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Remember, you can submit in the format that works best - video, audio, written, picture of notes or diagram, etc.

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Share your (roughly) 60-second elevator speeches explaining UDL to a colleague. You can write a response, send a pic of your poster version, or submit an audio or video recording. Make sure to identify your Group # in your post.

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Go ahead and post questions and comments here throughout the day and I will review them during breaks and lunch. I'll comment on each and, where applicable, I'll bring them up for group discussion. 

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Go ahead and post questions and comments here throughout the day and I will review them during breaks and lunch. I'll comment on each and, where applicable, I'll bring them up for group discussion. 

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3-5 big picture points and 1 questions you hope to answer in the next 2 days.

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Copy this google doc and use it to generate goals, barriers, and assessment options. When you're done, post it below.

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Describe the pain point in the current lesson design. What barrier(s) exist that are causing it? What one thing will you change and why might that be effective?

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Post your short-term goal for furthering your UDL practice. 

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Post your short-term goal for furthering your UDL practice. 

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Example: "By October 1st,  I will have applied the Plus One approach to at least one lesson per week."

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•Describe the identified inequity

•What are you seeing?

•Suggest a possible barrier that could be producing the inequity.

Generate a potential solution to address the barrier

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Audience:

6-8 Students

We are your teacher

UDL is a number of choices, approaches, and options that help you achieve a goal. For example, imagine you are solving a puzzle. Each person has their own method for how they solve the puzzle. Some people start with the edges, some look at the picture, and some just try to find pieces that fit. The end goal is that you have a completed puzzle, no matter what method you chose to get there. The method is YOUR CHOICE.

In the classroom you will see and hear each person using a different method to achieve our goal. You might feel one method works better for you than another persons. The main idea that it is what ever works best for you! We encourage you to share your learning methods with everyone because you may teach us a new way we never considered.

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Instructions from Padlet that you can use to "remake" this and other padlets in order to customize them to fit your individual needs.

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Sample entry using the Padlet drawing pad

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Teaching high school students with Mild-Moderate disabilities complex algebraic processes can be extremely challenging. When teaching them about "perfect squares", I struggle tremendously because they cannot remember the structure of the equation, or the thought process as to why it has to be done this way. I would like to give them the opportunity to create a creative way to explain the process, step-by-step, such as creating a "math rap" that they can memorize as they would any song. I believe that if they are given enough time and appropriate support to complete this assignment, they will be able to successfully able to retain and comprehend what they are doing. 

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Teaching high school students with Mild-Moderate disabilities complex algebraic processes can be extremely challenging. When teaching them about "perfect squares", I struggle tremendously because they cannot remember the structure of the equation, or the thought process as to why it has to be done this way. I would like to give them the opportunity to create a creative way to explain the process, step-by-step, such as creating a "math rap" that they can memorize as they would any song. I believe that if they are given enough time and appropriate support to complete this assignment, they will be able to successfully able to retain and comprehend what they are doing. 

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Barrier:  We see a possible barrier is a lack of parental support due to language barrier.
Potential Solution: Be more flexible with expectations when home-school issues.
Potential Solution: Give kids extra support to be more independent and responsible.

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Taking learner variability into account is a very important aspect in learning since students learn differently. Yes, we "gotta catch'em all"... but how we do that takes time to figure out... sometimes we need to use "nets" with smaller holes while using "nets" with bigger holes some other time.

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JP, Janet, and Noreen are representatives of the West San Gabriel Valley Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA).  UDL is a framework.  It is a way of teaching and learning that gives ALL students an opportunity to succeed.  It offers flexibility in the ways students access material, engage with material, and show what they know.  We are implementing UDL because this gives students the opportunity to access and make decisions about their own learning.   It is about building flexibility based on students' strengths and needs which in turn benefits all students.  The ultimate goal is to foster potential expert learner who are purposeful, motivated, resourceful, knowledgeable, strategic, and goal-directed.  There is power in ownership of one's own learning experience.  

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JP, Janet, and Noreen are representatives of the West San Gabriel Valley Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA).  UDL is a framework.  It is a way of teaching and learning that gives ALL students an opportunity to succeed.  It offers flexibility in the ways students access material, engage with material, and show what they know.  We are implementing UDL because this gives students the opportunity to access and make decisions about their own learning.   It is about building flexibility based on students' strengths and needs which in turn benefits all students.  The ultimate goal is to foster potential expert learner who are purposeful, motivated, resourceful, knowledgeable, strategic, and goal-directed.  There is power in ownership of one's own learning experience.  

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1. Giving up the control to the students to control through choice.

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1. Giving up the control to the students to control through choice.

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2. Flexible in their environment, paths to learning, and expression for their learning.
3. Voice and Choice
Question - Where is it best to start, with the environment, the lesson, or the expression?

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Students “hating” reading (when I must teach literary works)

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Students “hating” reading (when I must teach literary works)

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Students come in expressing a dislike for reading, unable to identify favorite books or authors. Most likely, they’ve had little exposure to works or writers they find relevant to their lives or interests. Possible Solutions: survey their areas of interest and provide various options of readings & authors they may choose, in order to “hook” Them, connect poetry lessons to songs they like, give them a formula for poetry or short story in which they write using their own experiences to complete, read several excerpts aloud to them first and they choose which to continue reading on their own, and more! :)

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The identified inequity is homework. Some believe that there should be more homework and others think less. The possible barrier could be access to research. A possible solution is to continue to send information to parents and community about new research and other beneficial things to do with their time.

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The identified inequity is homework. Some believe that there should be more homework and others think less. The possible barrier could be access to research. A possible solution is to continue to send information to parents and community about new research and other beneficial things to do with their time.

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It seems that traditionally students have been conditioned to reach daily objectives in a specific and directed way. So, when provided with flexibility to support learner variability, students may not know how to react to that variability. Does that then mean we need to teach how to adapt to variability? 

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It seems that traditionally students have been conditioned to reach daily objectives in a specific and directed way. So, when provided with flexibility to support learner variability, students may not know how to react to that variability. Does that then mean we need to teach how to adapt to variability? 

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Looking forward to the introduction of UDL and applying it to my classroom!

Gail Denham :-)

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1.  UDL is a complete mindset shift.  Teachers need to be willing to have buy-in in tryi+ng new things in the classroom.

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1.  UDL is a complete mindset shift.  Teachers need to be willing to have buy-in in tryi+ng new things in the classroom.

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2.  UDL is a redesign in the approach to teaching.

3.  UDL develops ownership of student learning and teachers need to get out of the way.by being flexible and keeping the goal in mind

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Assessment for retelling a story - currently students draw the retelling and then dictate to the teacher and the teacher writes it. I notice that there are barriers for ELLs and/or students with speech needs. There are also students who can write on their own and may not need to dictate. I'd like to give more options for showing/writing/acting out the retelling and will talk to my grade level about the concern. 

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Assessment for retelling a story - currently students draw the retelling and then dictate to the teacher and the teacher writes it. I notice that there are barriers for ELLs and/or students with speech needs. There are also students who can write on their own and may not need to dictate. I'd like to give more options for showing/writing/acting out the retelling and will talk to my grade level about the concern. 

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College preparedness for students with disabilities: Barriers: teacher bias, access to college level curriculum, internalized idea of failure. Solutions: Present general education teachers with instructional strategies to support our students and expose to more academic opportunities.

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College preparedness for students with disabilities: Barriers: teacher bias, access to college level curriculum, internalized idea of failure. Solutions: Present general education teachers with instructional strategies to support our students and expose to more academic opportunities.

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We often miss students’ weaknesses when we have a learning environment that teaches to the average.

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Produced by the Valentine Vikings of San Marino Unified School District.

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Teachers must give up control and set up the conditions for learning while empowering students to choose the learning path that is most meaningful/effective for them. 

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Teachers must give up control and set up the conditions for learning while empowering students to choose the learning path that is most meaningful/effective for them. 

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Q: How do we begin to build student capacity to know what is more effective for them, maintain integrity and honestly evaluate their progress and choices?

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In teaching Math to the whole class, I lose engagement from the students because of the varying levels. My +1 will be to have another option for learning the material and a choice board to show me what they know.

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In teaching Math to the whole class, I lose engagement from the students because of the varying levels. My +1 will be to have another option for learning the material and a choice board to show me what they know.

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Another idea is to change the choice in their seating with what I have in the classroom already. Allow for shared materials in the desk and consumables in another location.

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There are inequities when we look at different student groups.  For example, students with disabilities, foster youth, and English Language learners show dramatically different outcomes on the dashboards.

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There are inequities when we look at different student groups.  For example, students with disabilities, foster youth, and English Language learners show dramatically different outcomes on the dashboards.

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In this week’s episode John talks about what UDL is.

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I'm excited to be here!

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UDL is a component of differentiated instruction as it looks at the learning environment first

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UDL is a component of differentiated instruction as it looks at the learning environment first

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My students struggle with revising their writing because they don't know what types of changes to make. I plan to create a checklist to guide them through this process.

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My students struggle with revising their writing because they don't know what types of changes to make. I plan to create a checklist to guide them through this process.

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Equity Challenge: College and career readiness 

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Equity Challenge: College and career readiness 

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Solution: Rigor in all courses, not just AP, creating a college bound school culture m

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The learning environment needs to facilitate connections with learning, not only within ourselves but with others.

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This speech is to motivate our fellow educators to see the value of implementing UDL in the classroom: 

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This speech is to motivate our fellow educators to see the value of implementing UDL in the classroom: 

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We are a group of San Marino High School teachers who would like to promote the implementation of UDL, a research and evidenced base practice that benefits all students, removes barriers to learning and innovates educational practices to produce students who are purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgeable and strategic and goal-oriented. Using student choice as a foundational tenet across access, instruction and assessment, students who experience UDL instructional methodology grow into metacognitive learners who demonstrate agency, reflection and mastery of their learning which will serve them through their life long endeavors, be they educational, personal or professional. UDL breaks down the barriers for students across all subgroups and supports ALL students to be active, critical 21st century learners, citizens and members of the ever-changing labor force. It takes change to make change! As the SMHS begins to implement this framework into classroom practice and action, you will likely hear your children more actively discussing their current projects and learning activities as well as learning goals, progress, and strategies like the future executive, researcher and problem-solver they are working towards becoming!

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Ready to continue to journey of learning about learning with UDL.

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1. Assessments can be given in different formats, with students choosing if they would like to take a test, do a group presentation, oral presentation, etc.

This allows students to reflect and think about their own strengths and weaknesses, and choose what is their best way to show their knowledge.

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Students struggle with finding key details.  The barriers are knowing what is important and what is irrelevant, understanding that key details retell a story or passage, and understanding language and vocabulary or how sentences connect together. Some solutions could be working in groups or giving students a limited number of possible key details to help whittle down their possibilities.

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Students struggle with finding key details.  The barriers are knowing what is important and what is irrelevant, understanding that key details retell a story or passage, and understanding language and vocabulary or how sentences connect together. Some solutions could be working in groups or giving students a limited number of possible key details to help whittle down their possibilities.

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How do we create a learning environment where students make connections and find value in the process? How do we make UDL align with our academic framework?

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We are teachers who work in a low-income, socially disadvantaged community with a high population of migrants and high population of students who have experienced trauma. We have encountered challenges engaging students with significant social, emotional, behavioral, and academic needs. Universal Design for Learning is a framework to “improve and optimize learning for all people”. It is a student-centered approach that allows them to utilize their skills and talents in understanding the material and showcasing their learning; there are no constraints.

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1. Fostering ownership: UDL empowers students to take ownership of their learning by providing choices, giving them the power to make the best choice for themselves, and supporting them as they work within their learning environment. 

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1. Fostering ownership: UDL empowers students to take ownership of their learning by providing choices, giving them the power to make the best choice for themselves, and supporting them as they work within their learning environment. 

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When teaching high school students argumentative writing, it is difficult help them understand the structure of an argument without students disengaging or struggling with the academic jargon. My plus one would be to have a printed outline with the steps and vocabulary and then having students either create a video to teach it to someone else or give students a sample essay where they have to pinpoint all the parts of the argument.

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Excited to learn about UDL today!

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My students are active and love moving around.  I just went on amazon and bought fidget tools.

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My students are active and love moving around.  I just went on amazon and bought fidget tools.

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Some students struggle with asking questions. The attention on the student struggling makes it worse. One solution is to let them write their question and teacher/students read it.

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The biggest pain in prepping for a math test is that a few students do put in very little effort to prepare for the chapter assessment.

Likely barriers are 1st that they don’t want to appear “uncool” around their peers. 2nd is that their parents don’t care what grade they get, so they tend not to care as well.

Solutions - while I give them many options to choose how they prepare, I believe that if I add a level system like a video game level system it may take off the stigma of some students acting like they don’t care.

So, what does that look like? If I have five options for students to prepare, they would receive a level up for each option they complete and the goal would be to reach Level 5 to be fully prepared. Or maybe it would just be Level 2 or 3 as the fully prepared status.

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How does UDL differ from UBD (Unit By Design)?

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How does UDL differ from UBD (Unit By Design)?

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Hello everyone. I’m John and I’m posting a great resource by the wonderful Barbara Bray.

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Rethinking Learning - Define Your WHY Through Stories

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) was developed by David Rose and Anne Meyer from CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology). After learning more about UDL, I can see how UDL can be the framework for learning for all learners of all ages.

The three UDL principles:

Multiple Means of Engagement = The WHY of Learning

Multiple Means of Representation = The WHAT of Learning

Multiple Means of Action and Expression - The HOW of Learning

I love that UDL starts with the why and how learners are engaged and motivated to learn. The WHY means what learners are interested in and passionate about. I like the idea of being curious about who we are as learners. Why not ask our own WHY to ourselves about how we learn?
Why are we engaged or not engaged in learning?
Why do we need to be motivated to want to learn?
Why would we want to become independent and self-directed?

UDL Principles

I decided to explore the UDL principles from my perspective as a learner. I know that I need to be motivated first about something new that I want or need to learn. I'm kind of busy. There has to be a reason or purpose for my learning. When I thought about this, I got it why UDL starts with Multiple Means of Engagement. This is what makes learning personal for me. It is not about what someone else teaches me unless I choose to take their course. I first have to be interested in what I want to learn. So I decided to add a few strategies for each of the three UDL principles to help me understand what that might mean for all learners.

The bullet points I listed may vary depending on who applies these concepts of the why, what, and how. In my first book, Make Learning Personal, UDL started with the What of Learning. Recently, Anne Meyer, David Rose, and David Gordon, co-authors of Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice, changed the order of the principles to start with the why. I agree with them. I really believe you need to know the why before the what and how.

Learner Profile

When I put the ideas together this way, it made sense for me. I could see why it is important to start with the WHY of learning. We need a voice and choice in our learning so we have a say in how content is represented. We may all process that information differently so this is why we need to know how we learn best. UDL helps us do that. I figured if I'm going to share this, I needed to see how it worked for me as a learner. So I took the approach I used in the work I did with personalizing learning but changed it to fit the idea of starting with Multiple Means of Engagement and the Why of Learning.

When I consider the principle of engagement, it is more than just engaging me in learning; it is how I am empowered to want to learn. I have a more detailed survey that I use with schools I work with, but I found that sometimes less is more. I also had to show that engagement was about motivation and purpose and different than what was listed under action and expression. I just put in a few bullet points under each section, but you can add as many that apply to you.
Why would learners want to focus on interests?
How can learners be empowered to learn?
How does having a purpose affects motivation?
Preferences and Needs

What I noticed is that when I started writing about my strengths and challenges for engagement, it was all about purpose. I wasn't sure of my purpose. This was big for me. I've been focusing on making learning personal for years and now I wasn't sure. It's not about making learning personal for someone else. Each learner needs to find that out for themselves.

When I added information for me, I saw me. I wanted to share it. I shared this idea with some educators and asked them how they would use this. So they filled it out and then shared what they found out about themselves with peers. I'm going big by sharing mine with you. When I asked someone what they thought about what I wrote, they asked me questions that led to some very interesting conversations. One teacher said that when I wrote I wasn't sure of my purpose, it helped her feel okay about being vulnerable in front of others. She thought I knew everything. No one knows everything. I definitely do not feel like an expert. Every day I learn something new and am humbled by how much I don't know. The next step was to write what I preferred or needed to help me learn.

I only put a few ideas so you could get an idea of how this process works. Putting my thoughts in writing helped me see just what I was thinking. I needed to refine my purpose and spend more time on things I'm passionate about. That's number one. That's my WHY.

What do you prefer or need to learn?

Personal Learning Backpack

So I decided to go one step further by creating my own personal learning backpack, but I needed to change it by adding the skills, competencies, tools, apps, and resources I will need to succeed and become future-ready. I'm using that term for me and any learner because I believe learning is about preparing for whatever is ahead for us. I love technology and have always experimented with tools and apps. I find that there are so many apps that I reach out to others in my PLN for help or ideas on how to use different apps. It doesn't matter how young or old we are, each day is new. The backpack also includes learning strategies so we own and drive our learning. This means we become self-directed and independent learners who have agency.

What I found out was the first thing I needed was to build my self-confidence around finding my purpose. That meant changing my mindset and using the power of YET more. I can do anything I put my mind to if I want to. I am not sure even what tools I will need to learn, YET. If I say I don't think I can write another book, I need to add YET. If I say, I'm not sure how to do this or that, I need to add YET. I wonder what my backpack will look like in a year.

I tried this process in several workshops and keynotes. So far, the feedback was great and helpful. As I said, I am still learning so I may even make some changes. I am curious to see the backpacks learners create and the conversations they have about their learning.
Who knows what the future will hold for us?
How will you become future-ready?
What will you need to have agency?
Resources:

*****

Interested in checking out more of the Rethinking Learning podcasts and reflections, click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below, or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

For more information about Barbara's book, Define Your WHY, go to this page or click on the image of the book for resources, questions, and links.

About the author

Barbara Bray is a story weaver capturing stories from inspirational people about insightful journeys to discover their purpose. As a creative learning strategist, speaker, coach, and disruptor, Barbara has been trying to transform teaching and learning for over 30 years. Her journey as a teacher, coach, columnist, database developer, and grant writer led to her becoming the owner/founder of Computer Strategies, LLC with its divisions, My eCoach and Rethinking Learning. From 2013 to 2017, Barbara was the past co-founder of Personalize Learning, LLC, and co-authored Make Learning Personal and How to Personalize Learning. In 2017, Barbara became the host of the Rethinking Learning Podcast where she has conversations with inspirational educators, thought leaders, and influencers! At the same time, Barbara started the #rethink_learning Twitter chat. Through all the stories and her journey, Barbara is the author of "Define Your WHY" which is all about owning your story so you live and learn on purpose.

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UDL and the Why of Learning - Rethinking Learning

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) starts with the Why. See how Barbara used UDL to find her why and purpose for learning and what that means for all learners.

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UDL

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What is UDL & how can I use it in my classroom? :)

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Just like the adjustable seats in a cockpit, it is imperative for educators to make their lessons “adjustable” to learner variability.

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How do we utilize the various ways to show understanding when we are responsible for getting the kids to be prepared for state testing (ie: writing essays only)?

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How do we utilize the various ways to show understanding when we are responsible for getting the kids to be prepared for state testing (ie: writing essays only)?

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If UDL is like creating a buffet for your students, and assumedly this means that teachers are coming up with 8-10 different options, how can teachers implement this without burning out?

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How do you support students whom are overwhelmed by choice and unstructured tasks such as students with ADHD, Autism, anxiety, etc.?

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How do you support students whom are overwhelmed by choice and unstructured tasks such as students with ADHD, Autism, anxiety, etc.?

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At what point do the many accommodations needed for a student to succeed need to be documented?