For this high-leverage practice, we're talking about adapting curriculum tasks and materials for specific learning goals. And Erin, I know in your background, you have led a lot of this in your classroom setting. So, for you, what does this practice look like?

I have done so much with this, it's hard to even just narrow it down to this little response. Right. I think I really pulled a lot from Universal Design for Learning, so UDL, and just, I think even beforehand, when I started as a general education teacher, and I didn't know about UDL, we talked all the time about differentiation or within some of our groups.

So, really just pulling is just making sure that every student is able to access the curriculum, that they can engage with it in a way that's meaningful for them, and so that they can reach the outcomes of the goals for the lessons, and then trying to find different ways for them to demonstrate their knowledge. Right. So that they can show that, yes, I have learned all of these goals and outcomes that the lesson was planned for, even though it may not be in the exact same way for every single student.

And it can go as grandiose or as little as possible. Right. So you might just make a couple of tweaks to lessons for specific students that, you know, need it, or you can. What I did a lot of times was I really kind of just generated everything that I did in the classroom based on having, like, different levels or different methods for interacting with the curriculum so that my students could kind of pick and choose what was right for them.

Yeah, that's really cool. And then you can hit a wide variety of learners just naturally by how you're running your classroom. So let's take a little bit of time and dive into each task and materials because it is a little bit different. So I think sometimes materials can be a little bit easier to go after because it's what a lot of people, when they think of adaptations, they sort of think of changing the stuff that our students are interacting with. So, can you walk us through what are some of those examples of adaptation specifically to the materials that we're using in our instruction?

Absolutely. So, yeah, the materials that can be providing graphic organizers, highlighting different parts of, like, their text or what they're reading, making sure that they have manipulatives. Some students, you can use calculators or other assistive technology to really make sure that they have what they need to engage with the lesson or the task at hand. So it's making sure they have what they need to fill those gaps or to really support them in being able to interact with that material.

Thank you. So then when we're talking about the tasks, I mean, sometimes the materials that we are either required to use or they're kind of like driving what tasks we're doing. But sometimes we get to be a little bit more creative with those materials because the tasks are a little bit more locked in. So walk me through for that instructional task that we have to get our students through. How do you adapt what that looks like?

Yeah. So as far as the task goes, I mean, I would kind of look at it a lot. Years ago, multiple learning styles. Right. It was kind of a huge thing, which I don't think it was ever really fully research-backed, but for some reason, I kind of like dug, not dug into it, but I like the idea of just making sure that you're presenting things differently or that students can engage with materials differently. Because we do all learn in different ways.

But so maybe for the curricular tasks, it could be, one student might be engaged in writing, one student could be doing a project, or making a slide deck to demonstrate their knowledge. Or students could be doing kind of an artistic diorama or some sort of representation, that then they'll provide an oral presentation to the class.

And then it could be down to anything. Like, even just, let's say a math worksheet. You might reduce some of the questions for some students, or you might alter what some of those skills are that they need to demonstrate for that math test. So maybe some students don't have the prerequisite skills, so you're going to really kind of focus on that first for them and then help guide them towards the ultimate goal. And then some students might be at a higher level, and so you can provide kind of expansion. So what are some more critical thinking questions or tasks that they could do?

Thanks. Because, like, there are so many different angles that we can take with this. And it's not, you know, this student needs. It's this student needs this during this activity, or this type of task, or when we're using these kinds of materials, or they find these materials helpful when they're doing this kind of a task. Right. Like, there's so many different permutations and combinations of what this can actually look like for a student to be successful.

So, in your, like, across all of the different ways that you have supported, I think, your students in your classroom and even just even practitioners that are trying to support their students, how do you help them figure out what to go with? I mean, there's so many choices. And each student has so many different needs. How do we even dream up what might be possible to unlock that learning with each student?

Yeah, I mean, it can be so much. Right. I think a lot of teachers do just have natural tendencies and can kind of really figure out what it is or how to adapt their curriculum materials, but they may not feel that they can do that on their own.  If they, especially if they're doing very explicit teaching, they may not feel that they can kind of go outside the bounds of that.

To really provide students with something that's different from what their curriculum says to do. But I think, you know, those go hand in hand. I think really looking at what are some major issues that you're seeing, or is there something that you're seeing a student really struggle with, and what is that?

Maybe a student really struggles when it's writing. So if the goal of the lesson isn't to see like what they can actually write, so can they do a speech-to-text?

I like how you're talking about this, though, because it makes us as practitioners think about what is it that I'm actually looking for and what is it that's just kind of extra? So, not that anything in our instruction is like just extra and just, you know, not necessary, but when we're trying to really gauge student performance, there's what we are explicitly looking for. And then there's all those other things that sort of come with that.

And it's one of those, like what I'm hearing you say, I think is like, it doesn't always have to. And so as long as we can just know explicitly what we are trying to get this student to demonstrate, anything outside of that, then that's where we get to be creative.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I think even just in the more simple context of that. A lot of times with math, I’ll see teachers really struggle to provide students with calculators to do the work. Well, unless you're actually working on computation of like one digit or simple two-digit numbers, you can use a calculator. If I'm working on order of operations in Algebra, all I need to demonstrate is that I know the order of operations, not that I can also do the comp like that. I can compute the numbers in my head.

Man. And so many times do I hear teachers be like, well, they don't have calculators in their accommodation, so they can't use a calculator on this activity. I mean, this is so much bigger than does the kid has a 504 plan. Does the kid have an IEP? This is me as a practitioner. How am I adapting my materials, my instruction, what I'm asking my students to do so that they can learn? Right. Like, we have learning goals. The goal is for them to hit those goals.

So how do you walk? How do you walk practitioners through seeing it that way? That it's not just locked into those legal documents that say this is what this kid has to have or needs to have. But really, like, as a practitioner, I can be creative in how I'm helping my students access their learning and further their learning.

Yeah. I mean, I think it's really just helping them understand that we are here to support student learning. We're here. When we're creating lessons or using curriculum given to us, there are those specific goals. So as long as the student is demonstrating, like, learning and demonstrating that specific goal, you can. There's so much playroom. To really be creative with. How can we get them to that end goal?

Like, that can look different. And I think that makes teaching more fun too. Like, it gets so boring. And I think that's always the case. Where teachers look down on explicit instruction. Is because it seems very rote, and it can be. But you can also play within that as well. But yeah, it's like, I think that's just where the creativity and teaching and the fun really lives.

And in a day and age where we're living in so much scripted curriculum and scripted intervention, where it's, you know, the teacher reads these letters, students say those letters. Right. Like, gosh, it can really feel like a lot of the creativity within, like, that art of instruction has really been somewhat strategically kind of removed. And I mean, like, we can go down the conversation of, you know, the pipeline of educators coming in. In and all the teacher prep and all of that, for sure. But the reality is we still have students that still have diverse learning needs, and we are still adults. Staff coming in, trying to figure out how to support them to meet those learning goals.

I mean, if you worked with, I'm thinking like, teacher leaders or maybe like building administrators or curriculum, you know, coordinators, those types of folks that are both, like, they're responsible for making sure that staff have the right materials and that they're equipped to be able to, you know, hit those learning goals with those students on those, you know, correct scope and sequence pieces, but also see kind of that art within instruction. Where is that room for practitioners to play and really figure out what those student needs are and meet them in those creative ways. Have you walked that space with those folks too?

I have some. And honestly, I will say where I think I had the most impact is when I was myself co-teaching. So I was a resource teacher at the time, but I co-taught with especially one of our first-year teachers, gen ed teachers. And we had a lot of students with high minutes in her classroom. So I was in there for all of math and science, and we co-taught every single class together for that.

And I think it really helped to demonstrate. We would do our very explicit whole group instruction, and then we break up, break out into centers, and we'd always do. One of us would stay on the rug or at a separate table for any students who weren't quite ready for that independent work yet and needed a little bit more support with what we do. So they needed a bit more scaffolding to help them learn those skills. Or maybe they were the ones working on some of the prerequisite skills. And a lot of times we let our students choose, like if you need more support, I'm at the table. Like, I'm not telling which students have to come with me, but the students that needed that extra support would almost always choose to come get that extra support.

And then within our centers, we would have differentiated work for each center, so we'd have different levels. And it was amazing to see students almost always choose the level that was accurate for them. And yeah, sometimes they would get done and want you to have those students who'd want to do every single level. Great. You're just getting more practice. You'd have some students that would want to challenge themselves also. Wonderful.

That's such a cool example because like your centers are so common in elementary school, and especially leveraging that co-teacher model. But I leveraged centers in alternative ed high school and like it works. And it's just the way that you can adapt and meet those different needs in very systematic and structured ways so that you are kind of managing organized chaos. But it works, and you're right every single time. Even the most resistant learners they were still picking what was right for them. They were still even challenging themselves when they saw success at the level that they were successful in.

Like, it's really, really nice, and I love the student choice aspect of this. So many times when we talk about adaptations, it's staff picking what's appropriate for kids, and you're like, no, give them the smorgasbord of options and then let them see, oh, that's useful for me. That's not useful for me. I mean, how many times when I'm planning an IEP am I asking the student, this is your list. Is it still working for you? Do we need to make any adjustments? I noticed you haven't really used this, or you started doing this. Do you want to just include that? Right. Like that student voice. And all of this is so incredibly important too.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think really looking at that too, when you do have students who do have adaptations, right. In their IEPs. Like we had a student who would never use their communication device in the general ed setting, you know, so it was like really digging in and asking those questions of why. But he was also able to communicate effectively without it. So then it's also looking at, does he need it in that setting then? And it's like we didn't want to take it away either, you know, so he had it and he could use it if he wanted to, but then starting to look at like, what are better methods for him.

So I think before we sign off today, I'm curious if you have any kind of thoughts or words of wisdom for those practitioners who are pinched in the middle of needing to navigate those mandates, the directives, the must-dos, Right. And still really being drawn to want to engage in that creative, you know, figuring out learning together type of interaction with their students. How can they navigate really doing right by both?

I mean, I think it's really like you want to look at what are those core aspects of your instruction that you need to make sure you hit, right? And then once you do that, how can you build in some of that play or within some of that work? So the independent student work, are there ways that you can be more creative in what the students are doing or provide more options? Right. Like, it could even be once they're done with like part of the assignment. Like, pick the key questions or tasks that they need to do to demonstrate that knowledge and then what else can we do on top of that? And really, I think just being creative and how do you make sure each student can access, interact with and demonstrate their knowledge in ways that are right for them? 

One thing I've seen a lot working in schools is really those gifted learners. And a lot of times I'll get called in and it's like, okay, like, yeah, we're struggling with these students with behavior, you know, and I work a lot with that or the lower level learner, you know, the learners that are need more support, but then they'll be like, well, Then we have this student. I mean, he aces everything, but he won't do any of the work, right. He's just sitting there all day. And now he's becoming disruptive and really, just really turning that classroom around. And I think that is really where you can be creative and play as well. It's like, okay, yeah, because that student's probably bored, right? If they can demonstrate everything and tell you everything while you're teaching the lesson, they got it. So what else can you do?

That's when I would look into what extension projects they can do. What area of that lesson might they be interested in? If you're teaching a lesson in World War II, can they choose a mini-subject within there and do their own project or write a paper about it? Really an area that they want to delve more into and then maybe they can do a little mini lesson to the class on that. But really, being creative with what makes them tick and how can they still be engaged with that content? Maybe adjacently, but if they've already demonstrated all the skills they need to, can you further that for them to really get that engagement going.

Thank you for acknowledging both sides of this. I think so often when we talk about adaptations, we typically talk about adapting down. And I am so thankful that in this conversation you have challenged that thinking that it's not just adapting down, it's also adapting up. And it is going to change kid by kid. It is going to change subject by subject. And even then across the trajectory of a student throughout their career, it will continue to change there as well. But as practitioners, we get to use the materials and resources that we have, but we get to do that in creative ways to meet our students where they're at in any given moment.

So thank you so much for leveraging your expertise here with me today and sharing all the different ways that you've seen this high-leverage practice show up in your day-to-day.

Yeah. Thank you.