Horizons 2009 ~ CUE BC Presentation ~ What is UDL?

We had five “learning intentions” for participants in this presentation. To gain an understanding of UDL To understand why it is important that we understand and embrace UDL in our classrooms now as we are eager to meet the needs of increasingly diverse student populations, and as we need to make decisions about the types of technology we purchase and the pedagogy that drives it’s use. That UDL is not about the technology. That UDL is a subtle shift in paradigm that is having a profound impact on learners That creating Universally Designed schools and classrooms is a journey into … Continue reading Horizons 2009 ~ CUE BC Presentation ~ What is UDL?

Anita’s tips, tricks & weblinks.

I have a new blog where I am posting cool stuff I find and information from my presentations for participants. The address for this blog is: http://anitasquicktips.edublogs.org/. This new blog is for practical stuff, I will continue to post my UDL thoughts here… when I have some time…

Back to school advertisements…

Back to school advertisements make me crazy!!! The Staples’ – “Its the most wonderful time of the year” advertisement is running continuously. The picture of those two children dreading school makes me sad. (Wow – the commercial is on again – second time since I started writing this post/rant). I so want school not to be something they dread –  a bitter pill – nobody wants to take it but it is good for you so you must. The father skipping through the store so gleeful about sending the kids off – what are we saying to our kids??? (There … Continue reading Back to school advertisements…

Ableism: My thoughts 1 year later…

Last January I blogged about my reflections following reading: New Directions in Education: Eliminating Ableism in Policy and Practice by Thomas Hehir. The following thoughts stuck with me and guided my practice over the past year. Hehir defines ableism as ” deeply held negative attitudes toward disability that are analogous to racism”. Then I looked up “racism” according to Merriam-Webster racism is:

UDL Presentation at the CASE Spring Conference

Today I spoke at the CASE (Council of Administrators of Special Education) conference. I was thrilled to have been asked to be a part of this conference and very much enjoyed sharing the exciting things that have been happening in Coquitlam. I based most of what I said on my previous blog posts “How UDL has changed my job” post and my “UDL Success” post. The most important messages I wanted to share during this presentation were: Our appreciation and thanks to the BC Ministry of Education and to SET BC for their role in bringing the UDL movement to BC. … Continue reading UDL Presentation at the CASE Spring Conference

My Twitter PLN (Personal Learning Network)…

This list includes both people I follow many of whom also follow my twitter updates. It is a great way to keep track of what is going on internationally in your area of interest. I mostly follow people who are interested in UDL, Special Education, Educational Technology, and Accessibility. Twitter is a great way to learn!!

UDL Success!!!

The process of transforming the way we work with our students is gradual. One of the first things we have been working on is moving away from the ‘resource room’ model where kids who are not reading/writing at grade level miss classroom instruction to be involved in extra instruction to work on their areas of weakness. We continued pulling kids but only in short-term focus groups set up for a specific purpose (this term it was phonemic awareness). Some kids who are on our support list did not need this group so the only support they received was to monitor … Continue reading UDL Success!!!

Learning Intentions – What are we really teaching?

As a staff we decided that one of the first things we would do when we began to design Universally Designed lessons was to ensure that we were clearly stating our Learning Intention to our students at the beginning of each lesson. Some of our teachers now write the learning intention for each of their lessons beside their daily agenda on their board. Teachers who are using Interactive Whiteboards build their first slide as their learning intention slide. I wanted to share two things I have discovered as a result of doing this: My first discovery is a bit embarrassing … Continue reading Learning Intentions – What are we really teaching?

I made a Wordle…

This was created (very simply!!) in Wordle: http://www.wordle.net/. This would be a fun project for kids using their name and descriptors about themselves. It was simple and fun to play with.