ATC fellows and staff gathered at Chicot Elementary in Little Rock on January 25, 2025 for the 3rd All Corps professional development Saturday of the school year. This quarter’s focus was on strengthening teachers’ capacity for planning lessons and effectively utilizing HQIM while differentiating for their diverse learners using UDL.

Many arrived early to fellowship with one another while enjoying a spread of refreshments like bagels, donuts, fruit, yogurt, juice, coffee, and other snacks. Then, ATC teacher development director Kendra Ide welcomed everyone, shared announcements, and facilitated a warm-up activity known as “dicebreaker”. In this game, participants answer questions like “coffee or tea?” or “your favorite movie?” depending on the corresponding numbers rolled on two giant soft dice.

Fellows spent the rest of the morning learning about the Universal Design of Learning (UDL) framework and how it can be utilized to make learning inclusive for all students. After discussing the importance of executive functioning, fellows watched a video introducing UDL and spent time exploring the specific UDL guidelines available at http://udlguidelines.cast.org/. These guidelines provide suggestions for making lessons more inclusive in terms of access, support, and executive functioning within the areas of engagement, representation, and expression. Fellows then worked in small groups to analyze an example HQIM math lesson for opportunities to utilize UDL strategies before then working to incorporate UDL strategies into their own upcoming lessons. On the end of day survey, 95% of fellows reported being able to analyze their lesson for inclusive practices.

After a lunch of lamb kofka, butter chicken, and vegetable jalfrezi catered by Star of India, fellows spent the afternoon in their content-specific learning groups to deepen their lesson planning and content-specific pedagogical skills. Science fellows explored the ATLAS test, ELA and CTE fellows focused on lesson planning structures, math fellows practiced evidence-based justifications, elementary fellows considered strategies for creating a culture of learning, and social studies fellows discussed opportunities for project-based learning. On the end of the day survey, 97% of fellows reported that they learned something in this session that they could immediately utilize in the classroom.

Moreover, 98% of fellows said they have the ongoing support from ATC that they need to be a successful teacher and Fellow. We can’t wait to see everyone again for our fourth PD Saturday on April 5th!