EDLD+5364+Week2+Reflections

Highlights from this week include new knowledge gained about the UDL framework and the impact of technology on students with low socioeconomic status.

My campus is leading in our district with respect to Differentiated Instruction, so the UDL framework for lesson planning reminds me of what we've been talking about on our campus for some time now. As a band director, differentiated instruction takes a somewhat different form. We constantly interact with the students by letting them communicate with us verbally in the form of asking questions or responding to teacher prompts, aurally by playing their instruments, and physically by adapting their bodies in a way that is most conducive to playing their instruments. The physical, verbal, and aural aspects of band naturally differentiate the instruction even though to an outsider, it may appear as though the band director is "lecturing" the band from the podium. All that said, I'm looking forward to implementing the UDL framework in a more traditional classroom setting in our assignment next week.

The data with respect to low socioeconomic status is significant for my school as we almost certainly have the poorest kids in the district. We are one of three HS campuses to receive Title 1 designations. Finding low-cost technologies to implement in our classrooms is going to be a major challenge with all the budget cuts heading our way, but it must be done. Our district will need to be challenged to look at open-source options and extending library hours (which we're already doing) to enable students who lack an internet connection at home to fully participate in the educational project.