QuickNote Organizer
Name: Sarah Cardinal
Date: 03/05/2008
Hour: 7:10pm
Your Mood: Upset with myself for waiting until the last minute during an ice storm to work on this...then losing internet connection, so I have to do this one day late:(
Chapter 2 - “What Brain Research Tells us About Learner Differences”
1. One large part of the brain's cortex is involved in recognizing things and objects and ideas in the world - call those recognition networks.
Second part of brain - strategic networks
Third part of brain - affective networks.
3 ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FROM BOOK:
1. Classroom Examples: Differences in Recognition
Being aware of the distributed nature of the recognition process and combination of top-down and bottom-up processing helps teachers understand and shape instruction and assessment.
2. Classroom Examples: Differences in Strategy
understanding strategic network function & differences in students' strategic networks guides teachers when teaching skills and strategies (prdicting, summarizing, steps of a process)
3. Classroom Examples: Differences in Affect
"Positive emotion helps to motivate students just as negative emotion impedes progress"
Chapter 3 - “Why We Need Flexible Instructional Media”
1. traditional media are fixed media (same story told to everyone the same way) - instructional media is the same for everyone (flexible enough to adapt to individual differences)
3 ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FROM BOOK:
1. The Qualities of Text: Analyzing qualities can help us make wiser choices. Need to analyze: advantages, limitations, and the roles that our brain "networks" take on while reading the text.
2. Overcoming the Limitations of Traditional Media
Not all students benefit from printed text and prevents teachers fromreaching all students
3. The Power of Digital Media
Content stored differently: information is transformed into something abstract which can be presented in many different ways.
Chaper 4 - “What is Universal Design for Learning” -
1. designing learning environments in the digital age and taking advantage of the new digital learning environments to do that. Orignins: field of archetecture: need to make things accessible for people with disabilites- buildings needed to be changed to fit individual needs (built into the buildings rather than being added on later) - applies to learning because it needs to be geared to everyone. Set goals to a wide range of students.
3 ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FROM BOOK:
1. UDL Implementation: Using Assistive Technology (its role): helps to improve learning access, and assumes a very different role for curriculum.
2. UDL Framework: recognize essential cues and patterns, master skillful strategies for action, engae with learning.
3. Value of Universl Design for Learning: challenges teachers to incorporate flexiblity into instructional methods and materials to make accomodations for every student in classroom
Chapter 5 approaches goals - using UDL to set clear goals
1. goals are almost always composites of things that students need to know and understand. Ways that motivation is key for students to meet goals.
3 ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FROM BOOK:
1. Applying UDL to Separate Goals from Methods
* For recognition goals, focused on specific content, that content is key.
* For strategic goals, focused on a specific process or medium, that process or medium is key.
* For affective goals, focused on a particular value or emotional outcome, that emotional outcome is key.
2. Applying UDL to Reframe Standards as Clear Classroom Goals
Teachers can offer more acceptable options for all students when goals are reframed to allow multiple media and means of expression and engagement.
3. Using the UDL Framework Indiviualize Scaffolds and Performance Criteria
performance criterion should relate to students' individual recognition, strategic, and affective networks in order for learning to be successful.
Chapter 6 - materials and methods for reaching goals
1. What do we need to make sure that students learn the strategies and skills needed to reach goals.
Highight critical features - to recognize important information.
3 ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FROM BOOK:
1. Designing Instruction to Support Recognition Learning
Teachers need to provide differentiated instruction because not all students are able to recognize the patterns needed for specific study: examples of patterns are: alphabetic symbols, the format for writing a research paper, scientific and mathematical theories, and geographical or geological facts.
An example of how a teacher can support this type of instruction is:
Prior to a science lesson on the parts of an atom, the teacher can help support background knowledge by filling in gaps. First, students can be given the vocabulary terms prior to the lesson and the opportunity to use an interactive website that helps explain the parts of an atom. This will give them some background information prior to reading the information in a traditional text.
2. Designing Instruction to Support Strategic Learning
Teaching approaches and tools need to be varied to accomodate the differences that individual students have in their optimal pathways
An example of how a teacher can support this type of instruction is:
Allowing students to chose from a variety of project types at the end of a unit. By providing examples of different types of projects (diaramas, written reports, powerpoint presentation, experiment, Reader's Theatre, etc.) students are given visual models of what they can do. Many of these project ideas can be available on a teacher's website and on display in class, modeled by the students, as well as, written up in a packet of ideas.
3. Designing Instruction to Support Affective Learning
Connects the "why" to learning - Motivation is the key to learning
An example of how a teacher can support this type of instruction is:
I know that many people disagree with the offereing of choice of rewards, but I do this with my students and it is extremely effective. However, my students choose their own individual reward as to what they would like to work towards. Sometimes this is whole class (pizza party, ice cream party, movie and popcorn party) if the entire class performs an average of 90 or better on an exam, but most of the time the students (mainly my lower performing students) choose what they would like to work for. A lot of time it is the only way to get them to perform their best.
Chapter 7 - focuses on assessment
1. Get assessments that are more accurate, in that they respond to individual differences.
3 ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FROM BOOK:
1. Factor 1: Individual Learning Differences
Most assessments don't meet the needs or accomodations needed for individual differences.
2. Factor 2: Media Constraints
The interaction between skill or knowledge measured and the medium in which it is assessed needs to make sense to the learner.
3. Factor 3: Lack of Appropriate Supports
Teachers need to focus on the goal of assessment and separate out the tangential variables.
Chapter 8 - “Making Universal Design for Learning a Reality.”
1. No perfect example of Universal Design for Learning - its an approach and journey that has just begun, but has a lot of work that still needs to be done.
3 ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FROM BOOK:
1. Building Locally: Concord Works for District Change
* Classroom teachers felt that UDL addressed their work and their curriculum, not just one student.
* Special education teachers felt that UDL enabled them to contribute to curricular efficacy for every student, not just for one or two particular students.
* Teachers, specialists, administrators, and parents embraced the mindset of expanding and improving curricula.
2. Making UDL Work in Practice: The Concord Model
The success of Concord's curriculum development efforts is also due in large part to the district's simple, pragmatic approach. Teachers start with a manageable unit, such as a single project or one segment of a textbook, and then ask the following critical questions:
* What are the goals of the unit?
* What do students need to do to demonstrate mastery?
* Where are the barriers for the students?
* What tools, materials, and supports might help?
* How can I adjust goals, methods, and assessment so that every one of my students can progress?
3. Working for Large Scale Chnge: National Models and Resources
CAST and The NAtional Center on Accessing the General Curriculum
The Universal Learning CenterUniversal Learning Editions
The National Consortium on UDL Learning
