The UDL Classroom

Once again, Shelley Moore nails it with another one of her striking analogies. She asks us to
think about the 7-10 split in bowling. The 7-10 split is when the bowler aims for the middle and
knocks over all the pins except for the two at the back corners. The bowling analogy is the
classroom, and the bowlers aiming for the middle are the teachers, and the two pins left standing
are the kids with the most challenges and learning disabilities. She says we are then forced to
focus on one to the detriment of the other. She says, "The ball is the lesson, the pins are the kids.
We aim for the middle. We do the best we can. The pins that are left standing, we often have
another chance to kind of get to them, but at the end of the day, those two pins that are staring
back at you are the kids who need the most support and the kids who need the most challenge.
So, we end up choosing one, and the other one is left standing."

The way to solve this, she tells us, is directly aligned with the principles of the UDL classroom.
That is to say that the supports that we design for those kids on the outside of the lane are
supports that all kids need. This is the part we need to understand if inclusive education is going
to work.

What does a classroom that addresses all students' needs look like, and how can it support
students in reaching their potential? I am going to use a high school English class to illustrate
this example. 

First, let's take a look at the regular run-of-the-mill English class. Figure 1. is a standard
classroom. The desks are in rows. The teacher is at the front, and the students are expected to
follow the teacher as she makes notes on the board. They also can follow along with the novel as
she reads it aloud. The novel will only be at one level, aimed for the middle of the road readers.
This classroom would require a student with a designation to be pulled out if they could not
follow along and/or had difficulty reading. They might read with an EA alone in the hallway so
that she can check for understanding. Other students are sure to have difficulty too, but they may
not get the support. 

The teacher then might write notes on the board, have a set of questions on a sheet, and even ask
for a written paragraph. The criteria for the paragraph is a topic sentence and supporting details
from the novel. Those students who could not follow along with the notes might be left sitting
unable to keep up, and they might not have the answers to the question sheet that will accompany
the notes. There will undoubtedly be students who have already read the novel, and they will
have to sit and wait until the class is caught up. They could have already done the questions and
even started the paragraph or the culminating project. The students in the middle are being
addressed, and the others are not. 

Figure 2 is a picture of the UDL classroom. The desks are arranged in groups. The teacher is
moving around the classroom. There are different seating arrangements – desks can be moved
easily into groups and some singularly to work alone. Some students write their paragraphs on
the computer, and others are reading a novel aloud quietly in a circle. The teacher is offering a
mini-lesson at one of the tables for those students who need more support. This classroom
achieves multiple means of engagement. Some students are working alone, while others are in
groups. There is support for those that need it.

The teacher is using literary circles so that she can reach different levels of readers. The EA can
be in a group and check for understanding by asking questions of the group. The student with
ASD can respond. The students have a literary circle criterion and different roles each week
-Discussion Director, Passage Master, Word Wizard, Summarizer, Connector.  

The paragraphs lessons begin with learning how to write a topic sentence. Some students may
need to focus on this, and the teacher will also teach how to expand and support ideas of a topic
sentence. Some students are ready to write and can move their desks facing the walls to write,
while others need more support. They might just need the support of the group or the mini-lesson
put on by the teacher. There are multiple means of representation, and multiple means of
expression and action are met in this class. This UDL classroom allows for more student needs to
be addressed.

Fig 1. Fig 2.