September 4, 2025

Dear Educator,

Throughout my career as a teacher, coach, mentor, or professor in grad school, I have seen the power of teachers as designers. I have also seen the trepidation, anxiety, and pressure that come with it.

In a Master’s class I was teaching, teachers had to redesign a lesson or unit to incorporate authentic learning opportunities. Even though many teachers like the idea of creating opportunities for students to interact and have more voice and choice in their learning, many were apprehensive about the logistics, questioned what students would actually learn, and were anxious about taking extra time to teach something outside of their pacing guides.

With clear goals and time to explore research, strategies, and examples, I began to see their mindset shift. Teachers began experimenting. Some tried out a single lesson, others launched larger projects, and nearly all of them stepped into new territory.

One teacher reflected:

“Student work was amazing to say the least! … It seems as if they were driven by an unknown force, but I knew it was the power of agency. They loved being in control of their learning.”

These teachers were empowered as designers and saw great results from their students, and they were also reminded of the joy in their own teaching and learning. What this highlighted for me is that when teachers focus on what’s best for the learners in their classroom and trust themselves, their students can and will exceed expectations.

That’s why Laguna Beach Unified School District’s approach to lesson design stood out to me. They’ve built professional learning around this very idea: trusting teachers to design meaningful, relevant learning experiences and giving them the time, space, and support to do it. More on their journey below.

With Gratitude,

P.S. I will be joining my colleagues Devin Vodicka and Kate Weisberg in New Orleans for the FullScale Symposium October 25-28. We will be kicking things off with an all-day pre-conference workshop on Competency-Based Reporting and Assessment. Learn more and register for the symposium today!

The Magic of Personalized Professional Development

What began as a pilot in 2022 has now become a cornerstone of Laguna Beach’s Personalized PD model. They are investing in their own teachers, allocating PD funds to compensate them for redesigning units of study with a fresh purpose. The results have been impressive: nine voluntary sessions, over 70% teacher participation, and nearly 200 redesigned units across grade levels and subject areas. Many of these new designs integrate sustainability, social-emotional learning, or authentic community connections.

The impact is clear. Teachers report their redesigned units lead to more challenging and relevant learning, and students feel a stronger sense of connection and support at school. Some teachers have even taken their redesigned work to conferences and publications, extending their influence beyond the district.

What I find most powerful about this work is how it shifts the role of teaching from routine delivery to intentional design. By giving teachers the agency and time to design through the lens of their Portrait of a Learner, Laguna Beach is empowering educators to create meaningful experiences where students make sense of the world, tackle problems that matter, and see their learning as relevant to their lives.

Laguna Beach’s lesson design process is an example of what happens when we provide structure, allocate resources, and allow educators the agency to create.

Curious how you might personalize professional development in your school or district? At Learner-Centered Collaborative, we co-design professional learning experiences with our partners to ensure they are relevant to their needs and model a learner-centered approach. Reach out to our team today to learn more.

Learn how to anchor lessons in real-world issues, build cross-curricular connections, and empower learners to collaborate with peers and present to authentic audiences. As you complete each module, you'll gather examples, tools, and resources to design an engaging, authentic learning experience that connects learning to the community and fosters collaboration. Enroll today.

Resources to advance your learner-centered practice

📖 Yes, Reading and Writing Still Matter. "When we ground opinion and argument writing in student identity, inquiry, and interdisciplinary collaboration, we do more than meet standards. We nurture critical thinkers, empathetic citizens, and confident communicators." Learn what reading and writing look like in a learner-centered context.

🔍 What is a Learner-Centered Ecosystem? "In a learner-centered paradigm, the education ecosystem is designed to develop whole-learner outcomes. Doing so requires rethinking everything we do in education at the school, district, state, and federal level—from how we define and measure success to when, where, and how learning happens to who a learner is in the first place." Learn more about this ecosystem approach.

🤝 Develop Classroom Agreements with Learners. "In contrast to the teacher presenting the rules to learners, a collaborative agreement can be created with learners, allowing them to shape their learning community together." Explore real examples of this classroom strategy.