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What's the difference?

Thoughts on making a real difference in the lives of learners...

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From Angst to Thanks

12/19/2017

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There is no job that is more angst-ridden than being a parent. As much as you would like to cocoon your children from the hurts and disappointments and harsh realities of the world – it is simply not possible. Every day we are bombarded by the media with images that reflect all of our worst nightmares. Last week the internet was crowded with remembrances of that horrific day five years ago in Sandy Hook. There are no words that can express the sorrow and the outrage that consumes us all when we allow ourselves to reflect on this kind of violation of what should be one of the safest places on earth for our children. 

It is often far too easy to dwell on the dark possibilities of life.  But, as parents, we can not, and should not, go there. Quite the contrary, this time of year should be a time of giving thanks. Thanks for our children and all of the joy that they bring to our lives. Thanks too, to all of the amazing people in their lives who care for them and support them; the people who make sure that they don’t “fall between the cracks”.

Many years ago, one of my older sons declared in the middle of Grade 12 that “school is irrelevant” and stopped attending. No amount of begging, lecturing or threatening would make him budge, and if it hadn’t been for a cadre of teachers who were determined to make sure that he didn’t throw everything away in the last weeks of high school, the end of the story might have been quite different. As it was, he graduated, and then took two years off to work as a short-order cook. More angst! Eventually however, he met a girl. She was interested in school and driven to succeed. Fast forward twenty years and they are both university professors in Winnipeg with two lovely daughters and very successful and satisfying personal and professional lives. And his father? I still remain full of angst -  transferred quite seamlessly to my two young sons (how will I ever get Morgan to sit down to his math homework rather than gravitating to his iPad? Or get Quinn to realize that there is more to life than watching hockey and baseball?) and to my grandchildren who are too far away for me to micro-manage in the way that I want to. That is the nature of parenthood. We want the best for our children and woe be to anything or anyone that gets in the way of it!

Sometimes however, we get so focused on the perceived barriers to our children’s future successes, that we forget to reflect and appreciate those circumstances and people who are not holding them back, but propelling them forward. As our children get older, and our direct influence wanes, those factors (the values, the work ethic, and strength of character that we have tried to instil in them) and those people (their teachers, coaches, friends and extended family members) play a greater and greater role in the path that they choose to follow. 

As the term draws to a close, and we look forward to celebrating a holiday season that is more about family than about turkeys and presents, it is a great time to be thankful for all of those people who are helping our children along their way. No doubt, if we could be in a hundred places at once, we would try to do it all ourselves, but sometimes, we just have to let go, hope for the best, and trust that the foundation that we have built for our daughters and sons will carry them through just fine.

So, from me, this is a letter of thanks to my own children’s teachers, past and present, to their friends (and friends’ parents) and to the hosts of cousins, Aunts and Uncles, and Grandparents who have been such an important part of their lives. You don’t relieve my angst, but somehow you make it all come together for my kids.

Have a wonderful holiday!

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Visual Supports: UDL and the Path to Inclusion

12/3/2017

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Visitors to our school​​ often comment on the number of graphic signs and posters that appear in classrooms and around the building. They tend to be colourful and engaging, and although they appear to be primarily decorative, in actual fact they are highly strategic. There is nothing more fundamental to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) than the provision of visual supports. Quietly present in both teaching and travelling areas around the school, they provide constant and consistent reminders and reinforcements of routines, expectations, and self-regulation strategies.

In KGMS/Maplewood we have a kaleidoscopic array of learning differences. Visual supports are of particular value to students with challenges in executive function; working memory, spatial memory or auditory processing. They are equally useful to those who have an identified strength in visual memory and processing. For everyone else, they provide a constant reinforcement of things that they have heard or have stored in their working memory.


It is a given in UDL that the learning environment needs to reflect the differences among learners.  If the school does not respond to learner variability, then curriculum ceases to be accessible to each and every student.  Learning is the dynamic interaction of the individual with the environment, and learner success is at the intersection of individual needs with the supports that their learning environment provides. Modifying and customizing visual supports is a critically important way of applying UDL principles to improve educational practice throughout the school, and even a casual stroll through our halls, and a visit to its classrooms, should provide you with ample evidence of both visual supports in place, and universal design for learning in action.

What might you see in one of our classrooms? You should look for a visual schedule with pictures and words that is referred to throughout the day; visual and obvious non-verbal prompts from the teachers (pointing, raised hand, gentle touch) to focus attention or encourage expected behaviours; visual cues or graphics depicting problem solving strategies, zones of regulation or work initiation procedures; visual timers; colour-coded timetables; etc. You should see active use of the SMART-board; instructional and calendar pop-ups on student laptops; and students consulting visual dictionaries and text simplification software to remove visual clutter from their screens.
 
What might you see in the hallway or other high traffic areas? Look for colour coded doorways; body break symbols; pictorial depictions of room names/functions (open book; saxophone; basketball; test tube; hammer/saw; and so on).
So, do all students need these visual cues? Of course not, but some do. Do all students (and adults) understand what they mean? Of course they do. Universal supports are necessary and essential for some students, and beneficial and informative for all.


So the next time you walk into a classroom make yourself a mental checklist to answer these five questions:
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1. Is today's visual schedule posted and accessible to all students in the class?
2. Are there visual reminders for expected classroom norms in terms of how students/teachers act, speak, and interact with        other members of the classroom community?
3. Do the adults in the room use consistent visual prompts to help students to keep focussed and on task?
4. Is there effective use of assistive technology (or signage or manual timers, etc.) to reinforce task and time management
    expectations and to remind students about upcoming transitions?
5. Is there signage or are there other visual prompts to indicate differentiate parts of the classroom used for self-regulation or
    quiet work and reflection?

If you can find most of them, then it is probably a pretty inviting and accessible classroom environment. If more than two are missing, then perhaps it is time for a little coaching about the role of universal design as a strategy for inclusion.
Visual supports are among the most effective strategies for universal access to learning. The bonus is that they are by far the easiest to implement and, for most of us, visual images tend to stick. Just ask anyone who has visited our library, what a dead dinosaur has to do with reading, and you will find out what I mean!















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    Author

    Dr. Jim Christopher is recently retired Head of Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School and Maplewood Alternative High School in North Vancouver. A parent, author and long-time teacher, and educational administrator across Canada, he has been actively involved in the drive to differentiate learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

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