When I am presenting on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an education framework routed in offering options to students to help them take control of their own education, teachers often tell me they have been doing it already for years. I ask them to explain.
What follows is often a description of Differentiated Instruction (DI). Like UDL, DI is also an education framework based on providing options to students. However, there are some critical differences that differentiate (pardon the pun!) the two frameworks from one another.
The Dinner Party Analogy
I like to explain the differences by asking teachers think about hosting a dinner party. Let’s say you have invited over thirty guests. Several of these guests have food allergies, another few are gluten-free, some are vegetarian or lactose intolerant, and your brother is exclusively Paleo. You want to be the perfect host, and you want to accommodate everyone.
Scenario 1: You decide to make individual meals for each guest so that each of them has the perfect dish. That is a lot of juggling to do. In the end, you are exhausted from all of the cooking, made a few mistakes because it is nearly impossible to get everyone’s individual meal perfect, and didn’t enjoy yourself. At the same time, you are frustrated that some of your guests preferred other’s meals when you had made a special dish JUST FOR THEM.
What I just described is the dinner party equivalent of DI. DI is presenting options, but those options are directed by the teacher. For example, you may take one group of students aside and ask them to read an extra piece of literature because you can tell they are more advanced than their peers. You ask another student to draw a picture instead of writing an essay since you know writing is challenging for him. You are presenting options, but those options are governed by you and it’s possible you haven’t chosen the right options for the right students. You are burnt out from trying to create so many individualized lessons.
Scenario 2: Let’s go back to the dinner party. Rather than preparing thirty individual meals, why not put out a buffet? Include lots of variety, but let the guests choose what is best for them, what they believe will work with their individual diets, and satisfy them. You don’t witness guests peering at other’s dishes wishing they had been made the same thing. You are relaxed and engaged. You have saved your energy for interacting with your guests, instead of wasting it preparing imperfect options.
UDL offers students a “buffet” of options. The options are offered by the teacher but they aren’t individualized for specific students. Through the UDL framework, students are intended to become self-directed learners and choose the options that work best for them, not the other way around. With UDL, students learn to take responsibility for their learning. They are learn the “why” of learning as we turn on the affective network of the brain by providing multiple means of engagement. They learn the “what” of learning as we ignite the recognition network of the brain by providing multiple means of representation. And they learn the “how” of learning as we turn on the strategic network of the brain through multiple means of action & expression.
If you are feeling exhausted by creating individualized learning plans for each of your students through the DI framework, you are not alone. UDL can help you provide options but allow you to maintain your creativity and energy while developing a classroom full of curious, self-directed learners. It isn’t a framework you can implement overnight, but once you see it working its magic in your classroom, you will become just as hooked as I am.
To learn more about the UDL framework, and read up on concrete examples of how you can implement it in your classroom, feel free to pick up a copy of my book, UDL Now!
Below is a post by IMPress author George Couros whose book will be available on amazon on August 14th, 2019! For now, you can check out his first book The Innovator’s Mindset.
Here’s a quick confession: I (John) used to hate the word “innovative.” See those quotation marks right there around the word? Those are actually air quotes that I would use whenever I used the term. “It’s a buzzword,” I would say. “It’s overused,” I would point out.
But the truth is, sometimes a word becomes trendy because it’s tapping into something we all agree is important. Is it misused? Sometimes. Is it overused? Often. But so are the words “love” and “awesome” and “friend,” but I have no intention of ditching any of those words. I think I reacted poorly to the word “innovation” because it had a certain overly glossy, high-tech connotation to it. It made me think of the EPCOT Center and of the Astrodome and of the Flowbee (a true innovation in haircutting that combined a hair trimmer and a vacuum). But that’s not innovation. That’s novelty. That’s disruption.
I have been discussing innovation for probably the past ten years, and I agree with John here, 100%. When people use the word “innovation” to describe something new (usually technology related) than it does become a buzzword. This happens a lot in education where a term becomes “trendy” and is used without thought of what it means, which in turn makes the word a buzzword. It is not saying that the word in itself is terrible, but it is in the way that it is used.
I’m defining innovation as a way of thinking that creates something new and better. Innovation can come from either “invention” (something totally new) or “iteration” (a change of something that already exists), but if it does not meet the idea of “new and better,” it is not innovative. That means that change for the sake of change is never good enough.
The “better” part of the definition is the most crucial. The word “better” is vital when it comes to traditional practice or innovative practice. Some traditional methods work better for our students in learning, and that is crucial to understand. If we gravitate toward the “new” only because it is trendy and lose our students along the way, it is not innovation; it is bad practice.
But what constitutes ‘better’? How do I know when a new way is a better way? For me, better is equivalent to students learning more. Whatever the ‘better’ is assists my students with learning/remembering/retaining more information in a more efficient and/or effective manner. What does ‘better’ mean to you? I think this is a vitally important question to consider and I’m not sure all educators sincerely know what their ‘better’ is.
The question I have bolded is essential, not only for individuals but as schools and organizations. What does “better” actually mean? If you are looking for an answer from me, I won’t give it to you directly. Here is why; what is often measured as “better” in schools is all about higher scores. But understand, this doesn’t mean it is better learning. For example, a lot of studies that discuss “effective practice” totally correlate it to test scores, but in your experience as an educator, have you ever seen students that could ace a test but not truly understand the content? I will admit that I have taught that way in my career because the sole measure of my effectiveness what was if kids did well on a test. We promote the importance of scores in education, yet many organizations that scores are not an accurate indicator of someone’s ability. I am not against students doing well on standardized exams, but I also know that some of our smartest kids in our schools are weak academically. There is more to learning and understanding than we could ever possibly measure on a standardized test.
We also need to understand that people other than the students often define the “better” for our kids. This is why I have often discussed the importance of having students define what “success” looks like for them. Do we genuinely become as passionate or resilient in achieving goals that are solely set by others? I struggle with the thought that sometimes the “scores” are placed at the forefront because it is an easier way to show the success of the adults than it is to show the success of our students.
I believe that as a school if we are talking about “best practices” or “innovation,” or anything else, we have to figure out what “better” means for our students, and from our community. How we assess this “better” will drive practice, not the other way around.
A post by Tom Murray – His newest book will be out November 2019!
Traveling the country and working with school and district leaders over the past four years has significantly altered my lens. Spending fourteen years in the same district in Pennsylvania was an incredible blessing. I worked with so many dynamic, kid-loving people. Over my tenure there, our teams had come together during some of the most difficult times and also celebrated together through the joys we experienced.
In reflection, the downside of spending my entire k-12 career in one district was that my personal education lens and understanding became very narrow over time. Even though I worked at all levels in that system, it was the same community, many of the same adults, and many of the same leaders, year after year. (Please know that I see nothing wrong with being in one district and absolutely commend those that pour their lives into a single place for their entire career. I also absolutely loved where I was for those 14 years.) For me, that community and those [amazing] people, were all that I knew.
My point in sharing my personal reflection is that today I see so many things that other educators experience regularly, that were much smaller spots on my radar. A few examples: – Although I was a principal of two different Title 1 buildings; and both had significant levels of socioeconomic needs, now spending time in buildings where every child lives in poverty has given me more empathy for those who have far less and appreciate things that at times I took for granted in my work. – Where I worked, technology had been plentiful for years. I received a laptop as a brand new teacher, in 2000. Today, some teachers are just receiving personal devices for the first time, while others still yearn for that day to come. – Working with rural schools, which often lack the needed bandwidth to provide additional opportunities for students, puts connectivity much more on my radar than when leveraging technology worked pretty seamlessly for me as a teacher and administrator.
Although the list of where my lens has shifted could be expanded exponentially, there are also conversations I have with educators around themes that no matter what state I’m in, the demographics of the community they serve, or the budget in which they operate, are very similar in nature and where most things are agreed upon. Some examples include: – The importance of teacher leadership. – The desire for student agency. – The incredible talents of our nation’s children.
So what’s one area that never seems to go out of focus? The importance of school culture.
I recently had the opportunity to spend time with one of my closest friends, Jimmy Casas. Jimmy is a long-time educator, and the author of the best-selling book, Culturize: Every Student. Every Day. Whatever it Takes. Jimmy is also one of the best community builders that I’ve ever met. As you saw in the video above, I asked Jimmy for one simple idea to build culture in schools.
Jimmy shares the concept of “two a day,” an idea he gained from colleague and friend Jeff Zoul, where he’d take two note cards each day and write an encouraging, authentic note to two different staff members. Essentially, Jimmy points to a simple way in which he was able to help own the culture in which he was a part.
The difficulty lies not in the fact that people agree that culture is vital to a school’s success. That’s pretty much a given. The difficulty comes when not every person owns the culture in which they are a part. The idea is easy. Abdicating the responsibility is also easy. Placing the blame and pointing the finger is easy. Owning one’s part in it all is what’s challenging.
A school’s culture is the culmination of every interaction that occurs within it.
So how do you build your school’s culture? How do you help create a culture where people want to be? When you walk into the faculty room, do you build the energy up? Or, do you suck the air right out?
It’s no secret that school and district leadership set the tone for the culture within it; but to attempt to make the case that they are the only ones responsible for it is amazingly misguided.
What can you do tomorrow to move your school’s culture forward one step? Who’s that person on staff that needs some additional encouragement? Who’s that student that can help lead the way?
Having been to so many amazing schools over the past four years, I’ve also come to realize that creating school cultures where people want to be does not happen by chance.Creating cultures that people want to run to happens when the adults in the building are intentional with their interactions…one day at a time.
Will your interactions tomorrow help make your school a place people want to be? Or, a place people want to run from? What’s your role in the process? How does your own lens impact your thought process here?
The good news? No matter what you feel the condition of your school culture currently is, tomorrow is the first step in the remaining part of your journey. My advice? Be intentional. Be real. Build capacity in others. Work to understand your internal bias. Own your role in the work and don’t abdicate the responsibility we all have in creating the schools where our students will thrive.
A Post by Sunil Singh, co-author of Math Recess: Playful Learning in an Age of Disruption.
It is no coincidence that the deeper awareness of the value of play for our children is coming at the same time as the heightened attitudes towards play and mathematics. For a while, the pairing of those words generally meant trying to make math a joyful and fun experience. It seemed that play was serving a role that was limited to some kind of emotional outcome. Of course, having a positive attitude about math is critical, but the value of play goes much deeper than creating celebratory reactions from our students and teachers.
Much deeper.
And this depth is being charted at the same time as the general visibility of play in our society, ironically, is being eroded.
The number of minutes the average child now spends outside with unsupervised play is about 5 to 7 minutes every day. In the book “Math Recess: Playful Learning in an Age of Disruption”, the childhoods of Chris and I are were written with intentional detail–to paint a landscape of vivid, generally adult-free play. Nobody was counting, but pretty sure that our unsupervised play was clocking in at hours/day. It probably would have been a shock to ourselves to have this playtime measured with an egg-timer.
Play is fun. Play is integral to the social, emotional, and academic development of children.
Play is also our companion for our entire journey of mathematics. Whether that lasts for only until our teenage years or for the rest of our lives, play will never leave our side as we interact with mathematics. Play gives us permission to tinker, dabble, poke, prod, etc. with every math problem or idea that will appear before us.
It is actually more than permission, it is a historic and wondrous call–for every K to 12 student and teacher–that mathematics is something we must do for the sake of the moment of doing.
We cannot worry or entertain the idea of being “correct” as the goal. If that becomes the goal, as admirable as that it might be, we know that many students–and teachers–will exhibit anxiety and stress. These are not reactions that exist in play.
Dr. Peter Gray, who has written many books on Play, outlines the basic criteria for what constitutes the richest ideas of play.
(1) self-chosen and self-directed;
(2) motivated by means more than ends;
(3) guided by mental rules;
(4) includes a strong element of imagination
(5) is conducted in an alert, active, but relatively non-stressed frame of mind.
The purest of ideas of mathematics have had each and every one of those elements since mathematics was discovered. It has NEVER veered away or short-changed any of those five points above. Unfortunately, the mathematics that most of us have experienced and what our students experience has been a betrayal of play.
Thankfully, we are in a rebirth of play in math education. More of us are now doing mathematics in ways that honor the history of how mathematics evolved. And, sharing our most playful ideas about mathematics is naturally having the best social ramifications–we are forging friendships.
The Math Playground is being built. All are welcome and all belong.
A Blog Post by Elisabeth Bostwick- Author of Take the L.E.A.P.
Countless educators aim to inspire, be the change and exude positivity. I’m grateful for my connection to educators who exhibit this as it’s what encourages others to persevere in the face of adversity. As someone who has always embraced this concept myself, I tend to find it challenging to know how to share my voice on wrongdoings best. Afterall, positive people stick to positive messages, right? However, we cannot stand to glaze over apparent dysfunction or bow in fear to hierarchical models of leadership when we know something is blatantly wrong and ultimately hurting individuals. I believe that we can discuss semi-controversial topics while identifying creative ways to address them. Exuding positivity, as well as demonstrating professionalism is essential to me as an educator. Due to my deep sense of integrity, I’m also driven to be an agent of change, and my integrity makes it nearly impossible to ignore that there’s an enormous elephant in the room that exists for many educators.
Blogging and being connected as an educator has provided an avenue for us all to share our voice. Too many opt to talk behind closed doors while keeping their heads down instead of stepping out and addressing the elephant. Together we can creatively seek solutions to move forward or ways to change the course of our ship when we realize the time has come.
For countless years I have identified numerous avenues to reach all kids and foster curiosity, creativity, critical thinking and joy in learning. I believe in this wholeheartedly, and my commitment is unwavering. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have the support of many administrators, teammates, colleagues, and my professional learning network. These individuals have carried me through difficult times without necessarily realizing that they have. We’ve celebrated highlights and encouraged one another more times than I can count.
To be transparent, I’ve also experienced my fair share of mistrust. As someone who always seeks to give the benefit of the doubt and aspires to see the good in every situation, truth be told, some individuals allow their ego or personal agendas to dictate the course our ship sails. Egos and personal agendas cause the ride to feel rough and unsettling. In turn, it leaves others scrambling to figure out how to guide the ship best. Historically, I’m a ‘sail adjuster.’ When the wind blows in an unexpected direction or hits without warning, I merely adapt and move on, without missing a beat to provide students with the best learning opportunities. If by chance the wind batters the sail causing rips and tears, I not only adjust but make necessary repairs to remain on course. I’ve repaired my sail more times than I can count, and each time it seems to become stronger and more vibrant than before. After all, each gust is an opportunity to learn that encourages growth.
Situations exist where educators have exhausted every option to continue moving forward even in the most challenging situations. If the damaging effects of the wind grow so strong that the sail is irreparable, it may be time to either navigate a different course by joining another crew or even sailing on your own. Whether you’re adjusting, repairing, or replacing your sail, I hope you employ strategies that act as flint to ignite passion and exuberance to sail further than you ever have before.
Anyone of us can step up and lead to cultivate a healthy culture. Perhaps we don’t have complete control over every decision we’d like, but that’s not to say that we lack impact. Leadership is a title that can be held by anyone who has influence. Being a leader is not solely meant for those with an administration degree. Jimmy Casas, author of Culturize, writes,
“You don’t have to have a leadership title to be a leader. You just have to lead. When you have a disposition about you that others immediately recognize and sometimes want to emulate, you are a leader. When you draw people in and make them want to be around you, you are a leader. Maybe you have a unique skill set that people quickly notice and appreciate, or maybe it’s your words or tendency to notice the best in others that inspires the people around you to want to be better.”
While some individuals seek to foster leadership skills to develop capacity in others, I tend to think that there are instances where some people are threatened by those who demonstrate leadership without the ranks of title or degree. In some cases, it appears more comfortable to hold individuals at arm’s length to silence their efforts and even attempt to belittle through comments spewn to foster a sense of insecurity. Fortunately, we own our emotions, and while mistrust may develop, how we choose to feel is ultimately up to us. Some may think it’s crazy, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to stand staring in the eyes of the elephant in the room while the wind tears at my sail. Both have taught me countless lessons that serve as real-life experience. From these experiences, I’ve developed more profound empathy and compassion for others. While there are numerous leadership books out there such as Culturize, Lead Like a Pirate, and Start Right Now that provide phenomenal tips and in-depth strategies, here are just a handful of the leadership tips I’ve learned firsthand.
Embrace your inner leader by:
Committing to relationships first, next, and always
Nurturing a culture of yes
Adding-value to those you work alongside by frequently recognizing their efforts
Seeking ways to give back in an effort to show appreciation for the contributions made by individuals
Celebrating! Celebrate accomplishments, persevering through failures, risk-taking, awards or recognitions as a school and district to demonstrate appreciation
Spending time in classrooms with learners (as an administrator) serving alongside teachers when possible
Employing the use of Pineapple Charts so that teachers can visit and learn from colleagues
Tearing down fortress walls to allow for open conversations between teachers, administrators and the Board of Education
Trusting that individuals have the best intentions, this fosters deeper levels of trust
Being transparent and authentic by walking the talk
Simply apologizing for wrongdoings even if unintentional
I know this list could continue and I’m happy to add on over time. In closing, it’s vital that we ALL embrace our inner leader. Every person is facing some kind of battle; you may be the difference maker that rekindles passion within an individual who has lost their why, or eases the feeling of pressure when the going gets tough. With teacher shortages in addition to fewer students enrolling in teacher preparatory programs, collectively we need to cultivate a school culture that retains quality teachers. As leaders, let’s respectfully address elephants and create sustainable change. Together we can collaboratively navigate the waters to support one another along the journey.
I recently shared this graphic on Twitter, which resonated with many of you and I wanted to share an excerpt from my book, Learner-Centered Innovation, where this graphic came from.
A school leader shared with me that, although she felt her school offered ample professional development, she was frustrated that they hadn’t seen a dramatic shift in the classrooms. She had hoped to see an increase in students solving authentic problems and using applications for deeper learning experiences. Instead, students used technology to upload and share information or to complete assignments that looked very similar to the work they had done without technology. In response, I asked the leader to describe a typical professional learning day. She told me that, in every after-school meeting, she showed teachers how to use different apps; in fact, she constantly shared tips on new apps and tools she came across. What puzzled her is that the teachers seemed encouraged in the meetings and even shared their own ideas.
As we dug deeper into why the training wasn’t translating into the classroom experience, she realized that her teachers were doing exactly what she had modeled for them: they were using new tools to do the same activities and teach the same content they always had. Although they liked learning about new tools, they hadn’t been modeled or used in a way that connected them to student applications for different or deeper learning.
I always cringe when I hear the word training used to describe educator professional development. Training happens to or is thrust upon people. Learning, on the other hand, is a process of developing knowledge through authentic and relevant experiences. If professional learning is ever going to be effective in bringing about change for students, it must shift away from something done to educators toward a process of creating a culture of continuous learning cycles and problem solving. There is a time to learn new skills or specific programs, but professional learning can’t end with information; content is only the beginning. The following table depicts common experiences that differentiate training from learning.
Shifting the Focus from Teaching to Learning
In education, we have a lot of systems that run smoothly because we have been doing them for years. The problem is that when we work with the same people, doing the same things, ineffective practices are rarely challenged or changed. Traditions and habits don’t inspire new ways of thinking for educators or for students. Here is an example, and I apologize to any English teachers reading this, but I have been in too many conversations about whether The Outsiders is an eighth-or ninth-grade book and have mitigated arguments between seventh-grade teachers about whether or not to teach Farewell to Manzanar. And if you know English teachers, these conversations can become heated. This same scenario plays out in many contexts, whether it is the play that is done every year or the unit that has to be taught in the fall because it has always been that way. One of many problems with these arguments is they are about territory and preserving the status quo, not kids, what they are learning, and why. If the comfort and preferences of adults become the priority rather than what’s best for learners, students miss out on powerful learning opportunities connected to their goals, questions, and interests.
As a result of doing what had always been done, when I was the literacy coach for our school, we noticed that many students were going through their day without the opportunity or expectation to read. Many students were performing below grade level on standardized tests and struggled to read the textbooks and assigned novels. Attempting to support students, teachers had resorted to creating PowerPoint presentations to summarize and convey key facts; books were read aloud, and teachers played recordings of novels so everyone could follow along at the same pace while short passages and multiple-choice worksheets were widely used to assess comprehension. We came to the realization that, if our students never read on their own or made meaningful decisions for themselves in school, they were going to struggle with these things out of school. While we grappled with this very real issue, our professional learning consisted of disparate events that offered no help. The English language arts department wanted to do better for our students, but I also knew that if they knew a better way, they would have been doing it already. We needed to learn new strategies to improve, and we had to shift the culture to focus on our desired student outcomes and align how we were designing and facilitating the learning experiences.
To achieve our goal of increasing reading practice and ultimately literacy, our English department had to shift our meeting structures from examining what we wanted and what we were teaching to reviewing student work to find out what they were learning. We wrote a proposal to our principal to purchase a copy of the book 7 Strategies for Teaching Reading for each teacher in our department and requested stipends for the teachers to meet regularly after school for eight weeks. The total cost of our request was less than $ 1,000 ($ 100 per teacher and $ 20 for each book). We read the book and came together after school to engage in collaborative conversation that allowed teachers to experience the new strategies in their own reading and learning. We then planned ways to support students in their diverse classes. Each week, we independently read about a new strategy, rotated modeling lessons for our colleagues, and collaborated on a plan to put the new ideas into practice. One distinction here is that we did not create a plan for one specific lesson; we thought about how to integrate the new strategy across various lessons and develop multiple iterations of the strategy to inform our practice. To ensure we were working to close the knowing-doing gap, we partnered up each week to observe each other and learn from the variety of methods we were each putting into practice. At the beginning of our weekly meetings, we shared what we were learning. The open reflection not only allowed us to create a culture of transparency in our team but also pushed us to try out new ideas and build off one another’s successes and challenges.
We shifted our conversations from what content and page number we were teaching that week to what we were learning and how we could impact student outcomes. This also meant that we had to bring evidence of learning from all students connected to our desired outcomes. We had to move beyond the spreadsheets and percentages to actually understand what was happening in our classrooms. We spent our time digging deep into our problems of practice, looking at student work, and interrogating our practices to ensure we were truly meeting the needs of the learners.
While our English department worked together to create better learning experiences for our students, reading about and discussing new ideas was critical for our growth. As we explored these new approaches and ideas, we began to rethink the traditional teaching of a class novel. We created more opportunities for choice and designed opportunities for students to grapple with text to make sense of it. We moved from designing learning experiences based on the content and page number we were teaching that week to how to design learning experiences that empowered our students and helped them develop the skills to become better readers, writers, and speakers. By being willing to make changes in the way reading and literacy had always been taught, we improved outcomes for our students.
Learner-Centered Innovation
Learner-centered innovation is not just about creating something new but doing something that yields better outcomes because of what we have created. With that in mind, we asked questions like, “How do we know that our idea is working?” and “What is the impact on desired student outcomes?” When we focus our efforts on what we want to accomplish, not simply the metrics or data from an isolated test or standards but on the type of student we want to create, we might find that our meetings and our learning experiences become more impactful.I would love to hear about examples of what you are doing to create job-embedded cycles of professional learning and the impact it is having!
To learn more about making the shift from training to learning, check out Katie Martin’s book Learner-Centered Innovation.
