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Every student has different needs and ways of learning.

Universal design is the


concept of making learning accessible to all students. Universal design is an important
tool, in which teachers proactively plan for students needs rather than reacting. It is
important for all teachers to use universal design in their classrooms, not just special
educators. The concept of universal design encompasses the classroom environment,
physical usability, delivery methods, information resources, interactions, feedback, and
assessment delivery and type. All of these factors must be taken into consideration when
teaching.
By using universal design, the teacher creates a positive and diverse learning
environment where all students have access to learning. I am currently taking an English
class, and the professor uses many universal design tactics in her classroom. Her
classroom environment reflects respect to both diversity and inclusiveness. Her lectures
are discussion based, and she welcomes all ideas from any student. One student in the
class takes a long time to verbally get ideas across, but the professor patiently gives him
as much time as he needs to share his thoughts with the class. The professor shows the
same curtseys and value of all students thoughts and opinions. All students appreciate
and benefit from this positive and welcoming class environment. Another way the
professor uses universal design is in the way she delivers her lectures. While she does not
have a presentation for students to follow along with while she leads the oral discussion,
she writes notes on the board and posts lecture notes on eCampus. She also appeals to all
learners through different assignments and uses of different media. In this semester, we
have watched videos and movies, listened to poetry readings, and read novels. By using

several different mediums for the content, her class appeals to all different learning styles.
This professor has also used a variety of assignments to assess knowledge. We have
written discussion posts, written an essay, completed a test, and completed a group
project. Each assessment has a rubric with clearly defined expectations.
In my Paths group, I have had to use universal design techniques to appeal to the
different learners. In the group, there are five students, who range in age from nineteen to
thirty-two. Their functioning and intellectual levels are a wide range as well. When I first
began working with this group, I was overwhelmed by the idea of having to create
lessons that would work for every student. After working with these students for several
weeks, I feel more confident in my ability to use universal design to make learning
accessible for all the students. In my small group observation, I was able to make
learning accessible for each group member. I created a climate of courtesy and positive
support by giving each student an active role in the lesson. One student is lower
functioning, so I included picture and acting out activities. These activities made the
information accessible to her, but it also benefited the other students by giving them extra
practice. These activities as well as lecturing and discussion, reflect the use of different
delivery methods in my lesson. In my scenario role-play activity at the end, the students
were to split into groups to read through the scripts. One of the students typically gets lost
in activities like this; therefore, I highlighted all the parts in different colors on everyones
papers. This was very helpful for her, as well as the other students. Throughout my
lesson, I used different types of assessments to gage students understanding. First, after
lecturing on the information, I check for understanding by having the students act out the
ways to show enthusiasm in a job interview. In the middle of the lesson, I had the

students identify examples and non-examples in pictures. Both of these assessments


provided multiple ways for different learners to show their understanding of the topic.

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