Chapter 8

Back to the other textbook with this chapter, which I found a nice change. I thought the Concord School District sounded really impressive. When reading about creative funding practices in particular and the process of implementing UDL in general, I was reminded of a conversation we had on our group discussion board not very long ago about the ability for teachers to implement UDL if schools aren't willing to provide the necessary training or software. I was surprised that this chapter basically dismissed that possibility. While I agree that administrative support, especially in terms of professional developments, training, and funding are important, I don't think they are always a hundred percent necessary. The chapter focuses on the application for grants, however it only discusses this really as a school-wide initiative. I believe though that in a school where UDL isn't a focus of the administration, but is a focus for a particular teacher, then a teacher could apply for grants to get technology and training by and for him/herself. This teacher could at least implement UDL to a certain extent through these means. Obviously, this is not an ideal situation, however I also dont think it's ideal to tell teachers that without administrative support they can't use UDL.

The other Chapter 6

So I must say, I don't think this online textbook is as UDL as the other. I found this very difficult to be motivated by, the way the information was presented was very dry, I didn't find the examples very clear, and for those examples that were presented there was definitely a lack of visual examples. With that said, I thought the chapter did raise a few interesting points. As I read through the chapter's sections on learner, knowledge and assessment-centered, I was thinking about the things I would write on my blog about the impossibility of separating these situations, however I was glad to see that the chapter stressed the importance of the alignment of the learning environments at the chapter's conclusion. The one section I would like to speak more explicitly about is the assessment section. I think it is important to use formative assessments, and I know the reading and writing workshop uses a great deal of this and is a fantastic program. However, I think in general this is something that can be quite difficult especially for beginning teachers. To find the time to give all of the students in your class feedback and to teach students to give each other appropriate feedback, especially with students in the younger years, is not an easy task. I think it would be helpful for the chapter to give some specific examples of ways to accomplish this goal that they stress the importance of.
I also found the section on television particularly interesting. I think I have a tendency to look at television as being predominantly and overwhelmingly negative for children. So it was interesting to read about research that has displayed the very opposite of my notion. I think making this knowledge more public could have a possibly large and beneficial impact on children as parents may be encouraged to at least have their children watch educational television, if they are allowing them to watch a substantial amount of television per week.

Chapter 6

The "why". I thought it was great that they acknowledged the importance of the why of learning a concept or strategy, when the chapter discussed the strategic and affective networks. Just last night, in a different class, we were discussing our personal experiences with learning math, and many students in the group I was working with spoke of their dislike of math as being related to the fact that they felt they were just learning how to do steps (especially in math classes like calculus) but never felt they understood the "why." Why should we learn this? How will I be able to use this in my life? I think it's important to address these questions, especially in the later years of education, as this will really affect students' motivation.
I decided that rather than just summarize the chapter and it's interesting points, as everyone will have read the chapter and doesn't really need me to do that, I'd instead bring up some questions and issues the chapter brought to mind for me. In the beginning of the chapter, they gave examples such as the Civil War and architecture and even later on they spoke about UDL for economic models. However, it seems that every time the textbook gives an explicit model of using the principles of UDL in a classroom situation it always focuses on elementary school and therefore elementary concepts. I think this is a problem for numerous reasons. First of all, I personally find the principles of UDL a lot more difficult to picture in a high school or middle school situation, so could use an example of it being implemented. Additionally, I think that the textbooks avoidance of using these types of examples, would make a potential middle school or high school teacher possibly believe that while UDL is useful in elementary school it is not a curriculum framework that I can or should use in my classroom. Does anyone else feel this way?
I believe that part of this feeling of inequality stems from my own experiences. I think back to elementary school, and I remember the use of computers in the classroom, and especially beng a teacher now, I haven't seen any elementary level classrooms without at least one computer. However, even though I went to school in a wealthy district, I don't remember any computers in classrooms during high school or middle school. Maybe this has changed now, but if high school and middle school classrooms still lack computers and, at least in this chapter, the use of UDL is focused so intently on technology, then how could high school or middle school teachers really implement these principles? The only option I can think of is to have different technologies available on a class website of some sort, but even this isn't very UDL. First of all it would still mean class time lacks the components of UDL that are only available on the computer and would therefore likely be very text and lecture based and it would also only work if every students had a computer at home, which is not an assumption we can make. So, I pose some questions...Is it possible to really use UDL in higher grades? And if so, how? And if not, then how can we make it possible?

Chapter 4

I'll be honest, when I started reading Chapter 4, I initially went into it thinking it was going to be the same old thing, as it is needless to say to anyone in our program, that we've been assigned a lot of reading and heard a whole lot in a number of classes just recently about UDL, including it's background and implementation. But I was pleasantly surprised by Chapter 4 and what it had to offer. I think this is due, in no small way, to the fact that this textbook is in fact more UDL than any other version of similar information that I have been exposed to, making it both more motivating and more embedded with a variety of enhancements.
The first place that I found myself feeling a renewed sense of interest was in the description of the Origins of UDL in reference to the architectural movement of Universal Design. I don't claim to know tons about architecture in a technical sense, but I do appreciate and enjoy the impressive structure and aesthetics of many architectural works from Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell in Barcelona to the Coliseum in Rome and even the Brooklyn Bridge right here in New York. To be able to create something, such as the Louvre, that parallels so many incredible works in its striking structure and aesthetics, and to do it in a way that is also universally accessible is so impressive to me. It's definitely inspiring...if someone can accomplish that on such a wide scale, certainly it has to be possible to do the same, albeit in a different situation, on a smaller scale in a classroom.
So after finidng myself inspired, I read on and was interested enough to click on the link and go check out Wiggle Works. Although I've used Scholastic guided reading books in two different grade levels in classrooms, I have never heard of Wiggle Works or they're guided reading program, which particularly interested me because of my experiences. I noticed the program incorporated many of the same books as Scholastic's traditional guided reading program, as well as the cards for teacher's that direct your guided reading groups (they're a great resource for anyone interested). To also have a computer-assisted program though that further solidifies what students learned in guided reading group, particularly for those who really need more practice before using skills independently, would have been an amazing resource, especially in my first grade class where a lot of students are typically still developing readers and could definitely have hugely benefited from this assistance.
The final part of this article that struck me, and hopefully helped my upcoming UDL project for another class, was the section connecting UDL and the role of neuroscience. Until now, when I contemplated UDL approaches and particularly those connected with the first principle, I always thought simply of the sensory alternatives to vary the options available for access to information, and therefore as I began to plan this upcoming project I had considered e-books, print versions, and videos. However, when the ideas of enhancement, both in terms of background knowledge and highlighting, were discussed I realized how much differential presentation really can entail and realized how limited my view for my project had been. I could have built in hints, examples, and reiterations of the directions to be clicked on if students are struggling. I could teach students how to highlight important parts to mark for themselves to come back to, or I could have highlighting already completed for students that need that extra focus. Reading this made me realize that while I am starting to understand and recognize the usefulness and flexibility of UDL, I still need to keep my eyes and, more importantly, my mind open to how much more there really is.