Co-Authored by Suzanne LaPointe and Thea Durling
Last week, Suzanne wrote a blog post about how she sets up her students to be successful with hyperdocs. We continue this week in Part Two, looking at the individualized hyperdocs and the assessment choices.
Thea:
When Suzanne first shared her hyperdoc with me, I will admit I as totally overwhelmed and all I could think about was how overwhelming it would be for the students. I loved the images….but they went on for pages and pages!
When I reached out to Suzanne later, it turned out I hadn’t understood what I was looking at. Suzanne had shared with me a sort of “master document” of ALL the links and information….but she then uses that document to create individual documents for each student, focused on the student’s civilization of choice.
She also has a master list of assessment choices:
Suzanne also has creates individualized hyperdocs with the assessments from their choices:
Suzanne:
I started by presenting a Hyperdoc lesson I was completing for my UDL course to my students. I did a lot of Talk Alouds; “what should I do for this, what should I use here, hmmm should I use, I wonder how I can do this……..” It was AWESOME to watch the interaction and discussions on the recording later that day. By January, my students were helping me create lessons, choosing what apps, sites, assignments, projects, programs, assessments, topics they wanted to use, complete and present. They were advocating for themselves! Along our journey, I was their BIGGEST cheerleader, and every step of the way. It really is So POWERFUL!!! I was teaching our so-called “difficult students”, not just anything. Now, they were engaged, taking risks, and realizing they could do what they once thought, or were told they could not do; and even more. Today, I feel like a proud mom; all of them are regularly and independently navigating and utilizing Google Classroom, creating Google Slides, Google Docs, powerpoints, recordings, and Kami’s. They are independently using various Speech to Text (Voice Typing, ReadWrite, etc.) and Text to Speech Tools (Kami, Read/Write, etc.) as needed, utilizing various graphic organizers and completing and editing Hyperdocs, lessons, and assessments of their own. I included them in the process of their own learning. I think this was a VERY successful year for both my students as well as myself.
About Suzanne
Hello everyone! My name is Suzanne LaPointe. I have an Elementary Education grades 1-6 initial license, Mild to Moderate Disabilities PreK-8 initial license, and working on my Reading Specialist (All grades) initial license. Currently, I am a Special Education Teacher, grades (4-8), substantially separate kiddos at Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School. I have been teaching at GCVS virtually for about 4 years. Before this position, I taught in a grade 5 general education teacher in a brick and mortar school in Springfield, MA. I taught as a learning specialist, grades K-5, in an American International School in Dubai for 3 years. I taught as a special education teacher in an Emotional & Behavioral Therapeutic Program, grades K-8; for 8 years. I am also Orton Gillingham certified. I have had the pleasure of working with Thea in her previous UDL course. I enjoyed it so much, I am taking the UDL & Technology course now. I really LOVED the course! There were so many benefits for both myself and my students I took away from it. I am passionate about teaching and learning, love my close friends and family, and I hope to provide every student and person I work with; the necessary tools and skills needed to be successful in everything they do. I especially LOVE sharing all of my knowledge, skills, ideas, and experiences with others so they can grow as well. I have been lucky enough to have had the many opportunities and experiences I have had in my life because of choices I made or risks I’ve taken. I realized; just like UDL, every opportunity and experience I’ve had, started with a choice that I was able to make. I have had the pleasure to grow and work with some of the most AMAZING people and families, from all over the world, with a wealth of knowledge and experiences. They have definitely taught me many things I still use within my practice everyday as well.
Universal Design for Learning 