Department of Education OSEP Project Director’s Conference

July 21, 2009 - Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, D.C.

Learning Through Listening: Integrating UDL and listening…

Mike Kurdziel, Chief Program Officer, RFB&D

Dr. Christy Lendman, Educational Consultant

Eric McGehearty, MFA, Educational Consultant

• The importance of listening • Teaching Listening in the classroom

• Understanding listening in today’s environment

Presentation Overview

Integral to language development and reading

Foundation for critical thinking

Essential for effective communication

A workplace necessity

Listening: An important Skill

A core literacy of the 21st Century

Little time for explicit instruction

Teachers do most of the talking

Rote drills are the norm

Students with disabilities spend more time on basic skills

And yet…

Teaching Listening

Provides for alternative access

Engages and motivates students

Creates a positive classroom environment

Gives students a life-long skill

Teaching Listening

Listening skills can be taught explicitly, through direct instruction and in multiple formats.

www.learningthroughlistening.org

Learning Through Listening Website

Supports Listening to

Learn

•Using Audio books

•RFB&D trainings

•Lesson plans, graphic organizers, and activities

•Universal Design for Learning (UDL) philosophy

Learning Through Listening Website

Supports

Learning to Listen

•Listening research & resources•Listening Skills Inventory•Interactive listening activities

Lavelle Listening Curriculum Project

Lavelle Fund for the Blind

Listening Skills curriculum

adapted for B/VI students

Lesson plans

Listening strategies and activities

Listening Skills Inventory (LSI)

New - “Interactive Essays”

Developed in partnership with Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)

“Interactive Essays” have both text and multi-media components

highlight listening as a 21st century skill- an important component of a universally designed curriculum

Strategies and resources for teaching listening

Profiles of “expert listeners”

A guide to audio tools for classroom use

Interactive Essays – A Guide

Module 1:

Listening and the UDL

Framework

Module 2:

Audio in the classroom

Module 3:

A Digital Audio Omnibus

Interactive Essays – A Guide, cont.

Module 4:

Expert listeners

Module 5:

Listening in

the Classroom

Module 6:

Listening Outside the

Classroom

Listening in a Multimedia Environment

Multi modal presentations show increased comprehension

Students with learning disabilities showed a 38% increase in content acquisition

Multitasking v.s. Multisensory

Grades 4-8 New Jersey, Rutgers University Study, 2004-2005

and RFB&D

“Collision of a Fourth Grader”

Eric McGeheartyBooks in Concrete and

a School Desk5’ x 6’ x 3’

2004

Success in College and Graduate School

Power Listening Skills

Proactive Listening

Audio Books

“Synapse”

Eric McGehearty

Copper, Plastic and Steel

5’x 10’ (variable) 2003

Now that I’m a Father

Questions?