Customizing my Instructional Practices

When searching for the key to unlock education for all students, teachers must consider a wide spectrum of available tools and methodologies. Consequently, the time I spent studying and researching differentiating instruction (DI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) empowered me to see them both as viable means by which all students can access and demonstrate knowledge of content information. The incorporation of technology into customizing education provides an authentic medium for me to help support students’ efforts to overcome physical and academic barriers that otherwise would impede their learning process (Laureate, 2009).

An immediate and initial first step I can take to begin customizing instruction is by examining the individual readiness, interest and learning profile of my students through student interest/inventory surveys. This will enable me use the information gathered to pilot my instructional practices and activities in the future (2009). However, like most assessment tools, surveys are only one measure of student preference. Addressing the individualized needs of each student in my classroom will require me consider the student’s short term as well as long term objectives to be an effective and high quality teacher.

Today’s classroom is a virtual melting pot of cultures, beliefs, background, interests and abilities. Technology by the sheer nature of its multitude of platforms offers all students a plethora of inroads to connect with others in the effort to construct knowledge. MY second modification to my instructional practice will be to implement UDL’s three types of learning: recognition, strategic, and affective into the content, products, and processes taught in my classroom. Like the model for differentiating instruction whereby individual student needs determine flexibility and modifications in the curriculum (2009), UDL goes a step further and “…calls for the design of curricula with the needs of all students in mind, so that methods, materials, and assessments are usable by all” (Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2009). An appropriate digital format in my early childhood classroom is a SMART Board (smartboards.com). Using a Smartboard to explore virtual fields and interactive books/software, positively alters my students’ chances to gain experience and produce knowledge of content areas (2009).

“The brain's modules are interconnected through multiple pathways, enabling visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile recognition to influence one another” (Rose & Meyer, 2002). The ease in which technology addresses multiple learning style formats makes it a credible platform for instruction (2009). Furthermore, it enables educators is to equalize the learning process, so students are exposed to the same content in a manner that is befitting their needs, wants, and desires.

References

Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Meyer, A. (2003). Differentiated instruction and
implications for UDL implementation. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/publications /ncac/ncac_diffinstructudl.html

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Knowing Your Students [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Managing A
Differentiated Classroom. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). What is Differentiated Instruction [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/