My Service Learning Experience

When I first read about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in our course book, I felt terrible. I felt this way because I thought about all of the potential students I did not reach in my previous teaching, because I didn’t know about UDL. This was immediately followed by the feeling that I cannot be the only band director that does not know about it. I received the same response from every colleague I reached out to in the music education profession. No one knew about UDL. This was a community need that had to be rectified. My target population in my service learning project were my immediate friends and colleagues who taught music in some capacity. They needed to be made aware of UDL and the benefits it can have on every student. The overall goal was to introduce them to basic strategies of UDL and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), while supplying them with example activities. I knew that this would not be an easy task, but I felt that it was necessary to pass on this information. I did not want them to feel worse than I did when I found out about the potential of UDL.

Overall I accomplished my goal of introducing my colleagues to UDL and SEL techniques with example activities. I felt good that I was able to at least share with them some aspects of what I had learned throughout this course. I wish I could have done more. At the beginning of the project I was hoping that I would be able to write a lesson plan, and record the lesson on video. Alas, with COVID-19 restrictions I was unable to do that. I think if that was possible my work would have made a drastically larger impact on my colleagues. This also would have helped show them how incorporating these strategies doen’t have to be as complicated as it could be. 

Something that I found out about myself, and my teaching strategies is that band classes are somewhat set up already to use these techniques. What I mean by this is that the typical band rehearsal of warm up activities, techniques/skills, piece rehearsals, and instrument disassembly already presents the possibility for these. Two examples of these are goal setting sheets during warm ups, and emotional/mental health journals at the end of class.

After I realized that I was not going to be able to put together a full lesson plan and video, I knew that my work would not be as effective to my colleagues. This is not because they do not care about this work or what I have done, it is because of the common enemy of any teacher: time. Especially in the unique circumstances we all have faced during this year, all teachers have had to deal with unprecedented obstacles. This proved true in the responses I received from the colleagues to whom I sent my work. They almost all said that they would “check out” what I sent, but I heard nothing about possible implementation in their classroom. This was either because they did not have time to incorporate these aspects into their curriculum or they were just not meeting with students in-person. This is where I believe a lesson plan and video would have truly shown them the benefits, regardless of if they were teaching in-person or virtually.

The most obvious gap in my knowledge was the importance in SEL incorporation into the band room. As band directors we spend more time with our students than any other teachers. If students are involved with one or more ensembles they are with their directors for not only the majority of the school day, but also many after school activities. This almost makes it an obligation for directors to make sure they are using SEL strategies to check on their students. The bond is already present between the ensemble and the directors for this to occur. This project helped me understand this necessity, and that it needs to be shared. This has sparked a hunger in me to research SEL strategies for ensembles. This has me curious because of the massive benefits to the overall mental health of our students. This is obviously great for them but will also contribute to the overall morale of the band and presumably their performance. I hope that I can continue to research SEL strategies and incorporate the ones that are most beneficial to my students, and our overall program.

The second gap was the possibilities of utilizing UDL in my teaching. After 6 years of teaching I had to rework, and alter my curriculum for all of my bands. I am happy I did this 3 years ago, because what I learned from UDL I can now use in this updated curriculum. I have re-realized the importance of my students really understanding why we are learning specific material. I did not understand how important it was to present information in a way that all students, no matter how they learned best,  could understand the material clearly.. In my teaching career so far I have not satisfied the final aspect of UDL at all. Everything I asked for from students was either through playing on their instrument or writing down on paper for a quiz or test. I need to do a better job fulfilling this final step of allowing students different ways to demonstrate what they have learned. Although the final outcome should be through performance, demonstrating in a different form of understanding first can help their understanding and improve their playing.

    Working on this project made me realize how I would exclude students with disabilities from diversity, equity, and inclusion. I have always been conscious to make sure to include music pieces from various cultures, discuss musicians or composers from around the world, and include spanish translations in my information sheets. I did not ever think about adjusting these aspects to those students with disabilities. I could have discussed more musicians with vision or hearing impairments. I could have offered large print information sheets. I could have presented different ways for students with disabilities to demonstrate what we learned in class. I was a stereotypical teacher just working with the special education teachers when necessary. Working on this project helped me look at all of the ways to teach students with disabilities. It helped me with strategies of holding them to appropriate, high levels of expectations. These details, and incorporation of SEL techniques into teaching are more important this year than ever before. Especially when students do return to learning in person. 

There are a couple of things I think I need to do moving forward after this project. The first thing I need to do is follow up with the teachers at the beginning of next semester. The main purpose of contacting them with a follow up is to remind them of this work, and also to see if they have utilized any techniques so far. I do not imagine they will try anything in the remaining few weeks of the semester, but the spring could yield different results. The second thing I need to do is to incorporate these aspects into my teaching to then record the class. I still think that seeing the results first hand for the teachers will influence their decision to want to use these. This will also help hold myself accountable to utilize these aspects, and avoid any regression after this project. This will also give me evidence to back up what I tell my colleagues in the future. Then I can introduce them to these strategies, and describe my experience to them.

I can talk to them about the importance of reaching out to their community. A school building or teacher cannot survive on their own. We all need the support of those around us, and of our community. Building a relationship with the school community creates a stronger feeling of security and family for everyone. Helping the community will in turn help the teachers, and the students. I hope that I can continue working on improving myself as a teacher through UDL and SEL strategies, so that it is a pillar of education in my curriculum.

When I reflect on how the beginning of this course relates to the end of this service learning project, I think I have grown the most in the final objectives of each. Combined each of these objectives emphasize a deeper understanding of students with disabilities while implementing designs to better educate them, igniting a curiosity to dig deeper on how to accomplish this. I don’t think I could ever say that I will fully understand that student population, but I understand now the power they hold in their identity specific disabilities. I understand better how they control their identity in regards to everyone else. I know that I have learned numerous ways to aid all of my students in the classroom, but there is so much left for me to learn. I know that Universal Design for Learning and Social Emotional Learning are essential for everyone in the classroom, including teachers. I hope that I can reach every student with disabilities in my class, but I guarantee that I’ll never stop looking for strategies to accomplish this.

-Rich Notter