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Your district is already paying for the tools. They're just not working together.

I diagnose where your system breaks: curriculum, assessment, multilingual learner access, and technology. Then I build what fixes it.

I'm Michelle Pokodner, a Curricular Solutions Architect. I'm currently in the classroom, and I build the systems I wish we had.

Start with a System AuditSee How I Work

The Problem

Where Your System Breaks

Most districts don't have a single problem. They have misalignment across systems.

Curriculum and assessments aren’t aligned

Multilingual learners can’t access core instruction

Tools operate in isolation

Teachers are carrying the burden manually

You don't need more tools. You need your system to work.

What I Do

I Diagnose and Build

Most consulting stops at recommendations. I stay through the build, designing curriculum, aligning assessments, and creating the tools that make the system function.

See the System

The Process

Start with Diagnosis

1

Audit

I map where your system breaks.

2

Build

I design and develop the solution.

3

Implement

I support it until it works in classrooms.

Start the AuditExplore District Work

Proof of Work

I Build the Tools I Recommend

AssessAlign is a standards-based assessment system I built to solve a problem I was experiencing in my own classroom.

Explore AssessAlignSee District Applications

This Isn't a People Problem

Teachers aren't failing. Students aren't the issue. The system wasn't designed to work together.

When curriculum, assessment, and access are misaligned, the burden shifts to the classroom. That's where burnout starts, and and where students get missed.

The decisions made in curriculum meetings determine what's possible in classrooms. And what's possible in classrooms determines what's possible for students, especially the ones your current system wasn't built for.

Credentials

Built Inside the Classroom

12+ years in K–8 classrooms

Reading interventionist and curriculum designer

Science of Reading and multilingual learner specialist

Full-stack developer building instructional tools

I don't step into classrooms to observe. I'm already in one.

About Michelle

Two Ways to Work With Me

Districts

System-level audits, builds, and implementation.

Explore District Work

Educators

Classroom tools and resources.

Browse Classroom Tools

From the Blog

Insights from Inside the System

Diagnosis, strategy, and what actually works at the classroom and district level.

View all articles
AI in Education

Why I Built The Rooted Learner

This isn't just a business. It's what happens when a classroom teacher gets tired of waiting for better tools and decides to create them from the inside out.

Michelle PokodnerMar 16, 2026
EdTech for Educators

What Happens When Teachers Get Tired of Waiting for Someone Else to Build the Right Tool?

After years in the classroom, I know what most assessment tools lack. AssessAlign was built to fix that — shorter passages, standards-aligned questions, and actionable analytics.

Michelle PokodnerMar 9, 2026 · 4 min read
Free Download

Free Claude AI Guide for Educators

A practical, step-by-step guide to using Claude AI in your classroom: prompt templates, lesson planning workflows, and real examples from a current 1–8 educator. Enter your email and I'll send it straight to your inbox.

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Your system isn't broken because your people aren't trying.

It's broken because it wasn't designed to work together.

Start with a System Audit

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The Rooted Learner

Built by a 12+ year educator, reading interventionist, and EdTech developer. Practical tools and strategies for educators, schools, and families.

12+Years in Education
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