When Education Is Designed for All Learners
Everyone loves watching a properly executed circus act—one which surprises, delights and briefly suspends us in awe. It’s the type of efficiency that makes an impression as a result of its success depends not upon magic or deceit however dedication and practiced talent. Take, for occasion, the precarious act of spinning plates on poles, seemingly defying the legal guidelines of gravity.
Think plate spinners are a factor of the previous? Well, step proper up, women and gents, and watch Regina Meeks carry out her scholastic plate-spinning act!
The Academically Intellectually Gifted (AIG) Certified and Talent Development (TD) Catalyst instructor works with teams of gifted and superior learners throughout the Charlotte-Mecklenburg faculty district in North Carolina. She travels between two completely different faculty websites all through the week. She plans instruction for 4 separate grade ranges—second by way of fifth—and two completely different topic areas—math and ELA—whereas additionally deciding which classroom expertise is finest suited to every day’s lesson. And on high of all that, she’s a mentor and coach to new academics.
How does she do it? Well, as you would possibly anticipate, she’s a gifted and devoted educator. But she’s additionally obtained the proper instruments for the job. Propping up her vigorous routine are the poles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the proper mix of schooling expertise, making certain that every thing retains spinning alongside on the proper tempo and momentum.
Meeks was launched to us after collaborating within the UDL Product Certification listening periods, a mission sponsored by the Educating All Learners Alliance (EALA), a coalition of organizations devoted to supporting college students with disabilities and studying variations. Recently, she sat down with EdSurge to clarify precisely how she manages to maintain her many plates from crashing to the bottom.
EdSurge: How do you carry the rules of UDL into your classroom—with or with out the assistance of expertise?
Meeks: There’s one elementary query that I ask myself, and it is at all times, “How do I create a content lesson so that it is engaging for all learners?” So, after I take into consideration UDL, that is the query I’m wanting for: How am I going to have interaction all learners? Because we all know, as educators, one dimension doesn’t match all.
So, I begin pondering, “Okay, how can I make it interactive? How can I make it fun? What are the tools that the students may need for independence and autonomy?” That’s at all times been my pondering. I’m a tech particular person by nature; I like techy kind stuff. I’m at all times experimenting and discovering completely different edtech instruments.
For instance, utilizing Google Slides, I body my lesson in order that college students can see what I’m educating—which means they’ve a type of visible script—as a result of some college students be taught finest by seeing it, and a few could do higher with listening to it. My Google Classroom is sort of a shell, a container. So, on this container, I take into consideration which edtech instruments are going to assist me maximize the lesson. If I’m wanting for a gaggle dialogue, I’ll submit a Padlet in Google Classroom. Then, as I’m educating from my Google Slides, their response goes to be on Padlet. This is a good way for me to get suggestions and have college students take part within the dialogue with out elevating their hand.
When I take into consideration UDL, I need my college students to have independence and autonomy.
Which different instruments enable you to promote independence and autonomy or personalize content material for your learners?
I like to make use of Edpuzzle, the place I can embed a video and layer it with comprehension questions or stopping factors to find out mastery. Students can return and watch it as many occasions as they want. My objective is to ensure they’ve the chance to maximise studying at their very own tempo.
But I attempt to rotate the instruments so issues don’t get stagnant. I at all times return to, “Okay, what content lesson am I going to pair with my edtech tool so that it’s engaging? Which one’s going to maximize this lesson and give me the most bang for my buck?” I take advantage of Padlet, Edpuzzle, Flipgrid, Quizlet Live, Kahoot!, and my favourite that I take advantage of for gamifying is Deck.Toys.
Oh my goodness, if you’re in a classroom, you could use Deck.Toys! You have a instructor mode and a play mode. After constructing the lesson, you possibly can current in instructor mode, and college students will solely see what you’re educating. Once you flip off instructor mode, they’ll play the gamified actions utilizing content material from the lesson. You can put in vocabulary, content material, movies, important questions—every thing that you just want. Students like it as a result of it is gamified. We know they love expertise, so, as soon as once more, I’m making an attempt to maximise curiosity and engagement however nonetheless responsibly train my content material and construct in differentiation.
And I’m at all times enthusiastic about constructing within the alternative to collaborate, paired with unbiased examine. I believe lots about customized studying. We have to seek out methods to present college students alternative and voice, utilizing various kinds of expertise to present them an opportunity to work independently as a result of they should take possession of their studying.
Digging extra into the “universal” facet of UDL, how does accessibility issue into the choice of edtech instruments that you just use along with your college students?
For starters, I believe there is a higher want for illustration of accessibility points within the office. I believe if I needed to determine a spot, it will be within the hiring of people which have accessibility wants. Who higher to offer detailed details about utilizing a product and realizing what’s missing?
But lately, I’ve seen an unlimited enchancment with edtech instruments, together with speech-to-text. One of the instruments that type of began it off for me was Read&Write for Google Chrome. And I used to be actually excited when Flipgrid began utilizing closed captions! I work in Title I faculties, and we nonetheless have quite a lot of college students beneath grade stage for studying. So, having Microsoft Immersive Reader and Read&Write for Google Chrome has been a recreation changer.
Is there a selected success story associated to accessibility issues within the classroom you could share?
Absolutely. I labored with Digital Promise within the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program, and the scholars obtained their very own iPad to take residence and use through the faculty 12 months. We had fairly a big inhabitants of ESL college students. And we have been capable of present them, with accessibility settings, the way to change their language. That was enormous! The college students have been capable of perceive the language within the doc and the language of the machine. And the identical is true with Canvas, our LMS. Now, we’ve the choice, underneath accessibility settings, to alter the language for all of our ESL college students.
So, this can be a success story for me—the ‘aha’ or ‘yahoo!’ Yes, they can get it now. That was a recreation changer. And additionally, it put a device within the arms of the academics so that they could possibly be actively concerned in making a classroom that was inclusive.
