wendya

I am a French teacher working at East Hills Middle School in the Bethlehem Area School District. I have a great husband and we have recently adopted a rescued puppy. Besides teaching, I enjoy gardening, creating (crafts, painting, etc.), and reading (a large variety of topics). I also greatly enjoy hiking, especially in the woods in New Hampshire.

(7/18/12) I just read each of your intros and I have at least one thing in common with each of you! I am enjoying our group and our class. -Wendy

UDL Reflection 1 (7/16/12) Reflection #1 (my blog wouldn't work, so I put it here)

At the core of UDL is the premise that often the curriculum is disabled (and disabling!). It is not flexible; it often poses barriers, and consequently prevents rather than supports optimal learning experiences. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Why or why not?

I believe teachers must always be flexible, and most of us are very capable of adapting to the current trends in education. (Some of us have had lots of experience in this area!) This ability to adjust should help us be able to take any curriculum barriers and work around them. It may not be an ideal solution, but if the barriers cannot be removed, this is the next best thing.

Fortunately, in some cases teachers are able to approach their curriculum in a way that best suits them, as long as the curriculum is covered. In my opinion, this is as close to ideal as possible, because this gift of flexibility allows us to use our strengths as educators, and to experiment and evolve as educators.

Reflection Toolbox 1 (7/16/12) There appear to be some very useful ways to use social networking in an education environment. I looked at Edmodo and Fakebook.
 * What did I learn / find interesting?

Middle School students are at a great age for everything social, and using social networking tools would grab their interest. I like the idea of using Fakebook to help students learn about famous French people. I would use it for characters in a novel in a more advanced class. Edmodo might be useful for classes and we are looking at using it as a discussion board for our language department in our building.
 * How will this technology help make curriculum more accessible to students?

UDL Reflection 2 (7/17/12)
 * What are the benefits of analyzing the curriculum for strengths and weaknesses rather than focusing on the students' strengths and weaknesses? What are the challenges of this approach? (was this assigned?)

Reflection Toolbox 2 (7/17/12) There are a lot of tools available for documents and social bookmarking. I like the document sights and see some good uses for them in education. The document sights would be especially useful in situations where peer editing is a useful activity. It might also be fun to write a collaborative story where each student adds the next line in a story. The bookmarking sites would be helpful in sharing useful sites with a class. Students could use these to help them practice certain concepts or do research on any covered topic. Some students are more likely to take the time to check out what is available, and it is a great way they can share with the teacher and classmates.
 * What did I learn / find interesting?
 * How will this technology help make curriculum more accessible to students?

Reflection Toolbox 3 (7/18/12)
 * The on-line resources are tremendous! It is really a bit overwhelming, to be honest, but after spending some time on these sites I am sure I will truly appreciate the wealth of information. There is so much available for anyone who wishes to employ Universal Design for Learning. I will definitely be referring to these resources in the coming months to help me in lesson planning for this school year.

UDL Reflection 3 (7/18/12) How can using a variety of materials and methods reach more of the learners within your classroom? What are the benefits of doing so? What are the challenges?
 * If you use a variety of materials and methods, it is easier to assure that you will eventually catch the interest (affective network) of all of your students hopefully at least a few times throughout the year. You will be sure to reach the various multiple intelligences of each student, ensuring that each will have an excellent opportunity to be successful in class by honing one of their strengths at some point. The students will also have an opportunity to strengthen a weaker skill through practice. I see the following as challenges: class size limits some activities, availability (or perhaps cost) of materials or equipment, time to prepare materials, time to set up between classes (when we are required to monitor halls between classes).

Reflection Toolbox 4 (7/18/12)
 * recognition networks: I am actively searching for a website that has French fairy tales read out loud in French while students can look at the words. Until I find that, I really liked a site I found (http://www.languageguide.org/french) that pronounces vocabulary when you put the mouse on the image. Students will see the image and hear the French word pronounced for them. You can also see the word or have it hidden.


 * strategic networks: The Voki website seems like it would be a good fit as a way to help students express themselves. Not only can students create their own avatars, but they then can decide what they are going to say, see it in writing, and even hear them speak


 * affective networks: I like the idea of using Fakebook to allow students to create a page either for a character in a story they read or to share what they lean about a famous person from the French culture. This would help students to draw on their intense interest in others and connecting in social networking ways. I think my middle school students would really enjoy this. I French 1 we learn about describing people, family, and pastimes. All of these could be put into use on a Fakebook page.

Reflection Toolbox 5 (7/19/12)
 * I absolutely love the LiveBinders site. I would like to start using this with 7th grade this year, and then with the same group next year as 8th graders, to keep thier notebook materials together where they can use them at home. I may start with some topics and eventually turn in into a full grade level binder. I think I would like to use Glogster to share some topics with students. I don't know yet if I will have them create them individually or in groups, and I think I will create one first for my 6th graders, to help them get to know France and the French language.

Reflection Toolbox 6 (7/19/12)


 * I spent this time creating a greetings conversation in French on Goanimate, which I will DEFINTELY be using this school year. I will need to learn how to connect the videos I create to either a website students can visit or put them into the LiveBinders for their classes. I will use these to help the students practice listening comprehension skills, and perhaps have them create some as well. I am sure they will enjoy the animation. I need to look at some of the other tools in the toolbox in the next few weeks. There is so much available!