April UDL Connections

Each month this periodical will 1) highlight critical UDL practices, 2) make connections to the UDL guidelines and checkpoints, 3) connect you with great tools and resources, 4) share some ways schools are putting this practice into action and 5) offer additional approaches to utilize this highlighted practice.

Present content and teach skills in multiple ways with options and scaffolding available (including Explicit Instruction).

If we'd say including predictable options in your classroom is important (and we would), then explicitly teaching students about them in crucial.

If students do not know how to use the options available to them, or there is stigma around the use of those options, the teacher will not be able to maximize their learning and not develop learner agency.

Varying activities and sources of information so they are personalized and contextualized to learners’ lives is an important part of this consideration (CAST, 2024).

How are you inviting students to make learning connections that are both interesting and relevant to their lives? This month's UDL Connections takes a look at how this is being applied in the Career Technical Education setting and adult work setting, but the resources and themes can be applied to all learning environments.

1. Wakelet: Wakelet serves as a powerful tool that addresses potential learning barriers by providing multiple means of engagement, collaboration, and representation. Allowing students to be a part of the Wakelet design process can bolster the value and relevance for learners.

2. Nearpod offers built in ways within their lesson creators for students to show what they know in different ways. Additionally, Nearpod allows educators to create lessons that connect the curriculum directly to students' lives. By incorporating real-world scenarios and examples into the lessons, students can see the relevance of what they are learning. For instance, in a social studies lesson, you might use Nearpod to showcase current events or historical events that relate to local communities. This not only fosters a deeper understanding but also makes learning feel more valuable. A career tech example is shared below.

3. ClassroomZen: Is a great predictable option that can impact learning spaces. This is so important for adult and student learners alike! However, Kids especially have fewer tools- how do we help them learn a more appropriate way? Give them an outlet to calm or find peace and be ready to learn? Using something like classroom as a predictable option in your room might be just the new resources to help with this very real need.

The Culinary Arts teacher at Tri County Career Center is creating predictable options for students using Wakelet. She was gracious enough to share a litle about how she uses these with her students below:

"This is a small grouping of the collections that I have created. I use them to organize content to make them easier to find. I am working on creating lesson specific collections, but for now, this works for us. I have found that including a cute picture or meme when I set up the collection generates more interest with the students....even if I'm the only one who thinks it's funny.

Here is a link to one of my collections that we use when we develop menu items and review trends in the industry: https://wakelet.com/wake/_ClHERSUsR5cuS2o_T5RI

By having a variety of resources at my fingertips, I am better able to offer students materials based on their interests, as well as their preferences in receiving information. Wakelet has been a life changing resource for me."

She also notes that, "just having an simple list of resources for students to choose from to enhance their understanding of a topic area has been really helpful and kept them more engaged. I also share with students that they can recommend resources that they find, and it has really helped with the engagement process with some of my students."

Pictured below are other Wakelet options she has created.

Next, take a look at the Nearpod board that was created by the Career Tech Intervention Specialist and Culinary Arts instructor at Lima's Career Technical Center (pictured below).

In this lesson, the Culinary Arts instructor and Intervention Specialist asked students to enter questions about the text they were reading that also applied to the work they were doing in lab.

Nearpod displays student responses as annonymous but the teacher is able to download the results of the formative assessment disaggregate and analyze later with her teacher based team (TBT) to better understand the needs and progress of all students. The particular TBT is paying close attention to the progress of students with disabilities as compared to their non-disabled peers.

Previous slides presented an gradual release approach where the teachers modeled how to create sentences using sentence stems, then allowed the class to create one with them, followed by an opportunity to try with a peer, and finally the chance to submit questions on their own.

Now more than ever we need to take care of ourselves as educators.

Many of the State Support Teams in Ohio are lucky enough to collaborate with an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant. In Region 16, the outgoing consultant, Dr. Jennifer Lackey, not only supports teachers and district leaders throughout the region, but she also provides support directly to the SST consultants.

Among the various supports that Dr. Lackey offers are bi-monthly wellness BINGO challenges, mindfulness activities during team meetings, a wellness table full of goodies (pictured below), and most recently, a Brag Board. All of these initiatives are optional and available to all members of the State Support Team. Some options, such as the BINGO challenges and Wellness Table, are designed for individuals to engage at their own pace, while the Brag Board and activities during team meetings encourage more group discussion and celebration.

Region 6 also has a Mental Health Consultant, Kim Kramer, who supplies our office with wellness resources and information about adult mental health as well as supporting the region with social-emotional learning and trauma informed care supports. She and our director help to stock our SEL BookShelf (picture below).Through the years, we have provided input on what helps us get through the day, whether it's a new chapstick, a walking desk, or a fidget from the shelf.

Which of these supports (picture below) could be beneficial for your staff?

We mentioned in the last UDL Connections how the Ohio UDL Collaborative utilzed inclusive activitites. Thankfully, this is a standing agenda item for our meetings.

During this month's Inclusive Activity, our very own Jenny Lange read a Mindful Breathing Script to get us started. It was fabulous!

More than ever, this month's UDL Connection made me, Cherie, reflect on how important predictable options and supporting both learning and our mental health can be which led me to this thought:

I cannot expect the learners I support to use options or support that I am not using myself.

Period.

As a leader, instructor, and mother, I need to model the use of SEL or other learning supports so my learners know that it's ok. Be explicit about it. Share how you are using word prediction or fidgets to help you focus. There shouldn't be a stigma involved in using a ramp, headphones for speech to text, or a fidget to help me focus when I am feeling too overwhelmed or upset or tired to focus during professional meetings or adult learning.

It's not fluff.

Options to regulate.

Options to respond.

Options to access what we need.

Not fluff.

Please help us to carry this message forward and support one another in modeling it through practiced and shared predictable options.

IT's FREE!! Register HERE for a calendar invitation to our UDL Chats!

April 24, 2025

1:00 - 2:00 EST

Cherie Smith began working at State Support Team Region 6 in July 2015. She has a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and the Inclusive Classroom. Most of her experience has been in special education as a supervisor and an Intervention Specialist at the secondary level. She has taught students wtih disabiliteis in both Florida and Ohio.

Cherie is currently a co-chair of Universal Design for Learning Implementation and Research Network's Implementation Special Interest Group and is a member of the Ohio UDL Collaborative.

As an SST6 Consultant, she supports districts in the Ohio Implementation Process as a Regional Data Lead. She leads Universal Design for Learning and supports districts with IDEA Internal Monitoring, Postsecondary Transition, PBIS, and College and Career Readiness.

Email: csmith@sst6.org
Website: https://www.sst6.org/UniversalDesignforLearning.aspx
Location: 1045 Dearbaugh Avenue, Wapakoneta, OH, USA
Phone: 419-739-0170
Facebook: facebook.com/SST6ohio
Twitter: @Smith43326

Heidi Orvosh, Ph.D., is an instruction and technology integration specialist/consultant/coach with Northern Buckeye Education Council. She works with schools around the region to build the capacity of local educational agencies to engage in systemic and sustainable improvements for students. Her primary focus is in the area of technology integration and Universal Design for Learning. She has over 20 years of professional expertise in the area of education. Her previous experience includes consultant with State Support Team Region 7, administrator, and teacher at the secondary and post-secondary level. Her doctorate is in Curriculum and Instruction from New Mexico State University.

Email: orvosh@nwoca.org

Website: https://www.nwoca.org
Phone: Cell (575) 202-5856
Facebook: facebook.com/SST6ohio
Twitter: @HeidiOrvosh

Jenny (she/her) is an educational consultant and Regional Data Lead for SST 16. In addition to her membership in the Ohio UDL Collaborative, her work involves supporting leadership teams with the Ohio Improvement Process, assisting with attendance work, and co-leading regional Each Child on Track initiatives. Prior to joining SST, Jenny spent thirteen years as a secondary science teacher. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Earth Science Education and a Master of Education in Cultural Studies in Education.

Email: jenny.lang@sst16.org
Website: https://www.sst16.org/
Location: 21 Birge Drive, Chauncey, OH 45719, USA

Phone: 740-797-0150

Favorite Dinosaur: Parasaurolophus

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