Week+2+Assignment+1

We had several good videos and readings in this week’s lesson. Personally I feel that a majority of them were reinforcements for what I already know. The one article that really stood out was Reading 4 “Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal Design for learning”. I have heard about how our brains work differently and we as teachers must create lessons accordingly. I have never done much research or looked into it though. I started reading this article and didn’t realize I was reading the third chapter until I was almost done with it. As a new teacher I look to more experiences teachers for advice. Many of their teacher styles fit into this line from the reading, “most ideas about individual learning differences have been based on the assumption that the brain is roughly the same all over and that its different parts are essentially indistinguishable with respect to their roles in learning. ” (Rose, 1999) After reading I now know that,  “When two students perform the same academic task, the patterns of activity in their brains are as unique as their fingerprints.” (Rose, 2002) This would explain why one of my coworkers has trouble reaching a lot of his student’s. He has taught for over 40 years. He lectures and drills all student’s exactly the same. I on the other hand, try to explain the same concept multiple times with different methods to reach all students. My standardized test scores are much higher then the other teachers. The article supports why that happens by saying, “Further, and of particular note for our purposes, the evaluation of ability is often   by the    and medium used to conduct the evaluation. For example, a person who appears learning disabled in a print-bound, text-based environment may look extraordinarily skilled in a graphics- or video-based environment.” (Rose 2002) This means that while one student will do great on a test, the other, with the same knowledge and abilities will bomb it. I have personally seen this in class, but never given it much thought. I have some B student’s do great on their TAKS test while other A student’s bomb it. By understand that all students’ brains function completely different we can conclude that “  no one measure of brain activity-and no one learning score or variable-differentiates or describes individual learners in any meaningful way.” (Rose, 2002) With such a great focus on standardized test scores many student’s get left behind. If we were to create differentiated methods of testing basic standards, it would give us a more accurate vision of a student’s grasp of those standards. Reverences: Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal Design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved from []