Today I listened to a couple podcasts and one Lilly Conference session. They all had useful tips and resources, and the thoughts below are some that I’m still thinking about at the end of the day. My challenge is to remember these and commit to implementing and improving these practices in the courses I teach.
- From the Lecture Breakers podcast with Barbi Honeycutt episode 65: Tom Tobin and the ‘plus one’ mentality for practicing UDL in our courses. This wasn’t the most downloaded episode, yet the ‘plus one’ idea really sticks with me. How can I provide another way for students to interact with the material or demonstrate learning?
- From the Think UDL podcast with host Lillian Nave talking with Gloria Niles: when encountering neurodiverse students or receiving letters from the Disability Resources Office for students, think about their strengths and talents instead of a deficit model in need of accommodations. I love this and will try to focus on how we can leverage student strengths to support learning.
- From the Lily Conference asynchronous session by Bobbi Hansen from the University of San Diego discussing how to “Use Neuroscience to Inform Instruction: learners remember most the beginning and end of sessions. Use the beginning of class to have students retrieve what they learned previously in writing, a quiz, or in pairs. Use the end to review or summarize connections. Hansen mentioned several facts including the positive effect of repeated and frequent quizzes on learning and group work. To avoid “hitchhikers” in groups, use class time for group work.
These were all great episodes and sessions with many more resources. I hope that by trying to retrieve this knowledge and explain it here in my own words (as best I can!) I consolidate learning and commit to doing these suggestions!