Week 2: Journal Entry...Establishing Community Norms

Prompt:  Does UDL along with Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion require you to redesign your course syllabus? What changes do you need to make to your course to address these concepts?

What a loaded question.  I’ve spent probably too much time thinking about it, and I have so many thoughts (and moods) about it….and given my recent trip to Disney, I can only equate them to the muppets.

So here goes…..

Creating the perfect syllabus that speaks to everyone in the classroom is much like a perfect recipe.  Everyone’s tastebuds are different though…so what you think is the perfect combination of flavors and textures could be an absolute wreck to the intended audience.  One has to ask themselves, is what I have in this syllabus “bland” enough that everyone gets what they need from it, or do we need to spice it up in a particular way that speaks to the different learning styles one may encounter?  And do I really know ALL of those different ways?  And more importantly, are all elements of DEI important to highlight in a syllabus??  Or does that make the syllabus overpowered and dilute the main purpose of said syllabus?  Because lets be real….this is our typical student….

So as I stare at the syllabus I’m using currently in this course I’m using for the pilot I feel like I have 2 snarky shmucks watching me….

Ready to pounce…ready to laugh their asses off at me.  They’re literally ready to make a comment if I touch one thing.  So do I….

1.  Just be happy with what I’ve got and laugh it up like Fozzy bear?  Knowing I could look like a fool for forgetting something and potentially not do something for a student (or show them on paper that I’ve acknowledged their challenge)?  I do include the phrase “this syllabus is subject to change due to reality”….but is that enough to cover my butt?  

2.  Throw some things in and look like Gizmo?  Dapper, and put together-ish….but clearly trying to do something to my syllabus that I am not sure fits the bill for everyone?  

3.  Go all animal on it?  Claim I’m “in control” and add a whole bunch of DEI benchmarks that might be haphazardly placed…but hey…they’re in there…and that’s all that matters?  

4.  Stare at it like Beaker for a while and then set it on fire in hopes that maybe it will give me all the answers to DEI?  Maybe making it a science experiment will help me capture all of the DEI elements that could possibly be thrown at me?  Isn’t a syllabus sort of like an experiment…showing a student a hypothesis of how the semester should work out if all goes according to plan (which it never does) and leading them on a journey to understanding?  

Or maybe it’s just best to be Kermit….

Good old predictable Kermit.  Who acknowledges everyone’s differences and who doesn’t try and be something he’s clearly not.

That’s probably the safe bet.  Be like Kermit.  

I don’t know that any syllabus can address every DEI and UDL element there is.  For one, I feel like DEI is changing on an almost daily basis.  I could never keep up with it all.  But there are a few basic principals that can be laid out in a syllabus that allow me to be flexible but also show students that I’m not rigid and willing to work with them.  That speaks more to my teaching style…but also promotes the type of relationship I want to build with my students…especially when it comes to how we communicate with each other.  I am probably going to reexamine how I articulate and address some things in my syllabus.  But I don’t think I can be a total Animal or Beaker (although Beaker and I are kismet and have a lot in common when it comes to how we approach things).  

As for things I need to change in my course itself?  I don’t think MUCH.  But I am going to explore delivery methods for students on certain assignments to give them the opportunity to share and reflect via a means that really speaks more to their style and comfort zone.  I recognize that not everyone is a writer and expresses things differently.  So I may give that a shot.  But I’m also one who doesn’t like to set too much in stone before getting to know my students and what they need.  I do that first and then I figure out how I might need to change things.  Is that potentially more work?  Yes.  But it’s not about me.  It’s about the student.