Self Reflection--Module 1

An area that I feel confident in is how I present my information in several different ways.  Part of the UDL model is providing students with multiple means of representation.  I think of all of my learners--those who are visual learners, interpersonal learners, auditory learner.  I try to incorporate something to make sure that all students are represented.  I show videos, play songs, do simulations; basically anything that stimuates my students.  I spend much time looking up Youtube videos to "get" my students, but even if I use a Youtube video, I also add in some type of kinesthetic activity for my students who move around as a means to present information.  The back of the screen is not white on my PowerPoint, rather it is colorful and interesting. Information is large and not overwhelming on the PowerPoint.  Any video I play has captioning so that students who have a hard time hearing (I have students who have hearing impairments) or are visual learners can also learn from the video.  My strongest area is "Provide Multiple Means of Representation." I believe my strongest point is 1.1 "Offer ways of customizing the display of information."

I.    Provide Multiple Means of Representation:	Your notes
1.     Provide options for perception
1.1 Offer ways of customizing the display of information	Variance of matching materials (some reading, some pictures, some illustrations, some memos)
1.2 Offer alternatives for auditory information	Video with closed captioning—all informationthat was read was also textually represented at the bottom of the screen Laptops set up so that students who learn better orally can listen to a clip about the acts and predict information
1.3 Offer alternatives for visual information	Video has person reading the closed captioning and information Video had music that was considered pop culture

I enjoy showing Youtube videos.  This is a screenshot of some of my saved videos:

The area I need to improve is how my students express their learning.  There has been a push recently for our students to write more in our classroom as a result of the high stakes testing.  Much of how I have my students represent their learning is through writing and for some of my students, this is not the way they best represent their learning.  In addition, I would also like to optimize access to tools and assistive technologies (4.2 of the UDL guidelines).  This area falls into the II category of "providing multiple means for action and expression"

4.2 Optimize access to tools and assistive technologies

Set up link on website for students to get information, such as predictions and graphic organizers.  Student can type in information and print it out or save it to their drive to prevent lost or illegible notes