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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Implementation
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Podcasts

We have 2 informative Podcast series.

  1. Our UDL in 15 Minutes – The Podcast is our original podcast where educators and UDL leaders share their experiences and thoughts on implementing and using UDL. This Podcast series can be found below on this page.

  2. Our UDL Research in 15 Minutes – The Podcast is our newer Podcast where researchers share their findings about the implementation, the impact, and their investigations of the Universal Design for Learning framework.



UDL in 15 Minutes – The Podcast

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UDL in 15 Minutes | Listen Notes

Introduction to UDL in 15 Minutes

This 1:42 recording is a brief introduction to the UDL in 15 Minutes podcast series. It explains how UDL influences the design of this podcast and accompanying products and reminds listeners to have their UDL Guidelines on hand while listening to the podcast.

Episode 1 – Kim Babeu

Loui talks with Kim Babeu of Toltecalli High School in Tucson, AZ about her use of UDL to provide her learners more choice in preparing for, taking, and grading their anatomy assessments. Kim has taught for 38 years and was the 2005 Arizona Teacher of the Year, but has watched her students become more engaged since embedding more choice.

Episode 2 – Shelbi Fortner

Shelbi Fortner from Frankfort High School in Frankfort, Indiana talks about the downside of humidity, her revelation about Universal Design for Learning, and how she used the UDL framework to redesign her honors biology assessment.

Episode 3 – Jessie Sherman

Jessie Sherman is a 2nd grade teacher at City Neighbors Charter School in Baltimore, MD. Project based learning and arts integration are integral to the school's design. Through the use of the UDL framework, Jessie was able to make a project about reptiles even more accessible to her learners.

Episode 4 – Laura Taylor

Laura Taylor has been teaching Kindergarten for 26 years in the Groten-Dunstable Regional School District in Massachusetts. When she first learned about UDL, she was skeptical that it was anything different than good teaching. Once she dug in, though, she realized she could reach her students in ways she never had before.

Episode 5 – Rachel Barillari

Rachel Barillari, an 8th grade humanities teacher from Baltimore, Maryland, shares how UDL shaped her poetry unit, how she was able to engage 100% of her wonderfully diverse class, and how every student authored, visually represented, and performed their own poetry.

Episode 6 – Liz Hartmann

Liz Hartmann, a former K-12 teacher specializing in Deaf-blindness and intellectual disabilities, now teaches about UDL at Lasell College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Hear how her graduate students learned how to take more risks in their own learning as they applied the UDL framework and investigated their own journeys toward becoming expert learners.

Episode 8 – Dakota Hudelson

Dakota Hudelson, a 7th grade writing and literacy lab teacher at Northside Middle School in Columbus, Indiana, shared several stories of how UDL has impacted his teaching and how he sees UDL as a framework that upholds social justice by establishing a way to equalize the classroom so all students can learn.

Episode 9 – Ben Kelly

Ben Kelly, a grade 6-12 STEM teacher at Caledonia Regional High School in the Anglophone East School District, New Brunswick, Canada shares what he and his team of teacher-researchers learned about UDL when they conducted an action research study which included Minecraft as a learning tool.

Episode 10 – Jana Nicol

Jana Nicol, a 3rd grade teacher at Island View School in St. John, New Brunswick Canada and the website author of www.theudlproject.com shares how she began her UDL journey with the design of her environment and how she supports her students to understand the goals of the day.

Episode 11 – Monica Watson-Bedard

Monica Watson-Bedard, a Grade 7 teacher at Millidgeville North School in New Brunswick, Canada, shares her lessons after conducting action research to discover how choice affects student engagement in assessments. Her take-aways have a surprise tucked into them!

Episode 12 – Dan Schmidt

Dan’s 26 years as an elementary school teacher have taught him a lot, but one of his biggest lessons was when he learned to ask, “Why not?” Hear how combining that lesson with UDL has led him to create an incredibly flexible, open, and non-threatening math classroom.

Episode 13 – Kim Babeu Talking About SPORT

Kim Babeu introduces us to a system she uses called SPORT which encompasses both behavior and academic supports. It has lowered barriers for her anatomy and physics students so successfully at Toltecalli High School, in Tucson, AZ that their grades have gone way up. During our conversation, Kim and I explore how the system overlaps with UDL. The associated blog dives into the intentional use of the UDL framework.

Episode 14 – Adria Gold

Hear how Adria Gold, an English Language Arts teacher from Prettyboy Elementary in Baltimore, Maryland responds to her variable learners through chunking her materials. In addition, she shares how she breaks down her expectations so all of her learners know where to start and how to participate in the lesson.

Episode 15 – Melissa Toland

Melissa discovered UDL as a 7th grade English teacher but recently transitioned to become a district resource teacher who helps other teachers learn about and implement UDL. Hear how she started weaving UDL into her classroom using small steps and how she uses that same model as she brings UDL to others. She also shares a UDL tool she redesigned to fit the needs of her adult learners.

Episode 16 – Camille Wheeler

This special edition of UDL in 15 Minutes was recorded in front of a live studio audience at the UDL-IRN Summit on March 28, 2019. Camille is a Learning Coach at Sunflower Elementary School in Lawrence, Kansas and during this episode, she shares how she and the fourth grade teachers devised a system to help their learners show what they know in English Language Arts through their use of the UDL principle of Action and Expression. Students gained new levels of ownership, participation, and expression by brainstorming, planning, designing, and creating their creations to demonstrate their knowledge of main idea and detail.

Episode 17 – Karlene Warns

Karlene Warns, a 27-year teaching veteran, shares how she’s helped her kindergartners gain the self-regulation skills necessary to support their executive functioning capabilities. During the podcast, we address that push and pull felt by so many teachers – when to spend time on skills that feel more like behavior and when to dive into academics. Karlene shares what’s been successful for her.

Episode 18 – Justin Freedman

Hear how Justin Freedman, an assistant professor at Rowan University, provides his pre-service teachers with a 365-degree relationship with UDL. Not only do they learn about it and observe other lessons and learning environments implementing UDL, they experience a learning environment designed by Justin using UDL. Justin also shares how and why he become a professor and his research accommodations at the college level.

Episode 19 – Rebecca Chappell

Special educator Rebecca Chappell shares how she and her English Language Arts colleague used Universal Design for Learning to design how they would integrate Quizlet and other methods and materials to ensure all of their learners improved their understanding and application of some challenging vocabulary terms.

Episode 20 – 2019 July Holiday Break

It’s July which means summer holiday in most of North America. And even though UDL in 15 Minutes is taking a production break, I’ve made a table of past episodes to make it easy for listeners to find the episode they want to hear for their first time or second, third, or fourth. Happy listening!

Episode 21 – Rebecca Chappell 2

Special educator Rebecca Chappell shares how she designed choice into the AIMSweb assessment through UDL. By providing her learners choice, they are more engaged with their writing and by clarifying the goal, they are finding their own motivation.

Episode 22 – Karen Keener and Jordan Landis

Karen Keener and Jordan Landis co-teach 8th grade language arts classes together at Crestview Middle School in Ohio. Here, they share how their respect for one another, their use of the UDL framework, their expectations for their students, and their mindset around the ownership of all learners have set them up to produce engaging lessons where all learners gain the skills of expert learners.

Episode 23 – Carrie Preston

Carrie Preston shares a unit she designed for her 12th grade seniors that kept them engaged at the end of the year and how amazed she was with the products they produced, all because she designed the unit using the UDL framework…and got out of their way.

Episode 25 – Kate Stanley

Kate Stanley, a multi-age 3rd and 4th grade teacher from Madison, New Hampshire has been in the classroom for 21 years and firmly believes all learners can and should have more agency in their learning and UDL helps her provide more of it. She shares how she gets her learners started at the beginning of the year as well as the initial steps she took.

Episode 26 – Tracy Pendred and Kimberly Spears

Tracy Pendred and Kimberly Spears of City Neighbors Charter School, a public school in Baltimore, MD, share how their formal mentor/mentee relationship grew into a friendship and how that relationship supports their implementation of UDL.

Episode 27 – Beth Fornauf

Beth Fornauf and her colleagues at the University of New Hampshire not only teach their graduate students about the UDL framework and ask them to use it to design their rural K-12 learning environments and lessons, they use the framework to improve their Teacher Residency for Rural Education Program through a barrier analysis.

Episode 28 – Shannon Van Horn

Not every educator works on a staff or even with a team who is focused on Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Shannon’s school is very committed to the academic and social-emotional growth of their students. This helps establish an environment where Shannon’s ideas, which are driven by UDL, to flourish. She and her co-teacher focus on knowing the goal and lowering every barrier possible for their 5th graders.

Episode 29 – Diana-Grace Morris, Bonni Ramage, and Catherine Wong

Diana-Grace Morris, Bonni Ramage, and Catherine Wong are all educators from Wainuiomata, New Zealand who share stories of how teachers at Konini Primary School are embracing UDL to investigate how they can lower barriers for learners and then expanding those ideas to encompass even more learners.

Episode 30 – One Year In!

This week’s episode provides an updated easy-to-read table organizing all of the UDL in 15 Minute episodes to date.

Episode 31 – Melanie Acevedo

Melanie Acevedo shares how she helps teachers implement UDL via her role as a digital literacy teacher and a personalized learning coach.

Episode 32 – Amanda Hughes

High school teacher Amanda Hughes emphasizes the need to teach executive function skills to high school students and shares how she weaves the UDL guideline of Executive Function into her classroom every day.

Episode 33 – Laura Christie

Laura Christie, an English Language Arts teacher from Fishers, Indiana shares how the voices of her students, including those who are high ability, students with IEPs, and students with 504’s, helped her see how all students can benefit from options. And many times, it’s the same options.

Episode 34 – Christina Khatri

7th grade science teacher Christina Khatri, from Ocean View Junior High School in Oxnard, CA, shares how her students have blossomed into motivated and persistent learners through her use of UDL for planning and teaching.

Episode 35 – Ian Wilkins

When Ian Wilkins began to adopt Universal Design for Learning into his learning environment, he began to investigate how grades were moving his students away from being expert learners. Hear how this high school English Language Arts teacher redesigned his syllabus, created a rubric, and now guides his students toward a stronger growth mindset.

Episode 36 – Sara Soria

Principal Sara Soria shares her rich professional and personal journey to emphasize the importance of using art as a means of learning and expression and how she sees the arts as a tool to implement UDL.

Episode 37 – Kelley Culp

Benefit from Kelley’s knowledge about UDL and her experience of planning an online environment using the framework. She recommends starting small and gives some specific examples of where she got started.

Episode 38 – Robin Dazzeo

Robin, who is newer to UDL, shares her thoughts on how she’s going to weave UDL into her online enrichment lessons to enhance engagement and access during this time of social distancing.

Episode 39 – Dan Marsh

High school teacher Dan Marsh has been teaching in a brick and mortar setting for 16 years, but he’s also taught online for 10 years. During this episode, he shares his ideas about shifting his brick and mortar lessons online and how he’s supporting his students during that shift.

Episode 41 – Finding What You Need

This episode provides an updated easy-to-read table that organizes all of the UDL in 15 Minutes episodes by subject and grade. Find the podcast topic that connects with you most, then try out a couple of others!

Episode 42 – Lizzie Davis

Hear how Lizzie and her colleagues used their UDL mindset to think through the barriers their students would face during emergency distance learning and how they are using the UDL framework to plan for their students’ return.

Episode 43 – Elish Sheridan

Since the beginning, Elish Sheridan and her colleagues have used a TeachMeet format to share their effective uses of the UDL framework when planning and delivering their face-to-face and current distance learning lessons. They’ve continued that sharing style during their school’s closure. Elish shares what her colleagues have discovered during this podcast and via a one-page overview.

Episode 44 – Brenny Kummer

Brenny Kummer, a former middle and high school teacher, is a technology coordinator for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation. In this podcast, she shares how BCSC had already ingrained UDL into its technology supports, how she and her colleagues have supported teachers during emergency online learning, and a specific example of supporting occupational therapists.

Episode 45 – Catherine Hill

Catherine chose to learn about UDL on her own, but is now excited to share how it has positively affected her students in both face-to-face and online settings. She shares some of the strategies she’s found helpful as well as next steps for her and her colleagues.

Episode 46 – 2020 Discussion Guide

This 1 minute 30 second announcement shares where you can find a discussion guide for past and future UDL in 15 Minute episodes and includes prompts about the shift so many made to online learning. Get ready for another episode next week!

Episode 47 – Cherie Smith

Recorded live during the UDL-IRN 2020 Summit On Demand on June 4, 2020, Cherie Smith describes the benefits of the practice profile and how one district is using practice profiles to articulate what it looks like when students are given clear lesson goals.

Episode 48 – Lauren Helberg

Lauren’s story shows how UDL shifted her mindset to create a space where learners are given the opportunity, time, and information to show what they really know.

Announcing a NEW Podcast: UDL Research in 15 Minutes

There’s a new UDL Podcast coming to town! The same host with the same passion for UDL bringing you new information from a new angle. Researchers and I will have interesting conversations about their work and how that work connects to the classroom. The first guest will knock your socks off, so stay tuned via Twitter or my website.

Episode 50 – Brandy Major and Lauren Holcombe

Brandy and Lauren combined their skills to create a lasting unit on research for Lauren’s freshman English class. While they used hyper docs as the main tool, the design of their environment supported the self-regulation, comprehension, and executive functioning of their students.

Episode 51 – Susanne Geise

High School teacher Susanne Geise shares how her students helped develop her very successful project on ethos, pathos, and logos using UDL and the format of the famous TV show, Shark Tank.

Episode 52 – Selena Andrade Gonzalez

Selena Andrade Gonzalez is a Resource Specialist at a bi-lingual and high need school in Salinas, CA. She shares the strategies she’s used to introduce UDL to general education and how UDL led her to use physical and verbal signs to support her learners during distance learning.

Episode 53 – Daphne Hereford

Daphne Hereford is a high school Visual Communication Design teacher which means students create products using really cool digital tools. UDL helps Daphne focus on what the students need to learn prior to choosing the tools they will use which leads to highly engaging lessons.

Episode 54 – Carla-Ann Brown

6th Grade World Cultures teacher Carla-Ann Brown shares how she uses backwards planning and UDL to design units that are inclusive as well as culturally sustaining.

Episode 56 – Stephanie Craig

Stephanie Craig shares how she has grown with UDL across her roles as elementary school teacher, UDL coach, researcher, and assistant professor at Marietta College teaching pre-service teachers.

Episode 57 – Jess Lombardi

Jess Lombardi shares how she empowers her students to understand their own learning needs, track their growth, and lead their own conferences.

Episode 58 – Carolee Clyne

Carolee Clyne of BCcampus in British Columbia shares her passion for Open Education Resources and how those interconnect with UDL. A bonus: she shares an excellent resource on how to get started with OER.

Episode 59 – Lizzie Fortin

Lizzie Fortin goes beyond modeling UDL during her instructional coaching, she embodies it. Hear how she helped establish community and minimize threats so her colleagues could work to create equitable learning environments.

Episode 61 – Kavita Rao

The UDL Reporting Criteria tool was created by a mix of researchers and school-based administrators interested in helping others clearly talk about UDL in their journal articles. The tool, though, has shown to be flexible and useful in the learning environment. Though this podcast was originally recorded for UDL Research in 15 Minutes, the topic is a must share for UDL in 15 Minutes!

Episode 62 – Alaa Zaza

Alaa Zaza shares how teachers and schools are supporting all children, including children with disabilities, and how the adults work to provide all children with psychosocial and academic supports in the midst of the Syrian tragedy.

Episode 63 – Emily Art

Emily Art shares how her department at Relay Graduate School of Education does more than teach about UDL, they are embodying it in their instruction. She shares their ah-ha’s and growth points.

Episode 64 – Callie Mulcahy

Art and Design teacher Callie Mulcahy shares how UDL is the perfect fit as she guides her students toward the art standards of creating, responding, presenting, and connecting.

Episode 65 – Timmary Leary

Hear about Timmary’s AP Art History course that welcomes all learners, holds high expectations, and is held in a community-based museum. It’s all made possible through her application of UDL.

Episode 66 – Yacine Hakmi and Ashraf Meguellati

Yacine Hakmi and Ashraf Meguellati from Algeria walk us through the successful design they use at the STEM Teacher Training program to help teachers become excited about and apply UDL in their classrooms.

Episode 68 – Rene Sanchez

Rene shares how he brought UDL into his high school in Houston, TX when he was the principal and how the framework continued to influence his leadership as he moved through other districts and positions. BONUS: He shares a crosswalk of the intentional outcomes of UDL, PBIS, and International Baccalaureate used at his high school.

Episode 69 – Katie Moder

Katie Moder, the Director of Pupil Services for Fond du Lac Schools in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin shares how their district began, planned for, and continues to support the implementation of UDL across their 14 schools.

Episode 70 – Shannon Schultz

Continuing the UDL district implementation series with Fond du Lac Schools, Shannon Schultz offers a deep dive into their UDL Readiness Rubric.

Episode 71 – Gina Marchionda-Schneider

Gina shares a lesson she taught in May of 2020 at the height of COVID lockdown. It reconnected her students with the great outdoors, supported their social emotional learning, and maintained their academic rigor all while using the digital learning environment. It was all planned using the UDL framework.

Episode 72 – Kim Potter

Middle school reading teacher Kim Potter shares the curriculum they are required to use, how that curriculum limits choice, and how she found a way to provide choice via UDL to a reluctant reader and his subsequent increase in confidence, progress monitoring scores, and his love for sharing the tool with other students.

Episode 74 – Juan Gallardo

Juan Gallardo was a really successful teacher. His students did well in his courses and he had the data to back it up. So, why would he ever want to add UDL into his thinking and planning? Juan shares his journey from reluctance to love during this episode of UDL in 15 Minutes.

Episode 75 – Donzell Lewis

Donzell Lewis shares his own journey toward equity and access, how he came to UDL, and how those three pieces guide his work as a theatre educator who collaborates with others on a yearly STEAM project at Walgrove Elementary.

Episode 76 – Jarod McGuffey

Jarod McGuffey, a 21st Century teacher in Fraser, Michigan, shares how he used his knowledge of the UDL mindset, his gift of listening, and knowledge from a fellowship to create Trusted Voices, a nonpartisan advocacy group of educators who establish partnerships with legislators to ensure vetted information is shared to inform policy. Hear more about his journey into this work, how Trusted Voices has grown, and tips of what to do if you love the idea but you don’t live in Michigan.

Episode 77 – Carrie Wozniak

Carrie Wozniak shares how Fraser Public School’s UDL implementation is guided by their Strategic Plan and their specific Portrait of a Graduate plan.

Episode 78 – Kelly Zombo

Continuing the series about UDL implementation in Fraser Public Schools, Kelly Zombo shares details and a classroom story about her role as a 21st Century Teacher and Coach and how she supports Fraser’s UDL focus.

Episode 79 – Keith Tonn

Principal Keith Tonn of Eisenhower Elementary share his school’s journey with UDL as part of the Fraser Public Schools Implementation Series.

Episode 80 – Sue Hardin

Sue Hardin, a veteran educator of over 30 years, lends her voice to the Fraser Public School series. Sue has been a partner with Fraser since the beginning of their journey. She shares her insights about planning for variability, systems change, and a new tool called the UDL School Implementation and Certification Criteria.

Episode 81 – Tara Courchaine

Tara Courchaine of CAST talks about two programs that directly support classroom educators: The Accessible Educational Materials Center (the AEM Center) and the Center on Inclusive Technology & Education Systems (CITES).

Episode 82 – Melanie Smith

This episode shares how kindergarten teacher Melanie Smith used the UDL framework to rework her unit in the moment to bridge the social-emotional gap her students were experiencing so they could access the academic content.

Episode 83 – George Van Horn

This episode kicks off a special series about UDL in Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation in Columbus, Indiana. During this episode, George Van Horn, their Director of Special Education, offers the history of how they got started with UDL and the supports they put in place for themselves along the way.

Episode 84 – Rhonda Laswell and Tina Greene

The role of UDL Coordinator has matured over the past 14 years in Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation and Rhonda Laswell and Tina Greene have helped shape that role. During this episode, they describe what changes have occurred over time as well as the resources and supports so BCSC’s teachers can become more invested in designing UDL-aligned lessons and environments.

Episode 85 – Betty Lou Rowe

Betty Lou Rowe shares the work she and UDL coordinators at Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation are doing to truly and fully include all learners. Hear about a tool they created that communicates who as student is, strengths, and how to support that student from day 1.

Episode 86 – Evan Burton

As principal of Northside Middle School in Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation, Evan uses his leadership to guide his staff to include all students in the general education setting, including students with significant disabilities.

Episode 87 – Kaity Day and Brett Boezeman

Current principal Kaity Day and former principal Brett Boezeman share how Schmitt Elementary’s inclusion of students with significant disabilities in general education settings has grown over the years through the implementation of UDL.

Episode 88 – Cassie Stevens and Lori Scott

The Inclusionary Practices Project in the state of Washington has had a statewide impact that every educator needs to hear about. This is the first podcast in a series that shares how these educators have improved inclusive practices across the state and it all started during covid lockdown!

Episode 89 – Jenny Parker

Jenny Parker, the regional administrator for special programs and professional development with ESD 113 in the state of Washington brings us the overarching ideas that can help teachers start with UDL: replicating the practice of others who are more experienced, co-planning, and self-reflection using video recording.

Episode 90 – Gahlya Auel and Liza Sejkora

Gahlya and Liza share how Ocean Beach School District has used administrative PLCs to look at LRE data and student report data on their sense of belonging, make decisions, and affect significant change in their schools around inclusion and instruction.

Episode 91 – Ann Renker and Victoria Kalscheuer

We know that choice is important for all learners, so when building leaders embed choice in building PD, engagement goes up! Ann and Victoria share how they wove in choice and authentic learning and the incredible outcomes staff achieved at Blue Heron Middle School.

Episode 92 – Lindsay Hicks

Lindsay Hicks Frazier, an inclusionary practice project lead who works through ESD 101, shares how Valley District’s leadership aligned around inclusive practices and how their professional development includes everyone, from teachers to bus drivers.

Episode 93 – Kathleen Lenihan and Courtney Sund

The Highland School District began their journey with UDL in 2019. In just three years, they’ve made measurable strides by adopting the 1% change concept. Small changes over time lead to big growth. Kathleen Lenihan and Courtney Sund share the steps they’ve taken during this journey.

Episode 94 – Kelley Correio and Laurie Sarver

Finding the time and energy to get going with UDL (and to keep going) takes focus. Kelley Correio from ESD 123 and Laurie Sarver from Kennewick School District in Washington share an honest story of how they’ve put theory into practice to move the idea of UDL into practice across the district.

Special Edition – The UDL Gears

The ultimate UDL question is “what does UDL look like?” Loui shares how her new tool, The UDL Gears, helps UDL users in all fields and around the world shift that question to, “What are the consistencies of UDL application?” In this episode, guest host Dakota Hudelson (from episode 8) is asking the questions and Loui is the guest!

Episode 97 – Cassie Stevens and Sara Lucero, Part 1

This episode continues our journey with the Inclusionary Practices Project in Washington. Sara Lucero, the principal of Olympic Park Elementary School, shares the steps she took to shift away from self-contained environments to inclusive classrooms and how UDL influenced that shift. Cassie Stevens shares how the project supported Sara’s vision and actions.

Episode 100 – Brandon Bean

Brandon shares how he used his Tell me about UDL bulletin board to empower his learners to learn about UDL and become strong self-advocates.

Episode 101 – Cindy Malone

Cindy Malone of Kansas Infinitec shares how a statewide system of UDL Professional Learning Communities and coaching have shifted technology use across Kansas.

Episode 102 – Nicole Glynn and Nicole Peters

In this episode, Loui Lord Nelson interviews Nicole Glynn and Nicole Peters about their experiences with UDL and their facilitation of the Kansas Interstate book study. They discuss their journey with UDL, the design of the book studies, and the activities they provided for high-level thinking during the discussions. They also talk about the professional development standards they incorporated into the book studies and their plans for future book studies.

Episode 103 – Stephanie Jensen and Jeremy Miller

Jeremy Miller, the principal of Pike Valley Junior/Senior High School, and Stephanie Jensen, a Resource Teacher at the same school, discuss their school’s journey with Universal Design for Learning (UDL). They highlight the importance of both instructional and technical leadership skills in implementing UDL effectively. Jeremy and Stephanie share how they have created structures and provided support to help their staff embrace UDL. They also discuss the integration of UDL with other statewide requirements and their plans for the future.

Episode 104 – Kyle Carlin and Andrea Wichers

Kyle Carlin and Andrea Wichers from the West Central Kansas Special Education Cooperative discuss how they have implemented a UDL-aligned flexible digital tool, Read and Write, and how it has improved students’ engagement and expression.

Episode 105 – Shannon Costley and Megan Babb

Shannon Costley and Megan Babb discuss how they have used a combination of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), shared unit planning, and a focus on Power Standards to guide their middle school learners back to the face-to-face classroom after the pandemic shutdown.

Episode 106 – Kade Friedman

Kade Friedman, an adjunct professor at New York University, shares their journey in education and how they use UDL to create inclusive learning spaces for adults. They discuss the importance of using UDL not only in teaching students, but also in designing courses and facilitating meetings. Kade emphasizes the value of sharing power with students and colleagues, providing choices and options, and acknowledging and addressing their emotional needs. They also highlight the benefits of using collective note-taking and assigning roles in meetings and classrooms. Kade encourages educators to consider affinity groups and honor diverse cultures and languages in their teaching and interactions.

Episode 107 – Doug Smith

Doug Smith, an adapted physical education specialist, discusses his journey with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and how he applies it in his work. During our conversation, he explains that adapted physical education is required by law for students who have difficulty accessing the physical education curriculum. Doug emphasizes the importance of creating an engaging environment, modifying the physical space, and establishing a predictable schedule to support all learners. He also shares his three big E’s as a way he’s introduced UDL to his colleagues.

Episode 108 – Beth Stark and Jérémie Rostan

Beth Stark and Jérémie Rostan, the co-creators of the AI tool LUDIA, share how educators can use the process of “tell, tinker, tweak, and transfer” to enhance their journey with Universal Design for Learning. We dispel common myths about AI and listeners will walk away with clear next steps to use LUDIA as part of their toolbox.

Episode 109 – Gayle Hines

Gayle Hines, principal at Matoaca Middle School in Richmond, Virginia, shares how she prepares her staff to learn about UDL and the strategies she uses to make UDL PD effective and enticing to her staff.

Episode 110 – Kyanne Obrock and Carrie McSwain

Co-teachers Kyanne Obrock and Carrie McSwain share how they saw a significant increase in student effort and motivation when they started designing lessons that shifted from planning for individual students to planning for learner variability. They created a learning environment where students worked individually, in groups, and checked-in at prescribed time so they could receive individualized feedback.

Episode 111 – Kelly Cray

Kelly shares her experience of guiding students to create “Brain Stories”, which help them understand their own learning needs and the needs of others. She also shares the benefits and challenges of co-creating rubrics with her students, ensuring inclusivity and accountability in the learning process.

Episode 112 – Kelly Ackerman and Lisa Renz

Kelly Ackerman and Lisa Renz have collaboratively taught for 24 years and have taught 31 and 33 years respectively. They are also brand new to UDL. In this episode, share how they brought choice into their English II lessons and co-created rubrics with their learners. They also share their amazing results.

Episode 113 – Anne Bishop and Chantill Lopez, Part 1

Anne Bishop and Chantill Lopez share their backgrounds with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and movement education as well as their experiences of applying UDL to their business, The Embodied Business Institute. By leveraging brain-based learning, motivation science, and the nervous system, they help entrepreneurs and educators create meaningful and sustainable businesses. Stay tuned for Part Two to learn more about their approach.

Episode 114 – Anne Bishop and Chantill Lopez, Part 2

The principle of Engagement is entirely rooted in the nervous system. Anne Bishop and Chantill Lopez use their deep knowledge of the nervous system to help educators tap into that critical piece of UDL all while using UDL to develop their own instruction. This is the second podcast of a 2-part series.

Episode 115 – Jana Nicol

Jana Nicol returns to UDL in 15 Minutes to share her experiences and growth through the use of the UDL framework. Her roles have changed over the last four years and have directly influenced her interpretation and application of the framework.

Episode 116 – Liz Hartmann

Former guest Liz Hartmann from Lasell University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education shares how her understanding and implementation of the framework have evolved over time. She shares her thoughts on the dynamic nature of UDL and the need for educators to be flexible and open to growth.

Episode 117 – Tracy Dabbs

With a diverse student population, Burlington-Edison School District needed a common instructional framework. UDL was adopted and transformed Tracy’s understanding of instructional design and her PDs. During this podcast, she talks about shifting from the checklist mentality, embracing learner variability, expert learning and flexible goals as the tenets of UDL. She ends with a great story about the power of feedback loops.

Episode 118 – Arie Werder, Part 1

Arie Werder, a district educational technology district consultant teacher, bravely shares her K-12 through college experiences as a learner with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and ADHD with a lead up to why UDL feels like home to her.

Episode 119 – Arie Werder, Part 2

Arie continues to share her invaluable college, teacher college, and teaching experiences as someone diagnosed with Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and ADHD.

Episode 120 – Chynel McCrink and Colin Syron

Chynel McCrink and Colin Syron, two primary school teachers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, respectively, about their experiences with Universal Design for Learning (UDL). They discuss how the UDL framework has helped establish a shared language for teaching across Ireland and how it has transformed their approach to education. Chynel and Colin share their personal journeys with UDL, the differences in teacher professional development between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and the impact of the partnership between the National Education Authorities, Microsoft, and Lasell University has had on teacher leaders in both regions. They also reflect on their a-ha moments during the UDL course and how UDL has empowered them as educators.

Episode 121 – Heather Avery and Anthony Carey

Heather Avery and Anthony Carey share their experiences with UDL implementation in New Brunswick, focusing on the importance of asking, “Am I leaving anyone out?” Heather discusses their work in designing a professional learning program that prioritizes inclusivity and support for educators. Anthony emphasizes the importance of setting up systems for effective UDL implementation.

Episode 122 – Elaina Fennell

Elaina Fennell shares her journey of shifting her approach to delivering professional development by embracing Universal Design for Learning (UDL). In this episode, Elaina dives into the importance of learner variability, teacher efficacy, and intentional design to facilitate meaningful and accessible learning experiences.

Feed Drop – Think Inclusive

This is my chance to introduce you to another podcast. Think Inclusive is hosted by Tim Villegas and produced by the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education. While this podcast is not specifically about UDL, the ideas shared definitely align with the framework.

During this episode of Think Inclusive, Tim talks with DJ Nicholson. She is an experienced educator and advocate for inclusive education. She has a background in special education and has worked with students with disabilities for many years. DJ is passionate about finding innovative ways to support learners with disabilities and believes that technology, including AI, can play a crucial role in creating inclusive learning environments.

Episode 123 – Patrick McGrath

In this episode of UDL in 15 Minutes, host Loui Lord Nelson sits down with Patrick McGrath to discuss the organic growth of UDL in educational settings. Patrick shares insights from his work with a group of schools within the LEO Academy Trust that initially adopted a one-to-one technology approach without a formal UDL framework. As the schools embraced inclusive practices unintentionally, Patrick saw a transformation towards UDL principles, resulting in significant improvements in student outcomes and a reduction in special education needs registrations. The conversation delves into the shift towards redefining inclusion and the pivotal moment when UDL was formally introduced, leading to a more intentional and effective approach to pedagogy.

Episode 124 – Liliana Vidal

Liliana Vidal shares the importance of inclusive education for students with disabilities in English as a second language (ESL) classrooms. Liliana, an experienced English teacher from Argentina, shares her journey of implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to create a more accessible learning environment. She emphasizes the need for diverse teaching methods that cater to the various learning styles of students, particularly those with disabilities. Through the use of visual aids, technology, and hands-on activities, she illustrates how UDL can enhance engagement and representation in language learning. Liliana also highlights the significance of fostering self-regulation and emotional support to help students overcome challenges, ultimately aiming to empower all learners to achieve their potential in a supportive classroom setting.

Episode 125 – Martha Dobboh

Martha Dobboh is using UDL to shift her teach training courses so all of her learners understand not only the structure of UDL, but the heart of UDL – to include and value all learners. Hear how UDL has shifted the way her adult learners expereince education and how they are sharing that shift in their own lesson and learning environment design.

Episode 126 – Lillian Nave

Lillian Nave shares her experiences applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) at Appalachian State University's new Hickory campus. She emphasizes the importance of flexibility in teaching practices, communication strategies, and support for diverse student needs, particularly for first-generation students, as the university aims to create an inclusive and accessible educational environment.