Some thoughts on recent sorrows and current conflict — I turned 43 years old this month, and for my entire life, the Israel-Palestine conflict has been in various states of open hostility. It’s been that way for much longer than that, but given the horrific and staggering abomination of Hamas’ recent massacre of Israelis, I find myself once again…

As is typical of every year, I’ve been swallowed up in the beginning rush of school, and haven’t really had any time to write. But this year, I’ve also found myself doing a lot more AI work than I have ever done before. …

Using AI to Draft College Recommendation Letters — Before we get into it I’m conflicted in writing this piece. On one hand, the idea of using an Large Language Model (LLM- ex. ChatGPT) to draft a college recommendation letter feels a bit weird to me. On the other, the formal nature of the college recommendation letter is one that seems to lend itself…

A quick reflection on school administrator directives. — Having now spent two full decades at work teaching kids (with a spot of administration thrown in for good measure), here’s a thing that I’ve noticed: When administrators give directives, they are much more successful when they focus on the ethics of teaching kids than the tactics of how to…

A useful frame for thinking about the work of teaching — My top priority as a teacher is to never be boring. The gift of other people’s time is far too precious to aim for anything less. So much of my shtick (and I do view it as a shtick) when I’m working is dedicated to keeping the interest of the…

I’m not sure it will ever be. — I’ve enjoyed listening to the Hard Fork podcast. A relatively new show, I like the mix of technology reporting, along with the level of the discussion. The hosts are knowledgeable, but are not particularly close to the metal. …

Coaching for equity: Conversations that change practice (Aguilar, 2020 — My current personal PD project reading tour of various coaching models continues with this review of the second book by Elena Aguilar that I have consumed this semester. If you want to read my thoughts about the first one, you can do that here. Why I read it: In my last piece in the…

”Assessment Writing Just Got a Whole Lot Fun-gineered with ChatGPT!”² — At the end of last year, I wrote a bit about ChatGPT and its implications for teachers. You can check out those thoughts here if you’re interested. Since then, ChatGPT, and similar models have become the fastest accelerating technological trend I can think of. …

Ways to increase agency in our contingent existence. — I think a lot about the role of contingency in my life. It took a long time to understand that is what it’s actually called, but a while back I learned that contingency is the name of the thing. I bet you think about contingency, too, but you also might…