Teacher Balance

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Balancing The Demands of A Standards-Based Curriculum And The Needs of an Individual Learner
Susan Murray-Carrico
 
Transcript
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Hi and welcome to this post on balancing the demands of a standards based curriculum and the needs of new individual learner.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Teachers and balance for anyone who has ever been a teacher, this is always been a challenge. Between standards, content, individualized education plans, 50 fours, schedules, District initiative, safety plans, meetings and more meetings and more between school and home, teachers are always trying to find their balance with it all.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Brother and Hughes in 2019 say that educators are faced with more issues and situations than their predecessors could not have even imagined. Both teachers and students must now have a skills and knowledge that will prepare them to meet the new challenges that they're continually faced with, and to be able to use powerful strategies to support them on that route.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
So let's drill down to a standards based curriculum and individual students needs and look at how an effective teacher might balance something that a standardized with an individual.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
The good news is that a teacher doesn't have to create their own plan to manage this balance. There are frameworks to support the teacher as they never get the line between standardization and individualization. Probably learn who share the information and communication technology framework for teachers, the ICT CFT and the technological pedagogical content knowledge Framework Team pack as examples. Each illustrates relationships that lead.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
To improve student skills or knowledge, and both serve to support student readiness for new challenges and learning.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
T pack shows the relationship between different knowledges and pedagogies and the IC TCFT framework helps teachers to plan and design lessons to achieve the different levels within the framework.
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Susan Murray-Carrico
One principle shared in the ICT CFT framework is universal design for learning.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Let's think about that for a minute.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Think about a ramp to enter a building.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Not everyone needs to use the ramp, but everyone can, and many do for any number of reasons.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
So maybe it's someone in a wheelchair, of course. Maybe someone is pushing a stroller. Maybe you're hauling a load of resources, or maybe you're like me and you broke your foot and in an embarrassing way, and are using a scooter to get around because you're not 17 anymore.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
It doesn't matter what the reason, but the ramp is there for everyone to use and is available for all that. Architectural practice is what universal design does for education and might just be what could support that balance between standardized education and the individual.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Designing curriculum with supports and resources that are necessary for some, but just might be good for all.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Jonathan shares that the need for and the importance of adaptive technologies to meet equity, equity and accessibility needs.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Myers, Rose, and Gordon explained the UDL approach in 2014 as one that can serve those equity, equity and accessibility needs.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Removing barriers not just for those with identified additional support needs, but for all students.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
So what tools do we have at our disposal to help comply with these with these demands? Well, we have the frameworks.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
We have the principles of universal design for learning.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
And we have technology resources like we've never had before.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Technology can serve as an effective tool to support variable learner needs and to support personalization. But technology for the sake of technology isn't effective when embedding technology into instruction. It needs to be done in a way that advances the possibilities and furthers the students. Progress towards learning targets.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Before integrating technology, I try to consider the following questions.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
What is the ultimate goal or the learning target that we're working on? How can technology advance learning towards that target? How does technology support the learning and understanding the content?
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
And how can technology or even a specific technology tool remove barriers to accessing content and demonstrating their understanding, builders understandings?
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
I feel that the balancing point between standardization and standardized content and curriculum and the individual lies needs of the learner will never really be clearly defined. And I say that it won't be clearly defined because standards and curriculum are evolving pieces in education and learners individualized and personal needs will never come to a place where they are all exactly the same. But technology can help bridge the gap and support the balance between the individual learners needs.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
And the standardized curriculum frameworks can support teachers as they plan for this.
 
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Susan Murray-Carrico
Principles like those of universal design for learning can guide teachers in creating pathways for all learners to access content and demonstrate their understandings.
 
 
References
Jonassen, D., Spector, M. J., Driscoll, M., Merrill, M. D., van Merrienboer, J., & Droscoll, M. P. (Eds.). (2007). Handbook of research on educational communication and technology (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/. https://https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.4324/9780203880869

Meyer, A., Rose, D. H., & Gordon, D. (2014). Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice. CAST Professional Publishing.

Roblyer, M. D., & Hughes, J. E. (2019). Integrating educational technology into teaching: Transforming learning across disciplines (8th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.