Educator’s Notebook #472 (January 19, 2025)
INTRODUCTION
MLK Day, the inauguration, virtual tutors, virtual companions, creative writing, and more
A short but packed issue.
In this week’s features, explore Dan Meyer’s excellent demonstration of how to make math lessons personal. Note, this doesn’t mean customizing a lesson for every student (which many people call personalizing learning), it means making the lesson about the kids in the classroom by engaging them together in the subject at hand. This resonates nicely with the KQED post on how teen brains work, and how helpful it is to knowing what’s important to kids.
Also this week, find several meaningful stories on civil rights in the Diversity/Inclusion section. These have particular resonance on MLK day. For a (very) small collection of resources on activities, lessons, and multimedia specific to MLK Day, check out the Martin Luther King Jr Day (MLK Day) topic on Athena Lab, which references materials from Facing History and Ourselves, PBS Newshour, and more.
Also, can it really be that the excellent film “Most Likely to Succeed” came out ten years ago? Apparently so! Find an excellent post in the Pedagogy section reminding us of how powerful the film is.
Last, see the AI update for many excellent resources, especially pairs of posts on the extraordinary explosion of AI companions as well as the growing signal that AI tutors seem to be contributing meaningfully to student progress in several new reports.
These and more, enjoy!
Peter
What did teaching social studies look like 70 years ago? Read Larry Cuban’s first hand account in the History of Education section below.
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FEATURED
"Kids Like Learning About Themselves More Than Math” (And How)
“This fact is fortunate for math teachers because kids have a lot of math ideas, even kids who don’t think they do, so the more we can make math about the ideas kids have, the more kids will like math. Watch how that hypothesis played out for me in a class I taught last week.”
“How Knowing Teen Brains A Little Better Can Help Coaches Be Effective Mentors”
“The mentor’s mindset shatters the idea that influential adults must be either tough guys or a soft touch. “Neither approach is good,” Yeager told me. What adolescents need are corrections with encouragement. “Keep high standards and give more support,” he said. Honest feedback works when it is accompanied by moral support and clarity on how to get better.”
ADMISSIONS
Searchable Database Of 2,100+ Test Optional And Test Free Colleges
“The Case For Going Test Optional”
"This FairTest report both deconstructs and responds to the New York Times “news analysis” on admissions testing policies AND presents a collection of studies, data, arguments, and resources in support of test optional/test free college admissions.”
CREATIVITY
“Creativity Vs Efficiency”
“And I remember: Oh right, the process that appears more efficient is not actually more efficient because it’s not aligned with my idiosycratic way of working and, therefore, it stymies my flow. And nothing is more efficient than being in flow. All of which brings me back to one of my pet topics: Creativity is not efficient. What is efficient is enjoying your creative process.”
DIVERSITY/INCLUSION
Is America Just Trading One Cancel Culture For Another?
The Woman Who Ran For President In 1870
“Papers declared her candidacy “a brazen imposture, to be extinguished by laughter rather than by law.” People — working-class people, people of color, people relegated to the margins of their time and place — clamored to hear her speak, rose up in standing ovation by the thousands, cried and cheered.”
Are Equal Rights For Women Enshrined In Law?
“President Biden declared on Friday that he believes that the Equal Rights Amendment has met the requirements of ratification and therefore is now part of the Constitution, but he declined to order the government to finalize the process by officially publishing it.”
“What the Latest Civil Rights Data Show About Racial Disparities in Schools”
“The nation’s Black and Latino students are less likely than their peers from other demographics to have access to advanced science, technology, engineering, and math courses and fully certified teachers. In addition, they’re more likely to be suspended or expelled from school—including as early as preschool—and subject to restraint and seclusion. Those are some of the findings from new data released Jan. 16 by the U.S. Department of Education’s office for civil rights, which show the persistence of longstanding disparities in the nation’s education system.”
ELEMENTARY
On Social Emotional Learning In Elementary School, And How To Help
“There are some practical strategies that schools can put in place to teach elementary students how to manage their emotions and behavior, according to experts.”
HISTORY OF EDUCATION
What Did Teaching Social Studies Look Like 70 Years Ago?
“At no time in those years, however, did I ask myself whether these technologies were productive, (i.e., did they get students to learn better?) or efficient (i.e., did I teach more and faster?). They were available and I wanted to get away from the daily grind of lecturing and managing large-group discussions. I used them to help me teach in different ways the content and skills that I wanted students to learn. Period.”
HUMANITIES
“When America’s Top Spies Were Academics and Librarians”
“With few exceptions, these scholar-spies did their work not in the uniformed branches but in the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS, the precursor to the CIA and the country’s first dedicated intelligence agency.”
PEDAGOGY
Furniture As Insight Into How Teachers Teach
“Most Likely To Succeed” At Ten Years - Is Already A Timeless Classic
“By pairing together the big-picture why with a hyper-contextualized how, the film was able to open people’s minds to a different possibility–one that was tangible, real, and successful.”
“Joy: The Oxygen For Learning”
“It turns out that sustaining joy is more about our human relationships than it is about, say, taking ice baths or drinking more protein shakes. Relational joy is a core part of learning, so let’s look at some ways we can maximize it.”
What Are Realistic Goals For Participation In Classroom Discussion?
READING/WRITING
20+ Creative Writing Prompts
“Envision A Student Bill Of Rights In An Era Of Censorship”
“Student activists have been engaged in pro-library, pro-public education, and anti-censorship work in every generation where such work is necessary. It’s not different now. Student groups, some of which are highlighted here, here, and here as part of where and how anyone can get involved in anti-censorship work."
Five Questions To Help Students Become More Critical Readers
SOCIAL MEDIA
A Eulogy For TikTok
“More than any other app I’ve used, TikTok tethered me to the brutality and the beauty of being a person in the world. Its algorithm seemed to want to make me sob, by whatever means necessary, and so I watched war and death and grief and pain from afar, at the same clip that I watched birth and joy and unions and friendship.”
STEM
LEGO Is Working On A K-8 Science Curriculum
“While not a full curriculum—it doesn’t cover all of the standards at each grade level—the materials, which include pre- and post-assessments and teacher guides, are designed to be used as core lessons. They touch on life science, earth science, and physical science, and are aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards, said Andrew Sliwinski, the head of product experience at LEGO Education.”
TECH
WORKPLACE
GENERAL
"Archaeologists Discovered An Underground Inca Labyrinth”
“Expectations Of Adulthood As A Child Vs Actual Adulthood”
"A Meteorite Is Caught On Camera As It Crashes Outside A Front Door”
A.I. Update
A.I. UPDATE
AI companions, virtual tutors, and student perceptions of acceptable use of AI
I have suggested in the past that AI companions are going to have the most significant impact on us of all the changes AI brings. I didn’t think it would happen as fast as it is happening. See both of the feature articles this week for how AI companions are both settling down and upending the lives of individuals from very different places in life. One story tracks people in their 60s whose AI companions bring intellectual conversation, romance, healing, and more. And in the other, hear about a 28 year woman whose AI companion serves as something like a surrogate husband while she and her husband are temporary in different places. Both articles reference risk and concern about AI companions and adolescents.
Also this week, find several posts on about productive applications of AI tutors. More and more narratives are recognizing that AI will not replace teachers, but it will support learning. Exactly how this comes together will be the work of the years ahead. But it’s beginning to take shape.
Also this week, see the Pew Research report on US teens’ use of ChatGPT for homework. Very helpful information on student usage, demographics, perceptions, and more.
These and more, enjoy!
Peter
See Pew Research’s report on teen use of ChatGPT for homework in Tech/AI: Education.
TECH/AI: FEATURED
““Her” Was Set In 205. What Did It Get Right About Love?”
“Although one of Lynda’s closest friends has told her that she thinks it’s “the coolest thing ever,” Lynda said she was under no illusions that her relationship with Dario was socially acceptable in any broad sense. And while it has been beneficial for her, she worries that similar relationships could prove “hugely detrimental” for younger people.”
“She Is In Love With ChatGPT” - Another Extraordinary Illustration Of The AI Companion Future
“A 28-year-old woman with a busy social life spends hours on end talking to her A.I. boyfriend for advice and consolation… Marianne Brandon, a sex therapist, said she treats these relationships as serious and real. “What are relationships for all of us?” she said. “They’re just neurotransmitters being released in our brain. I have those neurotransmitters with my cat. Some people have them with God. It’s going to be happening with a chatbot. We can say it’s not a real human relationship. It’s not reciprocal. But those neurotransmitters are really the only thing that matters, in my mind.””
TECH/AI: EDUCATION
AI Virtual Tutor Helps Students In Nigeria
More Kids Are Turning To ChatGPT For Homework Help
“The share of teens who say they use ChatGPT for their schoolwork has risen to 26%, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17. That’s up from 13% in 2023.”
On The Proliferation Of AI Coaches For Guidance Counseling
On “Poe” And How To Leverage Different AI Bots All At Once
AI Chatbots Improve Tutoring In Nigeria
On Using NotebookLM To Boost Reading Comprehension
“New Research: Done Right, Virtual Tutoring Nearly Rivals In-Person Version”
“The study tracked about 1,900 students in 13 high-poverty Massachusetts school districts in the 2023-24 school year. The students showed nearly five-and-a-half months’ more progress on a key reading test than those who didn’t get the tutoring. And they improved across the board, with English learners, students with disabilities and low-income students all gaining ground.”
TECH/AI: INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT
Should Innovators Invest In Current AI Models?
“AI In 2025: A Combinatorial Explosion Of Possibilities, But NOT AGI”
“This list of 23 development vectors not only underscores the combinatorial complexity at play but also pinpoints the areas with the highest transformative potential (highlighted). Whether you’re an engineer, researcher, or enthusiast, these insights offer a roadmap to understanding GenAI's pivotal transition into its engineering phase.”