Transformative Principal

Kelli Suding and Michelle Soriano
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[00:00:00]

Welcome to Transformative Principle. I am here live for this episode at the CAST UDL Con International Conference, and here we are talking about all things related to Universal Design for learning, which is a way to make it so that learning is accessible to all students. This has been a great conference

so far, the one you're listening to right now is from the UDL Conference. And really a great time. Check it out, Check out cast.org for information about UDL. UDL-Con and so much more.

Okay, welcome to the special episode of Transformative Principal. I have Kelly Suiting and Michelle Soriano here with us, and we are live at UDL Con, [00:01:00] uh, powered by Cast. And, uh, Michelle, let's start with you. Why don't you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do for cast?

Fantastic. My name is Michelle Soriano and I am one of our technical assistant specialists at cast. And what that means is that I'm able to really support educators, whether they be at this, the district level, classroom level, state level organizations, vendors.

And our focus is really on accessibility and making sure that we are designing things that are truly inclusive and accessible for all of our learners.

And Kelly,

Hey Jethro. Thanks for having us. So I'm Kelly Suiting and I work at cas and I'm also one of the technical assistant specialist, and I essentially do the same thing.

Michelle does, uh, my background. Right? Thanks for answering that

question for me, friend. You're welcome.

Yeah. So my background is general ed and special education, all things accessibility, universal design for learning. Uh, my supports were for students with autism and learning disabilities. So coming into CAST and really working on accessibility and supporting, uh, students and teachers, ensuring that access, equitable access for all is [00:02:00] so important to us.

So we are. Love our job so much.

Yeah. Uh, so tell me more about what technical assistance is. What does that mean? It's it like literally, what does that mean?

How does that look on a day-to-Day basis?

that's a great question. So within technical assistance at Cast, we do, we, um, help, uh, uh, let's see, like making sure supporting uh, educators and making their, uh, content accessible for

all.

Yeah, so with technical assistance, you know, we have always followed, um, the Office of Special Education Programs and, um, there's three different layers. We provide intensive technical assistance where that is really reaching out that hand and supporting. Um, just anybody and everybody who wants continuous support coaching, there's targeted where it's like-minded groups who come together and share ideas and really bust through barriers together.

And there's what we call the universal supports and those are supports that we create in our available to anybody and everybody. [00:03:00] And so, um, doesn't matter. What layer we are, you know, really facilitating. It's all about that support, right? It's all about that support. Giving them, um, the, the resources for, thats the tools.

We s the rest of that out. Yeah. There's all support. That's support it. It support about support, support, support, support. Oh yeah, sorry. So it's all about giving 'em those supports to where they have what they need,

um, to serve all students. Yeah, so it's about content creation and disseminating that. So like lots of webinars, we have our own podcast, the accessible learning

podcast that we,

uh, launch once a month and we have something that's called a AIM cafe where educators from all over the world come in and we talk about different topics, all surrounding universal design for learning and accessibility.

Yeah,

very good. And a great podcast also that I've listened to.

And, uh, you guys are the ones that do that

well, it's a collective effort. It's a collective effort. Um, so it's a team of castes, um, if you will, but it's all about the accessibility team and how we can bring [00:04:00] voices from the field.

Mm-Hmm. Yeah. And when I was talking with Lindsay, uh, the CEO of cast, for those of you who are listening who may not have heard that yet, uh, she talked about how those stories are so important for the future of cast and being able to share those stories.

What would you add to that? Oh,

Oh, absolutely. We are all about storytelling, um, and really focusing on the why. I think if, if we ever lose that, then that's a real problem. So when we're doing technical assistance supporting states and districts, and you know, even talking with students, we really come back to the Y um, because that's what drives us all over y.

And I think it's really great to connect with others through, um, multiple means. But the means through podcasts, it's a way that we connect and we can find, um, relevant information that we're like, Hey man, they are, they are telling their story. But I hear my story in that. And when we think about equitable and inclusive and accessible design.

It's every voice and every story that we need to consider. And so it's [00:05:00] just great to hear just that multitude of, um, relevance that we will also see in our classroom that we can learn from, that we can engage with.

Yeah, and even, uh, alongside that, not just sharing storytelling that's surrounded by successes, but also failures.

So being a previous classroom teachers, right? There's like this pressure of making sure we're not doing anything wrong and all of that, but sharing our failures when we're doing webinars, we're doing in-person trainings a lot, I think is really impactful because it allows us as educators and partners in the field to humanize ourselves knowing, Hey, it's okay.

Let's celebrate these failures and move on.

Mm-hmm. We

call it failing forward, right? When we fail, let's fail forward. Let's learn from it

and let's make it better.

Yeah, and sharing that with our students, I mean, it's so important to share that with your students as well. Yeah,

Yeah, absolutely. Uh, talk to me about why people should be at UDL Cotton.

It, somebody missed it this year. They're listening to this and they're like, it sounds like a rocking party. I should be there. Tell me why.

So, UDL Con I, my cup [00:06:00] has just been so filled and um, I've been reflecting a lot on what makes this conference so unique, so special, and why have I gotten so much? Just empowerment in being here. And I think it has a lot to do with that purposeful design.

There's opportunities, um, for people to truly connect and beyond the work. It's truly getting to know other educators in the field where you can share stories, where you can share conversations and barriers and talk about how we can design that. But not only that, there. Are multitude of voices represented here.

And then I think that also reflects in the sessions that are being provided. So I'm eager to go back. I'm eager to take the information that I've learned and then truly go and try to implement it in my own aspect, the role, the organization that I'm in. Um, sometimes comfort. All conferences are great and sometimes they provide.

So much information that it's hard to really [00:07:00] tailor that to what, um, you can do in your own role. The great thing about UDL is that UDL is just good design, and it doesn't matter if we're talking learning environments or if we're talking driving through a fast food restaurant, right? Universal Design for learning is how do we be proactive in our design and what we're looking for, uh, accomplishing, and how can we design that using the resources that we have here?

And the conversations and the connections to make it better. So if you missed it, that's okay. Don't worry, there's lots of information on the website, but y'all. Join us next year because I will be here. I can't wait. I can't wait to learn more about the universal design for learning the stories, the impacts that it has had.

It's just, it's homey if I can, it just feels like home.

Yeah. And there's also like the aspect of the Joy Lab. So it's just a space for educators, attendees to go in there and just kind of debrief and there's like clay and fidgets and all [00:08:00] in there. And, and I hadn't been in there yet and someone said, you need to go check out the Joy Lab.

So I finally had time and I went in there and as soon as I walked in, an educator was sitting there. He, he special education, he works with students who needs more intensive supports. And he said, Hey, do you know anything about role playing? I was like, oh, I do improv classes. Is it something like that? And he's like, well, I'm really thinking about doing Dungeons and Dragons and how I can implement that classroom.

I was like, oh my gosh. So cool. And then he started talking about different ways sensory needs that a student have. And then I was like, pull it in my back pocket. Like, oh, I've tried this. I've used carpet squares. I go to the hardware store and get carpet squares and you know, and have my students with bare feet so they can rub their feet.

So we were in there for like 20 minutes unexpectedly. Both sharing things that we could walk away super excited about, immediate implement, uh, implementation. So a lot of conferences don't have that element where you truly do connect on a way where you leave and you feel like you're friends, you feel like you're friends.

And that Joy Lab, Hey friends, I know this is cliche, but it brought me joy.

brought, they

you joy, Michelle. It brought me so much joy. It brought you joy. You know, one thing I would add to that, in [00:09:00] addition to everything that Kelly and I both just said, it's about truly. Seeing people walk the walk and talk the talk, right?

So as people are having conversations about how do you universally design something, you go into a room where it's universally designed, you get to see a space that's universally designed. Our menu of food, y'all. Food is important. Okay? It is universally designed. So it's just a great way to capture it, to be able to walk away with that knowledge.

Yeah. And I'm gonna keep going friend. And so talk, talking about intentionally designing, there's a, there's a huge difference between entertainment and engagement, especially when it comes to our students, right? We can entertain, but are you actually engaged? And I think at this conference, I have truly felt both.

I feel entertained in a way that I'm so engaged that I'm feeling like it's almost like. Play through learning, like actively participating. I'm not like a passive attendee, I'm like an active participant. Even though I'm at cas, I have felt so active in conversations in sessions [00:10:00] where, uh, I'm just, I'm really stoked and I, I hope that if you've not come to UDL Conn next year, you come and you're able to have that professional learning experience as

well. Mm-Hmm. Yeah, for sure. Amen to all of that. And, uh, I love the cast slogan of Until Learning has No Limits. And, uh, that is how I felt here, that there's so many opportunities for so many people to participate.

If people wanna learn more about you and the work you do, what's the best way for them to get in touch with you both?

Yeah, they can find us. Um, Michelle and I specifically, but you we're easy to find on the CAST website specifically, uh, on the AIM Center website.

So that's aim. Dot ca.org. So that is a

EM

dot

cs t org, ORG.

Very good. Thank you both for being here.

This was great. Appreciate your time and all that you do to help people move things forward. Thank

Thank

much for having us. We appreciate you. [00:11:00]