UDL- Improved Access for All

In the opening line of this article by Nancy Firchow, she states that "the goal for every student is to learn, but not every child learns in the same way". As teachers we have this goal for all of our students to learn but at the same time we must have a goal that separates what constitutes learning for each child. Each child will learn different things and at different paces, and it is our job to focus on how we can help each individual child to reach their goals and not that of a teachers or a curriculum. Now the question lies, "how do I reach each individual student within an entire classroom?" Whether it be a self-contained class of 8 students or a general education classroom of 25, every class has a range of learners. As a teacher for the past 4 years I have come across friends and colleagues and asked "what do you teach, general or special education?" Almost every time I get a general education answer, it follows with a "but trust me there are children with learning challenges." Of course there are! No matter the classroom, general or special, there will always be a range of learners and that is why it is so important to differentiate and give your students options for learning. This is how the universal design for learning helps in any type of classroom. What will help one child may or not may help another, however it gives the option for students to see what is the most optimal learning style and environment for them.

While teaching in a 4th grade general education classroom, learning about the Revolutionary War and the Constitutional Convention was an extremely differentiated process where UDL was incorporated. Students had options for how they learned, participated, and expressed their understandings of material. Multiple methods of presentation were implemented into lessons such as textbooks, short videos, interactive games and quizzes, read alouds, and readers theater workshops. This allowed students to listen, visualize, and gain information in multiple ways. Students participated in what they found to be motivating and thus it kept them engaged. Many students within the class that struggled with reading comprehension benefited from online videos and theater workshops where they got to actively participate and become the characters where as students who excelled in reading comprehension helped these others to read and understand the scripts of the theater. As a culminating lesson students were asked to develop a presentation that showed what they learned about the Revolutionary War. Students were told they could present however they wanted as long as they answered the essential questions of our unit. Students worked together to make presentations that involved rap songs, power point presentations, skits, poems, and newspaper articles. Different forms of expression helped each child to explain what they learned from the unit in the best possible medium that worked for them. Giving students options is what makes the learning process the most accessible to them and thus the most enjoyable and beneficial.