You’ve read the paper. You’re thinking about your district. Now let’s talk.
Join six live discussions with Melissa Emler and other school leaders exploring what it takes to turn a vision for learning into everyday practice. Bring the questions your team keeps circling, the things you’ve tried, and the decisions you’re working through.
And keep the conversation going between sessions and beyond the series. Inside the Modern Learners Community, you can post a question, compare experiences, and share what you’re learning whenever it fits your day.
Join the conversationSix live discussions
Come to one or all six.
Participate online on your own time. You don’t need to have it figured out to join.
- Wednesdays, October 21 to November 25, 2026
- 10 a.m. Eastern
- Live on Zoom, inside the Modern Learners Community
- Recordings posted after each session
- An ongoing online conversation between sessions and beyond the series
What happens when you join
The expectation comes from the state. Making it work happens in your district. The conversation is where leaders work through that gap together: what to try first, how to make time for it, and how to know whether it is working.
Six live discussions
With Melissa Emler and other school leaders. One question each week, and a practical next move to take back.
Recordings and resources
Every session is recorded and posted for members, alongside the whitepaper, tools, and examples from our work with New York schools.
An ongoing conversation
Post a question, compare experiences, and share what you’re learning whenever it fits your day, between sessions and beyond the series.
Okay, So What Do We Do? The series at a glance
Each week takes up one question drawn from An Architecture for Sensemaking and from what districts are telling us.
- Oct 21 What can we do while the answers are still emerging?Get clear about what you know, what you’re learning, and what your district can begin examining now.
- Oct 28 Do we mean the same thing by learning?Explore how ideas like rigor, readiness, and achievement show up when people look at actual student learning.
- Nov 4 Why does everyone want a playbook?Listen to the concerns beneath the request for directions, and identify a barrier you can help remove.
- Nov 11 Where will adults actually learn together?Find time and space within existing teams for people to examine work, try something, and learn from what happens.
- Nov 18 How does learning move beyond one classroom or team?Consider how linked teams, coaching, and documentation help useful insights reach the rest of a district.
- Nov 25 What do we do first?Choose a practical first cycle: what to try, who needs to learn with you, and what you’ll pay attention to next.
Who it’s for
- District and building leaders responding to New York Inspires and Portrait of a Graduate
- Teams in the PLAN Pilot or Inspired by Design who want to keep the conversation going between sessions
- Leaders anywhere who are connecting a vision for learning with daily practice
How it works
- Join the conversation (it takes a minute) and you’ll land on the calendar of events with every date and link
- Come to the sessions that fit your calendar, or catch the recordings
- Bring your questions, even if you haven’t finished the paper
Haven’t read the whitepaper yet?
An Architecture for Sensemaking is the starting point for the series. Download it free and start with the question you most need to work through.