December UDL Connections

Each month this periodical will 1) highlight critical UDL practices, 2) make connections to the UDL guidelines and checkpoints, 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.

5.1.a Create an environment that is conducive to risk taking, accepting challenges, receiving feedback, learning from mistakes, and being reflective in learner progress toward the goal, etc. (all learners- students and adults)

Remember the Goal of UDL is Expert Learning!

Providing a model of self-regulatory skills is not sufficient for most learners. They will need sustained apprenticeships that include scaffolding. Reminders, models, checklists, and so forth can assist learners in choosing and trying an adaptive strategy for managing and directing their emotional responses to external events (e.g., strategies for coping with anxiety-producing social settings or for reducing task-irrelevant distracters) or internal events (e.g., strategies for decreasing rumination on depressive or anxiety-producing ideation). Such scaffolds should provide sufficient alternatives to meet the challenge of individual differences in the kinds of strategies that might be successful and the independence with which they can be applied (CAST)

The aim of UDL is to cultivate expert learners who willingly confront challenges and embrace the discomfort of unfamiliar tasks. When students invest their energy in wrestling with complex problems or trying to comprehend challenging concepts, they participate in a process known as productive struggle. This involves active practice that goes beyond passive reading, listening, or watching, and it results in the development of valuable, enduring knowledge and skills. Learners will need skills in planning, organizing, goal setting, and self-monitoring to overcome hurdles when engaged in productive struggle. Productive struggle occurs when learners operate within Vygotsky's zone of proximal development.

Check out one or more of these resources if you'd like to learn more about productive struggle:

• READ
• Why Struggle is Essential for the Brain
• What is Productive Struggle in the Classroom?
• Productive Struggle is a Learner’s Sweet Spot
• The Road to Independence
• Why Teachers Should Experience Productive Struggle
• WATCH
  
• How Productive Struggle Sets Brains On Fire
• Productive Struggle

Learning engages the entire brain and body, not just cognition. Social, emotional, and physical components weave together to impact brain development and academic success. A learning environment should stimulate and support these relationships.

When students (also adult learners, i.e. teachers) arrive with or develop stress in the learning environment, exhibit a fixed or distorted mindset (thinking "I can't," "I'm not intelligent," "I will never..."), struggle with self-assurance, experience a sense of not belonging due to peers, instructors, leadership, the environment, or certain events, and lack the necessary coping and social skills to navigate conflicts or persist when facing learning challenges, their capacity for learning diminishes. Therefore, we need to scaffold and support coping strategies as learners engage in productive struggle. Here are a few ideas:

1. Set specific, achievable short-term goals to build momentum and give a sense of progress. Celebrate small wins to fuel intrinsic motivation. Google Form for Goal Setting
2. Use a planning tool (checklist, rubric etc.) to break bigger goals into manageable steps with targets and deadlines. This provides structure during challenging tasks. Magic To Do, Google Tasks or Keep, Google Docs (checklist tool)
3. Learn from peers - partnering with a "study buddy" allows struggling ideas to be voiced and alternatives to be explored through respectful collaboration.
4. Note frustrations but also persisting efforts and ideas tried in a reflective journal. This supports an adaptive, growth mindset over a fixed one by recognizing progress.
5. Practice stress-reducing techniques like deep breathing when frustration mounts. A calm, focused state enhances problem-solving versus shutting down. Mood Jukebox, Virtual Calming Room
6. Read with your ears, write with your voice. Audio options for reading can benefit everyone! Reading with your ears is not cheating, it's just a different approach to understanding content. Additionally, teach voice to text and provide writing support to capture thoughts and ideas while reducing anxiety. Audio: OverDrive, Bookshare, Learning Ally, Google Read and Write Writing: Goblin Tools, Grammarly, SnapType, Co:Writer
7. Use deeper thinking routines and protocols to support and make thinking visible. Thinking Routine Toolbox, Hexagon Thinking (template)

A great example of how teachers are moving students through a productive struggle toward literacy goals is by honoring the reader's pace while using a decodable. Pictured here is a page from The Duck by Susan Ebbers. When students are emerging readers, these sentences do not come out as fluently as we can read. Students will need some of that productive struggle to decode and read each word. As Michelle Elia would say, they are "growing dendrites" - aka learning to read through practice with these decodable readers (Elia, Ocalicon 2023).

Ocalicon Session: Specially Designed Instruction in Literacy Aligned with Reader Profiles

Also, I've (Cherie) linked an Expert Learner Self-Assessment (pictured left and linked here). Setting clear expectations that ALL students can be expert learners is crucial- and what better way to help them on their journey than a self-assessment? The information gained from the self-assessment gives both the student and the teacher a glimpse of what can be done to move learners to EXPERT LEARNERS!

The bulleted list below contains actual student responses from this assessment. Are you interested in what your students might say? If so, use this self-assessment with them to gain insight into their learning strengths and needs. Also, gain some insight into ways you are already helping them become expert learners through intentional planning, modeling, use of UDL and multiple means!

For questions aligned to action and expression:

• I make one-pager study guides for some classes, like for ELA to remember vocabulary.
• Anytime I have spare time, I check my grades in Progress Book.
• Most of the time, if I know that I cannot study before class, I try to plan times to study throughout the week.
• I like to write things down because writing helps me remember it better.
• I split my notes into sections sometimes.

Teachers new to UDL working to apply its principles in their practice can certainly experience productive struggle as they learn and grow. Here are some UDL implementation tips:

1. Productive struggle is expected, as with any significant change - implementing UDL effectively requires teachers to think differently about design, assessment, resources and flexibility. However, struggling in a supported, reflective manner promotes lasting change, expert learning, and expert practice.

2. UDL emphasizes varied pathways and networks for accessing knowledge. Teachers' shifting paradigms will benefit from options to explore UDL in modalities that align with their learning profiles - through collaboration, online communities, trial and error, or self-paced study. Offering choices acknowledges individual approaches to new learning.

3. Building UDL expertise takes time and iterations. Struggles that arise provide valuable feedback to guide future improvements and goal-setting. Teachers should focus on progress over perfection and view obstacles as opportunities rather than failures.

4. A positive growth mindset helps reframe challenges as natural steps in the learning process versus indicators of inability. With experience and self-regulation strategies, productive struggle can fuel motivation and confidence for a long time.

5. Colleagues implementing UDL together can problem-solve, gain insight from diverse perspectives and push each other's thinking - reducing isolation while amplifying efforts. Support networks enhance learning through struggle.

6. Recognizing that stumbling blocks lay the foundation for expertise can help folks new to UDL gain rewards from persevering through inevitable hurdles along the journey. Their efforts ultimately benefit all learners.

This Goal Setting form is very similar to the one above but can be used by leaders, trainers, or coaches to find out the learning goals of their staff.

If you conduct training often, consider using this form at the beginning of your session to see how you can meet the needs of your participants. I love tailoring learning to personal learning goals during sessions. Often times the information I share to help one participant reach their goal helps others grow in their learning as well.

During the Ocalicon session: How to Build and UDLize an Effective Community of Practice: You've Got a Friend in Me, presenters Michelle Duda, Steve Kroeger, and Judith Monseur shared a wonderful way to support staff with their UDL journey. I wanted to share their session handout with their permission because it provides a beautiful look into how critical friends and the protocol pictured to the left can support adult learners.

These protocols create opportunities for adults to be vulnerable and take risks in a safe and supported space. As someone who has both facilitated this protocol and participated in the protocol I can assure you that it's a wonderful way receive feedback. I will admit that the "sit and listen" part of the protocol can be uncomfortable, especially if the are discussing possible misteps but in my experience, the input from my peers is always worth the awkward silence. Many are kind, complimentary of my actions, and constructive in their comments.

If you are interested in joining an exclusive UDL Community of practice, visit the UDL+ Project and sign up!

Join us in our virtual book club and community of practice as we Dive Into UDL: Immersive Practices to Develop Expert Learners (authors Kendra Grant and Luis Perez). Learning alongside other UDL practioners, book clubs and communities of practice are excellent ways to grow your UDL knowledge and practices! If you're just beginning to explore UDL or are well on your way to developing expert learners, you can choose how you want to engage in this learning experience. We will kickoff this virtual PLC on February 6, 2024 with three follow-up sessions on Feb. 20, Mar. 5 and Mar. 19. All dates will be 3:00-4:30 pm. There are multiple options for participation earning up to 25 contact hours. CLICK HERE for more information on participation options. REGISTER HERE

You Don't want to Miss this: "Getting Inside the Goal of UDL"

Register today for this very special event!

Wednesday, December 6th

• 13:00 Chicago
• 20:00 Berlin
• 21:00 Cairo
• 22:00 Dubai

Join the UDL Implementation Special Interest Group on December 6th for a conversation with Dr. Loui Lord Nelson where she will share how The UDL Gears give us helpful guardrails to reflect on our practice, the skills we use, and our mindsets.

If you missed the live event in November but would like to access our on-demand recordings, you can still register! Simply log into your account and complete the registration process, including payment details.

The cost is $250 and grants you access to 250+ recordings from OCALICONLINE 2023 until January 5, 2024.

Need CEUs? Not every organization approved on-demand credit, so be sure to visit our summary to verify if you can receive credit!

Register Online

Have questions? Reach out to the conference team!

You won't want to miss the sessions I mentioned in this month's UDL Connections as well as MANY more UDL Session. Below are two sessions that might be of interest.

Breaking Down Barriers: Using Technology and UDL to Empower Learners with Vocabulary Acquisition

Heidi Orvosh, Cherie Smith

UDL Implementation: Adapting UDL Practice to Context

Cherie Smith, Tracy Mail

As the lead UDL consultant for SST 16, Lisa coaches educational leaders in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and provides professional learning to build the capacity of UDL practitioners. She is a member of the Ohio UDL Collaborative purposed with building the capacity of regional UDL facilitators in order to build state-wide capacity for UDL implementation.

Lisa is licensed as an Intervention Specialist in the state of Ohio and with MA in Counseling she brings a unique skillset to the field of education.

Email: lisa.arthur@sst16.org

Website: https://www.sst16.org/

Location: 21 Birge Drive, Chauncey, OH

Phone: 440-735-8565

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sstregion16

***This Newsletter was created in collaboration with Cherie Smith, a fellow UDL Consultant from SST6.

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 students wtih disabiliteis 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 leads Universal Design for Learning and is part of the Special Education team supporting districts with IDEA Internal Monitoring, Postsecondary Transition, PBIS, and College and Career Readiness.