I am currently enrolled in a graduate class on Universal Design for Learning. I want to share my weekly reflections here as I think it is important to share and discuss what I am learning.Week 3:
Generally speaking, we as educators are the ones “driving the bus.” We design the curriculum. We stand at the front of the room. We decide how to set up the space within our classrooms. We choose the destination and drive our students there. The metaphor of learning to drive a stick shift made me think about who should be in the driver’s seat in the classroom. Meyer, Rose, and Gordon (2013) state that, “The environments in which we live and learn have a huge impact on how we live and learn.” This statement validates the need for teachers to provide a safe space for students that honors their variability. Along with that comes the necessity to step aside more and allow the students to take the steering wheel and drive their own learning. There are different approaches teachers employ to deliver challenging material. I want to discuss two that I find particularly problematic. Some teachers stay in the driver seat explaining how to drive but don’t ever get out of the way and let students practice, oftentimes due to pressure to cover the curriculum. How can students truly learn if they don’t have time to apply what they are being taught? Students need to be given the opportunity to “get in the driver’s seat” both metaphorically and literally in this case. I think too often, teachers don’t get out of the way and allow students to learn on their own. On the other side of the spectrum, some teachers in the name of “rigor” throw their students into the car and say, “Drive!” Most students in this scenario would not succeed. I am currently teaching my son Elias how to drive. I can’t even imagine putting him in the car, a stick shift no less, and expecting him to figure it all out on his own. In order to grow, all students need to be challenged, but with that challenge, there must also be support. Providing multiple means of representation is important in order to honor and support learner variability and success. Some students will want to watch videos and learn about the mechanics of driving a stick shift before ever stepping foot in the car. Others will be ready to go with you sitting beside them giving them the step by step instructions. While others will want to learn to drive an automatic car before even thinking about driving a stick shift. Our challenge as educators is to design a curriculum that meets all of those varying needs at the same time. Driving a stick shift is not an easy task that can be done just by trying it once. It requires the driver to engage and persist through the challenge. We as educators, need to message to our students that we believe in their ability to succeed and that it’s okay if they don’t get it yet. Being able to deal with the frustration of failing is super important in life. I think instilling a growth mindset in students helps with this, though I am still trying to find the best way to message this to students. Reminding them that failing is part of the process and that we learn a lot from our mistakes is important and can help students cope better with failing. Teaching coping skills is a vital part of teaching students. I find it more and more prevalent that students do not have the skills to deal with stress, anger, frustration, and other strong emotions in appropriate ways. For this reason, I have started implementing a mindful minute at the beginning of each class. I also have a variety of fidgets and scented lotions available for students who need/want them. I am working on a poster about emotions that I plan to hang in my class to help with identifying emotions and then hopefully, managing them. I feel like this part is so often overlooked by teachers again due to the pressure to get through the curriculum. However, if students can’t deal with their emotions, they aren’t able to access the curriculum at all. This is part of the reason I am taking this class to learn more tools to aid in providing multiple means of engagement, especially with regards to social emotional learning. As I write this reflection, I am reminded of a book I used to read to my boys called Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. In the story, a pigeon is pleading with you, the reader, to let him drive the bus. He has a million different reasons why you should let him and he goes through a series of different emotions because he isn’t allowed to. I wonder how often our students feel like the pigeon? How often do we as educators let students take the wheel? How many of the behaviors we see are related to the fact that students don’t have a choice? When we do say yes, how can we set them up for success? How do we support student autonomy? How do we help students be okay when they can’t yet drive the bus?
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AuthorMrs. Taborda is the studio art teacher at Oxford High School in Oxford, MA. This blog will document her journey as an educator and share the happenings of the OHS art room. Archives
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