June 2008 Updates
The First Year of the BC Universal Design for Learning Project (BC UDL) came to a very successful conclusion as team leaders from year 1 met at SET-BC Provincial Centre to provide direction for next year’s project and to inspire next year’s team leaders with a showcase of their best lessons. Several of the year 1 team leaders will present at the UDL conference on October 24, 2008 in Burnaby, and all will continue to mentor teachers in their districts and region. They are the teams from:
- SD41 Burnaby: Morley Elementary
- SD43 Coquitlam: Birchland Elementary
- SD52 Prince Rupert: Pineridge, Westview, Kanata, Lax Kxeen
- SD28 Quesnel: Quesnel Secondary
- SD36 Surrey: Tamanawis Secondary
- SD22 Vernon: Coldstream Elementary
- SD61 Victoria: Colquitz Middle School
In addition, Constance McAvoy, first year BC UDL Project Coordinator, is retiring this year. In just one year, Constance has created a successful UDL implementation model for the province and a BC UDL Learning Object Repository which contains UDL lessons and resources. In her final teaching assignment, Constance will be returning to Harvard this summer to serve as a facilitator at the CAST UDL Summer Institute.
The second year of the project began with the selection of 7 new teams at the end of May 2008. The following 7 schools were chosen based on statements regarding district commitment to implementation of UDL practice, diversity of student population, and geographical diversity.
- SD 19 Revelstoke: Revelstoke Secondary School 7-12
- SD 23 Central Okanagan: Bankhead Elementary School K-6
- SD 34 Abbotsford: W.A. Fraser Middle School 6-8
- SD 39 Vancouver: David Livingstone Elementary School K-7
- SD 57 Prince George: Harwin Elementary School K-7
- SD 68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith: Fairview Community School K-7
- SD 71 Comox Valley: Arden Elementary School K-7
Year 2 team leaders met for the first time in an orientation at the SET-BC Provincial Centre. In a busy first day, they heard an introduction to UDL by new Project leader Mallory Burton, a research summary of last year’s project by Janet Chow, a principal’s perspective on UDL by Morley Principal Steve Cairns, and a showcase of lessons by last year’s teams. In a busier second day, they received new laptops, reviewed the project goals, budgets, and timelines, had their socks knocked off by Education Consultant Jaimie Ashton’s SmartBoard demo, and saw demos of other hardware and software they could choose to order for their UDL Toolkits. The year 2 team leaders departed with plenty of homework to keep them busy until they reconvene August 20-22 for additional training. Meanwhile, in July, Mallory will join Constance at Harvard. It promises to be another exciting year!