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Let Flexibility Lead To Alignment

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  In my previous school district, I was the only teacher teaching a physics course with set, district-wide learning outcomes. These same outcomes were also taught in physics classrooms at the other high school in our district. But at our school, I was one of the 2 physics teachers. The other teacher taught the AP-level physics courses. So, in many ways, I had opportunities to incorporate strategies I believed were best for learners and that I found worked best for them without being seen as out of alignment with anyone in our building. My amazing friend and one of my teaching philosophy goddesses, Katie Novak, stated the following misconception about alignment: All teachers must deliver instruction in the exact same way. True alignment, she says, is about shared goals, rigor, and outcomes. Thank you, Katie! Katie has taught me to truly believe that learner variability is the rule, not the exception. I encourage you to take 10 minutes to listen to Katie Novak explain it in the ...
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Canvas + Universal Design for Learning in Less Than 15 Minutes

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I said 15 minutes so I'll keep this short.

On October 9th, the Elmbrook School District hosted a Wisconsin CanvasCon focused on making learning personal.  I was lucky enough to be able to present at the conference.  I did a quick screen cast of my presentation below (I took 45 minutes and made it less than 15).  The focus of the presentation is the ways in which Canvas allows teachers to fully realize Universal Design for Learning.  Below that, you'll find my full presentation.







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