Empowering Agency for Growth→

Tyler Rablin, writing for Edutopia:

“People learn best when they have the autonomy to pursue their interests and focus deeply on topics that are directly relevant to their needs and challenges.”

I’d argue that this principle applies to everyone in our educational community—teachers, administrators, and students. When individuals are empowered to explore their interests and address their specific needs, engagement and motivation soar, leading to deeper understanding and lasting growth. By fostering an environment that values autonomy and relevance, we can enhance learning outcomes and cultivate a culture of continuous improvement across our schools.

Optimisism about the future of education in a world of AI→

Ethan Mollick, writing for One Useful Thing:

I actually think the opposite is true: education will be able to adapt to AI far more effectively than other industries, and in ways that will improve both learning and the experience of instructors.

During a recent meeting with my district's Literacy Coaches, I saw an opportunity to introduce ChatGPT and help them understand how it could generate assessment prompts using a new technical format they had recently learned. The coaches identified a grade level and subject area, and I used ChatGPT to generate multiple assessment prompts. The prompts were not only coherent and grammatically correct, but they also perfectly fit the specifications learned at the training.

The coaches were amazed at the speed and accuracy of ChatGPT's responses. This was their first exposure to the technology. By demonstrating ChatGPT's capabilities, they were able to see the potential benefits that AI could bring to planning instruction.

With AI, teachers can quickly generate materials and assessments, saving time and allowing them to focus on individualized student support. Additionally, AI can analyze student data and provide personalized recommendations, helping teachers better understand each student's strengths and needs. By showing teachers these benefits through hands-on experiences early on, we can build their confidence and encourage more integration in the classroom.

I abandoned grading my students and stopped taking attendance. Here’s what happened→

J. W. Traphagan, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, abandoned traditional grading and attendance requirements, opting for a self-evaluation system that eliminated busywork and replaced grades with an assessment of participation and a score assigned by each student to reflect their performance. Here are his takeaways:

First, I often hear that students are apathetic about learning these days. This is inaccurate. Students are, in fact, excited about learning.

However, they’re indifferent to or even bothered by the educational system’s incessant emphasis on quantitative measures and assignments that seem to have little or no value. Most students want to learn, but don’t see the conventional educational approach as providing a particularly good framework for learning.

Second, many students have experienced enormous stress and anxiety. High school can be a pressure cooker focused on grades, test scores, GPAs and getting into the right college. As a result, learning seems like a side effect of education rather than the goal.

My students consistently note that when they don’t have to anticipate the expectations of their professor, they can focus on taking chances in their writing and thinking. And taking chances often leads to true learning and mastery of a topic.

Finally, this experiment has forced me to think about intellectual rigor in the classroom. Is a system designed to generate stress through piling on work and being “hard” — whatever that means — rigorous?

Or is rigor about creating an environment where students enjoy the learning process and, as a result, willingly engage in broadening their horizons and thinking about their lives?

I think it’s the latter.

Empowering Educators: Handy Middle School Teachers Share Their Vision for a New Approach to Learning

I love this video of teachers sharing their excitement for the new learning approach they had been preparing to implement. Over the summer, they worked closely with a team of instructional support staff, school leaders, and each other to bring the innovative New Tech Network model to life in their classrooms.

What I appreciate most about this video is the opportunity to hear directly from the teachers, as they shared their experiences and perspectives. The personal touch they bring to the story was invaluable in fostering a deeper understanding of the hard work and dedication that goes into shaping the future of education.

Teachers play an incredibly important role in telling the story of the work happening in schools, and their voices are critical in creating a human connection with the community. The teachers and leaders at Handy Middle School are to be commended for their unwavering commitment to education and their efforts to positively impact the lives of their students and the future of education.

Five Questions

There are five questions I want to answer through my work during the second half of this year:

1. Who are my teacher leaders and how have I empowered and supported them to excercise greater control over our school?
2. How is the time I structure for my staff moving us forward in our our learning as an organization?
3. Where is our school going next and how am I helping it get there?
4. How are my teachers doing individually, what will it take to truly know, and how do I respond once I figure it out?
5. How are my students doing, how do I know, and what am I doing about it?

Everything else should be noise.

Until - Video Edition

The New Tech Network has uploaded the video of my Ignite Talk at the closing session of their annual conference last year. For the record, if I seem nervous and rushed, it's because I am. Ignite presenters are given only 5 minutes to present 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. I'm trying to pack a lot of (too much) information into each slide.​

Overall, the product is watchable and the message is something I think about a lot as a school administrator. Enjoy.​

Presentation by Patrick Malley