New Resources
The Learning Research Network has constructed a series of asynchronous learning experiences for you! Our hope and expectation is that as school leaders, educators, family members, and related stakeholders you can then determine when and how to best use these online modules, tailoring them to your own unique Catholic communities.
Understanding our Students
Serving all learners begins with knowing our learners. Here, we offer a brief reminder of the strengths and needs…
Planning and Designing for ALL Learners
As learner variability is increasing amongst our schools, here are several short videos on how best to plan…
Priority Practice Points
While planning and designing for all learners is a foundational need, empowering educators and their students through the application of cognitive learning strategies is a must. In turn, you will need to…
Understanding Our Students
Serving all learners begins with knowing our learners. Here, we offer a brief reminder of the strengths and needs certain students, including students with disabilities, bring to the classroom. Next, we will identify how disabilities impact educator instruction and student learning. Finally, we will provide resources for support strategies and solutions to meet these instructional, behavioral, and social emotional needs.
Specific Learning Disabilities
This video defines SLD, provides an explanation of related characteristics and cognitive attributes for designing instruction. Below you will find two resources mentioned in the video to learn more about this topic!
Intellectual Disability (e.g., Down Syndrome)
This video defines Intellectual Disability, provides an explanation of related characteristics and cognitive attributes for designing instruction. Below you will find resources that can further illustrate and understand the disability and related supports.
Struggling Neurotypical Learners
This video contextualizes neurotypical students who may be struggling in your school. We provide an overview of characteristics and a model for assessing motivation and engagement in the classroom. Systemic and classroom strategies are shared for beginning to address learner needs. Below you will find two resources mentioned in the video to learn more about this topic!
Planning and Designing for ALL Learners
As learner variability is increasing amongst our schools, here are several short videos on how best to plan and design for these learning differences. Here, we focus on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the SMARTER Planning Strategy. For both, we focus on practical ways to use these backward planning solutions in addressing barriers in our instruction and student learning. The beginning of the school year is the perfect time to plan and design instruction for all learners!
Planning for the Variability of ALL Our Learners (Part I)
Planning for learner variability is essential in today’s Catholic Classroom. While we increasingly have struggling learners and students identified with disabilities, we also have a host of students that learn differently. This video emphasizes the variability in our classroom and the need to plan accordingingly.
Planning for the Variability of ALL Our Learners (Part II)
This video concludes our needs to plan for the learner variability that exists across our Catholic School grades.
Addressing Barriers through Effecting Planning
As the variability in our classrooms change, barriers associated with this variability increase. This video identifies potential barriers and thus, reinforces the need to plan and design accordingly.
Universal Design for Learning (Part I)
This video introduces the UDL framework through planning a dinner for a variety of guests. As there are numerous dietary news for our guests, there is variability amongst our students and the UDL Framework allows us to plan accordingly.
Universal Design for Learning (Part II)
This video introduces us to the basic elements of planning and designing through the power of the UDL Framework.
Resources
Universal Design for Learning (Part III)
This video offers ways to implement the UDL Frameowrk in the classroom. An example if offered to contextualize next steps.
Resources
SMARTER Planning (Part I)
This video describes the first half of a backward design planning model for academically diverse students providing educators with a seven step problem solving framework to enhance instruction without watering it down.
SMARTER Planning (Part II)
This video describes the second half of a backward design planning model for academically diverse students providing educators with a seven step problem solving framework to enhance instruction without watering it down.
Priority Practice Points
While planning and designing for all learners is a foundational need, empowering educators and their students through the application of cognitive learning strategies is a must. In turn, you will need to find ways to meaningfully accommodate and modify curriculum and instruction. These practice points include short examples of practices immediately relevant for improving instructional efforts at the start of the school year in the following areas.
Student Engagement
This video offers a three step process to plan and design our learning to engage all learners. Strategies are mentioned with resources shared below.
Formative Assessment
This video defines formative assessment within the context of instructional decision making. Particular attention is paid to the value of corrective feedback and communicating results to students. 5 example learning checks are provided for use during the flow of instruction.
Reading Development
This video overviews the pillars of reading instruction connecting the Science of Reading to Structured Literacy instruction with specific examples. The six skills of building comprehension are introduced.
For more on these or other topics, please fill out the form below or reach out to Sean and Michael directly either through our email lrnlearn@gmail.com or phone number 508-963-2307.
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