Workshop+Contents

Workshop Contents

// ‘The concept of UDL is the intersection where all our initiatives, integrated units, multi-sensory teaching, multiple intelligences, differentiated instruction, use of computers in school, performance-based assessment and others come together.’ Donna Palley //

** The Specific Group Targeted ** The study group is diagnosed dyslexic students, with the learning context being a semi-inclusive, international school, set in the sub-continent region of Asia. But this UDL workshop need not only apply to this group of dyslexic learners. There are a myriad of other learner groups who would benefit from the teachings here. Any child with sight or hearing impairments would certainly find aspects of this workshop valuable, as would students with mathematics or writing challenges, to name but a few (Raskind and Stanberry, 2011, para. 6). Students may also simply learn more effectively through varied content delivery methods, and many times, may find themselves separated from other students, in terms of being able to keep up with the program. UDL can help. This philosophy certainly pays homage to Gardner’s work with the Multiple Intelligences. Learning styles vary, and with the varied learning styles come varied content uptake methodologies. As educators and administrators, we must ensure there is a place for all learners. UDL does just that. UDL ‘aims to create physical environments and tools that are usable by as many (learners) as possible’ (UDL Guidelines, Version 2.0, 2011, pp 3).

// ‘We must place ourselves inside the heads of our students and try to understand as far as possible the sources and strengths of their conceptions.’ Howard Gardner 1991 //

**Session One:** Keynote Presentation **Session Two:** Transform a Traditional Assignment Using Provide Multiple Means for Action and Expression **Session Three:** Invoking Real Change - Adding UDL Features to your Workspace.

**Plan: Session One** The plan for the workshops is to begin with a Keynote presentation that will build upon the video and readings that the teachers were asked to study prior to the sessions. In the Keynote, the basics of UDL will be explained and the group will begin to look at the way that technology and iPad technology, specifically, can assist learners with varying special needs.

There will be a live Twitter feed rolling on a side screen as well, and participants will be encouraged to comment along the way, to make this a truly interactive session. The hashtag #UDL513 will be used for this workshop. Please add a column for this hashtag to your twitter aggregator (tweetdeck, echofon, hootesuite, etc.). Add any comments or thoughts to this feed as we progress through this workshop.

The session group will be shown various videos, from humorous to deeply informational, to reinforce the UDL principles.

Once the Keynote portion of Session One is complete, and the discussion at an end, the Keynote presentation, itself, will be transformed using the ideas and methods of UDL. It will be made into a Powerpoint, a movie, it will have various features altered to make it more accessible to all. Participants will be encouraged to use the sites that were spoken about earlier or on the Useful Sites and Apps wiki page to further explore the possibilities.

Session One will end with the affirmation that what we do is not easy, it is in fact quite challenging. Teachers have so many competing missions, it is at times like juggling, or 'herding cats'. But we do it out of love and we do it because we can make a difference in the lives of our students. Differentiation is what makes the world what it is and I will end with the Daniel Pink story. It will be either in video form ( http://krishnade.com/2010/drive/ ) or simply related, depending on time restraints.

Pink talks of a simple test (The Candle Problem) for children and adults in reasoning through a particular task. He found that incentives for accomplishing the task quickly, rewards and time restrictions all hindered the results, for all groups except for the one that had lived for some portion of their lives and been schooled for some time in another country. That group did well in any setting, regardless of parameters. (Pink, 2010, pp 24) What he told a group in Boston in January of 2010 was that there was something to being an expatriate in another culture, something about the mixing of cultures and the melding of values and ideologies, that allowed for success in this particular scenario and he encouraged those in the audience, myself included, to go out and write a doctoral thesis on why this might be. Somehow, that expat, inter-cultural experience was meaningful in ways beyond what one might easily define. (Kells, 2011) Pink does not purport to be an educational expert, nor does he offer answers to the enduring questions of education, but he does ask questions and he does point out areas worthy of closer examination.

**Plan: Session** **Two** Session Two will build upon what was learned and the skills that were developed in Session One but move into the classroom setting. Participants will be taken through how UDL might be able to transform assignments in a way that students may be better able to understand and deliver their materials. When looking at the target audience in 513 Assignment One (Dyslexic kids at School A), there were areas that the students were definitely falling down in. By using the skills and techniques from Session One, expanding on those in Session Two, and by transforming assignments using the principles of UDL, **ALL** students will be offered a greater chance of success in the classroom. Session Two will take a regular assignment from a teacher. A real one, not made up. It will transform that assignment by following the best practices of UDL. I chose a book many would be familiar with, //Tuck Everlasting//, and offered up, as an example, a typical assignment a teacher might give, to summarize a chapter. But, by looking at the assignment details as a group, and creating a UDL-friendly rubric, the participants will hopefully see that UDL techniques can significantly alter the means by which students may tackle the particular assignment (a 250 word summary). It is hoped children will experience with podcasts, Comic Life, Prezi, and a myriad of other possibilities to not only make their assignment (summary) unique, but to better match their skill-sets and their learning styles. Participants will be given the opportunity to work on assignments of their own (as they were asked to bring their own materials to the sessions) and to apply the principles of UDL to them to better allow for **ALL** students to succeed.

**Plan: Session** **Three** In the final session, participants will again work in their classrooms with the leader passing among them assisting as necessary. But this time, it will not be to create UDL materials or rubrics, but it will be to create a UDL classroom. The group will begin together and brainstorm methods for transforming classrooms using the ideas and principles of UDL. They will be given the opportunity to search the Internet, look through the various UDL-related websites, talk as a group, and then move out to their classrooms to begin the transformations. This session will foster cooperation and teamwork. The day will end with a regrouping in the main hall to bring about closure, through a theme-ending discussion and Q&A session.

A Survey Monkey form will be sent out to participants to allow for feedback on the sessions and the learning therein.
 * Survey Monkey **

**- Session Three Ends -**