Why I am so Into UDL

Hey all!  I started this blog last year, to share with colleagues the takeaways and understandings I am gaining as a part of the Design Learning Team in our district.  Part of my job as member of the team is to share my work with colleagues.  This will be the third year on the team for me, and I will admit that this work excites me!  I know that some teachers are both wary and weary of new buzzwords, initiatives, and so on, and I hope by sharing some of the reasons UDL is important to me, others will become less wary and more curious.  Because UDL is more than just a buzzword.

The One most important reason UDL resonates with me is the children and all their variable glory!

• My oldest son did not fit in the "school" box, and if we are honest with ourselves, no child should have to, they are all different and variable day to day, minute by minute!  It took immense focus, hard work and determination for me, a trained teacher, to get my son with ADHD the help he needed at school. I was dumbfounded from the experience!
• As a result of our experience, I became concerned to think about all the children whose parents may not have the understandings, time, resources, or support necessary to advocate  effectively for their children, particularly those with invisible disabilities, and those from marginalized populations.
• Every kid is different, why would we try to teach them the same thing in the same way, at the same time?
• I believe in my heart that school should be a place for children to get excited about learning, explore new ideas, become expert learners both within and outside of themselves!  

The second most important reason I am into UDL is the teachers! (and still the kids 😉)

• All means All!  I can really only speak for myself, but I think most Teachers get into this field thinking, I want to teach ALL kids, and not leave some out! Designing learning experiences with our students helps us learn how to teach them all. 
• Teachers like things that work!  There is so much information about the brain, learning, and best practice and it all fits within the UDL Guidelines, which is based in neuroscience!
• Teachers have the power to make or break a child's education, We need to reflect on the biases and systems within education that can move students from compliance to empowerment, from marginalized to centered, and from dependent learners to expert learners.

Why I am So Into UDL- Audio Recording

During my role as advocate for my child, I read many books, scoured websites and shared my understandings readily with my child’s school.  I could name all the suggestions I made at meetings, but really what I was asking for was Universally Designed Instruction (before I knew what that was!)  I was looking for a place where my child could belong and was respected, welcomed and wanted as a learner by teachers and classmates alike.  

With every suggestion I made, I would try to entice the reluctant teachers with, “It would really be good for all your students, you never know who would benefit!”  Because I knew even then, that if we design for disability, everybody wins!  But, My words felt wasted, those teachers and administrators seemed stuck in a “fix the kid” mentality, and my son had already experienced his first trauma right at their feet.  

Granted I was asking Big things!  I was asking them to look at their expectations, look at their implicit bias, look at their curriculums and classrooms.  I was asking them to redesign themselves, redesign their expectations, redesign their classroom environments and communities... because the only teacher whose class my son was truly successful in, not only allowed him choices in his learning but created those choices with him:

• She planned ahead and offered a variety of options for success.
• She expected him NOT to need the same thing each day.
• She expected that children would be doing different things at the same/different time.
• She valued him as a whole child and as a learner.
• She expected him to succeed.