Each year, school organizations work diligently to advance priorities while aligning these efforts with state standards, requirements, and—most importantly the needs of their primary stakeholders: KIDS! The evolving educational landscape brings new challenges, as well as shifting strengths and needs among learners, making the work feel immense at times. Despite this, leaders shoulder a collective responsibility to roll up their sleeves and coach, lead, and model what they want to see. One of the ways they can do this is to make learning more accessible as they implement plans and priorities. 

As I share in my book The Leader Inside: Stories of Mentorship to Inspire the Leader Within, “Given the ever-evolving nature of education, it is crucial that educators like you are equipped with essential tools and robust support systems to navigate the dynamic landscape, uplift others, tackle challenges, and adapt to change” (p. 81).

In navigating the constant ebbs and flows of education, one question remains essential: How can leaders create an environment where their teams feel calm, capable, and confident as they make learning more accessible?

I want to share some ideas that I’ve implemented to help ease the weight off teams’ shoulders by refining existing practices to make new and existing learning more accessible. It’s important to remember that innovation often involves a healthy dose of trial and error. I’ve certainly embarked on new ideas that didn’t go as planned, but those experiences led to iterations that have been invaluable in paving the way for true innovation. You’ll never know if something new will take flight unless you’re willing to try.

Over time, I’ve learned that embracing new approaches is essential for growth. And when I say new, it doesn’t always mean creating something completely different. Often, it’s about taking what already exists and making it better.

As George Couros highlights in The Innovator’s Mindset, “Innovation can come from either ‘invention’ (something totally new) or ‘iteration’ (a change of something that already exists), but if it does not meet the idea of ‘new and better,’ it is not innovative” (p. 19).

By embracing the spirit of making learning accessible, leaders can move towards ensuring their teams feel supported, empowered, and ready to tackle what needs to be accomplished along with the challenges of the ever-changing landscape of education.

Here are Three Ideas to help you make learning more accessible:

1. Share an Interactive Plan

Whether facilitating a faculty meeting, department meeting, or professional learning session, I’ve found it invaluable to prepare a detailed plan—essentially an agenda—that includes clear intended outcomes and approximate timestamps for each component. This structure helps maintain focus and ensures you accomplish your goals efficiently.

In addition, organizing the plan into three columns labeled What, Why, and How enhances transparency and clarity, making the purpose and process of each activity clear to participants. This guide is shared with teachers in both hard copy format and a digital version, which is scheduled to be emailed at the time of the meeting for easy access.

• The What: Defines the focus of each activity, such as planning Interactive Read-Alouds or exploring instructional materials, ensuring clarity about the session’s objectives.
• The Why: Explains the rationale behind each activity, emphasizing its importance in developing critical literacy skills like oral language, comprehension, and vocabulary.
• The How: Outlines the steps and resources necessary to achieve the goals. The linked resources are live documents, curated in a shared Curriculum Hub, providing teachers with accessible tools for exploration and application in real-time.

The purpose of this document is to guide educators through an intentional, collaborative professional learning process that fosters effective teaching practices in literacy. The creation of an Interactive Plan provides a structured approach to help educators implement strategies that align with best practices, meet standards, and adapt to the evolving needs of students.

I’ve found that utilizing this framework serves as a powerful blueprint for guiding discussions and driving curriculum work forward productively.

You can find an example of an Interactive Plan below:

2. Storyboard Planning

In the book Streamlining the Curriculum, Jacobs and Zmuda introduce the concepts of storyboarding. “Use storyboarding to plot out a visual map sequencing the units of a course to share the learning journey with students. It shows them where they’re going, the major stops along the way, and the various learner roles they will take on – for example, as investigator, researcher, or historian” (p. 6). So we took this concept and used it to communicate the roadmap to professional learning experiences. This can replace a more traditional plan or agenda 

Essentially, storyboarding to plot out a visual map sequencing the plan for the learning experience. It shows the participants the purpose of the day through an essential question, the focus of each hour, and learning targets connected to each focus. A visual image is connected to each focus for participants to make a deeper connection to the connect and flow of the day.

CLICK HERE to view the Assessment Mapping Storyboard

CLICK HERE to view the Interactive Read Aloud Storyboard

CLICK HERE to view our Teachers’ Writing Camp Storyboard

3. Integrate AI (artificial intelligence) Purposefully: Artificial intelligence (AI) can streamline our work when used intentionally. To integrate AI purposefully, we must leverage human intelligence to design effective resources, craft precise prompts, and guide the process toward meaningful outputs. While AI offers support, it cannot replace the effort and insight needed to drive impactful work.

Here’s one example of how we used AI to jumpstart cross-disciplinary literacy planning and high-leverage instruction.

After researching various interactive read-aloud planning tools, we created a customized template aligned with our district’s literacy priorities. HERE is the template.

We began by selecting a meaningful interdisciplinary text and scanning a portion of it into a PDF format. To integrate AI into the process, we uploaded the following PDFs into ChatGPT:

1. A carefully selected portion of the science text.
2. The Next Generation Learning Standards (NGLS) for English Language Arts.
3. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
4. The personalized Interactive Read-Aloud Template.

Using these documents, we crafted a precise prompt:
“Use the attached documents to complete this task. Refer to pages 1-5 of the book Does the Sun Sleep to create an interactive read-aloud plan focused on Grade 1 NGLS ELA Standard 7 and the Grade 1 Science Standard for Space Systems. Use the attached Interactive Read-Aloud Template to structure the plan.”

HERE is a copy of what was generated.

Please note that this output was further revised to meet our specific learning needs. AI serves as a starting point, but the results require thoughtful refinement to align with our goals.

Moving Forward

As the educational landscape evolves, so must our approaches to leading and learning. The tools and strategies shared here highlight how we can roll up our sleeves, refine practices, and embrace innovation to make learning more accessible for everyone. You can align your efforts with supporting the needs of educators so they can support your most important stakeholders: KIDS!

So, I ask…What is one small step you can take today to support your team and make learning more accessible for all?