Page 238 - Resources and Support for the Online Educator

Part 2: UDL and You

learning right away. You can help your students develop classroom leader-
ship skills by showing that you trust them and their abilities to grow into
a shared role. You can do this by:

∙ Providing students with opportunities to set and pursue
personal goals that extend beyond a single lesson or unit to
the entire school year. These goals may be related to personal
qualities, specific skills, or passions students want to pursue.
To benefit the rest of the class, students would be asked to
provide regular status reports during which they share what
they are learning and ask for support from peers who have a
similar interest.

∙ Actively involving students in the development of classroom
norms that are revisited and revised as classroom events
warrant throughout the year.

These steps show students that you follow through on your stated beliefs
when it comes to their ownership of learning. You don’t just pay lip service
to them, but actually put your evolving assumptions about learning into
practice as you redefine classroom roles. Shifting the responsibility for
learning to your students will help them develop their self-regulation,
metacognition, and self-efficacy, some of the qualities that define an
expert learner under UDL.

Next Steps

Our assumptions and beliefs are complex. They are a combination of
what we’ve learned, and what we’ve experienced. They can, just like our
clothes, be outdated, worn, and difficult to throw away. Our assumptions
and beliefs about learners and learning, however, ultimately determine
what our classrooms look and sound like. Too often, if we don’t critically
examine our assumptions and beliefs, what we say we believe and what we
do in the classroom are in direct opposition. Although it can be uncom-
fortable to critically examine our long-held assumptions, it is crucial to
continually revise and update them. We must also be open to having our
assumptions and beliefs challenged, not just by colleagues with whom we

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Dive into UDL: Immersive Practices to Develop Expert Learners 238