This UDL journey has been made possible by my current school, Stamford American International School, and I am grateful for it. The school set up this UDL Trailblazers program for us to work with Katie Novak and learn to apply the UDL framework in order to benefit our learners.
As a "Trailblazer", I am tasked with taking some courses, completing some assignments, and deepening my understanding of UDL. Easy enough. I am also tasked with trying things out and encouraging my team (Grade 1) to be risk-takers and tweak or rethink some of their lessons with a UDL lens. Part of that is both easy and difficult.
I find that trying new things and retooling lessons in order to remove more barriers can be both challenging and rewarding. Sometimes it is even, dare I say, easy. Sometimes, it is just a matter of changing the way the information is delivered ( audio, visual, kinaesthetic), or how my students respond and show me their understanding. Sometimes, it is a headache because the goal of the lessons requires students to do certain things a certain way and there are barriers that I just cannot be taken down outright. I am thinking about writing or reading mostly as these are things that have to be done. Don't get me wrong, UDL has given me new ideas and new pathways to help students in both reading and writing.
Anywho, the purpose of this short post is to send the message that trial and error is par for the course and that I am not alone in this. Sometimes I feel like I am but last Wednesday, I was reminded in a reassuring way that, no, I am not alone and that others are having the same struggles and the same successes as I am having.
Our school has a weekly meeting called "Inclusion Wednesday '' when the school engages in a variety of activities that revolve around inclusion and specifically our sandbox year of learning to implement UDL in our planning and teaching. We have had a sharing session where the school Trailblazers share their journey. This is how this blog came about. We have had a few sessions where others shared their UDL work, their resources, and ideas to inspire the whole staff. But last Wednesday, I was part of a small session that gave me more than a new set of resources. I sat down with our head of Teaching and Learning (Thomas Marshall), our Director of Education for Asia (Andy Hancock), and most importantly 6 other trailblazers. And we just had a chat, a good talk about what it has been like, and it was so good.
I loved that session because it made me realize that I was really having the same journey as others and that I was doing ok. I needed that affirmation that I was doing ok. I realized that I was knowledgeable through the training I am receiving but also through my applying UDL and implementing it more and more often in my planning. I also realized in the session that I need to check in more often with my team. I need to do more than share resources and learning engagements that I tried to make more "UDL" in nature. I came out of the session re-envigorated and with some clear goals in mind.
If you are like me and learning to be better at identifying barriers and in planning lessons that provide the opportunity for all students to meet their learning goals, then make sure you talk with colleagues and support each other. This journey is much better with some company.
Happy Trails!
No comments:
Post a Comment