Transformative Principal

This episode is part of the Summer of AI Series, brought to you by SchoolAI, Scrible, and FocalPointK12.Vriti Saraf is the CEO & founder of k20 Educators where she builds metaverse spaces for learning. She is also a co-founder of the first community organization on blockchain for educators, by educators, called Ed3 DAO. Both organizations aim to reimagine learning.Vriti has served as a teacher, a professor, a dean, & a director in public, private, & charter schools both locally & internationally across K-12 & higher education.Join us for this conversation about Web3, what it is, how it is transforming education, and why we should embrace it.IN THIS EPISODE, WE DISCUSS: Web3 and how it’s shaping the future of education.  How blockchain allows us, instead of institutions, to own our credentials.  Decentralized credentials and flexible learning paths.  Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) allow for democratic school environments.  Fears and concerns about Web3. When educators should u

This episode is part of the Summer of AI Series, brought to you by SchoolAI, Scrible, and FocalPointK12.Jethro Jones is interviewing Kiran Athota, CEO of FocalPoint Education, and Dr. Wendy Oliver, Chief Learning Officer at FocalPoint,K12, Inc. The discussion centered around the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education and its impact on student engagement and personalized learning.Athota and Oliver delved into the distinction between AI assistants and human teachers, emphasizing the importance of teachers in catching plagiarism and guiding students. They acknowledged the fear surrounding new technology but highlighted the benefits of AI in understanding student knowledge better than ever before.The conversation also touched on the role of AI in assessing student progress and skills. Athota and Oliver stressed the need for authentic and personalized measures of growth, moving away from traditional assessments. They emphasized the importance of partnerships in education, with teache

This episode is part of the Summer of AI Series, brought to you by SchoolAI, Scrible, and FocalPointK12.This episode discusses the potential of artificial intelligence in education and how it can empower both students and teachers. Cahlan Sharp talks about his experience building the micro school platform Prenda and how it aims to empower learners. He discusses how AI tools like chatbots and pulse check activities can help teachers gain insights into how students are doing and where they need help. However, Cahlan stresses that AI should be used as a tool to enhance the learning experience rather than as a source of truth. Transparency and teacher oversight are important to ensure student safety and privacy when using AI tools.  Startup Failures: Reddit before Reddit.  Draw My Doll Prenda started with after-school programs with librarians.  How to teach something that you’re not totally familiar with.  Helping kids learn something that was focused around the student.  Focused on the method rather than the co

We are excited to have SchoolAI as a sponsor for the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. Please visit schoolai.com to save your teachers 10 hours per week.  You have a long background in AI so you’ve seen the ups and downs of that field and the over-hype cycles of the past. Why are the warnings about AI credible now, and what do you see as the biggest dangers?   AI as a tool to remove drudgery It’s just doing a repetitive task over and over. Behavior has emerged from abstractions. These systems are babies. Questions schools should be asking about AI Services they adopt. AI companies don’t exactly know what they are selling. Impossible to test what all the software can do. Having ways to monitor what is going on. Bring students into the process. Productive Struggle - Jo Boaler APLUS Framework: Moving toward a realm where general cognitive skills will matter more than domain-specific expertise The way we are doing school is not the best way to get there. How you divide up your functions drives the

We are excited to have SchoolAI as a sponsor for the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. Please visit schoolai.com to save your teachers 10 hours per week. Richard Gerver is a sought-after speaker, bestselling author, and world-renowned thinker on human leadership and human transformation. His career began in education, first as a teacher and then as a school principal, when he turned the fortunes of a failing school and its pupils around in just two years. Since the success of his first book, focusing on his experience in frontline education, Richard has devoted himself to advancing society’s thinking on learning, change, and how best to realize our full potential.He has worked with an extraordinary range of people, from elite athletes to former US President Barack Obama. Named UK Business Speaker of the Year three times, Richard has been invited to speak on the world’s biggest stages, including TED, the RSA,, and the BBC.Today, it’s our pleasure to welcome Richard to The Authority for an enligh

We are excited to have SchoolAI as a sponsor for the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. Please visit schoolai.com to save your teachers 10 hours per week. What does it mean to maintain humanity?  - To practice the forgotten art of being the ordinary.  - We are ok as the messy, complex meat machines we were born with. Don’t have to be personal brands. Don’t have to elevate or project or photoshop.  - Reverence for the base model.- Technology does train us, regardless of what we think about that.- Have an understanding of the basis of what we have as a human.- We’ve lost the drive to imagine apart from entertainment and convenience.- We don’t have a vision of what a profile of a graduate looks like.- We need imagination for education, housing, energy.. the areas that would benefit ordinary people the most  - 9 beatitudes of media technology- “Let’s just wait until the data is conclusive”- Kayfabe vs. Collective journey- Jerry Springer - Brilliant politician in Cincinnati.- Personal brand prohibite

We are excited to have SchoolAI as a sponsor for the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. Please visit schoolai.com to save your teachers 10 hours per week. Janessa Fletcher, Content Director for Education to the Core, discusses the future of AI in primary education. She explores the potential of AI in teaching reading skills, the need for supplemental resources, and the impact of technology on reading habits. Fletcher emphasizes the importance of the science of reading and personalized approaches to support students’ diverse needs. Dabbling in ChatGPT Using it to write emails Cons - science of reading - following a scope and sequence. still figuring out what to type into chatgpt to get what It can be trained to do what we need, eventually. How bullish she is on developing it Aligned to orton-gillingham or full foundations. Need for supplemental resources in addition to Upper elem and secondary schools. How genuine is that feedback? How does the science of reading help Read Naturally This is resea

We are excited to have SchoolAI as a sponsor for the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. Please visit schoolai.com to save your teachers 10 hours per week. Kevin Shindel, a high school social studies teacher, discusses the impact of technology and AI in classrooms. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the purpose and potential of AI before fully adopting it. Shindel raises concerns about trust, privacy, and the need for collaboration with AI. He believes AI is not just a tool, but an ecosystem that requires careful consideration.About Kevin ShindelKevin Shindel is a high school social studies teacher with 28 years of experience. He has taken a keen interest in technology and its impact in classrooms. 10 years ago, he created a digital detox program for students, and he runs this experience every year with his kids. He’s very interested in the holistic impact of technology on students when adopted in schools.  Begin with purpose. What’s the purpose of AI? Skeptic by nature. Personalizatio

We are excited to have SchoolAI as a sponsor for the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. Please visit schoolai.com to save your teachers 10 hours per week. Sarah Rubenstein, principal of OCEAN School, shares her experience using ChatGPT to write grant proposals. She highlights the time-consuming nature of grant writing and how ChatGPT helped her generate drafts quickly. Rubenstein believes that using AI for certain writing tasks is acceptable and efficient, freeing up time for more meaningful work. OCEAN School - 20 year-old school Family partnership program school. Some learning on campus with a teacher 30% in school settings. 70% with parents 6–12 online program. Experiential learning opportunities. Place-based learning Grant writing is needed for that job. If you want teachers to get kids out of classrooms, need school buses and time to plan. Some grants are straightforward. Super time-consuming, read, highlight, Didn’t always get the grant. writing 20–40 pages on the grant. 130K over 2 years.

We are excited to have SchoolAI as a sponsor for the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. Please visit schoolai.com to save your teachers 10 hours per week. Today we are talking with Michael B. Horn about the impact of AI on K12 (and higher) education and it’s level of disruption.  Are students more disengaged because of the pandemic or AI taking over jobs? Anxiety from high school students because it is just far enough away. In every field entry level role becomes something much different. Intermediary places that employ apprentices. Theory of interdependence and modularity. In the early years of a system, different systems have to be done by the same entity. The nature of skills and work is moving so fast Book learning has to be done interdependently with the actual work. willfully blind to the reality. Google has changed the game and so will AI. Combination of human skills with the AI Hard things are still important. Habits of success, social emotional skills, soft skills, etc. What is hard may

We are excited to have SchoolAI as a sponsor for the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. Please visit schoolai.com to save your teachers 10 hours per week. In this podcast episode with Caleb Hicks, the focus is on creating learning experiences with AI. The discussion revolves around empowering teachers to move beyond traditional methods and become designers of engaging environments for students. The use of AI-powered apps and FERPA-compliant chat platforms are highlighted as tools to enhance student experiences. The concept of “spaces” is introduced, allowing teachers to create personalized learning adventures for their students. The episode also touches on the benefits of using AI for tasks like SAT prep and streamlining administrative duties for teachers. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the importance of prioritizing meaningful connections with students and designing environments that foster engaging learning experiences. How do you make decisions around this for what you create for teache

We are excited to have SchoolAI as a sponsor for the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. Please visit schoolai.com to save your teachers 10 hours per week. Dr. Paul Govani, an expert in human performance and coaching, emphasizes the importance of errorless learning and the role of AI in education. He believes that teachers need more practice and feedback to be effective, and that regular feedback for students is crucial for learning. Dr. Govani also discusses the need for tight feedback loops and the use of simulations to prepare teachers. Errorless learning Making sure that students don’t make mistakes Gradual release AI can play a huge part in improving education The human element cannot be removed from education. Learning happens from the environment. Replace learning Gives teachers a different role. Education holds the key to success We’re not doing a very good job educating our educators. Too much theory, too little modeling, too little feedback. Simulations hold the key to getting teachers

We are excited to have SchoolAI as a sponsor for the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. Please visit schoolai.com to save your teachers 10 hours per week. In this podcast episode, primary educator and entrepreneur Emily Garcia discusses the science of reading and the role of teachers versus AI in teaching children to read. While there is systemic and explicit phonics-based instruction that is necessary for effective reading instruction, there are also many factors that prevent AI from being able to fully replace teachers. Teachers provide multiple inputs and value in partner reading and are necessary for building a classroom community and managing the classroom. However, when applicable, teachers should use AI as a tool to enhance their teaching methods. The decision of when to use AI should be made during PLCs and based on what is working for the students.This episode is brought to you by AILeader.info, where you can learn all about AI specifically in a place designed for educators through 3-mi

Dave Hurwitt is an innovator. Over the course of his career, he’s led the development and launch of new products and services – from toothpicks to wind turbines – that have generated well over $1 billion in sales. Having worked in admissions through grad school, he was amazed by how little technology and the internet had impacted the college search and admissions process. And even more, he was dismayed to discover how often students were transferring or dropping out altogether. In early 2020, this led directly to his founding Troove, a 2-sided, AI-powered platform to help students discover their passions, people, and place based on the real experiences of recent alumni and current higher education students.This episode is brought to you by AILeader.info, where you can learn all about AI specifically in a place designed for educators through 3-minute masterclasses.  How Troove works Take the idea of suggestions from Netflix or Amazon and apply it to college. 15-minute quiz, how do you ask the right questions t

In this episode, Jethro and Fred discuss chatbots and artificial intelligence. The episode covers the history of chatbots, including the Turing Test and the development of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Bing, and Jasper. The potential uses and issues with chatbots are explored, including incomplete or misinformation, theft of intellectual property, inappropriate uses, and threats to various types of jobs. The episode also touches on the impact of chatbots on education and the potential for the weaponization of disinformation, cybersecurity, and more emotion-targeted advertising. Beginning of Cybertraps Podcast Episode Index Writebettr.com - test out AI with your poorly written emails AILeader.info - learn about AI and how to use it to save time with 3-minute masterclasses. Today’s Topic: Bot’s Up, Doc? Keynote delivered at last minute for Alaska Society for Technology in Education Artificial Life and Artificial IntelligenceWhy chatbots are NOT “artificial intelligence” – yet “The Father of C

Based in wonder and optimism, Nancy Giordano is an exponential strategist focused on building a safe, inclusive, thriving future. Believing we have a once in a generation opportunity to rethink, reimagine and reshape every industry and social construct we call life, she supports and champions those actively architecting bold solutions and guides the visionary leaders eager to meet this call. An active strategist working on horizon solutions, Nancy is eager to share her insights on emerging technologies and shifting cultural expectations in ways that get everyone deeply motivated by the possibilities…and confident to start building.This episode is brought to you by AILeader.info, where you can learn all about AI specifically in a place designed for educators through 3-minute masterclasses.  Life hack - make up your job Job is labeled or defined Can’t use a map anymore, so we need a compass - What does the future need and expect, and what am I in a unique position to create and contribute Compass allows you to

This episode is part of the Summer of AI series presented by AILeader.info. AILeader.info makes the abstract actionable by helping you stay on the cutting edge with 3-minute masterclasses that teach you what you need to know about AI in just 3 minutes or less. To join, go to AILeader.info Got key people to be successful.  Curriculum alignment  Instructional rigor  advanced models for schools  Teacher Planning - is the source of what teachers are doing.  Is ChatGPT the best for lesson planning?  More advanced models exist.  Machine Learning will actually remember the moves and methods of a teacher.  Almost like having a coach built into your model.  Bard with Google  ASU+GSV conference FineTune - If you’re serious, you need better language models.  Provides references to everything that it creates.  School districts can go in with more confidence because there is less bias.  AI is going to be the path.  Dual challenge for school districts - figure out a policy on AI  Don’t worry about AI taking your job, worr

Dr. Tucker brings a unique perspective with a lifetime of learning experiences overseas and in the United States. Having grown up traveling back and forth between Africa and the United States he experienced a variety of learning environments. He credits his mom, his first homeschool teacher, teachers at an international school, and numerous Missouri educators for his decision to pursue a career in education. His experiences have influenced his commitment to designing learner-centered educational experiences.He currently serves as the Superintendent of Liberty Public Schools. During his time in LPS, the District opened EPiC Elementary (2022 National Blue Ribbon School), partnered with industry to create Kansas City Tech Academy, established the UnSchool Challenge, and rolled out several micro schools including HMS by Design, EDGE, North Nation By Design, and Warren Hills Reimagined. These innovations evolved through a commitment to answering the question, “What does it mean to be learner-centered?” and always

In this episode, Jethro Jones introduces the Summer of AI Series on Transformative Principal. All summer, we’ve got some great interviews scheduled to come out with believers, skeptics, and everyone in between all about AI. Join the conversation by joining our Facebook group hereAnd, Jethro also shares the AILeader.info resource, a membership site to help you learn how to save time and energy by learning how to use AI most effectively as a school leader. Join here. Jethro also shares the APLUS framework for adopting AI in schools:  Accessibility: Ensure that AI-driven educational tools and resources are accessible to all learners, regardless of their backgrounds, abilities, or disabilities. Design AI systems that accommodate diverse learning styles and provide inclusive learning experiences for all students. Privacy and Ethics: Uphold strong ethical standards in the design, development, and deployment of AI technologies in education. Safeguard student privacy, ensuring transparent data collection and usage pr

This is a continuation of our coaching calls with Eric Makelky. Please check our previous episodes 532527523 519 514, 510, 506, and 501In this episode, we talk about onboarding new staff.  What Eric has done that has been helpful. District duties and Principal duties. How do we make people stick around? New Teacher Academy - in-house teachers come in and model, share, and showcase practices from their classroom. In-house people leading these things. Half-day around the building - basic information. Make a list, and trickle in during the summer. And what do they really need to be ready for the first day of school? Resources, curriculum, plan, classroom management. Big Picture vs. Details. How do you do that? Trello Board about onboarding How do you avoid overwhelming them? Identify what is really valuable and what is extra Mentoring new teachers How do you not force mentoring on teachers? Collaborative teams within PLCs. Solid mentor Mentorship is done according to the needs of the mentee It’s about mentoring