Virginia


 * 06/19/12 **
 * I learned that there are 3 Principles of UDL - Representation, Expression, & Engagement. **


 * Participated in an awesome activity of frustration followed by success I'll call the Nail Balancing Activity. I never stopped believeing that there was a solution to this activity, and there was a solution. I can compare this to the frustration my students may feel, and that I need to keep them motivated and half-full, so they will ALWAYS believe they can also succeed. **


 * I learned about the acronym, NAILS, Never Assume, Impossibilities, Learn, Strategies as a way to remember my responsibilities in creating a UDL classroom. **


 * I loved the quote by John Dewey, "If we teach today as we did yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow!" **


 * We discussed the importance of modelling, teaching strategies for success, and how a student is feeling (affect) determines their commitment and motivation levels. **


 * Knowing a student's learning preferences and making sure they know them also is important to a student's success. **

//I ASPIRE TO: //
 * 06/20/12 **
 * Exploring Variability **
 * 1) **Making my ultimate educational goals will no longer be about the master of content (content will be available everywhere, anytime, electronically) but about the mastery of learning. Knowing how to find information is much more important than memorizing information. Articulate understanding of learning for my students and walk-the-talk by avoiding "presentational" environments (like books and lectures) in favor of truly instructional environments where students are consistently supported in learning how to learn! **
 * 2) **Decreasing my use of a single mode of communication from the student as the basis for expression or evaluation. **


 * Side Note: Lesson plans should include Goals, Methods, Materials, & Assessments. **

=__Reflection from 06/20/12__= =I learned that through this wikispace, we have access to powerful and information information about UDL. While exploring some of the websites, I found an extremely powerful video on student motivation. I have found that students lack motivation and perserverance. For instance, when I play online games with students from all over the world, if they don't see that they're going to win within the first few seconds, they give up and move on to something else. I would like to futher research this topic to find different ways to keep students self-motivated with a characteristic of perserverance.‍=

"It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated... it is finished when it surrenders." ~ Ben Stein

=** "Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right!" **= =**          ~Henry Ford **=

- Thomas Carlyle
= These websites included links to the following information: = = Universal Design for Learning =

===‍ ‍Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) ===

===‍ ‍National Center on Universal Design for Learning ===

‍ ‍What is UDL?
=‍ ‍Technology =

‍‍Are You Tech Savvy? Quiz.
===‍‍ __ Technology Integration Isn't About Technology __ ===

===‍‍ __ It's Not About the Tools, It's About the Possibilities __ ===

=__06/21/12 __= =Technology Integration Isn't About Technology= By [|Patrick Ledesma] on May 22, 2011 9:51 AM
 * //This was a store about lifestyle, not technology.//


 * In a span of ten years Apple has changed how technology is presented and sold, converting it from a cold and impersonal interaction to one that highlights the creative and fun side. There were many skeptics when Apple's first stores opened in 2001, but now companies everywhere are scrambling to duplicate Apple's success.


 * Apple understood that technology was about lifestyle and enhancing quality of life. Technology was not about the internal parts of a machine. //Technology was about listening to music. It was about creating something. It was about interaction and communicating with others.//


 * Apple thought about ease of use. Their competitor did not.


 * It's about purpose and ease of use. We should focus on enhancing and enriching the learning experience by defining the goals and processes for why and how students will use technology.


 * We'll buy the devices for schools, and not think about what exactly students will do with the device or how they will use it. We'll give teachers the latest tools, but not think about the policies, time, and support they will need to use these tools effectively.


 * Apple understands these challenges, which is why they offered 1:1 lessons, workshops, and support in their stores. They knew that customers should not be tech geeks to enjoy their products. In hindsight ten years later, is their success that surprising?


 * //Does technology enhance the quality of learning in your classroom? Do you collaborate and learn from your colleagues, share resources, and access the collective knowledge and resources on the Internet? Are your lessons more enriching and engaging through your use of interaction, multimedia, and creative authoring tools? Are your students more inquisitive, analytical, and creative as they use technology to collaborate, create, and apply their learning in real world contexts?//
 * If your answer is "yes," then, you know that technology integration in schools is about the learning process, and not about technology.

Technology is about enhancing lifestyles not the nuts and bolts inside or how it works. It's not about having the latest and greatest technology, it's thinkilng about how you will use what you do have.

Planning for all learners


 * 1) __Goals__ - Set clear goals. You know the goals and the students know the goals. Have clear options for how the goals will be met
 * 2) __Methods__ - Whatever we're feed the kids, it has to be nutritous
 * 3) __Materials__ - Textbooks have disabilities.
 * 4) __Assessments __ - You must go back to the goal, and determine if you assessment is producing a disability to showing if the student met the goal.

Jon Mundorf - mr.mundorf@gmail.com twitter - @fundorf