Tonya Gilchrist

Tiny Shift No. 15: Start at the edges, not the center.

#UDL isn’t about adding supports later.
It’s about removing barriers before students ever hit them.

Low floors. Wide walls. Reinforced corners. High (or no) ceilings.

That’s how learning becomes expansive.

#just4you #TinyShifts #EDUsky

Tiny Shift No. 14:
Design for everyone, not just someone.

UDL isn’t flashy—it’s simple moves that remove barriers before they appear:
• sentence stems
• icons
• body language
• clarity that supports all learners

When access comes first, deeper learning follows.
#just4you #EDUsky #UDL #TinyShifts

Fog lifting over Tirana. ✈️

Off to the International School of Billund for two days of learning around UDL, differentiation, and inclusive design across the IB.

Here’s to light, clarity, and learning that helps everyone rise. ☀️

#just4you #EDUsky #UDL #Differentiation #IBWorldSchool

🎧 Listening is leadership.
Because trust—the soil where agency grows—starts when people feel heard, not managed.

🎥 Tiny Shift No. 13: Listening as Leadership
Filmed while working on a puzzle 🧩 because that’s how the pieces come together.

#just4you #EDUsky #TinyShifts #Leadership #TeacherAgency

W/ incredible leaders at IS Älmhult—testing the Evidence-to-Action Framework in action.

Tiny shift, big impact: Ts stopped chasing levels & started asking, “What might this student need next?”

The framework makes that simple. Download here: www.tonyagilchrist.com/evidence-to-...

#just4you #EDUsky

We talk a lot about what to add to teaching.

But real growth? It’s just as much about what we’re willing to unlearn.

Sometimes, letting go IS the learning. 🌊

#just4you #EDUsky #TinyShifts #Education #TeacherAgency #UDL #IBSchools #ReflectivePractice

I loved closing the loop w/ Radford College’s IB PYP specialists this week—after a year of building assessment-capable learners together! 🌿

I'm grateful for leaders who invest in specialist-specific PL & in growth over time, not one-off learning.

#just4you #EDUsky #IBPYP #assessmentcapablelearners

With AISG’s G5 team this morning, we explored a few tiny shifts that help students reason and problem-solve more deeply in mathematics (and beyond!)

Wait. Revoice. Compare. Connect.

When students can say their thinking, they can grow their thinking.

#just4you #EDUsky #tinyshifts #MathDiscourse

I ❤️ working w/ G3 at AISG!

We explored how healthy scaffolds can keep expectations high while opening access for plurilingual readers & writers.

Sometimes it’s the tiny shifts—a sentence stem, a sketch, a multilingual partner talk—that raise participation for everyone.

#just4you #TinyShifts #UDL

The best professional learning doesn’t fade—it lives.

Tiny Shift No. 11: See learning not as an event, but as a way of being.

When we LIVE what we learn—through our language, our choices, our planning—it sticks.

#just4you #EDUsky #TinyShifts #ProfessionalLearning #TeacherAgency #UDL

A great lit coach in Seoul shared this: Tiny Shift 6 in the teachers’ restroom!

“...We need to see literacy not as a subject, but as the current that flows through everything we teach.”

I love that this message is literally part of the daily current of school life.🌊😉
#just4you #TinyShifts #EDUsky

Within an hour of our Conferring for Every Reader session ending, I spotted this on the G1 planning table—created by a G1 teacher for teammates who couldn’t attend.💛

That’s the kind of community you’ll find at IS Kenya: reflective, collaborative, & committed to growing together.🌿📚
#just4you #EDUsky

I'm excited to spend the week at the International School of Kenya! 🇰🇪

All week, we're exploring The Reading We Need—how reading + UDL nurture agency, access, and deep learning for every child. 💛📚

#just4you #TheReadingWeNeed #UDL #Agency #EDUsky

#WordStudy doesn’t need to be complicated.

With AISG’s G5 team, we explored tiny shifts that make Word Study both more equitable & more sustainable.

One shift: short, 5-minute Word Study routines that spark curiosity, build shared language, & connect across reading & writing.💡

#just4you #EDUsky

Thinking is powerful.

But when students have agency in HOW they think—that’s transformative.

A tiny shift w/ a big impact: use positive presuppositions in your talk.

“Can you explain?”→simply tests.
“What led you to that idea?”→assumes capability.💗

I ❤️ed exploring this w/ AISG!
#just4you #EDUsky

Thank you for sharing, Christian! 💞

Beautiful!

Labels flatten learners.
Evidence reveals them.

Tiny shift: less labeling, more listening, noticing, and responding.

#just4you #EDUsky #TinyShifts #ReadingInstruction #Literacy

Sometimes the most powerful teaching move isn’t what we say, but the silence we hold.

When we pause, we give students space to think, process, and find their own words.

That’s where learning sparks. ✨

#just4you #EDUsky #Teaching #Education #AgencyInLearning #TinyShifts

Teachers at IS Billund co-created what UDL, differentiation, & responsive teaching mean in their context. 🌱

From Early Years through the IB MYP, we built a shared vision. I can’t wait to keep going when I’m onsite in November!

#just4you #EDUsky #UDL #Differentiation #StudentAgency

Just wrapped 3 days at SMIC Private School, diving into UDL + differentiation.

Elementary: Workshop approach to maximize both

Secondary: Differentiation across disciplines + teacher choice sessions

Featured in Tiny Shift #7: Warm Demander stance 👇
youtube.com/shorts/iO2n5...

#just4you #EDUsky

This week at SMIC Private School in Shanghai, one tiny shift stood out: the stance of a warm demander.
✔️ Hold expectations high
✔️ Ensure access + support
✔️ Believe every student can rise

Equity doesn’t mean easier.
It means possible.

#just4you #EDUsky #UDL #Differentiation #WarmDemander

🌻 My first day at SMIC Private School in Shanghai: We opened with “Sunflower Time” 🌻

→ Co-creating shared definitions of UDL + differentiation
→ Anchoring in student agency as our “big why”

Next: 3 days of labsites + workshops to put it into practice!

#just4you #UDL #EDUsky

YouTube video by Tonya Gilchrist 📚 Tiny Shift #6: Why Language and Literacy Flow Across Every Subject

Here’s the thing about language & literacy: they don’t live in silos. They flow.

At The Anglo in Bogotá, teachers leaned into this truth: Literacy isn’t separate from the disciplines—it’s how we think within them.

That’s this week’s #TinyShift: youtube.com/shorts/xA1U9...

#just4you #EDUsky #IBPYP

🌻 At the International School of Kenya, we created Sunflower Time—all teachers turning toward the same vision.

Together, we co-constructed understanding around:
✔ Agency
✔ Workshop
✔ UDL
✔ Active View of Reading

In Oct, we’ll bring theory → practice. Can't wait!
#just4you #EDUsky

Tiny Shift #5 💡

At EuroSur in Monterrey, I named again something simple but profound:

Rituals + routines aren’t about control. They’re about freedom.

When routines scaffold for agency, students don’t just follow…they own their learning.

#just4you #tinyshifts #studentagency #edchat #EDUsky

Taking flight with the sunrise for a week with EuroSur in Monterrey!🌅
This week:
📚 Build a culture of literacy & agency
📖 Explore Letterland, Fishtank ELA, CommonLit360 w/ integrity
👩‍🏫 Demo lessons + teacher collab.

Here’s to new beginnings & learning!
#just4you #EDUsky #AgencyInAction #BackToSchool

When teachers have agency, students do too. Here’s why it matters now more than ever.

#just4you #EDUsky #TeacherAgency #Education #Teaching #tinyshifts

This week’s Tiny Shift → one question that stops teachers in their tracks:

“What are you allowed to care deeply about here?”

I’d love to hear your take.

What are you allowed to care about in your school?
What do you wish you were allowed to?

#just4you #EDUsky #tinyshifts #teacheragency

I loved connecting w/ EuroSur secondary teachers this week!

We explored how to use @commonlit.org 360 w/ integrity + followed up w/ a teacher-led Q&A.

I shared this reminder: ⚡𝙒𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨.⚡

Our charge: cultivate authentic reading lives. 📖💡💗
#just4you #EDUsky