A Universally Designed classroom has to be one that can
overcome the limitations that students may have. There has to be multiple options for students
to present their work, participate and express themselves. Not every student learns the same way and it
is up to the teacher to ensure that students have equal opportunities to learn.
There are many learning strategies that not only
incorporate technology in the classroom, but these strategies can also provide
students with special needs an opportunity to learn. Differentiation needs to occur in the
classroom. Teachers have to consider the
fact that not all students are the same.
They walk into our classes with many differences. Teachers need to plan for the diverse needs
of each student.
One of the teaching strategies that I think is excellent
when generating ideas on any given topic is brainstorming.Brainstorming occurs in all classrooms, no matter the
grade level. Brainstorming helps with
students thinking skills. When students
are asked to think of what comes to mind for a certain topic, they really get
their mind thinking. The best thing
about brainstorming is that you are never incorrect. We accept all ideas in my classroom. In some way, their thinking and ideas can
always relate back to the concept. This
is great for students who may have special needs because they are able to say
whatever comes to their mind for a certain concept. There is no right or wrong answer and all
students are more likely to share because of this.Students also have an
opportunity to see other students’ ideas and can then use those to think of
their own. Some students just need that reassurance that
they are on the right track. Brainstorming
includes everyone in the classroom and is also a great way for teachers to
determine what students already may or may not know.
Here is a brainstorming activity for a Grade 4 classroom. You are beginning your unit on Light. You want to brainstorm with the class their
ideas to determine what they already know and to help guide your future
instruction. I would use Google docs,
the SMARTboard and ipads in this activity.
I really like to get students involved during the lesson. That is why if every student had an ipad,
each one could add ideas faster and easier.
Rather than having each one (which could be 29) come up to the
SMARTboard and write their idea down. I
would set up a Google Document and share it with each student. They would access this document and begin
adding their ideas about Light, at the same time. I would project the document on the
SMARTboard where I could point out ideas that were being brainstormed. In order to differentiate even further, I
would give students the option of writing an idea about Light or adding an
image that came to their mind about Light.Some students have anxiety about
having to get up in front of the class and write an idea down, this activity
allows them to quietly add their idea at their seat. It may even elicit more ideas from students
because they can add them so quickly and they aren’t waiting for their
turn. This would give me an idea of
where I need to go next with this topic.
Here is a link to further explore the teaching strategy Brainstorming.
Another teaching strategy that is used in primary classes
is Learning Centers. I have to be honest, I have never taught in a
primary classroom, but I do see this strategy as being beneficial. Teachers would be able to differentiate and
could set up their Learning Centers to enhance the learning opportunities for
students that may have special needs. A
Learning Center is a section of the classroom where students engage in
independent, self directed or small group learning activities. In Learning Centers, teachers can organize
them by areas of study, learning styles (kinesthetic, visual, auditory), by
subject or by student interest. The
possibilities are endless.
You can incorporate so many things into learning
centers. Here is a list of ways that
came from the following source:
Instructional
Strategies
1. topic, theme with different levels of
difficulty. (this would help students with special needs)
2. Interests centers for further
investigation of a topic.
3. Free inventing centers for experimenting,
discovering, and inventing.
4. Computer centers with multimedia
resources. (incorporating technology, computers and ipads (certain apps))
5. Resource centers with a wide variety of
leading materials
6. Art media table to create artifacts.
7. Role-playing centers to demonstrate
characters and sequence of events.
8. Manipulative centers for hands-on learning
9. Skill centers for adjustable assignments
10. Writing centers for a variety of writing
tools and paper (could incorporate technology for some or all, use of computer
(word processor))
11. Challenge centers for problem solving (technology
could also be incorporated, could use apps on the ipad depending on the
interests of your class)
12. Listening centers for music or readings
from both fictional and factual content (technology could be incorporated,
ipads or computer).
13. Multiple intelligences
center that provide students with choices.
You can create your centers to meet the needs of all
students in your class. Every student in
the class would have an equal opportunity to learn. As well, when they are working in groups,
there is great collaboration occurring.
Here is another great link
that speaks about learning centers and what to consider before implementing
learning centers in your classroom.
Reading Response Journals
is another idea that is used in many classrooms to enhance learning. Technology can also be incorporated into this
idea to enhance the learning of your students, as well as differentiation can
easily occur. Reading Response Journals
are where students make personal connections with a literary text (about ideas,
emotions, characters, etc). Students are
able to gain a deeper understanding and meaning from reading response journals
by reflecting on what they have read.At first, the teacher would need to model
what a reading response letter would look like (this would be more beneficial
for some students, but useful for all).
Reading
Response Journals can be shared with the teacher and other students in the
class. Teachers can respond to the
student by sharing their own ideas and by asking thought provoking
questions. This would get students to
think a little more deeply about what they have read. This journal could be
kept electronically using Google Docs or even as a student blog. To enhance learning even further, reading
response journals could be shared amongst students. When shared on a blog, students could respond
to each other. This would allow students
to make connections and share ideas with each others’ reading. It would create dialogue and discussion
amongst the students.
There
is a lot of differentiation that would occur here. For the most part, students are able to
choose their own reading materials, at their own level. Students would have access to speech to text
software to meet their needs. The
teacher would respond to letters in different ways depending on the needs of
the student. The teacher could even give
students the choice of videotaping their response to their reading in order to
meet the needs of every student.
A Research
Project is another teaching strategy that is beneficial in the classroom. This an effective strategy for developing
language arts skills while a student is also learning in another subject area. I think that the key to research projects is
giving students choices. In order to
meet the needs of all students, they need to have a variety of ways to present
their findings. The use of technology is
definitely beneficial to the success of all students when researching. There are many tools (text to speech) that
can enhance the learning opportunities of special needs students. All the students in a classroom come with
many different skills. By giving
students choice, it allows them to choose to present their findings according
to their abilities.
Here is an example of a research project in a
Grade 7 or 8 for Geography.
|
Design
a brochure to encourage people to visit
|
Create
a rap, song or poem including all the population characteristics (population
density, population distribution, natural increase, literacy rate, infant
mortality rate etc.)
|
Write a
biography of a famous person from the country. Create a list of 10 questions for an
interview with him/her.
|
|
Write a
journal entry describing a historical event.
Reflect on the events, feelings, and results.
|
Wild
Card
(assignment
of your choice)
|
Explain
the different economic systems (traditional, command, market); create a Venn
Diagram comparing the economy of your country and Canada (include natural
resources, primary, secondary and tertiary industries)
|
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Name and locate on a map all major cities,
rivers, lakes, oceans, landforms
|
Create
a multi-media poster outlining 5 unique plants and/or animals from the
country. Include a picture and
information fact sheet.
|
Create a skit containing information
about the country’s natural resources (include a definition of the words
renewable and non-renewable, flow resource,sustainable development)
|
The last teaching strategy that is beneficial
in the classroom is Literature Circles. Literature Circles is a teaching strategy
where students work in small groups to discuss a common piece of literature. This teaching strategy can be used in any
grade and at any level. Students are
organized into discussion groups and teachers or students are able to decide
how to organize these groups. Literature circles allow
for differentiation, as well as the use of technology can enhance students’
learning.
Literature Circles give students a choice which
means that they are more likely to be engaged in their learning. They can select a book sometimes out of a set
of books presented and they can sometimes have an opportunity to choose who
they are going to cooperatively work with.
Students gain a better understanding of a text when they can help each
other make sense of it. As well, in my
experience, students find Literature Circles fun. Differentiation naturally occurs. Students that are at a lower level of reading
can select a book at their level.
Teachers can ensure that a lower level book is one of the choices and
guide those students in that direction.
As well, the teacher can provide an audio text for students that require
it. These students would gain an
understanding of the book and be able to participate in the discussions as a
group.
Technology could be used to enhance the
learning of all students. Students could
use Google docs in order to keep track of their discussions. One group member could be responsible for
typing out the answers to questions that were given or just keep track of the
discussions that were happening.
Teachers could also provide an ipad for each group and the discussion
could be videotaped and shared with the teacher. This is also great to have a video of the
discussion for those students that may get lost in the conversation and need to
watch the discussion over again. Videoing the discussion could be essential for
some, but beneficial for all.
