Child Centered & UDL- building on what you ARE doing now

So, about a thousand years ago, I recall writing my undergrad philosophy on education to include something like, “As the teacher, I will strive to facilitate learning in my students...”.  I knew back then, fresh out of my own schooling experience, that I wanted my instruction to be student centered, not teacher centered.  Of course, once I entered the field as a twenty something, I realized that although my colleagues were more supportive than many I have come across since, I would receive little guidance in how to make that a reality. 

So one year in, I embarked on a journey with my colleagues and began using centers during a guided reading block. I spent the first few weeks teaching routines, and practicing transitions, setting expectations.  I had a magnificent work board painted a beautiful blue, and a box full of laminated job cards (freshly printed from. F&P’s Guided Reading book).  I generally had four reading groups, and I would set up the work board to make sure every child worked at every station at some point through the week, sometimes I even put up a choice card so they could decide which activity to try.  I felt good, because I wasn’t standing or sitting in front of my first graders telling them everything all day.  They were exploring, trying things out, and I will admit there was a lot of great things going on!

As I reflect though, I know that one problem I had was sometimes I would have a student or students who would not or could not complete an independent activity assigned, even if I thought it looked fun and inviting for most children.  I was setting up activities that were accessible to most children, and requiring all children to do them.  But was I really requiring they all do it?  Hmm, sometimes I would make time to catch up with the kiddos and make them do the activity, but more times than not, I let it go.  I used to beat myself up over that, thinking to myself, “If I were more of a type A teacher, I would have a system for making sure every kid did every job.”.  I was riddled with self doubt, but I was bolstered in that most of my kids were making progress. Even now there is a lesson from this.

The second problem I see as I reflect, is that I doubt that, if you asked, any child in my room would be able to know what exactly we were working on at any given time.  My students were not a part of that process yet.  They were learning, but a lot of the what and why was still hidden.  I was working off instinct and with the attention span of 6 year olds in mind, so my teacher led piece was brief.  I made it a point to make the most of that attention by reading books and leading quick discussions about ideas like how we are all alike and different at the same time, how no one is perfect, and how we are individuals with individual strengths.  I wanted my kids to know they can all learn, they are all worthwhile as people and members of our classroom community.

What I see now is, My teaching back then lacked the intentionality of Universally Designing Leaning necessary  to allow access for all learners, but there were magnificent places to build on, to shape and to grow.  You see, my kiddos who were not completing the “have to” assignment, were not just running free, they were engaged in the other activities I had put out.  In other words they were making choices about their day.  Two places I could grow would be to

1.   (I was actually pretty good at this but vigilance here is key)... Make sure the choices I provide all support the learning of that goal ( for example, Being intentional means there won’t be a choice to opt out of the learning goal:  if the framework is “Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson”, the goal for the day might be to be able to retell a story using the beginning middle and end of the story. **
2. Make the learning goal clear and invite students in the process of making intentional choices with that goal in mind.  What will they need in order to reach the goal?  ( accessible text, audio book, access to engaging materials - colored papers / writing tools, access to technology)

**examples of options for retelling

• one choice will probably not be to build a puzzle with a pic from that story,
• but it might be to build a puzzle ( that includes pictures from throughout the story) and use the picture to retell the story to a partner. 
• Or to draw a picture on a blank puzzle board of the beg, mid, and or end in the story, 
• Use puppets  and sentence strips ( prewritten, like a chart for kids to put in order) to retell the story to a friend ( who will record your retell) (via mp3, cassette, seesaw)
• Create a booklet that shows the beginning, middle , and end in pictures.
• Use a graphic organizer ( at least 2 provided) 
• Work in small group with a teacher may be a choice

So now, I see that if I just add a little intentionality to my options, I can move in the direction of creating true access for all.  My job then becomes less Teacher Centered, figuring out who needs which activity, and more student centered, children figuring out which activity will work best for them to meet the day’s goal.  The things that keep UDL from being a free for all when we think student driven:

• I am still planning behind the scenes, and 
• I do think about what my kids will need to access the learning
• Understand that students may choose an option you don’t expect ( in many ways that is the 
• point- we try to know our students but they are ever changing and each day has the potential for variability- ex. Yesterday I wrote pages, but today using the graphic organizer feels like a better choice)
• If a student  is consistently choosing an activity that May not be helping them grow, I am still the teacher, there to guide them to try something new, or to think / advocate for themselves as learners, or to remove that option for a bit to see what happens.

The biggest difference between teacher centered instruction and child centered to me, seems to relate back to the quote on the top of this page.  “Leadership is not about being in charge, it is about taking care of those in your charge.”  Provide the options, make expectations clear ( learning goal, routines, work habits) make sure the options create access for all, and guide children to reflect on their choices and how they relate to learning.  The intention of writing this is that I know if you look in your classrooms at your own practice you are all doing things that fit under the umbrella of UDL, none of you are starting from scratch, it is a process, what might be the next step for you?  Please know I am happy to chat with any of you about UDL- but this message in your inbox is about as pushy as I will be.  😉 ( I am making myself vulnerable to the delete button, I know!)
 Kindly,Amy