An Introduction to the Author and Universal Design for Learning

 My name is Maeve, and I am a senior at St. Francis College. I am an Adolescent Education Major with a concentration in history. I plan to become a history teacher in either a junior high or high school setting. Over the course of my time at St. Francis College, I was exposed to wonderful classes and experiences that allowed me to develop a deep interest in local history. Being in Brooklyn, I was able to visit and learn about the rich history within the borough. In learning about the history of Brooklyn, I decided to focus on the small neighborhood of Bay Ridge.

Instead of just sharing information about the neighborhood of Bay Ridge, I decided to make a guide of helpful ways to teach this material to students in their social studies classes. Students deserve to know about the neighborhood in which they are going to school and living in. In the New York City Department Of Education, there are focuses on New York State as a whole, but little room in the curriculum for individual neighborhoods. While being in the largest school system in the world, I feel that students should have some exposure to the history of their neighborhood as it can promote their investment into their community, and help prepare them to become participating citizens of their hometown. I was inspired by the teaching strategy, called, 

"Universal Design for Learning (UDL) stands at the forefront of contemporary efforts to create universal access to educational curricula for all students, including those with disabilities. The "universal" in UDL does not mean there is a single optimal solution for everyone. Instead, it underscores the need for flexible approaches to teaching and learning that meet the needs of different kinds of learners." 

This teaching strategy is so important because it empowers students to be creative and take charge of their own education, with the support of their teacher. When planning this project, the suggested activities and lesson topics for students have UDL in mind. There is always room for accessibility and adaptability as well as student input. In having such a unique and personalized experience with the various lessons, the connection to the content will be long-lasting. 

This infographic was accessed from here.

I included an infographic provided by to break down the UDL process. As it is an in depth and incredibly inclusive process, there are multiple parts of the brain at work. The website UDL Guidelines is a great resource that lays out all the information, and great examples of how to implement this into the classroom setting. Every student deserves the chance to be successful in the classroom and UDL allows for that to occur. I structured my project around the inter-discipline nature of local history and provided multiple instructional pathways in order to connect the students to the content. 

Sources for this post:

A Practical Reader in Universal Design for Learning. Harvard Education Press, 2008. 

https://udlguidelines.cast.org/more/downloads