UDL and Purpose

More and more educators today are learning about Universal Design for Learning (UDL).  Whole districts and whole states are taking up the cause, demanding teachers incorporate UDL strategies into their lesson plans, training teachers in the use of UDL tools, and hoping this translates into greater learning for children.

But many educators seems to be missing the whole point of UDL.  Adding fidget toys, flexible seating, and colored paper does not make a UDL friendly classroom.  Handing tools over to the one struggling student does not make a UDL friendly classroom. Adding technology to your lesson does not make a UDL friendly classroom.

So what does make a UDL friendly classroom? 

My goal as an educator was always to help each and every one of my students be a lifelong learner.  In order to do this, I needed to make learning accessible and engaging for all of them.  And this is where UDL comes in.

The cast.org website is a font of knowledge in this area.  On their website, they state: "The goal of UDL is to support learners to become "expert learners" who are, each in their own way, purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgeable, and strategic and goal driven. UDL aims to change the design of the environment rather than to change the learner."

Change the environment rather than the learner.  Wow.  That is powerful. While this doesn't mean we stop remediating and reteaching, it does mean we rethink the classroom environment for all students.

What does this look like in the classroom?  I wrote about this in an earlier blog that you can see here. Today, I want to talk about purpose.

Every single thing you do in the classroom should be done for a purpose.  

You want a carpet in the room?  Why?  So children can crowd around you while you read outloud?  Then be sure to put a chair at the top of the carpet and books all around.  You want a carpet so children can come to the floor to work while you are teaching a lesson?  Then put your carpet in front of the board and have clipboards available for hard surface writing.  You want a carpet because it looks colorful.  Get rid of the carpet.

Little Johnny clicks his pen all day, driving you crazy.  You decide to give him a quiet fidget toy.  Good idea.  But what about Little Samir, who doesn't drive you crazy.  He just wiggles in his chair all day, folds his papers back and forth, and struggles to pay attention to lesson.  Guess what? He could also use a fidget toy.  But you only gave one to Johnny. Make the tools available to all your students.  Spend some time teaching them what all the tools are for and trying them out. 

Remember, your goal is to help the children become expert learners, on their own!!! How will Samir know a fidget toy will calm him down if he never tries one?  How will Stacey know a fidget toy will distract her if she never tries one?

I think a lot about cell phones in classrooms today.  I will readily admit that I really only worked with elementary children so it wasn't too much of a distraction in my classroom.  But...guess what?  I have a cell phone!  Every adult I know has a cell phone.  And many of the adults I know get very distracted by their cell phones throughout the day.  Me included.  I have learned that, when I am working on something important, I have to put my phone away.  And if I want my husband to really listen to me, I ask him to put his phone away before I start to talk. So I use what I know and apply it to the classroom.

At the beginning of the year, help your students learn how to learn with a cellphone.  Teach a lesson while they have unlimited use of their phones.  Then give them a quick (ungraded) test on the lesson.  

Did they learn what you wanted them to learn?  Great!  Let them use cellphones.  Did some of them learn?  Those children can use cellphones.  Did all of them miss points?  Discuss this.  Why did they miss those points?  What was distracting them from learning?  How can this be managed?  Now you start to create rules for individual students.  Or rather, they start to create rules for their own learning.

I remember one year I had a BYOD policy in class.  One child brought in his cellphone.  I was sceptical but went along with it and just monitored what was happening.  Turns out he knew he could focus better on a tiny screen than while looking at our big screen.  He could write better while finger tapping his keyboard than he could while using his whole hand on a keyboard.  So he got to use his cellphone in class.  He also learned that playing videos or games was distracting so the rule for him was no videos or gaming during lessons.  He followed the rule because he was responsible for his learning and I gave him the opportunity to try to learn while playing a game.  It didn't work.

Create an environment with many, many tools around the room.  Have those tools accessible for the children at all times.  Teach them how and when to use the tools.  Then let go.  Let children get up in the middle of the lesson to get a tool to use.  Let them request assistance in the middle of the lesson.  Then provide what they are asking for.  Remember that your goal is to create lifelong learners.  So help them learn HOW to learn.  Then let them soar!