Several weeks ago now, I had the pleasure of visiting the Swift River School to hear third grade teacher Paige Smith talk to fellow colleagues about our visit to Groton-Dunstable school district and Universal Design. Speaking to her previously, I know she wanted to share from a stance of support, and the idea that we are all learning together, we are all going to be in different places in this journey, and that is OK! After attending, I would have to say she was madly successful on all counts!
To begin, Paige shared how she had her first introduction to UDL when heard Katie Novak visited Union #28 about 4 years ago. Even then, the idea of Universal Design just clicked for her. That said, it was an introduction. Two summers ago, she was invited to attend the CAST Symposium along with several other staff members from around the district, where I must attest we all gained some foundational knowledge and motivation. There, we began to really understand UDL as a social justice issue for any child who has difficulty accessing the curriculum due to reasons ranging from race and economic status, to visible and invisible disabilities, and further, including those challenging students who misbehave, disengage or otherwise make our job as teachers difficult, with the idea that all our learners are variable.
Paige’s next step was to join the Learning Design Team, which for the first year became a place to reflect. She described herself as more motivated than ever to use Universal Design principals, and designed a great project with options for learning and especially for kids to show what they know? It was a lot of work, and she expressed out loud, something many of us have thought, ( I will bet if you are reading this you thought it too) “The big project route didn’t feel sustainable!” She knew she wanted to keep working at Universal Design, but also wants to be reasonable with herself and her time, knowing teacher burnout is a real thing.
This year Paige and several Design Team members, along with Jen, Pru, and Annie visited Groton Dunstable school District to see Universal Design in action. It was such an eye opening experience. I was impressed by the student variability acknowledged from class to class. It was amazing to witness how focused the students were, even during transitions, with a room overfull with 12 to 15 adults observing. Those kids clearly had the sense that they were there for a reason, they had learning work to do, and there were not kids actively seeking attention from the room full of adults. Kids transitioned to a wide variety of alternate seating options quickly, and when asked, could explain their choice as it related to their current work or assignment. The seating was child directed with the option, stated on the wall in most classes, that the teacher reserves the right to step in and move them if they make a choice that is not helping them meet the learning goal.
Paige made it her mission to notice teacher space within the classrooms. Sometimes they were actually difficult to find. There were very few places in each classroom that were not intentionally for the kids to use. Some teachers had a traditional desk, but many had reduced their teacher footprint to a small table or a shelf in a corner. These rooms were very clearly rooms for children to learn and move. She explained how she has been working at reducing her own teacher footprint in her room, but she is saving the big job of getting rid of her desk, for summer maybe when she has a bit more time to spend.
The thing that really clicked for many of us who visited Groton Dunstable was that every classroom we visited from kindergarten up through middle school used the workshop model in some form. The learning goal in each classroom was clearly stated, often with options listed if the kids met the goal. The “centers” ranged from listed options that students accessed in a space of their choice, to tables and areas around the room which teachers set up or put out for students to work on the learning goal. The message was clear, if the student needed to summarize their reading, they could read an independent book, or read/ listen to an online text or article, then they had options to write, they used
a graphic organizer, could write, type or speak their summary.
To begin, Paige shared how she had her first introduction to UDL when heard Katie Novak visited Union #28 about 4 years ago. Even then, the idea of Universal Design just clicked for her. That said, it was an introduction. Two summers ago, she was invited to attend the CAST Symposium along with several other staff members from around the district, where I must attest we all gained some foundational knowledge and motivation. There, we began to really understand UDL as a social justice issue for any child who has difficulty accessing the curriculum due to reasons ranging from race and economic status, to visible and invisible disabilities, and further, including those challenging students who misbehave, disengage or otherwise make our job as teachers difficult, with the idea that all our learners are variable.
Paige’s next step was to join the Learning Design Team, which for the first year became a place to reflect. She described herself as more motivated than ever to use Universal Design principals, and designed a great project with options for learning and especially for kids to show what they know? It was a lot of work, and she expressed out loud, something many of us have thought, ( I will bet if you are reading this you thought it too) “The big project route didn’t feel sustainable!” She knew she wanted to keep working at Universal Design, but also wants to be reasonable with herself and her time, knowing teacher burnout is a real thing.
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| This photo is just one that I saw that day, and it fits. Paige noted that the big project with options is great, but for her not sustainable on daily weekly level. If we think of the goal of UDL being self directed learning, we can accomplish that in more regularly sustainable ways. |
Paige made it her mission to notice teacher space within the classrooms. Sometimes they were actually difficult to find. There were very few places in each classroom that were not intentionally for the kids to use. Some teachers had a traditional desk, but many had reduced their teacher footprint to a small table or a shelf in a corner. These rooms were very clearly rooms for children to learn and move. She explained how she has been working at reducing her own teacher footprint in her room, but she is saving the big job of getting rid of her desk, for summer maybe when she has a bit more time to spend.
The thing that really clicked for many of us who visited Groton Dunstable was that every classroom we visited from kindergarten up through middle school used the workshop model in some form. The learning goal in each classroom was clearly stated, often with options listed if the kids met the goal. The “centers” ranged from listed options that students accessed in a space of their choice, to tables and areas around the room which teachers set up or put out for students to work on the learning goal. The message was clear, if the student needed to summarize their reading, they could read an independent book, or read/ listen to an online text or article, then they had options to write, they used
a graphic organizer, could write, type or speak their summary.
In some classrooms, there were many choices out on tables, at the carpet, all around the room. The key to making this choice time academic was not worksheets or telling the kids they need to work hard. They key was to communicate the learning goal. If the goal was learning to count to 12, every center was a place for the children to play with those numbers, putting number blocks in order, spinning and counting and writing numbers, counting little pumpkins to place with each number, making numbers out of wiki stir, pulling a number out of a bag and trying to guess what it is before you see it... the possibilities were as endless as the imagination. Some tables were for sitting, some for standing, some activities were at a short legged table or on the floor, the kids were trying them all and getting to know themselves as learners.
Paige after giving us a brief introduction to her thinking, gave us options and time to explore and ask questions, we could use chrome books to browse pictures, there was a set of printed photographs and there was a slideshow projected on screen. She noted in good humor that almost everyone chose the big screen option, and that “sometimes that is how it goes” you put effort in to create options and everyone picks “a”. She noted that in the beginning when just introducing options to our students, they all chose the safe option.
Paige after giving us a brief introduction to her thinking, gave us options and time to explore and ask questions, we could use chrome books to browse pictures, there was a set of printed photographs and there was a slideshow projected on screen. She noted in good humor that almost everyone chose the big screen option, and that “sometimes that is how it goes” you put effort in to create options and everyone picks “a”. She noted that in the beginning when just introducing options to our students, they all chose the safe option.
Now her students are branching out. Sometimes, we think we know what a student will choose and they choose something else and it works. Sometimes they make a choice that isn’t working, that is a place for teaching. One thing that stuck with me is, if we are saying no to a student, first ask yourself “why?”, if the student can still meet the learning goal, try “yes”. Through this process we begin to design learning With our students rather than For our students. Through conferencing, teachers can help a student learn to make a good choice for themselves as a learner, and what better way to learn to make good choices than to have many opportunities to make mistakes, to think about them and learn from them.
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| In one kindergarten classroom, the kids spin the hand to find out where to go next, if it is full, they spin again. The choices were all "academic" but were also clearly fun and playful. |
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Thanks for reading! I welcome comments, and conversation about UDL related topics! As I have told colleagues at my school, I’m happy to make time for a chat.