Sankofa Learning Design · Houston, Texas

Instructional Designer

Learning Experience Design · Curriculum · Training & Development

I design learning that changes what people do on Monday, then I check whether it did.

Hand-painted Sankofa bird, purple on orange, by Tenneh Freeman
  • 10+ yearsteaching in Texas K-12 classrooms
  • Structured literacyOrton-Gillingham, Reading by Design, Science of Reading
  • Live in an LMSSCORM 1.2 courses with pre- and post-checks
  • M.Ed. 2027Learning Design & Technology, UMGC
Selected work

Four projects, four audiences

Each case study shows the problem, the decisions I made, and what I changed after testing. Every project has a live version you can try.

Student-facing · Grades 2–12
Clap it.
Count it.
Split it.
K-12 curriculum · Lessons and original texts

Structured Literacy Lessons

Three explicit, systematic lessons from second grade to high school. Each comes with an original informational passage, five text-dependent questions, print-ready student materials, and a progress monitoring rule.

  • Orton-Gillingham
  • Original passages
  • TEKS alignment
  • Progress monitoring
Decoding the Code course image: a hand-painted Sankofa bird beside the course title
Teacher PD · Self-paced course in an LMS

Decoding the Code

Science, math, and social studies teachers watch students freeze on words like photosynthesis. This course gives them a move for that moment, and checks whether they can use it.

  • Action mapping
  • SCORM 1.2 in TalentLMS
  • Kirkpatrick Levels 1 and 2
  • WCAG 2.1 AA
Texas K-12 · AI policy
Call It
Right
Compliance · Branching micro-course

Call It Right

Teachers use AI tools every day, and Texas now has rules about it. Five branching decisions teach staff to verify, own, and disclose, without reading the law aloud to them.

  • Branching scenarios
  • Legal research
  • Storyboard + script
  • Consequence feedback
Corporate · Simulation
RETRO­SPECTIVE
Corporate L&D · Gamified simulation

RETROSPECTIVE

A client asked for a more engaging retro training. The real gap was who it trained. Two mirrored simulations now train the project manager and the team member on the same meeting.

  • Needs analysis
  • Psychological safety
  • Live trust meter
  • 44/44 QA checks
How I work

Start from the behavior, end with evidence

  1. Start from the behavior

    Action mapping first: what should people do differently, and what gets in their way? Content earns a screen only if a behavior needs it.

  2. Practice real decisions

    Branching scenarios set in the learner's own classroom or meeting, with feedback that shows the consequence and a path back.

  3. Measure honestly

    Pre- and post-checks by objective, reaction surveys built around relevance, and mastery rules a high total can't hide behind.

  4. Build access in

    WCAG 2.1 AA, a tap and keyboard option for every drag, captions and transcripts on every clip, and no timers.

About

From the classroom to the design table

I spent more than ten years in Texas classrooms as a special education, dyslexia, and social studies teacher. Before that I studied engineering technology at Prairie View A&M, and I still think like a builder.

The moment that pulled me into instructional design was watching capable students stall on one long word, and realizing most of their teachers had never been shown what to do next. Now I design the training that shows them: for teachers, for school staff facing new rules like AI policy, and for teams in the corporate world.

I design every interaction and write every word. I build the HTML with Claude as an AI pair-programmer, then test each build myself with automated accessibility and scoring checks, so a working prototype doesn't wait on a development team.

Hiring for curriculum or learning design? Let's talk.

tennehfreeman.works@gmail.com
Houston, Texas · open to remote EdTech, district, and L&D roles