I’m guessing that any reader of this blog knows that I often find myself reflecting on the ways we can find Universal Design for Learning (UDL) popping up in our daily lives, a phenomenon I always find both intriguing and reassuring. Truly, if UDL speaks so clearly to me across so many areas of real life, then I feel reassured that the time I spend asking myself and my students in professional development to try on the challenges of UDL must be worth it in the long run.
One area that I believe is screaming out for some UDL love is the land of English Learners (EL) or English as a Second Language (ESL). With my colleague Sarah Jordan, EL instructor at Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School, I have had many thought-provoking conversations about the limitations often found in current EL practice. Sarah and I presented at the Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference on “Using Technology to Strengthen ELL Instruction through UDL” in December 2019. This weekend, we were notified that our co-authored article, Bringing Universal Design for Learning to Bear on the Sheltered Instruction Strategies, was published in the Fall 2019-2020 edition of MATSOL Currents. We hope you enjoy the article! Long live the UDL Kool-Aid!
Many thanks to Sarah Jordan, who loves talking about language learning almost as much as I love talking about UDL.
Universal Design for Learning 
Dear Thea Durling and Sarah Jordan, love the UDL for ELs information! I’m an ESL instructional coach in a cyber school in PA and would love to connect with you about how you address the educational needs of your ELs. We have about 400 identified ELs in our school of 18,000, and I am only one coach! We have a team of ESL teachers who also learning how to teach ELs in a virtual environment. We have a group of cyber ESL teachers here in PA, but I’m branching out to learn more from others. Would love to exchange ideas with you both.
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Hello! We’ll reach out to you to connect. Look for an email soon. ~ Thea and Sarah
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