Conclusion on the first week of UDL summer 2009

drfrannie — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:15:04 +0000

What a week! As usual we endured the long days, the volume of information, the tasks and activities, the discussion, and the humor. Each year we watch the learning unfold as students first ponder these terms of UD – UDI – UDL and try to find their way. We watch the push and pull in their learning as they try to understand. We delight in the “aha” moments that they express when they realize the value in this framework. This summer brought a continuation of questions, concerns, new reflections, and affirmations. Now we embark on the next steps. Projects to complete, readings to uncover, and the time to assimilate all this new knowledge.

This was an interesting week as we also watched the media populate the Interet and TV waves with the sad news of the deaths of Michael Jackson, Farah Fawcett, and Ed McMahn. As I returned to my home base, I was struck by two television broadcasts that continued the conversation about evolving research in the neurosciences. I encourage all to take a preview of these. One is entitled Music Instinct on PBS at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/musicinstinct/. Another on 60 minutes, entitled “Mind Reading” at http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5119805n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel. These are interesting pieces which further expand on the discussion of how the brain is involved in learning.

Countdown to Week 1 – UDL Class 7

drfrannie — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:30:53 +0000

June 21, 2009 begins with the creation of my GW UDL blog space — an online area for my daily reflections on our class, our shared opinions, our questions, and our collective learning experiences. We began to infuse the use of reflective blogs in our 2008 class. This proved to be a positive experience for most and gave students the opportunity to share their individual experiences. Offering students an opportunity to customize and create their own blog space also builds on UDL principle #3 – offering multiple opportunities to engage student learning.

We began this UDL graduate course at GW during the summer of 2003. This was a time when the seminal text, Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age, had not been published. In fact, CAST was just beginning to build their website and reach out through virtual connections to a larger community. We were fortunate to be one of those communities and our students had opportunities to email with some of the CAST researchers. At that time we were als one of just a few schools offering training in UDL. Fast forward to 2009 and an abundance of courses are being offered around the country, grants are being funded to promote the practice, books are being published, legisltation includes the UDL definitions, and a national UDL website has debuted. These are exciting times.

We hope you find this course as enjoyable as we have found to teach it. As you learn and experience, you too will have the chance to discover the power of this approach called UDL. And, through your blog, you’ll enrich the conversation we’ve begun with our GW UDL Blog Portal.

A picture of my nephew Adam looking up

As for me, I also like to take pictures. So, you may find that I’ll post pictures of our class adventures to this blog! This has been a hobby/ passion for many years. This is a photo of my 4yr old nephew Adam Pemberton Smith. He often reminds me of why I’m such an advocate for UDL. He has a natural curiosity and loves to explore and learn. He’s a busy little guy with boundless energy and likes to move. He has opinions that like to be heard and appreciates choices. My hope is that he’ll begin his pre-school education with opportunities to continue these natural desires and always find school a place where he thirsts for new knowledge and experience.

You’ll also notice a few blogs within my resource listing whichinclude my blog at Recognizing Differences, a best practices in UD blog, and our AT blog at VCU.

These too may offer additional information.

drfrannie's reflections on udl @ GW

Conclusion on the first week of UDL summer 2009

Countdown to Week 1 – UDL Class 7