Feb 24

Hamilton Phase 2 Day 5

Hamilton Township Public Schools  Tagged , , 2 Comments »

We have to acknowledge that we don’t always have all the technology at our fingertips that we’d like to have. We know much of it is on the way, or listed on a purchase order somewhere, but until it is in our classrooms and installed correctly, how are we going to begin using all the methods that we’ve learned to use with our students?

Today we’re going to talk about a typical classroom with three computers and how to utilize those few computers and still attain the goal of multiple methods of representation from our students. We’re also going to work on improving a lesson that uses many UDL strategies in a direct instruction format. By working together to embed more of the elements of the UDL Framework, we can reach more of our students through our successful lessons.

Here are some of the resources we’ll be using today:

http://math247.pbwiki.com/FrontPage

http://thinkingblocks.com/

Feb 04

Hamilton Include – Phase 2 – Day 4

Hamilton Township Public Schools, Uncategorized  Tagged , , , 6 Comments »

Image Source: http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zbbLEtvg_8k/SE7hWlisXtI/AAAAAAAAAzg/hk5Ion1GNpk/laptop+petaflop.jpgWe are going to spend some time today talking about how to manage your UDL classroom with all the choices you are making available and the technology you now have to maintain. Two questions to keep in mind as you peruse the resources are: Which techniques have worked for you in the past? and 2. Which techniques have backfired?

Here is a list of resources that we are going to review to help us establish some guidelines that we will use as a group.

Learners with Laptops
http://learnerswithlaptops.wikispaces.com/Technology+and+Classroom+Management

Classroom Management in Irving Independent School District
http://www.irvingisd.net/one2one/classroom_management.htm

Classroom Management: Strategies That Work
http://www.theteachersguide.com/ClassManagement.htm

Jan 19

Hamilton – Phase 1 – Day 3

Hamilton Township Public Schools  Tagged , , 6 Comments »

PowerPoint Reform – If you haven’t already seen this wiki full of amazing ways to use PowerPoint and ways NOT to use it, then take some time to click through the links and bookmark what you want to revisit when you have a block of time.

Today we’re going to look at a presentation that needs some work. We’ll talk about ways to improve it, make it more accessible to you (and in turn your students) and what tools you might want to use to accomplish these tasks

Breaking the Barriers: Universal Design for Learning
View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: lisathumann cmsce)
Dec 14

Hamilton Include – Phase 2 – Day 2

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Take a look back at the comments from your peers after we met last month. If I were to try to find a common theme, it were to be interactivity. What theme would you find from these comments?

To make sure that we are on the same page moving forward with embedding Universal Design for Learning in our classrooms, we need to make some decisions about our students.

Take a look at this keynote delivered by a young man from Dallas, Dalton Sherman. Listening and watching Dalton speak in front of thousands of educators made me think about the students and educators I work with and I’m hoping that it will open a discussion I’d like to have today about differentiation, engagement and accessibility.
(Thanks goes to Kevin Jarrett for originally blogging about the video last August.)
Dalton Sherman on YouTube

We will all spend some time today exploring the UDL Toolkit Wiki created and maintained by Karen Janowski and Joyce Valenza paying special attention to the page on math tools.

Dec 08

Hamilton: Cohort 2: Day 2

Hamilton Township Public Schools  Tagged , , , 4 Comments »

We’ve spent a lot of time working on our Toolkit today. You’ve reviewed a handful of tools that you may or may not want to use in your classroom. Please, before you leave, do one of the following:

1. Leave a comment here discussing which tool was your favorite, why and how specifically you see using it with your class.

2. Visit Ira Socol’s blog and read his post from April 9 called Not Getting to Universal Design. Please leave Ira a comment on his blog.

3. Visit my Delicious links and choose another tool tagged “UDL”. Leave a comment here letting us know which tool you selected. Be prepared to demonstrate the tool the next time we meet as a group.

We hope the theories behind Universal Design for Learning are all coming together for you and that you are excited to implement the strategies in your classrooms.

Oct 27

Hamilton Include – Phase 2

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Where do we go from here? What skills are you working on with your students? We should always determine the skills before we determine which tool will help us remove barriers and provide flexibility in the classroom.

Comment on what your goal for yourself is for the next month. What skill are you working on?

Oct 01

Day 1 Cohort 2 in Hamilton Township

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20 Minute Overview
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: cmsce rutgers)

Well if you've made it as far as this blog then you've made it past the first couple of hours of UDL training. Congratulations! You now have the basic understanding that Universal Design for Learning is the framework for something that you've been working so hard as an educator to do for your students this year and possibly for many years past as well. You also have a digital copy of the slideshow from today's presentation to refer back to you whenever you need it along with this blog as a resource.

The next step is to please read the Case Study: Teaching Probability in Middle School found at http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/casestories/cs3/ and comment on the traditional versus UDL approaches discussed towards the end. Be specific as to which approaches have been successes or failures for you and which you can see yourself attempting to implement before the end of the school year.

Also, I've embedded the CommonCraft video on Social Bookmarking that we watched together. We'll be using Delicious a lot this year, so refer back to this video when you need to. Add it your bookmarks if you'd like.

Aug 10

Join the UDL Ning

Hamilton Township Public Schools, Palisade Park School District, Plainfield School District  Tagged , , , 3 Comments »

Please consider joining educators from around the world in an online collaborative group to discuss the theory of Universal Design for Learning, what’s working and not working with students, and a selection of some of the best (and worst) digital tools available to help you meet the needs of all of your students.

If you are ready to explore more tools and collaborate with more educators before we meet again, you might consider joining the UDL Ning at http://udl4all.ning.com/

Jun 08

Day 5 Hamilton – Understanding Your Own Style

Hamilton Township Public Schools, Uncategorized  Tagged , , , 1 Comment »

This is our last session together before you visit Cast and before you spend some time at the College of New Jersey putting together some UDL lessons. We’re going to take some time today to look at ourselves as learners by completing an online (or print) inventory. Print out a copy of a learning styles inventory at http://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/mitest.html, take an online inventory and identify your type with the Jung Typology Test or the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire or the Memletics Learning Style Questionnaire.

We’ll also be taking a close look at math tools that fit into the UDL classroom today. Roberta has set up an eBoard just for your group at http://hamilton.cmsce.site.eboard.com and will share the password with you during our session together. Let us know by leaving a comment here any tools that you’d like to see permanently added to the toolkit. (Don’t forget to also bookmark them to your Del.icio.us account.

During the afternoon we’ll take a look at some sample UDL lessons and a template at http://www.patinsproject.com/universal_design_for_learning_project_files/udl_lesson_template%202.doc. You’ll also find additional resources regarding the creation of UDL lessons on Roberta’s Hamilton eBoard.

May 20

Day 4 Hamilton – Barriers and Flexibility

Hamilton Township Public Schools  Tagged , , , , 2 Comments »

We spoke a lot today about breaking down the barriers in the classroom. We also discussed the reasons why we evaluate students and the value of Universal Design for Learning in assessment. Please read Paul Hamilton’s post entitled Ira Socol’s Toolbelt Theory and My Blog and comment on his blog or here as to what type of tools you are looking for to increase assessment accuracy and accessibility.

Today’s presentation can be found online at SlideShare.net.

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