Universal design is the school of thought/framework that "helps educators address systematic learner variability (DL Series No. 1, 2012). Universal design is about using knowledge of predictable systematic learner variability to proactively plan and incorporate a variety of approaches and resources for your students so that you only need to "attend to learner variability once to free up time to attend to high valued areas of learning" (DL Series No. 1, 2012). This differs from differentiation (in terms of incorporating differentiation for specific students in your lesson plan) because universal design is available and accessible for the benefit for all students not just for those who need it (DL Series No. 1, 2012). Additionally, universal design is done preemptively, while other approaches are incorporated more in real time during the …show more content…
Keeping student variability in mind, what are five (5) ways by which you can keep students engaged. (Explain what learning barrier is being overcome by each example you provide.
1. You can keep students who have a tendency to clown around/disrupt engaged in your lesson by incorporating games and acting (Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, nd). This allows them to play and take on silly roles while still maintaining academic learning.
2. Students who are discouraged can be kept engaged through activities that involve their own personal background knowledge (Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, nd). By allowing learning to build on what a student already know, students will be able to feel like they already have a strong base of understanding instead of “starting from scratch” with each lesson or content area.
3. I think hands on activities, small-scale experiments or games could be an effective way to engage students who are “turned off to studying (Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, nd). By turning homework into something more than worksheet or routine, you can make homework an engaging, if not fun, activity to do at home (potentially with family