Supporting LEarning Differences
Supporting Learning Differences is critical in a classroom to reach all of your students.
On this page, I will expand on Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction. When teaching and assessing in the classroom, it is critical to know how students learn best so that you can support them in reaching their goals. Not every person learns the same. Differentiated Instruction can be thought of like coaching soccer. Not everyone needs to be working on the same skills at the same time in practice, but everyone must still be considered a key player in the game.
On this page, I will expand on Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction. When teaching and assessing in the classroom, it is critical to know how students learn best so that you can support them in reaching their goals. Not every person learns the same. Differentiated Instruction can be thought of like coaching soccer. Not everyone needs to be working on the same skills at the same time in practice, but everyone must still be considered a key player in the game.
What is Universal Design?
Universal Design is essential for creating lessons that are immediately accessible to every learner. It is a proactive approach to reach every learner and make sure that the lesson is accessible to every student. This mean thinking through your lesson as you plan it and removing any boundaries or obstacles that could hinder a learner in advance, rather than reactively trying to find solutions to give every learner access to the lesson.
Universal Design has three areas of focus:
-> Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression. <-
As the teacher, your lesson should be accessible during every aspect, from the hook, to the material taught, to the assessment.
What is Differentiated Instruction?
Differentiated Instruction is a key component of UDL. It means that you are actively aware of your learners' needs and are able to meet them in every lesson. Differentiated Instruction (DI) goes hand in hand with UDL.
One of the first steps in effectively engaging in DI is knowing your learner’s needs. This can be done through a learner’s preferences survey, adapted to your age and grade level.
The survey should find out:
One of the first steps in effectively engaging in DI is knowing your learner’s needs. This can be done through a learner’s preferences survey, adapted to your age and grade level.
The survey should find out:
- If students like to work independently, in groups, with partners, or as a whole class
- How students like to engage with material: listening, viewing, kinesthetically, through group work
- If students prefer to learn starting with the big picture or starting with the details
- How students prefer to read
- How students prefer to show what they know (writing, orally, kinesthetically, etc.)
- What type of material students enjoy engaging with most
DI relies on flexibility and continuous assessment to be effective. Assessment must be continuous so that you can constantly readjust and make sure that you are meeting the needs of your learners.
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The Non-Negotiables of Differentiated Instruction are:
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Head over to this site for more help, tools, and information on supporting learners with Learning Differences!
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In Universal Design for Learning in Action Whitney H. Rapp gives numerous examples and strategies for engagement, input, output and assessment. The strategies are easily laid out and incredibly accessible for any teacher. <- <- <-
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