For our recent professional development day, Dayna and I dived into a book popular in the UDL (Universal Design for Learning) community: The Shift to Student-Led by Catlin R. Tucker and Katie Novak.

Our goal was simple: to improve our daily practices and find ways to make a deeper, more positive impact on our students. We wanted to see how shifting the “heavy lifting” of learning from the teacher to the student could transform our formative and summative assessments.

A special thank you to Robyn Vierra for helping us select this resource and providing the books for our study. To make the most of our time, Dayna and I “jigsawed” the reading, splitting the chapters and coming together to share our feedback and our “wow!” moments.

Redesigning the Workflow: Dayna’s Takeaways

Dayna focused on Workflow 1 (From Transfer of Information to Student Discovery) and Workflow 3 (From Reading as a Solitary Endeavor to Reading for Connection).

She was immediately impressed by how these shifts can change the energy of the room. Instead of the teacher being the sole source of knowledge, the classroom becomes a space for exploration.

Dayna quickly saw how she could have improved her Nutrition Unit from last year by “Reading for Connection” using Interest-Based Reading groups. This will help students move from just reading the text assigned to them to using literacy as a tool to become collaborative-active readers and agents of their learning.

She is already applying Jigsaw activities to her current Mindfulness Unit by letting students discover facts about a mindfulness topic, become an “expert learner”, and take the role of the teacher by sharing their knowledge with the group. 

Breaking the “Audience of One”: My Experience

I took on Workflow 2 (From Teacher-Led to Student-Led Discussions) and Workflow 4 (From an Audience of One to an Authentic Audience).

Even before I started reading, I knew I needed a fresh approach for my upcoming Sexual Education unit in Health. It’s a challenging subject to teach and even harder to assess in a way that feels meaningful.

In the book, Catlin shares her experience with students giving TED-style talks. It was a realization for me! I started imagining a unit where the students don’t just make a project for me (the “audience of one”). Instead, we can invite parents to come and learn from the students. This turns a sensitive unit into a powerful, collaborative process where students become the experts and parents are part of the journey.

Why the “Shift” Matters

Integrating UDL and blended learning isn’t just a trend, it’s about moving the responsibility of learning into the students’ hands. When we shift from teacher-led to student-led, we see several immediate benefits:

1. Students take an active, responsible role in their progress.
2. When students lead the talk, they grow socially and behaviorally.
3. Students learn to read, write, and speak specifically for their subject area (Disciplinary Literacy).
4. Projects focus on impacting a real audience, which makes “getting a good grade” a byproduct of doing great work.

Looking Ahead

Dayna and I are still finishing the book, but we are already so excited about the solutions we’ve found. If you are looking for ways to refresh your practice and empower your students, we highly recommend picking up a copy.

The shift might seem big, but the results, students who are engaged, self-directed, and proud of their work, are more than worth it.

By Elves Tembe and Miss Dayna Daltorio