Jennifer Romeo
PS 146Q The Howard Beach School
Subject: Social Studies
Topic: Reconstruction
Grade:Eight
Summary:
For this activity, I took on the role of an instructional designer and helped a fellow teacher in my school apply the Universal Design for Learning principles to one of his Reconstruction lessons with eighth grade class.
Introduction:
This capstone project is the culmination of my 2023 Summer Term Instructional Technology Models and Practices EDU 227 graduate course at Hostos College.
This project required me to take the role of an instructional designer, by exploring a topic and analyzing its implementation, allowing me to gain practical skills and experience in applying instructional design principles, as well as, to develop effective instructional strategies, and evaluate how effective the changes are in the classroom.
The topic I chose was from Module 3- Design and Implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Accessibility.
I performed my practical exercise at my own school, PS 146 The Howard Beach School. This is a K-8 school. I chose to visit one of my colleague’s classroom and I observed him teaching an eighth grade Social Studies lesson on The Reconstruction.
While working with Mr Volkland, I noticed his lesson was well planned and included a great culmination for the unit. He asked a divergent question in which the students then used their understanding of the topic to prepare for the Socratic Seminar. He applied some UDL principles but technology components were missing.
Practical Exercise:
I decided to work with James Volkland who teaches Social Studies to the middle school students in this K-8 school. There are many successful things happening in Mr. Volkland’s classroom daily. He is an innovative teacher and always willing to try new strategies and protocols. Mr. Volkand’s students are usually engaged in whatever activity he plans and can carry out the assigned tasks successfully. The students know the expectations and routines that are in place.
For this particular lesson, Mr. Volkland is conducting a Socratic Seminar. The students know their roles for the inner and outer circles. Mr. Volkland teaches in units and one of the culminating activities/summative assessments for his units is a Socratic Seminar.
Mr. Volkland and I met briefly before this lesson just so I knew what his plan was. He shared his ideas for differentiation and the UDL strategies he embedded within the plan. At this time, I did not offer any recommendations and just observed the lesson.
Mr. Volkland is aware of the UDL principles and differentiation of lessons to reach all the students in the class. The UDL principles he included in his original lesson were:
- Definitions of difficult content and academic vocabulary words on texts will be defined for students. (Word List or Frayer Model paper version) Provide multiple means of Representation
- Students will be offered choice by creating their own questions that may be included in the Socratic Seminar. Provide multiple means of Engagement
- The graphic organizers will help students to organize their information in a visual manner. Provide multiple means of Representation
- The “talking chips” are a visual reminder to students that they must participate in the Socratic Seminar to earn a good grade. Provide multiple means of Engagement
- Accountable talk starters have been distributed to students. Provide multiple means of Representation
After the lesson, I met with Mr. Volkland again. We discussed how he thought the lesson went. We both agreed that the kids were engaged and were active participants in both the inner and outer circle. Mr. Volkland mentioned that he did not like the fact that he could not actively monitor the outer circle or assess their work unless he collected and organized their post it notes. Organization is not one of his strengths at all. We recognized the need for Mr. Volkland to have access to their notes. This was one of the ways he could judge their understanding.
Mr. Volkland was set to teach this lesson with another eighth grade later in the week. Mr. Volkland is innovative and always willing to try new things. He seemed like an ideal candidate to work with and find ways to add technology to his lessons to improve engagement, enhancement, and extend the students’ learning. We brainstormed some ideas and both agreed using the Stream or Ask a Question feature in Google Classroom was a great way to digitize the experience and collect information in real time. It allows for collaboration and is an easy way to track accountability and understanding. We are a 1:1 iPad school so this is feasible. We use Google Suite throughout the grades and all the students are familiar with the applications.
Mr. Volkland would be able to monitor this discussion in real time and refer back to it later for reference and assessment. As an instructional designer, I also recommended that he digitalize the plan and share the Google Doc with the students. This would allow the students to collaborate on the same form simultaneously. Another suggestion was to use a Jamboard to review the key vocabulary for the unit. A completed Jamboard can be shared in Google Classroom so that all the students have access to the vocabulary terms and definitions. We created a template for the Frayer Model using Jambaord and shared it with the students using Google Classroom. Provide multiple means of Representation
We also added another UDL principle to his lesson. We decided the outside circle would use technology. They would use their 1:1 i-Pads to engage in discussion via Google Classroom. I suggested that he think about changing the font he uses in the future. Lexend is a font that is easier to read for not only people with dyslexia, but also screen readers. This would increase the accessibility of the lesson. Provide multiple means of Engagement and Action and Expression
Mr. Volkland and I discussed the “talking chips.” They are a great visual reminder and remind the students to stay involved but not to dominate the conversation. We couldn’t think of a better strategy to use that would be feasible so we kept the chips. The chips were two sided (red and white) and they flipped the chip once they talked. The tactile pieces worked well in both the original and the revised lesson.
Our revised UDL strategies:
- Definitions of difficult content and academic vocabulary words on texts will be defined for students. (Word List or Frayer Model paper version) Provide multiple means of Representation
- Students will be offered choice by creating their own questions that may be included in the Socratic Seminar. Provide multiple means of Engagement
- The graphic organizers will help students to organize their information in a visual manner. Provide multiple means of Representation
- The “talking chips” are a visual reminder to students that they must participate in the Socratic Seminar to earn a good grade. Provide multiple means of Engagement
- Accountable talk starters have been distributed to students. Provide multiple means of Representation
- Outside circle will be using technology: I-Pads to engage in discussion via google classroom. Provide multiple means of Engagement and Action and Expression
Noticings:
I was able to watch Mr. Volkland carry out both lessons. The students were successful and engaged in both versions but at our debrief, we both agreed that the level of engagement was greater in the revised lesson. The outer circle liked completing their discussion through Google Classroom and liked the instant feedback and comments. The digital plans were also easy to use and students could use the copy and paste feature when it made sense. The changes that were made gave the students choice and allowed them to have additional room in the boxes to type their answers. They were not limited and it alleviated any restrictions they may have felt. The students would be able to copy and paste from Passport, Google Slides, and other materials so they could include their proof. Students who struggle with copying information can alleviate a step and the stress. The UDL strategy makes the lesson more accessible for all (Provide multiple means of Action & Expression). We both agreed that we need to find a way to make the rubric available and editable online for the students and faculty. This will eliminate the use of paper. Students would still have the option to have their work printed if they prefer hard copies. It will keep all the work together and make it easy to add to their digital portfolios.
When evaluating the revised lesson using the Triple E framework, it scored a 15/18 which is great. (Pictures of the evaluation are attached at the end of this document.
It was a wonderful experience working as an instructional designer. Mr. Volkland was open to my suggestions and I look forward to working with him again in the future. He thought some of the ideas and strategies that we discussed would make a great professional learning session for the upcoming school year.
Self-Reflection:
This project was a great way to apply the skills, strategies, and concepts that were taught in both EDU 226 and EDU 227. I was able to wear the hat on an instructional designer and help a colleague enhance an already great lesson. I am the technology teacher in my school and it is important to me that other teachers use the resources that are available. We are 1:1 iPad school so our students have access to technology at all times. Although I do believe you can overuse technology, it has some great advantages. It can be used to increase accessibility, engagement, and enhance and extend most lessons. During the pandemic, everyone learned just how important 21st century skills really are. As a society, we needed to adjust on the fly. My school was in a good position compared to many others in District 27. This has driven me to instill a love and not a fear of technology into the students, staff, and administrators.
After completing this project with Mr. Volkland, we spoke to administration about providing some professional learning opportunities in the fall not only about utilizing technology but also using it to increase accessibility and include UDL principles in lessons. We also discussed turn-keying the Triple E framework to make sure technology isn’t just being added but to actually engage, enhance, and extend the lessons.
This was a really great experience and I learned so much that I am bringing back to my own teaching.
Triple E Framework:
