December UDL Newsletter

Each month this newsletter will 1) highlight critical UDL practices, 2) make connections to the UDL guidelines, 3) connect you with great tools and resources, 4) share some ways schools are putting this practice into action and 5) offer additional approaches to utilize this highlighted practice.

UDL Practice Profile Highlight: 3.1.a Intentionally align instructional flexible methods and materials... in order to... Empower learners to self-reflect, self-assess, and independently choose the most appropriate supports and resources that will allow them to organize information and resources so they can achieve their identified goal(s).

The practice defined above uses the words "flexible methods and materials." This can be applied to each UDL Principle (pictured and linked above from CAST's UDL Guidelines). By using multiple ways to engage students, you are creating a flexible classroom. When you, as the teacher, provide and guide choice or a variety of ways students can show what they have learned, you are creating a more flexible classroom where students can access learning in a way that works best for them.

Additionally, giving students a voice helps to grow expert learners. Allowing them to have a voice and choice in their learning guided by self-reflection and self-assessment is crucial when trying to empower your students.

Universal Design for Learning promotes proactive planning to remove barriers.

The UDL Barrier Flowchart does a great job of helping you identify a local "flow" to proactive planning by beginning with these three basic questions aligned with the UDL Principles.

1. Engagement: Do students care?

2. Representation: Do the students understand the concept?

3. Action & Expression: Is the student able to show what they know in the identified way?

Beyond that, this wonderful resource then breaks down common barriers by UDL principle and then aligns recommendations (through the use of flexible methods and materials) to those barriers for each checkpoint.

Matt Bergman, from the Milton Hersey school in Pennsylvania, shared a great example of how to redesign a reading passage with his Shark Facts reading passage (force copy).

In this example:

1) Matt added the YouTube 360 video to recruit some interest and allow students to explore the environment of a shark virtually.

2) He then helped students understand the concept by questioning and including hyperlinks to definitions.

3) Finally, he offered a choice in how students could respond: by writing or using voice typing to explain their answers throughout the passage.

Another great example is the Butterfly Standards: Aligned Choice Board and Single-Point Rubric (force copy).

In this example:

1. Matt communicated a clear goal but allowed students to show what they know in multiple ways given on the choice board. This will enable students to make choices within the lesson, which builds engagement.

2. The three choices allowed students to express themselves in a way that motivated them, rather than just a single option of written response.

3. Finally, the Single Point Rubric allowed for more specific and mastery-oriented feedback.

Matt is a wonderful leader in the field of UDL. Contact him through Twitter or through his blog: Learn, Lead, Grow.

Pictured above is a slide that was created by the Ohio UDL Collaborative and is an excellent example of an engagement strategy that participants (even students) can use to rate themselves on their knowledge or comfort level with a topic. This strategy comes from Anne Beninghof's book, Caffeinated Training Design. To use this strategy, ask participants to draw/create a progress bar. Next, ask them to show their beginning progress toward the content by shading in the progress bar, and periodically ask them to rate their progress throughout and at the end of the session.

Similarly, my colleague and co-presenter, Heidi Orvosh, asks participants to rate their level of knowledge of session objectives by using a 1-5 scale: 1, meaning "not very knowledgeable/this information is brand new, " to 5, meaning "I'm an expert and I could teach someone else."

This simple approach helps participants self-regulate where they are in their learning and motivates them to continue listening to improve their rating.

Heidi and I model this strategy in upcoming sessions, included below in "Conferences to Catch."

Both examples align to practice 3.1 shared above because they are strategies that any learner can use to self-reflect and self-assess their progress toward the learning goal.

Check out one of my sessions, UDL at All Tiers: How the UDL Framework Supports MTSS, at two upcoming Conferences!

Click HERE to access the Daily Schedule for the Ohio Leadership Advisory Council Showcase and HERE to register.

Click HERE to find out more about the Great Lakes UDL Experience

Cherie Smith began working at State Support Team Region 6 in July 2015. She has a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and the Inclusive Classroom. Most of her experience has been in special education as a supervisor and an Intervention Specialist at the secondary level. She has taught and directed students with disabilities in both Florida and Ohio.

Cherie is currently a co-chair of Universal Design for Learning Implementation and Research Network's Implementation Special Interest Group and is a member of the Ohio UDL Collaborative.

As an SST6 Consultant, she supports districts in the Ohio Implementation Process as a Regional Data Lead. She is also the lead for Universal Design for Learning and a part of the Special Education team supporting districts with IDEA Internal Monitoring, Postsecondary Transition, PBIS, and College and Career Readiness.

Email: csmith@sst6.org
Website: https://www.sst6.org/UniversalDesignforLearning.aspx
Location: 1045 Dearbaugh Avenue, Wapakoneta, OH, USA
Phone: 419-739-0170
Facebook: facebook.com/SST6ohio
Twitter: @SST6