It's Universal--Here

What did you have as a desk when you were in school?

Was it like this?

This?

This?

Maybe this?

A quick internet search offers literally thousands of desk choices, and my guess is most of us had some combination of each of these.  None of them were inherently bad.  Each have their pros and cons, but are they relevant for today's students?  Kindergarten students this year are the graduating class of 2034!  What will their world look like when they graduate high school as opposed to when you or I graduated high school, and how are we preparing our students for that world?

While none of us have a "crystal ball" to 100% accurately predict the future, we do know that future will be dynamic and different from today.  

Our school district is taking active steps to ensure all students are prepared for that future by adopting what we are calling "universal accommodations."  These are Board adopted agreements that will be present in all classes for all students.  At first glance you may think the list is rather simple, but it is actually remarkable that we have 100% agreement on quantifiable steps we want and need in all schools and classrooms for all students.

The list is organized into sub-sections (Environmental, Behavioral, Instructional,Organizational, and Assessments) and includes specific action steps.    

Environmental:  All of our classrooms include a visual schedule for the day.  This agenda helps prepare students to make transitions and to be successful for the day.  They also have flexible seating options and have access to flexible work locations in the classroom.  Current students take advantage of the flexible options to take charge of their personal learning. 

Behavioral:  Our schools have schoolwide behavioral expectations, and those expectations are taught, regularly referenced, and celebrated.  At our school, we Lead with PAWS (Practice Kindness, Act Safely, Work Together, Show Respect).  I've written about this in previous blogs.  We even sing about our expectations.  If a child is not following our behavior expectations, we gently redirect either verbally or non-verbally.  In some cases students need sensory tools to help them refocus.  As long as the sensory tool is not a distraction to others, it's OK to use a fidget of some sort to regulate your personal feelings and emotions.  How to use a fidget is taught by our staff, and they make a positive difference.

Instructional:  All of our classrooms and students have access to significant technology, and we actively teach kids how to use assistive technology which can include text to speech and even speech to text options.   As technology continues to improve, these tools will only get better.  We also provide supports for class assessments and notes.  This, of course, looks different in an elementary classroom as opposed to a secondary classroom.  Still, these supports will help all students.

Organizational:  Students are allowed to and use graphic organizers, planners, and a home to school tool.  I am grateful our teachers help support these steps at the youngest grades, but as the kids get older they become even more independent.

Assessments:  How do you know what someone else really knows?  Is a paper/pencil tests always the best way to assess this understanding?  Sometimes reading aloud the directions for a test and using a highlighter during an assessment can help a students demonstrate their knowledge.  These test-taking skills and tools help us understand how to best support our students in what they need to learn next.

Our Board of Education adopted these accommodations on August 5, 2021.  You can view the formal presentation at this link.  The discussion begins at about the three minute mark.

As I've stated above, these accommodations are universal.  Of course, they look different in different grades and classes, but they are universal in our district.   They are not representative of what our teachers do in each classroom.  Our teachers do soooo much more each day to help our students, but this universal accommodations list is a remarkable starting place to help us focus on helping our students be even more successful in their future world.