In this activity, you will post a practical classroom activity that implements Universal Design for Learning. Based on your assigned principle (found in the course activity directions), post a comment in the appropriate blog post by Friday. Be sure to sign your blog entry.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Principle #3 - Student Expression
Each member of Team C will post at least one way that a teacher uses flexible methods that encourages student expression, and provides students with choices for how they will demonstrate their learning.
The following is an example of a project that addresses Principle 3 of the UDL: Teacher uses flexible methods of expression that provides students with choices for how they will demonstrate their learning.
When I taught middle school math each year I would have my 6th grade GT class form a company during the statistics unit. In my GT class I had 4 students out of 28 who were “twice gifted.” One student had Turrets Syndrome, another had Asbergers, and two had ADHD. We were called LKMS Bytes. Every year we would use EXCEL to create a spreadsheet that would organize data to help solve a real world problem. One year the school system had changed its policy on retention. In response we created a spreadsheet that would help teachers to collect data on students who were at risk based on interim reports and quarterly report cards. The spreadsheet dissaggregated data based on grade level, course level, gender, race, free/reduced lunch, and special needs. It generated percentages based on grade level and subject areas as well as created graphs for each data point. After the students completed the “product” they then had to market it. Each student or group of students had the same criteria but the students could choose the format; making a commercial, brochure, PowerPoint, skit, written report ect. This particular year they actually set up a meeting with the Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendent for Assessment and gave a multi-media presentation and test trial. The students were able to pick the format that best suited their learning style and that helped to engage them in the activity, increased the quality of output and gave respect to all learners. The students with disabilities were able to choose activities that played into their strengths, for example the Turrets student would not have done well if the only choice was a skit. However he created a fantastic commercial with his friends, although he did not act he worked on the script, adding in graphics and music, and did the filming. Now 10 years later and with advancements in technology I could see using blogs to record the process of learning with reflections on how they solved problems using EXCEL, how they learned to use different tools of EXCEL as the need arose, and how they were able to collaborate with partners on the project. I could see using networked projectors to share students thoughts and problem solve together without having to get everyone up and moving over to look at a small screen. I could see the brochures being created using Web 2.0 tools such as Letter Pop and shared both electronically and on paper. I could see students creating a corporate website. I also see them sharing the process with the Superintendent for Assessment in process through the blog. I also see how the students could use Camtasia to enhance PowerPoint presentations. Plus, the students with disabilities in the Gifted sections are often very comfortable with technology and it provides them with a comfort zone to express their knowledge.
Inga, What a phenomenal example! It incorporates flexible methods of expression as well as project-based learning with real-world applications. How much time did your students have to spend on the unit? It sounds like they had to have a lot of prior knowledge in order to successfully participate in the project.
Inga, your commentary on how ten years later, your activity would have no less meaning and greater flexibility with your cited Web 2.0tools. I loved the application of statistics concept of building a report on retention and disaggregating the data. When the students met with the superintendent, what was his/her reaction to the students' presentations? P.S. I love the phrase "twice gifted" Emmy
Okay, here's my example. This year before the break, I produced a half hour documentary on how science students engaged in multidisciplinary approaches to issues relevant to conservation of water. I interviewed two sets of students working in teams on a "Future City" project and discussed how different teams approached the design process, how they designated roles that emphasized each member's strengths, and how to use the software to accommodate a variety of simulated problems associated with building a city. The software program used was Sim City and the object of this popular game is to avoid bankruptcy, geologic disasters, the psychological and physical health of the occupants, etc. The interrelated nature of actions in the game produce consequences, some intended, others unintended for lack of planning. I filmed and edited discussions held with teams of students who enthusiastically talked about their joint efforts. We discussed on film the pros and cons of team work, division of roles, research process, and how members coordinated their efforts. Two other students from another team walked through a simulation of the software and talked aloud of the highs and lows of city planning. Another team in the school attempted an underwater city only to throw out the idea due to the inability to engineer a water filtration system underwater. During the process of filming, then editing and showing the footage to the Science Department Director for the County, adults learned from students thinking aloud the process of their work. We learned that the project helped students to think metacognitively about how they would approach this engineering work. The Science Chair commented that our school's efforts were to serve as a model for the County. The movie was shown at a principal's meeting along with the Superintendent for Middle School Instruction. The flexibility of roles built into this project, the lack of an adult dictating how students designed their cities provided flexibility and sparked students'imagination. The filming of the students talk-aloud was a powerful learning for all the adults who viewed the documentary. I will attempt to post a link tomorrow to the video distributed through the County's Professional Development Department.
Here is another example of a project that a teacher could use which provides students with choices for how they will demonstrate their learning. In this hypothetical example, all 6th grade students are researching careers that interest them and using that information to develop part of their career portfolio. They must research three careers. They have different levels of graphic organizers or note-taking structures that have them get information about required education, characteristics of the job, starting salary, and other characteristics. They may complete any one of these tasks, for each of the three careers. They may not repeat a task. At the end of the assignment, they will have three different tasks completed. They will also be required to substantially comment on at least three of their peers' products. Here is an example of the menu of tasks.
Numerous options for demonstrating what they are learning could include: Create a podcast of your interview with someone in this career. Develop a photostory telling us about the steps to have to “get” that career. Develop a “day in the life” photostory about someone who is in that career. Complete a graphic organizer, comparing and contrasting two careers. Create a fictional “career” newsletter where you describe the career, interview a person in that career... Develop a blog from a fictional character who is in that career. Design and publish a children’s book about your chosen career. Write an essay about your chosen career. Develop an advertising campaign to attract people to train for your chosen career. Create a timeline that would illustrate the steps to achieving your career. Illustrate a children’s book about your chosen career. Develop a caricature or a comic about someone in your chosen career. Be able to explain what you choose to exaggerate and why. Create a multi-media presentation about your chosen career. Create an image map to show the steps to reaching your career. Hyperlink components of the image to different characteristics, like choosing the right college, earning a specific major, applying for the job. Develop an advertisement for your job including starting salary, entry-level requirements, and working conditions. Create lyrics to a song about your chosen career. Be able to explain how those lyrics apply to your career. Create your own activity and have it approved by the teacher.
A variety of web 2.0 applications could be used in this example, including teachertube, schooltube, voicethread for publishing photostories, podcasts, and vodcasts. Wikis could be used to share research. Blogs could be used to publish an essay and receive feedback from peers. Letterpop could be used to create the newsletter. UDL bookbuilder could be used to develop and publish a book about the career. Almost any web 2.0 technology we've talked about could be used in this example. Again, it is a matter of student choice of expression. By opening the door to numerous ways of demonstrating their knowledge, students will also have a higher level of engagement in the learning. By making the learning personal and inviting numerous people to participate in sharing the learning by collaborating and viewing it, students have a broader audience and a greater feeling of purpose. For students who shy from public presentations, web 2.0 provides another way to share their knowledge without standing in front of the class.
Emmy, Your administrator was correct. This project and the way it was presented does seem like a model for the county and then some! I love the way you speak to teachers and administrators also benefiting from multiple methods of expression and learning. As future administrators we need to consider UDL for all, not just for a particular population such as disadvantaged students, or just students. Just like the curb cut example, UDL benefits everyone, not just the students.
Time for the project: The entire project took about 1 month but including instruction on Interpreting data and Statistics. They didn't really have any experience with EXCEL but it is very intuitive and this was a GT class. I also had them very invested in thinking this was real which it turned out it was because 3 schools actually did use the spreadsheet we created. Now all reports are done electronically so this is mute.
Reaction: They were astonished. At first I think they were just expecting to compliment and then be on thier way but the 2 students who initally went came in suits with business cards and "merchandize" another sudent had made, a t-shirt and coffee mug. Then had briefcases and laptops. They showed another students PowerPoint and then had them do a simulation to show thier motto worked "Less Time Organizing, More Time Analyzing" All you had to do was type in a letter for each student subject and the rest was done. He actually set up a time to come to the school to meet with the two classes. It was pretty cool.
Here is an example of a project that I observed that addresses Principle 2: Supporting strategic learning, providing multiple, flexible methods of expression and apprenticeship. These activities were taking place in a 4th grade Social Studies class over the span of one week and I observed the classroom on two of these days. The teacher was teaching about Exploration and Colonization and the students had been learning about this for one day prior to my visit. In this class the teacher had developed multiple lessons for the students to participate in and she geared the choices to include students who needed extra support, those who needed a challenge, to the English Language Learner students, and she said that she attempted to cover verbal linguistic learners, logical mathematical learners and visual spatial learners. The activities in this unit included an activity were pairs of students who were identifying key events and listing cause effects of each event. These students were making a cause-and-effect chart using PowerPoint. They later shared their creations with the class. Students were divided into small groups and were to prepare a short documentary about one of the important people discussed in the unit. They wrote a short script, made computerized illustrations and used pictures of the famous person. The teacher said that she did not know what computer applications would be a better choice, but she had the students using Photostory for this project, each of the “documentaries” were about 1 minute long when viewing them. Another activity included understanding timelines to show the order in which events took place. The were using their birthdays to mark the timeline and were using time-order words such as first, last, before, and after to talk about the order of the birthdays. Students used Timeliner, which is a computer application that all of our elementary buildings have in the labs. This project was designed to help the ELL understand “what does a timeline help you understand?” Another activity was that the students were creating a class mural of important events in Michigan history. In pairs they were asked to identify and draw a scene that illustrates one major event discussed in Unit two and then they wrote captions for the scenes The students could either draw or used ZohoShow to create their scene. They then taped the completed work into one large mural. I later visited the classroom to see the mural and it seemed that about half of the students chose to do this project with ZohoShow (many of us used this as our introduction to this course) and the other half did it by hand. There are several computer applications and websites that could be used for any of these projects, and I was happy to see that the teacher was just providing technology as a choice.
Inga, Your description of the choice that the students had is an excellent example of Principle 3 - it is wonderful how the advances in technology could make this even more fun for the students
Emmy- I love the adults learning from students talking through their work. What a benefit to the students who learned to talk through, the adults who saw it in action. Metacognition is so important for adults and students. This is great! Renee
Emmy, I love the idea of creating a video to provide concrete examples of how innovative responsive curriculum completely change how students learn. Having the students themselves articulating is so powerful. I think it also shows that it can be done. Often when we read ideas on paper we think how did that work or that sounds good but what really happened. Here you have a the actual evidence of the impact. It would be great to have the video available on a website with the accompanying documents so that teachers across the county could access it. Have you seen the Anneberg videos on instruction. They are great because you see teachers learning the skill and then you see the same teachers implementing the skill in class. Great job. Thanks for sharing.
I love the way that the teacher used technology so purposefully with Timeliner. Not only does that help the ELL students but Timeliner allows the students to take the activity as far as they want. They can put in a few date or they can add information about the historical event.
Emmy, I'm glad to hear that the Future City program is still around. When I taught Middle School I worked with our Future City team. It was a lot of fun for them and for the adults who worked with them (me, our Engineer mentor, other faculty in the school). The students learned a lot and were able to express themselves and their knowledge in ways that they aren't always able to do in the classroom.
For those of us who wish to take a look; I uploaded the documentary on YouTube...it's long so if you wish to look only at the CMS participation, be my guest.
16 comments:
Inga Schoenbrun
The following is an example of a project that addresses Principle 3 of the UDL: Teacher uses flexible methods of expression that provides students with choices for how they will demonstrate their learning.
When I taught middle school math each year I would have my 6th grade GT class form a company during the statistics unit. In my GT class I had 4 students out of 28 who were “twice gifted.” One student had Turrets Syndrome, another had Asbergers, and two had ADHD. We were called LKMS Bytes. Every year we would use EXCEL to create a spreadsheet that would organize data to help solve a real world problem. One year the school system had changed its policy on retention. In response we created a spreadsheet that would help teachers to collect data on students who were at risk based on interim reports and quarterly report cards. The spreadsheet dissaggregated data based on grade level, course level, gender, race, free/reduced lunch, and special needs. It generated percentages based on grade level and subject areas as well as created graphs for each data point. After the students completed the “product” they then had to market it. Each student or group of students had the same criteria but the students could choose the format; making a commercial, brochure, PowerPoint, skit, written report ect. This particular year they actually set up a meeting with the Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendent for Assessment and gave a multi-media presentation and test trial. The students were able to pick the format that best suited their learning style and that helped to engage them in the activity, increased the quality of output and gave respect to all learners. The students with disabilities were able to choose activities that played into their strengths, for example the Turrets student would not have done well if the only choice was a skit. However he created a fantastic commercial with his friends, although he did not act he worked on the script, adding in graphics and music, and did the filming.
Now 10 years later and with advancements in technology I could see using blogs to record the process of learning with reflections on how they solved problems using EXCEL, how they learned to use different tools of EXCEL as the need arose, and how they were able to collaborate with partners on the project. I could see using networked projectors to share students thoughts and problem solve together without having to get everyone up and moving over to look at a small screen. I could see the brochures being created using Web 2.0 tools such as Letter Pop and shared both electronically and on paper. I could see students creating a corporate website. I also see them sharing the process with the Superintendent for Assessment in process through the blog. I also see how the students could use Camtasia to enhance PowerPoint presentations. Plus, the students with disabilities in the Gifted sections are often very comfortable with technology and it provides them with a comfort zone to express their knowledge.
Inga Schoenbrun
Here are the links to Web 2.0 tools that might be useful for that project.
www.letterpop.com
www.blogger.com
www.wikispaces.com
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp
Inga,
What a phenomenal example! It incorporates flexible methods of expression as well as project-based learning with real-world applications. How much time did your students have to spend on the unit? It sounds like they had to have a lot of prior knowledge in order to successfully participate in the project.
Inga, your commentary on how ten years later, your activity would have no less meaning and greater flexibility with your cited Web 2.0tools. I loved the application of statistics concept of building a report on retention and disaggregating the data. When the students met with the superintendent, what was his/her reaction to the students' presentations?
P.S. I love the phrase "twice gifted" Emmy
Okay, here's my example. This year before the break, I produced a half hour documentary on how science students engaged in multidisciplinary approaches to issues relevant to conservation of water. I interviewed two sets of students working in teams on a "Future City" project and discussed how different teams approached the design process, how they designated roles that emphasized each member's strengths, and how to use the software to accommodate a variety of simulated problems associated with building a city. The software program used was Sim City and the object of this popular game is to avoid bankruptcy, geologic disasters, the psychological and physical health of the occupants, etc. The interrelated nature of actions in the game produce consequences, some intended, others unintended for lack of planning.
I filmed and edited discussions held with teams of students who enthusiastically talked about their joint efforts. We discussed on film the pros and cons of team work, division of roles, research process, and how members coordinated their efforts. Two other students from another team walked through a simulation of the software and talked aloud of the highs and lows of city planning. Another team in the school attempted an underwater city only to throw out the idea due to the inability to engineer a water filtration system underwater.
During the process of filming, then editing and showing the footage to the Science Department Director for the County, adults learned from students thinking aloud the process of their work. We learned that the project helped students to think metacognitively about how they would approach this engineering work.
The Science Chair commented that our school's efforts were to serve as a model for the County. The movie was shown at a principal's meeting along with the Superintendent for Middle School Instruction. The flexibility of roles built into this project, the lack of an adult dictating how students designed their cities provided flexibility and sparked students'imagination. The filming of the students talk-aloud was a powerful learning for all the adults who viewed the documentary. I will attempt to post a link tomorrow to the video distributed through the County's Professional Development Department.
Here is another example of a project that a teacher could use which provides students with choices for how they will demonstrate their learning.
In this hypothetical example, all 6th grade students are researching careers that interest them and using that information to develop part of their career portfolio. They must research three careers. They have different levels of graphic organizers or note-taking structures that have them get information about required education, characteristics of the job, starting salary, and other characteristics. They may complete any one of these tasks, for each of the three careers. They may not repeat a task. At the end of the assignment, they will have three different tasks completed. They will also be required to substantially comment on at least three of their peers' products. Here is an example of the menu of tasks.
Numerous options for demonstrating what they are learning could include:
Create a podcast of your interview with someone in this career.
Develop a photostory telling us about the steps to have to “get” that career.
Develop a “day in the life” photostory about someone who is in that career.
Complete a graphic organizer, comparing and contrasting two careers.
Create a fictional “career” newsletter where you describe the career, interview a person in that career...
Develop a blog from a fictional character who is in that career.
Design and publish a children’s book about your chosen career.
Write an essay about your chosen career.
Develop an advertising campaign to attract people to train for your chosen career.
Create a timeline that would illustrate the steps to achieving your career.
Illustrate a children’s book about your chosen career.
Develop a caricature or a comic about someone in your chosen career. Be able to explain what you choose to exaggerate and why.
Create a multi-media presentation about your chosen career.
Create an image map to show the steps to reaching your career. Hyperlink components of the image to different characteristics, like choosing the right college, earning a specific major, applying for the job.
Develop an advertisement for your job including starting salary, entry-level requirements, and working conditions.
Create lyrics to a song about your chosen career. Be able to explain how those lyrics apply to your career.
Create your own activity and have it approved by the teacher.
A variety of web 2.0 applications could be used in this example, including teachertube,
schooltube,
voicethread for publishing photostories, podcasts, and vodcasts. Wikis could be used to share research. Blogs could be used to publish an essay and receive feedback from peers. Letterpop could be used to create the newsletter. UDL bookbuilder could be used to develop and publish a book about the career. Almost any web 2.0 technology we've talked about could be used in this example. Again, it is a matter of student choice of expression. By opening the door to numerous ways of demonstrating their knowledge, students will also have a higher level of engagement in the learning. By making the learning personal and inviting numerous people to participate in sharing the learning by collaborating and viewing it, students have a broader audience and a greater feeling of purpose. For students who shy from public presentations, web 2.0 provides another way to share their knowledge without standing in front of the class.
Emmy,
Your administrator was correct. This project and the way it was presented does seem like a model for the county and then some! I love the way you speak to teachers and administrators also benefiting from multiple methods of expression and learning. As future administrators we need to consider UDL for all, not just for a particular population such as disadvantaged students, or just students. Just like the curb cut example, UDL benefits everyone, not just the students.
Time for the project: The entire project took about 1 month but including instruction on Interpreting data and Statistics. They didn't really have any experience with EXCEL but it is very intuitive and this was a GT class. I also had them very invested in thinking this was real which it turned out it was because 3 schools actually did use the spreadsheet we created. Now all reports are done electronically so this is mute.
Reaction: They were astonished. At first I think they were just expecting to compliment and then be on thier way but the 2 students who initally went came in suits with business cards and "merchandize" another sudent had made, a t-shirt and coffee mug. Then had briefcases and laptops. They showed another students PowerPoint and then had them do a simulation to show thier motto worked "Less Time Organizing, More Time Analyzing" All you had to do was type in a letter for each student subject and the rest was done. He actually set up a time to come to the school to meet with the two classes. It was pretty cool.
Here is an example of a project that I observed that addresses Principle 2: Supporting strategic learning, providing multiple, flexible methods of expression and apprenticeship. These activities were taking place in a 4th grade Social Studies class over the span of one week and I observed the classroom on two of these days. The teacher was teaching about Exploration and Colonization and the students had been learning about this for one day prior to my visit. In this class the teacher had developed multiple lessons for the students to participate in and she geared the choices to include students who needed extra support, those who needed a challenge, to the English Language Learner students, and she said that she attempted to cover verbal linguistic learners, logical mathematical learners and visual spatial learners. The activities in this unit included an activity were pairs of students who were identifying key events and listing cause effects of each event. These students were making a cause-and-effect chart using PowerPoint. They later shared their creations with the class.
Students were divided into small groups and were to prepare a short documentary about one of the important people discussed in the unit. They wrote a short script, made computerized illustrations and used pictures of the famous person. The teacher said that she did not know what computer applications would be a better choice, but she had the students using Photostory for this project, each of the “documentaries” were about 1 minute long when viewing them.
Another activity included understanding timelines to show the order in which events took place. The were using their birthdays to mark the timeline and were using time-order words such as first, last, before, and after to talk about the order of the birthdays. Students used Timeliner, which is a computer application that all of our elementary buildings have in the labs. This project was designed to help the ELL understand “what does a timeline help you understand?”
Another activity was that the students were creating a class mural of important events in Michigan history. In pairs they were asked to identify and draw a scene that illustrates one major event discussed in Unit two and then they wrote captions for the scenes The students could either draw or used ZohoShow to create their scene. They then taped the completed work into one large mural. I later visited the classroom to see the mural and it seemed that about half of the students chose to do this project with ZohoShow (many of us used this as our introduction to this course) and the other half did it by hand. There are several computer applications and websites that could be used for any of these projects, and I was happy to see that the teacher was just providing technology as a choice.
http://show.zoho.com
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/PhotoStory/default.mspx
Inga, Your description of the choice that the students had is an excellent example of Principle 3 - it is wonderful how the advances in technology could make this even more fun for the students
Emmy - your future city project sounds like a fun, creative way for students to understand water conservation and its future effects.
Emmy-
I love the adults learning from students talking through their work. What a benefit to the students who learned to talk through, the adults who saw it in action. Metacognition is so important for adults and students. This is great!
Renee
Emmy, I love the idea of creating a video to provide concrete examples of how innovative responsive curriculum completely change how students learn. Having the students themselves articulating is so powerful. I think it also shows that it can be done. Often when we read ideas on paper we think how did that work or that sounds good but what really happened. Here you have a the actual evidence of the impact. It would be great to have the video available on a website with the accompanying documents so that teachers across the county could access it. Have you seen the Anneberg videos on instruction. They are great because you see teachers learning the skill and then you see the same teachers implementing the skill in class. Great job. Thanks for sharing.
Deanne,
I love the way that the teacher used technology so purposefully with Timeliner. Not only does that help the ELL students but Timeliner allows the students to take the activity as far as they want. They can put in a few date or they can add information about the historical event.
Emmy,
I'm glad to hear that the Future City program is still around. When I taught Middle School I worked with our Future City team. It was a lot of fun for them and for the adults who worked with them (me, our Engineer mentor, other faculty in the school). The students learned a lot and were able to express themselves and their knowledge in ways that they aren't always able to do in the classroom.
For those of us who wish to take a look; I uploaded the documentary on YouTube...it's long so if you wish to look only at the CMS participation, be my guest.
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