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Good morning!

Take some time to introduce yourself in the chat, and most importantly, if you could go to a restaurant tonight alone for quiet time or with your besties - what is your drink order?

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The Case for UDL - Removing Barriers & Embracing Variability

Katie Novak, Ed.D.

bit.ly/NOLAUDL1

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A Trip to the Cafe

Beer Mocktail Coffee

Wine Soda Pop Milk

Introduce the ice cream analogy to help explain barriers inherent in most learning environments.

People experience Universal Design everywhere they go, except for in school.
Stores, restaurants, etc all offer options because they plan on variability
Imagine going to an ice cream truck and they only sell one thing - a choc taca. How many of you would eat it? How many of you wouldn't? Some of you wouldn't eat it because you can't, maybe you're lactose intolerant or vegan. Others won't eat because you just don't like it. It's gross to you.
But it is ludicrous to think of an ice cream truck that only offers one option. They would go out of business. Yet, this is what we are doing with our kids.
With UDL, we pro-actively plan for variability and remove barriers that prevent them from accessing content, just like an ice cream trust stocks up dozens of options because they know people have different requirements and preferences.

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The Dinner Party Dilemma

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The Problem with Casseroles

Predictable Barriers

Lactose intolerance
Vegan/Vegetarian
Gluten sensitivity
Already eaten - not hungry
On a diet
Not culturally sustaining

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Access Barriers

Engagement Barriers

Not accessible.

Not relevant, authentic, meaningful

There are two main types of barriers, like we discussed in the ice cream truck analogy: access barriers and engagement barriers. Access barriers are things like lactose intolerance. So, from an educational perspective, it might be something like being a struggling reader. For those situations, when you plan on natural variability, you know some readers struggle while others excel. For the readers who struggle, maybe you have multiple reading options available at different levels of challenge, audio book options so students can learn to read while listening, and scaffolds unpacking complex vocabulary in the text. Engagement barriers are a little different. For the ice cream truck, maybe you can eat chocolate but you just prefer fruit flavors or vanilla. Maybe your reader can read challenging texts but Old Man and the Sea is just boring and irrelevant to them. When we plan for variability for engagement barriers, we offer students options and choice to make sure they can meet the standards while choosing content that speaks to them. So often, we force our students to all to the same thing because we simply have always done it that way. But when we step outside the box and think about other ways student can show us what they know or can do, we realize that maybe we are being too rigid and we can build in more flexibility.

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Dinner Party Analogy

UDL is "casserole teaching." It is one-size-fits-all and that is a problem because some people just won't be able to access the content.
Both access and engagement barriers are a problem with “casserole” teaching.
So, let's say, you know about these eating restriction beforehand. You decide you are going to make 20 different meals for your 20 different guests. You are a short order cook. You think you've made the right choices for everyone, but it's hard and you're exhausted. And it turns out that Wanda is eying Leo's tacos, Sharon isn't really into fish after all, and Miguel forgot to tell you he is on the Paleo diet, and you served him pizza.
Doing this kind of short order cooking is the equivalent to differentiated instruction. When we do differentiated instruction, we are assigning different lessons and content to different kids based on our own perceptions, but sometimes, we just aren't going to get it right either because we fail to interest them, or because our assessments aren't accurate.
So, what is the solution to casserole cooking and short order cooking? It is a buffet.
With UDL, we put out a buffet of options. Maybe we have a pasta and salad bar. There is grilled chicken, shrimp, roasted veggies, red, white and pesto sauce, regular and gluten-free pasta. Our guests can self-differentiate and choose what works best for them to make themsevles a perfect meal.

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Traditional Teaching Casserole Cooking	Differentiated Instruction Short Order Cooking	UDL Buffet
Static	Reactive	Proactive
Evaluates the curriculum	Evaluates the students	Evaluates environment, classroom, culture
Follows Script	Cause/Effect	Intentional
Teaches lesson and follows unit as designed	Retrofits instruction by providing accommodations	Designs instruction prior to arrival of students
Focuses on the “average” student	Focuses on individual ability	Focuses on variability
Doesn’t consider students in margins	Modifies to Individual margins	Plans for the margins
Conforms to “normal”	Tries to bring all students into “normal”	Values variety
Ignores barriers	Works around barriers	Removes barriers

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GOAL

Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements.

ASSESSMENTS

Expert panel on Zoom

Write white paper

Interactive poster (Canva)

Youtube video

Podcast

MATERIALS

Vocabulary list

Graphic organizer with questions

Rubric for self-assessment

Constellation chart

App for viewing stars

METHODS

Read chapter of Textbook

Explore online article

Watch pre-recorded teacher lesson

Attend Teacher Zoom

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Learning: The Brain and a Heating System

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Principle

Guideline

Checkpoint

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Firm Goals, Flexible Means

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The Process of Making Choices

Choose

Provide multiple means of executive function

Heighten the salience of goals and objectives

Do

Support strategy

Provide scaffolds, supports and tools

Review

Monitor progress

Foster self-reflection and self-assessment

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Q&A

bit.ly/NOLAUDL1