UDL at CMSCE, Rutgers University

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.

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.

Please read the article, “Burbank Students Use Blog to Learn English”, by Kim Minugh found at http://www.sacbee.com/220/story/846880.html and comment on the The Best Reference Websites For English Language Learners that Larry Ferlazzo shares in his blog to help educators meet the needs of all students.

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?

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.

I 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.

We’ve spent a lot of time working on our Toolkit today – specifically tools for math. Before you spend the afternoon working on using our UDL Lesson Plan Template from Cast read the blog post listed below.

On April 9, 2008, Ira Socol’s posted Not Getting to Universal Design on his blog. Please read his post and leave your comment (reflections) either on his blog or here today.