Month: August 2025

INTERACTION

This weeks blog post was about interaction. I found that all three were very valuable reads and engaged me. The first one talked about what interaction is in general and how important it is to learn. I feel like when someone is interacting you can tell if they actually understand it or not. Interaction can also create more engagement which is very important. I have also been in situations where people do not interact and when that happens it can be less valuable because less idea sharing takes place.

Looking at the second article it talked about interaction during online learning because of COVID 19. In the article it talks about the huge gap between learning that happened and that didn’t happen due to lack of interaction. I had hands on experience during this situation and had to work extra hard to engage with my students to create as much interaction as possible. For some families it was easy because of easy and access to technology. Other families were less into it and didn’t want to engage, when that happened a weekly phone call happened to make sure the students had some interaction to know they were thought and cared about. I also tried to use all of the programs available for student to tech interaction so they could also learn at their own pace. IXL, Prodigy, Raz kids were all free during the time and I tried to take full advantage. For some seeing their peers through our daily video class chat where we could catch up, share and play games together made the difference in a lot of those kids lives. I feel that interaction with the teacher with the students and with content is very valuable and I saw that first hand during Covid learning.

The final article talked about assessment with interaction. I agree wholeheartedly that one cannot just assume students are learning because they are present. One must engage through conversations, gestures and open ended ideas. As a classroom teacher you can tell the more a student is engaged based on their interaction or lack thereof. At times you get kids who sneak a book or draw opposed to participating. This can be due to lack of interest, lack of sleep, hunger, attention struggled or distraction from something and they struggled to transition easily. Interaction is definitely the key to learning. It can help guide what you need to do next based on the student.

The second prompt was one I really wanted to talk about. It asks how one would use UDL during a pandemic. Also, what sort of training would be required? The funny thing is that I did have to teach during COVID. It was my second year teaching, and I really had to think about ways to reach all of my learners.

The first thing we really had to think about was if the students all had access to technology and the internet. Most of the students did, but a couple did not. Providing a way for the learners to connect and learn was important. If that was not possible, then we had to come up with alternative plans that worked for the family. Some families had access to printers, whereas others did not. For students who did not have access, making a plan so they could still participate was really important so they had the opportunity if it was possible.

The thing that I really came to realize was that not all students had the same level of engagement based on what their family life was like at home. Some students had too many siblings who were all encouraged to work, along with parents who were trying to work from home. Sometimes, learning at home for students was not possible. In extreme cases, I found that offering printed worksheets was helpful. Sometimes, just a phone call to check in and encourage board games and home reading made a difference.

During COVID, a lot of companies like RAZ Kids and IXL were free. Those programs allowed some kids to thrive when normally they were not available to all schools because of the costs. What I came to realize is that online learning with children is hard, and what works for one family doesn’t always work for another.

I also really wanted to talk about curb cuts from the reading this week. I love that they are using things engineers create that benefit everyone. When reflecting on this, it made me connect to my classroom last year. I had a student who was hard of hearing. Because of this, they set up my classroom with a headset and soft pieces for the bottoms of all the students’ chairs. These accommodations helped students hear me more easily. As the teacher, my vocal cords were also more protected from overuse.

The second thing they installed was the soft pieces on the bottoms of my students’ chairs. Those chairs were fantastic. The amount of noise that was happening before was awful. Once these were installed, I had an easier time teaching. Students who struggled with sensory issues also benefited because of the lack of extra noise. Overall, it made me realize that both items would be beneficial for more students than just the one it was intended for. It would be best if these accommodations were provided for everyone. A teacher can dream.