Chapter 6 asks you to examine your teaching standards to determine which are content standards and which are methods standards. The first PLC assignment requires you to separate your standards and simplify the language so you can share the product with students and their families. This is important because different types of standards lend themselves to different UDL strategies.
If your PLC is meeting to discuss Chapter 6, you may want to view this supplemental Google Slideshow, which includes activities that will prompt you to consider what UDL looks like when considering the two types of standards. Activating your prior knowledge will help you as you read the rest of the book. Also, if you need additional support to answer the question, "What does UDL look like?" check out this blog I wrote, Million Dollar Question: What Does UDL Look Like? that answers the question.
Optional Activities: Review the Guidelines
At this point, you should have some knowledge of the UDL guidelines and how they influence lesson design. Think of one lesson you taught last week. Look at the Guidelines and think about how the lesson would have been different if you designed the lesson using those Guidelines. How would have students received the new UDL lesson?
Choose one of the following:
- Pretend you are a student in your class. Write your reaction to learning the lesson that utilized more UDL principles (be sure to write using student dialect!)
- Write or discuss with a partner what you would actually do to change the lesson.
- Write or discuss the following: Do you think the lesson would be better? Why? Also, what would be the challenges of creating or implementing the lesson?
- If the group decides, act out a skit in which one of you is the teacher with the UDL lesson. Ask your “students” how they are enjoying the lesson. What don’t they like about it?
