UDL in my Classroom

In response to Robyn's post, I also find the Smartboard to be an integral part of my daily classroom life, as it helps me to create lessons that will engage and support a variety of learning needs. I am able to present information visually, orally, and kinesthetically, which allows my students to choose which modality through which to engage and participate in the lesson. In my kindergarten phonics lessons, I am able to create picture sorts where students can come up to the board and move the pictures/words into their corresponding category. They can also press a button on the screen that says the sound of the letter. In this way, students are able to take ownership of their own learning; they don't need to rely on their teacher to pronounce the sound. If they are stuck, they can check their work by hearing the sound, looking at the picture, and deciding where that picture belongs. I also have my students trace the letters on the Smartboard while saying the sound to reinforce sound-symbol relationships.

I have also found the program Co: Writer to be incredibly helpful with older students. Students select a topic they are writing about and the program pulls up a "word bank" that provides words that might be helpful in writing a paragraph on that particular topic. This is helpful for students who may not know where to begin and are stunted by looking at a blank page. The word bank gives them a broad road map or ideas of what would be included in a paragraph about that topic. In addition, this program has a spelling predictor function: this benefits students who sometimes get bogged down in the mechanics of writing, and instead frees up more space for students to focus on the content, rather than the spelling/mechanical aspect of writing.

KidSpiration is a great program that allows students to use graphic organizers (including concept maps, Venn Diagrams, etc.) on the computer. When creating an outline, the program takes the concept map and turns it into a more formal outline from which students can base their essays on. I have found this to be an incredibly helpful tool with my 8 & 9 year old students.