Our learning objectives for this community of practice were:

• Build professional Universal Design for Learning (UDL) knowledge through reading and critical reflection.

• Contextualize UDL to a specific educational level (Higher Education).

• Increase collective efficacy through collaboration with colleagues.

• Create an action plan to implement UDL Framework at a specific educational level (Higher Education).

We read two chapters a week to accomplish these objectives to prepare for our synchronized meeting, where we discussed "essential questions." Essential questions are open-ended guiding questions that provoke reflection on our learning or teaching practice. As the facilitator, I also highlighted a quote from each chapter to spark our discussions.

Here are the quotes from the book that I felt empowered our conversations, along with the essential questions I created to guide our discussions:

• "We can't prevent all the challenges students will face, but we can help to alleviate them by designing a learning environment that leaves no room for failure." (Novak, 2022)

Essential Question: How will our community support our work?

• Chapter 2: UDL and Equity
  "UDL is not just about providing tools for students to access learning experiences and managing your classroom. It's about eliminating barriers so every student can succeed." (Novak, 2022)

Essential Question: How do we achieve this?

• Chapter 3: Differentiating Between UDL and Differentiated Instruction
  "My understanding of how UDL and DI work together has grown exponentially. In the first two editions when talking about DI, I used to use the word reactive. I have since transitioned to responsive." (Novak, 2022)

Essential Question: What transitions are you making in your teaching philosophy?

• Chapter 4: Recruiting and Engaging Learners as UDL Partners
  "It's tempting to look at SEL as competing with academic instruction, but I see incredible potential to build social-emotional skills by providing opportunities for students to self-assess, self-reflect, and make responsible decisions about their learning." (Novak, 2022)

Essential Question: What strategies can we use to engage learners and create UDL partners?

• Chapter 5: The Power of Expert Learning
  "In order to design and deliver your content, you have to be able to think critically to determine the most vital knowledge in your subject area, you have to communicate that information using flexible methods that meet the needs of all learners, and you have to use creative and innovative practices (UDL!) to deliver that information." (Novak, 2022)

Essential Question: How do we achieve this?

•  Chapter 6: Firm Goals and UDL Implementation
  "Learning from a grade-level-appropriate curriculum is not a privilege. It's a right for all students. Whether they seem prepared is irrelevant. It's our job as teachers to fill in the gaps for students so they can have a challenging course of study with academic rigor."

Essential Question: How do we plan the curriculum and meet the needs of all learners?
(Contextualize "appropriate" to your specific educational level.)

• Chapter 7: Unpacking Choice and Voice
  "The necessity of choice is also not explicitly tied to learning preferences but rather increased engagement and the importance of expert learning, which encompasses many of the core components of social-emotional learning, including self-awareness, self-management, and responsible decision-making." (Novak, 2022)

Essential Question: How do we provide choice and voice in our classrooms?

• Chapter 8: But What About Standardized Assessment?
  "The best way to increase student outcomes and test scores is to increase student access to grade-level instruction, engagement, and high expectations – all of which are within our control." (Novak, 2022)

Essential Question: What types of assessments are appropriate and in our control?
(Contextualize "assessment" to your specific educational level.)