Week 8 Reflection (EDUC 6714)

I will use the resources in the Differentiation Station social network in a few different ways to help me implement the principles of UDL and DI. First off, I will use such an innovative idea to connect myself with colleagues and possibly introduce this to my students and set up a network for each class or one universal one for each subject. This process will allow them to do exactly what I have done during this course and connect with people that have common goals and objectives as I did. I will definitely hold onto the many different suggestions, links and pieces of advice that my classmates have shared with me through this experience. I am a firm believer in constant progress and never being complacent. This type of learning and working with others in similar situations only encourages such practices.

Before this class, I had already created a class blog and a class wiki to utilize during the school year. Due to many reasons, I have not been keeping up with these two as best as I should or could. Immediate adjustments regarding technology and my instruction will start here since I have already established this as part of our course requirements. I will polish up certain aspects of utilizing these tools as well as explore others, such as Voice Thread and Ning. Most of my students are familiar with social networking sites and are probably more avid users of such technology than I am. Therefore, why not tap into that pool of resources and harness the knowledge that they bring to the table to better the experience for the rest of us? I also plan on immediately incorporating such social networking sites as Ning and what we used during this course. I also believe strongly in learning more by doing. I have strayed from this in recent years due to many reasons and need to get back to what is most important and what UDL and DI principles emphasize on: maximize learning potential for ALL learners. I have unfortunately not done my best job of this and thanks to this course, my professor and classmates, I will be encouraged to get "back on track" and do better.

Kevin