Month: March 2024

Accessibility

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Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging,[2] is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other human-made structures. Scaffolds are widely used on site to get access to heights and areas that would be otherwise hard to get to. (Wikipedia, 2024.)

As an Educational Designer, and a facilitator of learning, my goal is to provide opportunities for all learners to be successful in reaching their individual potential. To help set every learner up for a successful learning experience, I assume nothing and teach everything. I provide background knowledge, context, and explicitly define terminology, and vocabulary before launching learners into the materials to extend their learning.

There’s an art to delivering complex and abstract concepts into simple and concrete experiences. Thoughtfully designed instructional delivery models ensure all learners have access to understand and engage with essential information. When we examine the Common Core State Standards, teaching methods, materials, and assessments are not outlined. This provides us with an opportunity to create multiple pathways to meet the same destination by providing students with options. It is important to take our time to work through our instructional materials with a sensory and experiential lens by putting ourselves in the learner’s seat.

As facilitators of learning, our job is to create a buffet filled with a variety of resources, strategies, and tools. The learners build their own customized plates full of relevant and accessible resources, strategies, and tools for personal skill-building. This ensures that the ownership and responsibility of learning is on the learner – by giving them choices in what and how they absorb and engage with information.

An educational designer must be cognizant of the ultimate objective of the lesson. What is the essential skill/concept that is the primary focus of this particular lesson? Will we be introducing, reviewing, practicing, and/or mastering that skill/concept in this lesson? It is easy to get overzealous in trying to incorporate a variety of skills/concepts in one lesson – but when we do this, our learners can lose focus on the essential skill.

We also need to know how to provide appropriate scaffolds – by providing bite-size mini-concepts to help slowly build up to the ultimate skill/concept. Asking, “What are the pre-requisite skills needed to understand, explore, and apply the essential skill?” is a vital step in designing effective learning experiences and knowing what materials to prepare and present for the learners to explore. By providing multiple checks for understanding throughout the lesson, the educational designer knows when to provide these scaffolds.

When I look at each of the resources/materials, I ask the question, “What assumptions are being made about who (and how) people can access this material?” For example, the reading material – what is the length of the article/chapter/book, is it available in other languages, is it available in an audible format, braille, etc. for videos – is closed captioning available, are other languages available, for movement activities, what modifications could be offered for less mobile learners, etc.

I also consider, “How can I ensure all learners are personally being challenged?“.  I provide multiple resources for a variety of entry points – we call this “challenge by choice”.  I also ask “Will these resources continue to challenge or stretch the learning for those who are coming into this lesson with a lot of context, background, and skills?”

Once I know what materials I will be presenting, I then consider how to organize the presentation of the materials. I try to think through how I want the learner to experience and explore the materials – what are they going to see, hear, feel, taste, smell, etc. Visually, I aim to create the presentation of materials to be appealing, digestible, and inspiring. I consider the length, density, navigation, graphics, etc. To represent materials in a universally accessible format, we need to be as clear, simple, and concise as possible.  Once we’ve intrigued the learner into wanting to dig deeper into the materials, we then turn our attention to incorporating a variety of ways learners will engage with the materials through reading, writing, drawing, recording, listening, watching, talking, moving, etc.

Let’s build skyscrapers together! Creating passionate life long learners with limitless potential.

Access_AC_3_23_24 by Alison Celmer

Elevating Teaching & Learning

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Why is it critical that we create a culture in our schools where educators are open about errors and open to change and unlearning? And why is this critical if we are to universally design instruction?

Change is inevitable – so, let’s embrace it. Embracing change means choosing to have a growth/innovative mindset – which includes; being adaptable, flexible, and resilient. When people are provided with a clear understanding of the reason or need for change, they are more apt to accept it. Be aware of the language you choose, it can really help encourage vs discourage people from leaning in and rolling up their sleeves to make change happen. I prefer to use the phrase, “reflect to refine” because it acknowledges that we’re working on fine-tuning or tweaking the systems and practices that are already in place vs. “continuous improvement” which can feel draining – as though we’re not doing enough. When people are given opportunities to be a part of the change process, they are even more inclined to engage and embrace the change. Finding the appropriate pacing for implementing change is also important – you want to go slow enough to keep everyone on board and feeling supported, yet, people need to see some positive results to keep the momentum going.

Schools are learning playgrounds for both adults and children. When learning community members co-create an environment that is a safe place for people to explore, discover, try new things, and reflect on process and progress, lifelong learning and continuous improvement will become a natural part of the community culture. School leaders play a major role in setting the stage for healthy risk-taking, which includes modeling; being transparent when trying something new, providing clarity on the purpose, accepting feedback, owning mistakes, and celebrating successes.

As social beings, we learn best by engaging in a process of collective learning. In all effective organizations, collaboration is an essential expectation. Genuine and authentic collaboration is not merely sharing/swapping resources with your colleagues. In an effective community of practice, everyone brings their perspective, ideas, wonderings, questions, etc. to the table. We work together (co-labor) to build something new, something better, than where we started. To achieve this, it requires mutual respect, the value of collective competence, unconditional commitment, and established trust of all members. During this collective learning process, we share openly what we are doing or working on, we offer one another ideas and feedback to improve, think differently, offer another perspective, and provide support for one another. Ultimately, collective inquiry supports a balanced exchange of ideas and action research. Members of this community develop a shared practice – they put concepts into action and work interdependently because, we, collectively, realize that we are responsible for the successful outcomes of all students.

Once we put our plans into action, we can then “reflect to refine” and truly elevate teaching and learning for all. The graphics below describe how we apply the Design Process (the “D” in “UDL”), to innovate and improve systems, processes, and practices.

Elevate_AC_2_29_24 by Alison Celmer

Evidence of Teaching & Learning

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In 2010, I earned my bachelor’s degree in education. Confidently, I believed that my education on ‘how to teach elementary students’ was well-rounded. Stepping into the classroom as a brand-new Kindergarten teacher made me realize the enormous responsibility I had just been given. I was completely unaware of my lack of knowledge. No amount of classes, workshops, books, podcasts, etc., could change this fact. Dufour was spot-on when he said that we ‘learn by doing’. To truly understand what effective teaching entails, I needed hands-on experience and direct interaction with real students.

I have a feeling I experienced the same moment of clarity that many brand-new teachers go through when they are first learning about the power of assessments. I truly believe that educators can only gain this understanding of what assessments are, how to design effective assessment tools, and how to not only administer these assessments but also analyze the results to better understand how students learn best and what actions teachers can take as a facilitator of learning to ensure all students are demonstrating growth over time by trying them out.

I used to believe assessments were solely paper tests given to all students at the end of a unit or year as a summative tool. Unlocking the power of formative assessments transformed my teaching significantly. Throughout the teaching and learning process, I obtained snapshots of students’ understanding, allowing me to make necessary adjustments to instruction. By directing my efforts toward specific skills that would advance students, I significantly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of my teaching. Realizing I didn’t have to stick to a rigid program and keep teaching things students already knew was liberating.

In my second year teaching Kindergarten, I discovered a true game-changer to add to my assessment arsenal – ESGI Software. This is an online progress monitoring tool (designed by a former kindergarten teacher) to help guide instruction proactively. This tool also helped students (yes, even 5-year-olds) get more engaged in the learning process. It provided immediate feedback to the students on what they could do, and what we were still working on. Not only was this motivating for students, but it was also encouraging for families because the software would populate individualized letters and flashcards to send home to families as well. This software had a healthy bank of pre-made assessments and it allowed me the opportunity to create my own assessments in the system. Like I said, total game-changer.

It was through the Professional Learning Community process that I experienced with incredibly talented colleagues that helped me understand the significance of common formative assessments and the value of authentic collaboration in enhancing teaching and learning for all. Designing our own assessments provided the flexibility to align better with what we were actually teaching students. We were also developing menus and rubrics of what success criteria could look like, which provided students with options in how they chose to ‘show what they know’.

When I think back to my very first year of teaching, I know it was a decent year of learning and growth for those little ones, and it was a tremendous amount of learning and growth for my teaching practice, which only further developed over time. It can feel disappointing to think “Oh, I wish I knew then what I know now – I could have done better for those kids that first year” – but we’ve all been there. You’re not alone. As much as we want to ‘nail it’ and think we have all the answers, or all the strategies to be fully prepared for teaching, the reality is teaching is an art as much as it is a science. It’s through honest reflection that we can truly master the art and science of the assessment process. This is how we can be better for those current and future students.

Be patient and kind to yourself as you explore all the benefits of effective assessment practices.

Evidence_AC_2_29_24 by Alison Celmer