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UDL in 15 Minutes Episode 40 – Megan Gross and Lisa Yamasaki

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UDL in 15 Minutes Episode 40 – Megan Gross and Lisa Yamasaki

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Two special education teachers (Megan and Lisa) who share their experiences using UDL to design lessons and help others create online learning environments for students with special needs. They provide UDL principles that worked for them and other teachers they supported while facing challenges teaching virtually. They provide vetted open resources and online sources for other professionals.

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Teachers who were thrown into online learning environments were being bombarded with resources and trying to filter through them to decide which one to use. It was challenging to connect with students and families online. Many students were acting disengaged and unmotivated. There were issues with accessibility for students and families, especially for families with more than one student at home and only one technology device.

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Virtual choice board methods to encourage flexibility and independence and increase engagement for students working from home. Ensuring there is a choice and also accessibility for students with various needs (audio, visual, etc.). Everything shouldn’t be on a Google Classroom or Learning Management System. It is ideal to have some physical work, paper and pen, at home. It is important to provide real-life experiences such as using measuring math skills in the kitchen.

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I think providing choice, ensuring accessibility and content relevance will make a big impact on student learning. I like the idea of providing choice and it is something that I have learned is critical with special education. I think it is important to ensure we, as educators, are transferring these UDL instructional and assessment strategies to our online environments. There are so many resources out there that being able to choose an option that another teacher has already used and likes will save a lot of time. Megan and Lisa have done a great job sharing resources for others in order to create efficient online learning environments.

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I was very cognizant of providing choice in my role as a special education teacher. I had my own classroom and programmed for my students. However, as a Learning Support Teacher who now supports in class or small group pull-outs I need to remember to provide choice to my students. I think choice continues to be important for engagement and fostering independence when working in small groups or individually. I want my students to benefit from the additional support they receive when working with me and I think giving choice whether working in person or virtually is important. This year I created and used a virtual phonics activity choice board with hopes of increasing engagement and I want to continue to apply this principle within my teaching practice.