finished grade 12 with not the best average but it was a pass!! He moved into a field of high interest at a recognized college and successfully completed a technological trade where he now works in Alberta repairing, updating and rebuilding systems and computers for some large industries and companies. How many people do we know lost confidence, dropped out, and became discouraged due to the way the education system was designed and delivered. Students were expected to complete the same tasks, same assignments, and tests regardless of their abilities and needs which was damaging and set so many intelligent children up for failure to achieve their goals. 

CAST WEBSITE

I thoroughly enjoyed exploring this amazing website that provides everything you need to know about UDL!! There are videos, charts, resources, activities, and so on to help provide a better understanding of the Universal Design for Learning. I found this a very valuable tool while working on the Read and Write for Google assignment. I will definitely continue to use this website as there is so much there that could help as I continue to work in the Education field and be the mom of two children enrolled in the school system.

www.cast.org

Please view this video that is on the Cast Website explaining the theory behind UDL and how it works. Please View

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING GUIDELINES

Watch this Video