Teachers are Designers

Teaching is closely related to designing because they both involve problem solving and is action based. Teaching is all about finding solutions and planning. Designers design whatever their profession is and teachers design a way of learning for their students. People may not realize but these professions are very closely connected.

It is important for teachers to use UDL's (Universal Design for Learning) because it helps diverse learners to eliminate barriers that are keeping them from learning. UDL's can be used in a classroom for a short story, for goals, instructions, and assignments. There's 3 principles of UDL: recognition or the "what" of learning, strategic or the "how" of learning, and affective learning which is the "why" of learning. 

I vaguely remember being a student and learning so much in one day but never comprehending it all. Teachers would teach in their preferred way and not think about how we perceived it or took it in. Students have to know what they're learning 100% or school is pointless. And in my own experience I feel as if most of my school experience was a waste because some teachers didn't do their job in teaching students recognition of learning. 

Strategic learning to me is one of the best things teachers these days do. In my high school career teachers always went over the form of an essay or how to organize your thoughts. No, they did not always give enough information or the right information but most of the time I strategically knew what I was doing academically. One of the most important duties of an elementary teacher is to teach students how to express themselves. Expressing yourself falls into the strategic, or "how" of learning. I feel that I am good at expressing myself and speaking up thanks to teachers I had at an early age. A person has to know how to communicate and tell others how they feel, expressing yourself is a very important learning aspect to have. 

And finally, affective learning. Affective learning seems hard to do because you have to keep students engaged and motivated to learn. This learning principle of UDL is probably one of the most important ones because a child will not learn if they aren't interested in the activity. This is where teaching is a lot like designing because you have to design lessons that are engaging for your students and make sure almost every child is interested in learning it. Being challenged to complete an activity and do good was one of the ways I liked learning and did good in learning. I loved when my teachers presented me with something new to learn or a fun assignment because I was determined to do my best and learn something new.