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You are about to embark on a transformational journey.
Once you begin, you will not be able to go back.
Are you ready?
Teacher Self Assessment Tool (1).pdfassessing ourselves
assessing ourselves
Take a few minutes to reflect on your beliefs about teaching and learning; your why. Jot them down. Now, think about your practices; what you do and how you do it. Do your beliefs and thinking align with your actions?
Take a few minutes to complete the Teacher Self Assessment Tool. Use your results from this to start thinking about your own learning goals and how your UDL journey can help you accomplish this.
Reflect
Reflect
Taking time to reflect on your thoughts and learning becomes invaluable for transformational change. Record your thoughts, feelings, questions and wonderings. Doodle, use mind maps, write a story, video record your thinking, take pictures and create a collage of your thinking as it is right now. Create an artifact of your learning. Do what makes sense to you.
What's your why?
What's your why?
Knowing your why defines your what and how. Dig deep and define your beliefs and from there, your why should appear. Why are you an educator? Why are you interested in beginning (and joining) a UDL journey?
Do you want to know more about UDL? Are you interested in learning how to identify and remove barriers to learning in your classroom? Is designing an assessment with UDL in mind something you wish to learn?
Take a few moments to define your own why and begin to shape your learning goals.
Traditional education systems see a 'one size fits all' approach. When learner variability is the norm, not the exception, how does this one size fits all approach prove success for all? It doesn't. It barely finds success for the minority. We need change.
"Students are not disabled or broken. Our systems are." - Katie Novak
Failure is ok
Failure is ok
UDL is not just a lesson plan, or a step by step way of doing things. It is so much more. It is a mindset, a mind shift. It becomes a set of core beliefs and a way of thinking and doing.
Learning something new, unlearning what you have known and taking risks into unfamiliar territory is scary and comes with failure. It is through these mistakes that we learn the most, especially when the probable outcomes far outweigh the risk.
In this video, Katie explains that one must not focus on UDL as an end product; that of being perfected and easy without seeing and realizing all the failed attempts, mistakes and mess ups that happen along the way. Learning is messy. Risk taking is messier. But it is so worth it.
Unlearning to learn
Unlearning to learn
Unlearning is hard but necessary
Unlearning is hard but necessary
Katie Novak explains the Unlearning Cycle that is necessary for change. UDL requires a shift in thinking about learning and inevitably a change in doing. Understanding variability in learners, a focus on goals, breaking old habits, committing to engagement and empowering expert learning is a solid start to carving your path on your journey to UDL.
These ideas are captured in her book "Unlearning" by Alison Posey and Katie Novak.
developing a growth mindset
developing a growth mindset
Changing our beliefs can have a powerful impact. A growth mindset creates a powerful passion for learning. Believing you can, is half the battle. There are a lot of things in our lives (education and personal) that we may need to unlearn to make the necessary changes to provide equity in our classrooms and to create learners who will be ready to go forth in our society and meet the demands of an every changing work force. Developing a growth mindset means you believe intelligence and the ability to do something comes from hard work, effort and persistence. Watch the video "Developing a Growth Mindset" by Carol Dweck. Reflect on your own beliefs and wonderings. How does the power of 'yet' open up your own learning, or willingness to learn something new? How would this transfer to your classroom and to your students? Imagine the possibilities of 'yet'.
All teachers and students need to believe inherently that they are capable of increasing their intelligence, their ability, and their performance by applying necessary effort, seeking out resources, collaborating with more knowledgeable people, and remind throughout the process. Universal Design for Learning is how we are going to get there. UDL is designed with the power of 'yet' in mind with the intended goal to create expert learners who can do anything and be anything they put their mind to. Wouldn't you want that for yourself? For your child?
Let's begin.
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