ALL MEANS ALL
April 2022
Predictable Supports Example
This month's newsletter highlight's the work of a Professional Learning Community right in our own district. A collaborative team (composed of classroom teachers, Special Education, and Title I staff) created a spreadsheet to document the various predictable supports (Module 5 of UDL) students in their class and grade level would need.
Team members included in this work are: Scott McKenzie (ERES Special Education), Nicole Kremsreiter (Grade 4 ERES), Nicole Musial (Grade 4 ERES), Deb Toede (ERES Long Term Sub), Jessica Parling (Title I/Instructional Coach), Kellie Wagoner (Reading Specialist and Instructional Coach/Title I), Brenda Saltenberger (ERES Grade 2), Catherine Libby (ERES Grade 2), Kim Lewandowski (ERES Grade 2), Courtney McDonald (Mental Health Specialist), Emilee Witt (Speech and Language Pathologist), Gretchen Hall (5th Grade Science and Instructional Coach), Sarah Levandoski (Speech and Language Pathologist), Jessica Jung (ERES Title I), Katie Tomazewski (Occupational Therapist), Michelle Paape (ERES School Counselor), and Sara Adamovich (ERES Special Education).
Below is a link that shows the spreadsheet, which was an outcome of this work. This sheet has been used to plan lessons around barriers and help determine what supports should be universal and/or utilized in small groups or during independent practice time.
After the link to the spreadsheet is a summary of this work written by staff involved in this process. Quotes from classroom teachers who have used this tool to plan lessons and better support students have also been included.
Congratulations to all involved in this work. Your collaboration is a true demonstration of a PLC culture focused on student learning!!!!!!!!
Summary of the Process and Additional Information From Those Who Created It
"Working as a collaborative PLC can support all staff in supporting all learners in engaging and finding success within the curriculum at a high rigor of learning. The 2nd and 4th grade teams have spent the last few weeks collaborating extensively in an effort to find effective ways to accomplish this. As a result of feedback from grade level teachers and numerous staff across the building, we have designed and utilized a spreadsheet tool as a guide for collaborative discussions on predictable supports at a universal level. With the use of this tool, teachers have been able to identify which students will benefit from various supports, and which supports will have the greatest impact within their classroom. In addition, as a team we’ve been able to collaborate on effective implementation strategies for identified supports, barriers and solutions to those barriers, trends of identified need within grade levels, and the inclusion of student reflection and feedback.
Examples of this collaboration include a multiplication table designed to remove identified barriers for students who have difficulty with visual tracking & fatigue, graphic organizers (enlarged versions) designed to intentionally support grade level learning objectives and provide embedded supports, and the creation of a student rubric with embedded supports of a checklist and self-reflection.
Student feedback and reflection is an important component of UDL and in supporting the development of students as expert learners. Mrs. Kremsreiter’s class recently provided an excellent example of this when one of her students independently took a graphic organizer and broke it up visually by using colored permanent markers. This student demonstrated being an expert learner by being resourceful in her decision-making and improving upon a tool so that she can be more successful in her learning. The student had a huge grin on her face when she was shown a new version of that graphic organizer which applied her strategy to make it more accessible!"
Quotes From Classroom Teachers Involved in this Process
"I liked knowing that as a team, we were talking about how other support staff could help us and the students with certain supports that we (as teachers) either didn't have knowledge or access to, or even the time to accommodate that. I think it will be extremely helpful to do that at the beginning of the year to pull together and see who will do what task to create/provide the supports needed and have a plan put into place when and how those supports will be implemented. It's an extreme relief to know we are not alone and the supports are not ALL on just us." - Catherine Libby ERES Grade 2
"I like that predictable supports are designed to be universal so that they are available to every student in the classroom. It's that the supports that are essential to some students can be good for all students." -Brenda Saltenberger, ERES Grade 2
"Predictable supports are a great way for future staff of students to expand on new ideas or solutions for students or classes that may need different learning strategies." -Nicole Musial ERES Grade 4