Establishing Professional Learning Communities and Embedding UDL into Instructional Feedback

1. Establishing Professional Learning Communities and Embedding UDL into Instructional Feedback Nicole Norris, Principal Lansdowne Middle School Baltimore County Public Schools

2. Baltimore County Participation in CAST/Gates Grant http://www.bcps.org/

3. Lansdowne Middle School • 708 students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades • Grade 6-243, Grade 7-234, Grade 8-231 • Female-341, Male-367 • Student demographics-2 American Indian/Alaskan Native, 57Asian, 212 Black/African American, 109 Hispanic, 29 Two or More Races, 290 White • 115 students who receive special education services • 115 students who receive ELL services • 573 FARMS(85%) (free and reduced meals)-Title I • Attendance is 93.5%

4. Overview of CAST grant • Opportunity for only 2 schools in BCPS – Lansdowne Middle and Pine Grove Middle Schools • Introduction of UDL to Instructional Leadership Team and Professional Development for selected staff • Support and motivation from Liz Berquist • Meeting CAST staff and continued collaboration

5. UDL Implementation Process http://udlseries.udlcenter.org/presentations/udl_implementation.html

6. LMS PLC Carrie Reeve – PE/Health (DC) Lauren Kimble – Math/ESOL Melissa Wiegner – Special Educaiton Justin Benjamin – Social Studies (DC) Amanda Hughes – English/Language Arts Wendy Prioleau – Reading Resource Teacher Carol Connor – Reading Keys to Success Introduction of UDL PLC to Instructional Leadership Team PLC Members from each content area – chosen by their peers Liz Berquist – UDL Facilitator Nancy Reed – Technology Support Open-minded; willingness to work with one another, learn and take risks Professional Development Opportunities

7. Summer Professional Development for UDL PLC Our Goals: • By the end of the summer, the PLC will be able to create and upload on UDL exchange one collaborative lesson and one individual lesson or resource for a teambuilding activity. • By winter break, all departments will be introduced to UDL exchange and UDL guidelines through presentations in department meetings. • By winter break , all PLC members will need to create and upload one lesson/resource in their content area on UDL exchange. • By the end of the 2013-2014 school year, PLC members will observe at least one PLC member and co-plan a cross curricular UDL lesson and upload on UDL exchange.

8. Strategies – Year 1 • the right people at the right time – UDL PLC • monitoring and assistance from liaisons (Liz and Nancy) provided time needed for focus and organization • LMS access to technology and knowing which resources were available through BCPS – high tech and low tech • deliverables were an expectation • PLC meetings and monthly meetings with district level administrators

9. Strategies – Year 1 • Access to UDL Exchange and UDL Studio and sharing of resources • Willingness of PLC to share ideas through collaboration, professional development, and presentations

10. Barriers- Year 1 • Initial anxiety and fear • Time needed to plan • Time needed to experiment with planning resources • Overwhelmed with number of resources • Questioning of current practices and strategies-implementation of UDL in more lessons • Allowing time and helping students process for self-reflection • Allowing proper student processing time without stepping in

11. Barriers- Year 1 Implementation outside of PLC Believe and Achieve • Teacher mindset • Teacher capacity/time for PD • Teacher personality/beliefs • Internet access at LMS

12. Overview of TU grant Towson University Presidential Scholar Universal Design for Learning Professional Development Project

13. Strategies – Year 2 • Bi-weekly PLC meetings • 3 credit CPD Course • Support from Lisa Carey, Fellow, Center for Innovation & Leadership in Special Education ,The Kennedy Krieger Institute • Just-in-time planning support for small group and tech integration • Technology enhances (4 small group sets of iPads) • Summer 3 Day UDL Institute at Towson University

15. Strategies – Year 2 • UDL as a way to meet highly effective in new evaluation system (Danielson Framework) • Knowing resources that are available by the district, connecting them to the new evaluation, Common Core and UDL – making deliberate connections • Focus on UDL and the learning environment • Focus on student-centered learning • Continuous reflection on UDL implementation

16. Assessing and Improving our Learning Environment • Exercise conducted with PLC • Walk-through the building without students present and assess • Use of groups, iPads, and knowledge of UDL

17. Learning Environment Scavenger Hunt A look at UDL and the Learning Environment at Lansdowne Middle School

18. Flexible seating arrangements allow students to form groups or work independently. Options include mats for sitting on the floor to work.

19. The floor operates and adds a “fifth wall” and a plane for conducting instruction. This grid was used for a learning activity that incorporated “planned movement.”

20. Teachers at LMS support executive functioning skills such as self-management and self-regulation through their classroom designs. Where students place their completed work becomes an opportunity for students to self-reflect on their learning.

21. What Else is LMS doing well? • Word walls with graphics to support comprehension • Large rubrics hung on walls that include sample products for students to reference for self-monitoring. • Desks arranged to facilitate student collaboration. • Executive Functioning supports built into classroom design. (Color coding and labeled organization)

22. What should LMS do next year? Recommendations from the UDL PLC: • Create a master schedule of “free-space” and allow teachers to sign up to use free classrooms, the gym, or the halls as flexible work spaces. • Ceiling mountings for the projectors. • Wire management system • EF assistance for Teachers who need help organizing and arranging classrooms. • Visit other schools to see what they do with physical space and furniture.

23. Materials the UDL PLC would like to purchase for next year: • Folders & Notebooks to keep in class to assist with student organization. • Bins for organization • Magnets to turn chalk boards into manipulative stations • Tape to transform floors into learning spaces. • Quick response sleeves to reduce paper use. • Mini-white boards and many more colored white board markers.

24. UDL Learning Walks

25. Barriers year 2 • Providing proper differentiated professional development in order to support appropriate teacher growth • Identification of effective PLC members • Continuation of implementation process (explore, prepare, integrate) • Timing of UDL Learning Walks

26. What’s next for LMS and UDL? • Continued partnership with Liz Berquist and Lisa Carey • Continued professional development with a differentiated approach for all staff • Foster connections between BCPS system-wide initiatives and UDL for LMS staff • Scheduled UDL Learning Walks in October and February

27. Professional Development Resources Mind, Brain, Education Science and UDL • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmVWOe1ky8s Decisions about the Learning Environment • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_LbZ3XcfK4&list=PLvzOwE5lWqhSgJVgg7VfRkBisbmm-BFUL Student-Centered Learning • http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/techconf00/mccombs_paper.html

28. Any questions? Thank you! nnorris@bcps.org