Educator’s Notebook #484 (May 4, 2025)
INTRODUCTION
Gatsby at 100, Constructive Dialogue, AI Executive Orders, and More
Happy May, all —
Tributes to Gatsby’s centenary have been many this year, but my favorite so far is the one featured this week, which traces Gatsby’s popularity across culture back to its role in high school English classes. See the first feature for excellent receipts on this thesis. Also in the features, the Constructive Dialogue Institute offers practical guidance for leaders aiming to build a culture of dialogue in challenging times. The guidance is aimed at higher education leaders, but it is adaptable to younger grades.
Also this week, Harvard is in the news — not just for renaming its DEI office and for the results of its antisemitism and anti-Muslim task forces, but also for that study that tracked graduates over decades to understand what leads to a life of happiness. It’s a good reminder every time I read it.
Also: find a thoughtful post by Larry Cuban on what students expect from teachers (which is different from a “portrait of a teacher”). It offers a compelling framing for how we prepare ourselves as educators for the classroom and what our job expectations might look like. See also posts on smartphone bans, math curriculum, and more — in addition to important developments in AI.
On the topic of AI, I’ll be on a live virtual chat this coming Tuesday exploring the implications of the recent Executive Order on AI in schools. This Executive Order will markedly accelerate the adoption of AI in schools in the US, and both teachers and schools leaders will want to get ahead of it as much as possible. Thanks to the Middle States Association for pulling this session together. It’s Tuesday, May 6 at 11am. You can register here.
Also, I’ll be at the third annual AI Symposium at the Loomis Chaffee School on June 3, co-leading three sessions: on learning science and AI, on AI supporting your passions as a teacher, and on how to draw clear boundaries for students on AI for learning. I’m also looking forward to Annie Murphy Paul’s keynote.
Hope to see you at either or both, and in the meantime, enjoy this issue!
Peter
How do teens perceive boys and girls’ success and participation? See more in Adolescence.
Browse and search over 14,000 curated articles from past issues online:
FEATURED
“How The Great Gatsby Took Over High School” [And Culture]
““My whole theory of writing I can sum up in one sentence,” Fitzgerald wrote, in 1920. “An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters for ever afterward.””
“Building Cultures Of Constructive Dialogue” - A Deep Report
“By constructive dialogue, we mean exchanges where participants engage across lines of difference with intellectual rigor and mutual respect. This approach rejects both uncritical agreement and unproductive conflict in favor of learning-focused engagement… This report is designed to guide higher education leaders—including presidents, vice presidents, provosts, and leaders of task forces and civic centers—in undertaking this difficult work.”
ADOLESCENCE
CHARACTER
That Harvard Study Again: Happiness Comes From Good Relationships
Illustrating The Change Of “What If?” (Fear) To “Even If” (Courage)
Curiosity As The Balm For Uncertain Times
DIVERSITY/INCLUSION
“Harvard Releases Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Task Force Reports”
Harvard Is Renaming Its DEI Office
GOVERNMENT
Week By Week Government Actions Related To Education
A Tracker For All The Higher Ed Government Actions
Are Charter Schools Public Or Private? The Supreme Court Will Decide
What About The EO On Student Discipline?
“Education Department Restarts Online Library ERIC”
HIGHER ED
Do Colleges Need To Fail To Reclaim Their Success?
How Public Universities Are Being Seized By State Leaders
LANGUAGE
LEARNING SCIENCE
PD
We Set Expectations For Students. What Expectations Do They Have Of Us?
“Teachers often overlook (or forget) that students also have a list of what behaviors, knowledge, and skills they expect of their teachers. And just like teacher expectations, student expectations matter… Beginning in kindergarten (or preschool), over the years students develop views of what a “good” teacher (and teaching) are. That is where all of the classroom rules emblazoned on whiteboards or wall posters come into play. By the time, students are in high school, then, they have implicit models in their heads of who “good” teachers are, what they expect of students, and what they do in organizing and teaching a class.”
On Developing Peer Observation And Support Practices
STEM
TECH
New York State Bans Smartphones “Bell To Bell” In K-12
Behold, A 3D Printed Starbucks Location
“Though it started out as a futuristic-sounding niche proposition, 3D-printed construction is really taking off throughout the United States and the variety of projects being printed is remarkable. Following the construction of a Walmart extension, a Marine barracks, and even an experimental Mars habitat, the latest example of the cutting-edge technology comes from the USA's first 3D-printed Starbucks coffee shop.”
“More Than 90% Of Schools In England Ban Mobile Phone Use”
A.I. Update
A.I. UPDATE
Kids and companion bots, responsible AI use, and more
The juxtaposition couldn’t be more clear. Common Sense Media and Stanford released this week a report stating clearly: “Social AI companions pose unacceptable risks to teens and children under 18.” And in the same week, the New York Times reports: “Google Plans to Roll Out its A.I. Chatbot to Children Under 13.” Not good — we are not ready for this. Now, it may be that the Google chatbot is not intended specifically as a social companion, but the distinction — already fuzzy for adults — will likely be even more unclear for kids.
I (obviously) believe there is enormous potential for the responsible use of AI — and it is already being realized by the most proactively engaged users — but the race by companies to capture the largest and youngest market is introducing enormous risk. In the current climate, I don’t believe this rush to consumers and students is going to slow, which only raises the pressure and stakes for educators and families to offer the best preparation we can for ourselves and kids. In this way, the recent Executive Order calling for the acceleration of AI into schools is a good thing — if in schools we are sure to center the responsible use of AI and help students build the right literacies and self-management skills to lead to more positive and prosocial uses of AI in their work and life. (I look forward to exploring this and other topics with the panel hosted by the Middle States Association this coming Tuesday at 11am.)
Many other important reads this week, including OpenAI’s sycophancy tweak, developments in the field, the importance of critical use of AI, and the urgency of understanding how this new technology actually works — which even the people who have created it don’t fully know. What a wild and weird time we are living in. (For those scholars of Anglo Saxon (Old) English — the word “weird” comes from the Anglo Saxon “wyrd,” meaning “fateful.” I almost always mean it that way when I use it.)
This and more, enjoy!
Peter
See the Common Sense Media report on Social AI Companions in Ethics and Risk
TECH/AI: FEATURED
Disaster: “Google Plans To Roll Out Its AI Chatbot To Children Under 13”
“Google plans to roll out its Gemini artificial intelligence chatbot next week for children under 13 who have parent-managed Google accounts, as tech companies vie to attract young users with A.I. products. “Gemini Apps will soon be available for your child,” the company said in an email this week to the parent of an 8-year-old. “That means your child will be able to use Gemini” to ask questions, get homework help and make up stories.”
AI Is Unavoidable, But Not Inevitable — There’s A Difference
“What I’m suggesting here is not necessarily resisting the technology. We’re almost at a point where that would be akin to resisting the internet or electricity in the classroom… But the way we use technology, and the form the technology takes in the future, is not set in stone. The line between ubiquity and inevitability may seem thin, but it represents the difference between a technology that is simply widespread and one that has been accepted as necessary, unchangeable, and permanent.”
"The Urgency Of Interpretability”
“People outside the field are often surprised and alarmed to learn that we do not understand how our own AI creations work. They are right to be concerned: this lack of understanding is essentially unprecedented in the history of technology… People outside the field are often surprised and alarmed to learn that we do not understand how our own AI creations work. They are right to be concerned: this lack of understanding is essentially unprecedented in the history of technology.”
TECH/AI: EDUCATION
What Does “The Coming AI Tsunami” Mean For Schools?
“Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, Middle States has been helping schools to navigate a world of increasingly abundant AI. The Executive Order may feel disruptive, but you can do three things to position your school to thrive:”
Increasingly Easy Use Of AI Means We Can Set Our Expectations Higher
“AI automates execution, forcing us to compete on higher-level cognitive skills – strategy, creativity, taste, critical analysis, and the relentless patience to iterate and refine ideas beyond the AI's initial output. We get a "return on the relinquished task," much like how offloading navigation via GPS frees up mental bandwidth for other things.”
More On The AI Executive Order
What Does The EO On AI Mean For Schools?
Will AI University Overtake In-Person University?
“Will students benefit from AI? From their perspective, tremendously. Will there still be professors? Yes, but fewer of them, and those who remain will need to be technologists as much as they are scholars. Will jobs be lost? Yes, sadly and permanently.”
TECH/AI: ETHICS AND RISK
“Kids Should Avoid AI Companion Bots—Under Force Of Law”
“Children shouldn’t speak with companion chatbots because such interactions risk self harm and could exacerbate mental health problems and addiction. That’s according to a risk assessment by children’s advocacy group Common Sense Media conducted with input from a lab at the Stanford University School of Medicine.”
Common Sense Media’s Report On Social AI Companions
“Social AI companions have unacceptable risks for teen users and should not be used by anyone under the age of 18. These social AI companions are designed to create emotional attachment and dependency. This is particularly concerning for developing adolescent brains that may struggle to maintain healthy boundaries between AI and human relationships.”
“The Age of Realtime Deepfake Fraud Is Here”
AI Worries: What Experts Think Vs. What US Adults Think
"AI Outsmarts Virus Experts In The Lab”
TECH/AI: INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT
OpenAI Describes Its AI Sycophancy Problem
“CharacterAI Unveils AvatarFX, An AI Video Model To Create Lifelike Chatbots”
The Current State Of AI’s “Jagged Frontier”