WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:11.688 --> 00:00:15.648 Jethro Jones: Welcome to Transformative Principal, where I help you stop 00:00:15.648 --> 00:00:17.748 putting out fires and start leading. 00:00:18.258 --> 00:00:19.758 I'm your host, Jethro Jones. 00:00:19.758 --> 00:00:22.458 You can follow me on Twitter at Jethro Jones. 00:00:22.458 --> 00:00:22.518 Okay. 00:00:35.285 --> 00:00:40.265 Welcome to Transformative Principal and to AI for Education Real Talk. 00:00:40.865 --> 00:00:46.445 I am Jethro Jones, and today I'm sharing a little recording that I did 00:00:46.445 --> 00:00:53.705 from my AI Leader Office Hours, which was just a monologue of me talking 00:00:53.705 --> 00:00:57.815 about some things that have been on my mind lately that I haven't put out 00:00:57.815 --> 00:01:00.725 yet, and to a broad audience at least. 00:01:00.725 --> 00:01:02.405 So I wanted to share these with you. 00:01:02.795 --> 00:01:06.125 Would love to hear what you have to say and your thoughts. 00:01:06.425 --> 00:01:11.135 Please reach out to me, Jethro at Transformative Principal dot com, or 00:01:11.135 --> 00:01:13.745 on any social network at Jethro Jones. 00:01:14.105 --> 00:01:15.695 Look forward to hearing your thoughts. 00:01:16.690 --> 00:01:16.810 I. 00:01:17.064 --> 00:01:21.624 I'm going to share some of my thoughts about where we're at with AI and what 00:01:21.624 --> 00:01:26.064 we're doing, and I just kind of been thinking about things and haven't written 00:01:26.064 --> 00:01:28.494 'em down or, or spoken about 'em anywhere. 00:01:28.674 --> 00:01:31.464 Uh, all, all in this nice little package yet. 00:01:31.464 --> 00:01:36.924 So I'm gonna do this today and I hope this is valuable for you. 00:01:37.464 --> 00:01:38.874 And more importantly, 00:01:42.204 --> 00:01:44.184 I hope that you can see this as a way to. 00:01:44.904 --> 00:01:50.394 Make a wake up call for how we're doing things and do it better for the 00:01:50.394 --> 00:01:54.504 people that are there in front of us and be willing to change some things. 00:01:54.504 --> 00:01:56.994 So I wanna start with a hard truth. 00:01:57.264 --> 00:02:02.184 In education, we could not have done a better job of preparing 00:02:02.184 --> 00:02:04.614 our system to be overtaken by ai. 00:02:05.184 --> 00:02:09.864 We have designed schools to be easy for adults and not focused on 00:02:09.864 --> 00:02:11.874 designing schools to be good for kids. 00:02:12.864 --> 00:02:17.514 The way we did that is that we made student work completely formulaic and 00:02:17.514 --> 00:02:20.694 predictable and super easy to automate. 00:02:21.144 --> 00:02:28.194 We did that for a, a decent reason, which was we wanted to make it easy on teachers 00:02:28.194 --> 00:02:32.394 to know how the kids were doing and know how they're progressing and be able to 00:02:32.394 --> 00:02:39.534 manage having 150, 200 students in a day, as I did, as a, uh, middle school 00:02:39.534 --> 00:02:41.724 teacher, myself and a high school teacher. 00:02:43.689 --> 00:02:49.029 So I get why we did it, but the problem is, is that we made the perfect system 00:02:49.329 --> 00:02:55.299 for AI to step in and do a huge amount of the work of students and teachers. 00:02:55.779 --> 00:02:59.649 And that is just what we did. 00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:03.939 And I don't think that we were like, Hey, let's create the perfect system 00:03:03.939 --> 00:03:08.649 where AI can come in and completely take over what we're doing, but we have. 00:03:09.054 --> 00:03:11.304 Effectively shot ourselves in the foot with this. 00:03:11.844 --> 00:03:16.554 Um, and by prioritizing adult convenience over student learning, 00:03:16.794 --> 00:03:18.564 we've literally dug our own grave. 00:03:18.624 --> 00:03:21.864 And that is why we're struggling so much right now. 00:03:22.374 --> 00:03:26.514 Um, and to be honest, I don't think we know how to reckon with the world. 00:03:26.514 --> 00:03:28.554 The AI is created for schools. 00:03:28.974 --> 00:03:34.194 We don't know what to do when kids can so easily just put all their 00:03:34.194 --> 00:03:38.784 answers into chat, GPT, and I'll get to the, well, we should just hand write 00:03:38.784 --> 00:03:41.454 our essays, uh, thing in a moment. 00:03:41.604 --> 00:03:46.644 But the problem is that we've forgotten what school should actually 00:03:46.644 --> 00:03:49.224 about, should actually be about. 00:03:51.024 --> 00:03:52.554 Schools should be about learning. 00:03:52.764 --> 00:03:54.354 They should not be about assignments. 00:03:54.444 --> 00:03:55.794 They should not be about tests. 00:03:56.184 --> 00:04:00.924 They should not be about easy to manage grading systems that are 00:04:00.924 --> 00:04:02.994 there for the ease of the adults. 00:04:03.564 --> 00:04:07.134 They should be about learning first and foremost. 00:04:07.584 --> 00:04:09.954 And so many of our schools are not. 00:04:10.944 --> 00:04:15.744 Our schools should be designed around whatever it is that makes 00:04:15.744 --> 00:04:16.884 it easier for kids to learn. 00:04:17.859 --> 00:04:21.819 Whatever it is that helps kids focus on real learning and 00:04:21.819 --> 00:04:23.919 their own personal capability. 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:26.829 That's what school should be about. 00:04:27.849 --> 00:04:32.679 I've said this four years, but schools should be designed around the people 00:04:32.769 --> 00:04:36.309 that are there, the students that you have, and the teachers that you have. 00:04:36.609 --> 00:04:41.889 My book, school X. That I released five years ago is all about redesigning 00:04:41.889 --> 00:04:45.039 your school for the people that are right there in front of you, that 00:04:45.039 --> 00:04:47.229 are your students and teachers. 00:04:47.799 --> 00:04:51.309 For the parents that are there, for the teachers that are there, for the 00:04:51.309 --> 00:04:56.229 community, that is there for you, who's there, because just the way that your 00:04:56.229 --> 00:05:00.489 previous principal did, it may not be the thing that works best for you. 00:05:02.169 --> 00:05:07.059 So lemme talk a little bit more about how we set things up for AI to be. 00:05:07.614 --> 00:05:15.024 The, how we set our schools up to be the perfect target for ai uh, assignments. 00:05:15.384 --> 00:05:18.924 We gave the same assignment to every single student so the teacher can grade 00:05:18.924 --> 00:05:23.964 it easily, and that makes it really easy for the teachers, but it also makes it 00:05:23.964 --> 00:05:29.274 really easy for the AI to come in and know exactly how to answer it and how to do it. 00:05:29.904 --> 00:05:34.344 We made grades based on the assignments we say to kids. 00:05:34.884 --> 00:05:36.144 You did X. 00:05:36.294 --> 00:05:41.724 So you get the grade for X, and the X is the assignment, the 00:05:41.724 --> 00:05:44.064 test, the project, whatever it is. 00:05:44.574 --> 00:05:47.394 We set it up so that they check the box and they move on. 00:05:47.994 --> 00:05:50.694 We created in an effort to make things better. 00:05:51.414 --> 00:05:56.874 We said we're gonna use a rubric instead of just assigning a letter grade, but the 00:05:56.934 --> 00:06:01.554 rubric literally says, check these boxes, and that's how you get a perfect score. 00:06:02.094 --> 00:06:06.174 And that is exactly what I have done with my own kids and my own 00:06:06.174 --> 00:06:09.774 students saying, look, the teacher gave you the keys to the kingdom. 00:06:10.584 --> 00:06:11.604 Here's the rubric. 00:06:11.934 --> 00:06:13.404 Do exactly what it says. 00:06:13.614 --> 00:06:16.554 And they have no reason to not give you a perfect grade, 00:06:17.424 --> 00:06:19.704 literally for getting grants. 00:06:20.049 --> 00:06:25.689 You look at the rubric first, and then you write your grant proposal in a way 00:06:25.749 --> 00:06:29.889 that clearly shows how you can check the box for each one of those rubric 00:06:29.919 --> 00:06:34.179 aspects to be able to get the grant or whatever it is that you're going for. 00:06:34.719 --> 00:06:38.229 When a rubric is provided, it says, this is exactly what you 00:06:38.229 --> 00:06:40.119 need to do to get this thing. 00:06:40.479 --> 00:06:42.849 So you do it, you check the box and you move on. 00:06:43.359 --> 00:06:44.259 Now, you may. 00:06:44.859 --> 00:06:48.699 Hope as a teacher that kids are going to get some learning outta that. 00:06:49.299 --> 00:06:51.129 And to be honest, they do. 00:06:51.339 --> 00:06:52.629 And that's all fine and dandy. 00:06:52.629 --> 00:06:57.099 But the problem is, is that AI is extremely good at doing 00:06:57.099 --> 00:06:58.989 exactly those kinds of tasks. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:04.389 Formulaic writing, standardized responses, and box checking work. 00:07:05.589 --> 00:07:06.969 AI is very good at that. 00:07:07.299 --> 00:07:12.769 You tell it to do this thing and it will do it, and it's very easy for it to do it. 00:07:13.404 --> 00:07:18.744 It's very good about doing repetitive structured, clearly defined tasks. 00:07:19.104 --> 00:07:21.864 What do most of our assignments in school look like? 00:07:22.404 --> 00:07:25.374 Repetitive, structured, clearly defined. 00:07:26.034 --> 00:07:30.564 It is also very good at providing good enough responses 00:07:30.864 --> 00:07:33.024 to some formulaic prompts. 00:07:33.474 --> 00:07:38.454 If you ask, for example, for it to describe what a certain theme in a 00:07:38.454 --> 00:07:41.634 popular book is, the AI can do that. 00:07:42.669 --> 00:07:48.369 That's really easy for the AI to do that because it has that 00:07:48.369 --> 00:07:53.079 corpus of knowledge accessible and it knows what that looks like. 00:07:55.209 --> 00:07:59.079 Some of the things that AI is not so easy, so simple to use for that. 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:03.699 It's a little bit more challenging, are highly specific, deeply contextual 00:08:03.699 --> 00:08:08.229 and personal task unless you provide all of that context yourself. 00:08:08.934 --> 00:08:12.234 You have to tell it exactly what to include and how to 00:08:12.234 --> 00:08:13.734 feel about those things. 00:08:13.734 --> 00:08:15.894 If you don't, then it will just make things up. 00:08:17.064 --> 00:08:20.454 For example, if you're like, okay, instead of just saying, what's the 00:08:20.454 --> 00:08:25.194 content of this book that we're reading, you ask the students to 00:08:25.284 --> 00:08:27.054 tell how it applies to their life. 00:08:27.654 --> 00:08:31.434 A student can still say, this applies to my life because, and 00:08:31.434 --> 00:08:35.094 just plug that into chat, GPT and it will just make something up. 00:08:35.394 --> 00:08:39.204 And the AI can do that pretty easily and very confidently. 00:08:39.984 --> 00:08:43.584 That's why it's really easy for the AI to, to trick. 00:08:44.139 --> 00:08:47.769 People into thinking that it's real is because it, it says things, 00:08:47.859 --> 00:08:51.909 it replies to things with so much confidence that you're like, yeah, 00:08:51.909 --> 00:08:54.219 this is definitely, definitely true. 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:55.599 I can totally get this. 00:08:56.769 --> 00:09:02.769 So this idea of school being designed for the ease of the teachers has 00:09:02.769 --> 00:09:08.169 set it up perfectly for AI to come in and, and totally disrupt us. 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:12.279 Most people right now are using ai. 00:09:13.299 --> 00:09:17.439 To do things faster and easier and we're doing the same old 00:09:17.439 --> 00:09:18.999 work just more efficiently. 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:24.249 I was just in Wyoming earlier this month doing a training, uh, called AI for 00:09:24.249 --> 00:09:30.609 Innovation, and what I was really focusing on is everybody's using it for completing 00:09:30.609 --> 00:09:33.909 these tasks and checking off the boxes. 00:09:33.909 --> 00:09:35.769 We're doing the same old work that we've always done. 00:09:35.769 --> 00:09:40.119 We're just doing it more efficiently now that's totally fine if the same 00:09:40.119 --> 00:09:41.229 old work that you've been doing. 00:09:41.844 --> 00:09:44.184 Is the work that you actually need to do. 00:09:44.664 --> 00:09:47.724 But the problem is, is that is not, that is not often the case. 00:09:49.254 --> 00:09:52.194 Sometimes you really don't need to be doing that work that you were doing. 00:09:52.914 --> 00:09:59.394 I tell this joke is it's half a joke, half real, that I would not, 00:09:59.694 --> 00:10:03.324 uh, reply to anything or do anything that the district asked me to do 00:10:03.324 --> 00:10:05.004 until they asked me three times. 00:10:05.634 --> 00:10:08.274 And people laugh when I say that because everybody's like, 00:10:08.274 --> 00:10:09.174 oh yeah, that'd be funny. 00:10:09.594 --> 00:10:11.214 But the reality is, is that I did do that. 00:10:11.619 --> 00:10:15.549 It did work because the district would ask me to do things that they didn't 00:10:15.549 --> 00:10:18.699 actually need done, but they're like sitting in a meeting somewhere and 00:10:18.699 --> 00:10:22.089 they're like, oh, we should get this information from all the principals. 00:10:22.389 --> 00:10:25.299 And so they would then ask all the principals, and the 00:10:25.299 --> 00:10:28.239 principals would be like, well, there goes the rest of my week. 00:10:28.239 --> 00:10:30.219 Now I gotta get all this stuff in for the district. 00:10:30.669 --> 00:10:30.789 But. 00:10:31.719 --> 00:10:35.049 They would send that email and then the next day they'd come back into 00:10:35.049 --> 00:10:37.179 that same meeting with the same group of people and say, you know, 00:10:37.179 --> 00:10:38.499 nevermind, we don't really need this. 00:10:38.739 --> 00:10:41.049 Meanwhile, the principals are all working trying to find all 00:10:41.049 --> 00:10:45.759 that information and get them the information they need, and they've 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:46.869 already decided they don't need it. 00:10:46.869 --> 00:10:47.319 So then the. 00:10:47.564 --> 00:10:49.544 Principles, turn it in and they're like, thank you for doing this. 00:10:49.544 --> 00:10:50.114 That's great. 00:10:50.384 --> 00:10:51.704 But then nothing ever happens. 00:10:51.914 --> 00:10:54.044 I saw that happen so many times in my career. 00:10:54.044 --> 00:10:55.574 I decided it just wasn't worth it. 00:10:55.574 --> 00:10:59.474 I'm just not going to do this until I get asked for it multiple times. 00:10:59.744 --> 00:11:04.814 'cause if I get asked for it multiple times, then I'll do it because I know 00:11:04.814 --> 00:11:06.194 that they really are looking for it. 00:11:06.644 --> 00:11:10.124 But most of the time they, they probably don't need those things. 00:11:11.504 --> 00:11:15.584 So people are usually using AI to do the same old work just more efficiently. 00:11:15.584 --> 00:11:17.024 They're never asking the question. 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:19.359 Should I even be doing this work? 00:11:20.049 --> 00:11:21.549 Should I even be writing this email? 00:11:21.549 --> 00:11:22.989 Should I be writing this newsletter? 00:11:23.649 --> 00:11:27.369 Very few people are using AI to solve complex problems that 00:11:27.369 --> 00:11:28.059 don't have a clear answer. 00:11:30.054 --> 00:11:33.324 For example, how do I improve attendance rates at my school? 00:11:33.684 --> 00:11:35.394 There's not a single right answer for that. 00:11:35.664 --> 00:11:40.074 You can look at my TEDx video where I got my, uh, where I shared 00:11:40.074 --> 00:11:44.874 how I got my school attendance up to 95% Jethro site slash TEDx. 00:11:45.144 --> 00:11:49.194 You can go watch that video and see how I did it at my school, but that 00:11:49.194 --> 00:11:53.694 might not work at your school and that might not work today because 00:11:53.694 --> 00:11:55.374 things have changed so much since. 00:11:55.959 --> 00:11:59.709 In the last 13 years since I originally gave that talk. 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:05.829 There are multiple strategies and multiple ways to solve a problem, and 00:12:05.859 --> 00:12:08.259 you don't know what works until you try. 00:12:08.709 --> 00:12:15.159 But that is a good question to ask AI because we don't know the answer 00:12:15.849 --> 00:12:19.959 and you may get something that you don't know could work, but again, 00:12:20.049 --> 00:12:21.729 you're gonna have to actually try it. 00:12:22.239 --> 00:12:24.009 So using AI in that example. 00:12:24.669 --> 00:12:30.369 May not be as beneficial as, how do I write a nice truancy letter to the 00:12:30.369 --> 00:12:32.349 family that makes them feel good? 00:12:32.769 --> 00:12:39.009 Well, lemme tell you what, the truancy letter does not work anyway, and if 00:12:39.009 --> 00:12:42.939 somebody is at the point where they're getting a truancy letter, then a 00:12:42.939 --> 00:12:45.549 little letter in the mail is not going to make them suddenly change their 00:12:45.549 --> 00:12:49.449 mind about prioritizing education and coming to school every day. 00:12:49.839 --> 00:12:50.949 That's just not gonna work. 00:12:51.579 --> 00:12:52.419 How do I know? 00:12:52.449 --> 00:12:54.459 Because I've seen it hundreds of times. 00:12:54.459 --> 00:12:56.529 I've sent out hundreds of those letters. 00:12:57.819 --> 00:12:58.899 And did they ever work? 00:12:59.349 --> 00:13:00.699 No, they didn't. 00:13:01.389 --> 00:13:05.589 All they were was us documenting that we were trying, so that if we ever did 00:13:05.589 --> 00:13:07.719 go to court, then we could say yes. 00:13:07.719 --> 00:13:07.944 We tried. 00:13:09.114 --> 00:13:10.854 Then what happens now? 00:13:10.854 --> 00:13:13.854 We're fighting with this kid and their family in court. 00:13:14.304 --> 00:13:14.724 Yeah. 00:13:14.784 --> 00:13:17.004 That really makes a student want to come to your school. 00:13:17.364 --> 00:13:20.994 We are gonna force you by coercion of law to make you come. 00:13:21.924 --> 00:13:23.124 That's a winning strategy. 00:13:23.664 --> 00:13:26.424 If you can't sense the sarcasm in my voice, it's real. 00:13:28.974 --> 00:13:32.874 So we need to have a shift in our schools instead of just doing the same 00:13:32.874 --> 00:13:34.134 old thing we've always been doing. 00:13:34.839 --> 00:13:38.499 We need to stop a few things and start a few things. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.709 Number one, we need to stop focusing, focusing on 00:13:41.709 --> 00:13:43.269 assignments, tests, and passing. 00:13:43.809 --> 00:13:45.969 And we need to stop designing for ease of grading. 00:13:46.299 --> 00:13:51.519 In fact, if I had my way, I would say you're not allowed to give assignments 00:13:51.579 --> 00:13:56.829 or tests anymore because we need to figure out what these kids really know. 00:13:56.949 --> 00:13:59.829 And the best way for us to figure that out is them demonstrating it. 00:14:00.249 --> 00:14:01.514 I'll get more into that in a little bit. 00:14:02.334 --> 00:14:03.834 We need to pay this. 00:14:03.924 --> 00:14:07.254 One of the things, some of the things we need to start are we need to start 00:14:07.254 --> 00:14:09.504 paying attention to actual learning. 00:14:10.044 --> 00:14:14.214 We need to be asking, can this student really do what they need to be able to do? 00:14:14.784 --> 00:14:17.754 And what does that look like in each different subject at 00:14:17.754 --> 00:14:18.834 each different grade level? 00:14:19.254 --> 00:14:21.144 What does that actually look like? 00:14:21.849 --> 00:14:26.529 We need to be able to design learning that can't just be handed off to ai. 00:14:27.099 --> 00:14:32.409 Now, there are some things that we definitely should hand off to AI and 00:14:32.409 --> 00:14:39.369 technology to do, creating thousands of practice, uh, questions for something. 00:14:39.459 --> 00:14:41.619 No teacher should ever be doing that again. 00:14:42.039 --> 00:14:44.739 You should have an AI do that because the AI can make those so 00:14:44.739 --> 00:14:46.119 much faster and so much better. 00:14:47.439 --> 00:14:51.759 So if a kid needs a ton of practice, and not all kids do, but if a kid does need 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:56.289 a ton of practice on low level addition or multiplication or algebra problems or 00:14:56.289 --> 00:15:00.129 calculus problems or whatever they are, we should definitely be turning to another 00:15:00.129 --> 00:15:06.189 tool for that practice that should not be a teacher creating that, because if the 00:15:06.189 --> 00:15:09.669 kid just needs practice and they know how to do it, but they just need practice to 00:15:09.669 --> 00:15:12.009 do it again and again and again, then. 00:15:13.044 --> 00:15:15.294 We should provide them an opportunity to do that. 00:15:15.384 --> 00:15:19.104 And a computer, a piece of technology, can do a much better job of that 00:15:19.524 --> 00:15:24.234 than a teacher can, and it's a much more efficient use of time. 00:15:24.804 --> 00:15:25.224 But. 00:15:25.764 --> 00:15:29.754 That's if the student actually needs the practice. 00:15:30.204 --> 00:15:35.394 If a student comes into your class being able to do addition up to 10, for example. 00:15:35.904 --> 00:15:39.234 I'm keeping it simple on purpose, but you can apply this to any 00:15:39.234 --> 00:15:40.794 standard that you can easily measure. 00:15:41.364 --> 00:15:42.714 'cause that's most of what we do in school. 00:15:42.714 --> 00:15:47.244 If the kid can already do it, they should really be opted out of any 00:15:47.484 --> 00:15:50.389 practice or tests that work with that. 00:15:51.594 --> 00:15:54.864 For example, when I was a middle school teacher, I had a student 00:15:54.864 --> 00:15:58.314 come in who was already reading some amazing Victorian literature. 00:15:58.914 --> 00:16:03.054 She already understood it way more than my students currently did. 00:16:03.504 --> 00:16:06.624 She understood how to write and how to communicate effectively. 00:16:06.924 --> 00:16:10.644 Those were my real jobs as an English teacher, which I know is not 00:16:10.644 --> 00:16:13.434 what most English teachers think, but those were my real jobs, was 00:16:13.434 --> 00:16:16.224 make sure kids could communicate effectively this student could. 00:16:16.824 --> 00:16:17.874 So I said, look. 00:16:18.624 --> 00:16:21.894 You don't have to do any of the assignments that I give in class, not a 00:16:21.894 --> 00:16:25.469 single one, because you're way ahead of all these other seventh grade students. 00:16:27.219 --> 00:16:28.449 That was like blasphemy. 00:16:28.749 --> 00:16:32.919 And I didn't tell anybody because I knew people would not be okay with that. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:35.469 I said, you get, you passed the class already. 00:16:35.529 --> 00:16:39.549 You have an A. So what we're gonna focus on is you doing actual 00:16:39.549 --> 00:16:41.049 learning that's beneficial to you. 00:16:41.589 --> 00:16:45.909 So you figure out what you want to learn this year, talk to me 00:16:45.909 --> 00:16:47.289 about it and let's make a plan. 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:48.519 And that's what we did. 00:16:48.819 --> 00:16:50.649 And this student who was amazing. 00:16:51.054 --> 00:16:55.584 Did incredible work and turned in a binder at the end of the year that 00:16:55.584 --> 00:16:59.574 she checked in with me on regularly and said, here's what I'm working on. 00:16:59.874 --> 00:17:00.744 Well, how does this look? 00:17:00.744 --> 00:17:01.494 What do you think? 00:17:01.794 --> 00:17:06.114 And it was the best teaching experience that I've ever had in my life because 00:17:06.114 --> 00:17:11.754 this young woman was a genius and I felt honored to be able to be in the 00:17:11.754 --> 00:17:14.034 same orbit as her for that one year. 00:17:14.784 --> 00:17:15.564 She was awesome. 00:17:15.834 --> 00:17:16.224 Now. 00:17:16.854 --> 00:17:19.884 She moved on and went on to eighth grade and then high school. 00:17:19.884 --> 00:17:23.964 And I don't know what happened to her, but I do know that she knew how 00:17:23.964 --> 00:17:28.254 to learn and she knew the content that I was trying to teach already. 00:17:28.854 --> 00:17:30.384 And it was amazing. 00:17:30.444 --> 00:17:35.094 And I, I loved that year and that inspired me for the rest of my career 00:17:35.094 --> 00:17:37.794 to find opportunities to do that. 00:17:39.294 --> 00:17:43.524 Now people are gonna have some pushback in an AI world. 00:17:44.454 --> 00:17:49.614 When AI can do the work so easily, people ask, why should we do anything else? 00:17:51.144 --> 00:17:52.194 And that's fair. 00:17:52.974 --> 00:17:54.294 We gotta be honest about that. 00:17:54.954 --> 00:17:58.584 If the AI can do it, why should we spend any time with it? 00:17:59.304 --> 00:18:03.534 And the reality is we have to be honest about what AI can't do and what will 00:18:03.534 --> 00:18:06.624 still deeply matter in human life. 00:18:07.284 --> 00:18:09.294 What does it mean to be a human? 00:18:09.354 --> 00:18:15.549 What does it mean to be a. A, a person who can interact with other people in 00:18:15.549 --> 00:18:17.949 this life, we have to address that. 00:18:17.949 --> 00:18:21.609 We have to have an idea of what that looks like. 00:18:22.029 --> 00:18:26.169 So there are few practical things that the AI cannot yet 00:18:26.169 --> 00:18:28.209 do, and maybe it will someday. 00:18:28.779 --> 00:18:34.329 Uh, so it cannot, for example, fix the leaking sink under your counter, like the 00:18:34.329 --> 00:18:38.409 ai, there's no robot right now that can come in and do that, or physically fix 00:18:38.409 --> 00:18:41.199 anything else in your home or on your car. 00:18:41.769 --> 00:18:43.329 Right now, that's where it's at. 00:18:43.449 --> 00:18:46.269 And in a few years that may be very possible. 00:18:47.139 --> 00:18:53.679 However, AI might be able to help invent something like self-healing plastics. 00:18:54.219 --> 00:18:57.489 It might be used in conjunction with a scientist to figure 00:18:57.489 --> 00:18:58.509 out how to create that. 00:18:59.289 --> 00:19:04.929 It might be able to create flexible pipes that never leak with the 00:19:04.929 --> 00:19:08.114 help of a human so that you will be able to have your sink going. 00:19:08.904 --> 00:19:12.984 With one continuous thing that doesn't have any junctions or anything that 00:19:12.984 --> 00:19:19.074 could cause it to leak, that may be the the possibility in the future. 00:19:19.614 --> 00:19:23.994 Right now, physical hands-on skills are still human things 00:19:24.384 --> 00:19:25.464 that may change in the future. 00:19:25.464 --> 00:19:27.624 In fact, I'm sure it will to some extent. 00:19:29.064 --> 00:19:33.804 The other thing that AI can't do is that the AI cannot. 00:19:34.299 --> 00:19:39.489 Have human emotions, it can mimic them and it can look like it has them, but 00:19:39.489 --> 00:19:43.119 it cannot, I, I don't remember where I heard this, and I wish that I could 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:50.439 because I, I've said it many times, but AI does not have empathy, and it looks 00:19:50.439 --> 00:19:54.039 like it does have empathy, but the real difference between real human empathy 00:19:54.489 --> 00:20:02.919 and AI empathy is that humans are limited in how much they can give of themselves. 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:12.369 AI is not, and AI can keep talking to you for 10 years straight and pretend like 00:20:12.369 --> 00:20:14.499 it has empathy this whole entire time. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:22.179 But humans have finite time and other resources, and so we cannot, as humans, 00:20:22.959 --> 00:20:29.589 take care of and care for someone else 100% of the time for the next 10 years. 00:20:30.444 --> 00:20:31.704 It's just not possible. 00:20:32.424 --> 00:20:37.074 Even parents, part of their caring for their kids is obviously going to work 00:20:37.074 --> 00:20:39.744 and getting a job and making money to be able to pay for all the things that their 00:20:39.744 --> 00:20:44.304 kids need, but they cannot only do that. 00:20:44.574 --> 00:20:50.424 We have to recharge, we have to take care of ourselves, and eventually our 00:20:50.424 --> 00:20:54.534 bodies break down and we run out of time to do all the things that we want to. 00:20:55.674 --> 00:20:59.994 Just this week, you and I have both not had the time to do something. 00:21:00.504 --> 00:21:02.754 With someone that we love, that we wanted to do. 00:21:04.074 --> 00:21:05.904 AI doesn't have those limitations. 00:21:06.234 --> 00:21:12.384 It can, uh, praise us, work with us, support us as much as we ask it to, 00:21:12.744 --> 00:21:15.834 and, and that's just the reality. 00:21:15.924 --> 00:21:22.824 So as humans, we have limitations and those limitations are what make us humans. 00:21:23.244 --> 00:21:24.684 And that's not a bad thing. 00:21:26.634 --> 00:21:33.474 So the question becomes what should we be teaching then if, if these skills, uh, if, 00:21:33.564 --> 00:21:38.634 if the AI can't do these skills, should we only be focusing on teaching things, uh, 00:21:38.844 --> 00:21:42.504 that are not able to be found in a book? 00:21:43.554 --> 00:21:48.114 The thing is, for a long time, Google and Wikipedia and other technology 00:21:48.114 --> 00:21:50.424 tools have made knowledge retrieval. 00:21:51.084 --> 00:21:56.364 So easy, so trivial and AI has just taken it to the next level. 00:21:57.084 --> 00:22:02.274 So the things we need to be teaching are not just information, because 00:22:02.274 --> 00:22:06.114 information exists out there and you can find it and access it very easily 00:22:06.474 --> 00:22:08.544 through many different platforms. 00:22:09.294 --> 00:22:12.894 What we should be teaching are human skills that AI cannot easily replicate. 00:22:15.489 --> 00:22:20.589 We need to be teaching deep thinking and relational skills for each other. 00:22:20.889 --> 00:22:24.639 The things that allow us to tackle these wicked problems, which 00:22:24.639 --> 00:22:28.659 are ambiguous, messy, real world problems that we all run into. 00:22:30.129 --> 00:22:34.419 Now that doesn't mean that we should abandon teaching information because 00:22:34.419 --> 00:22:39.279 it's much more valuable when you can do mental math in your head, 00:22:39.309 --> 00:22:43.209 when you can find a quote from somebody that you want to share. 00:22:43.209 --> 00:22:48.519 When you can, uh, share the things that you know because you know them, 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:50.109 not because you looked them up. 00:22:50.679 --> 00:22:51.909 There is value in that still. 00:22:51.909 --> 00:22:54.009 And I'm not saying that we should go away from that. 00:22:54.549 --> 00:22:56.619 I was talking with some friends the other day and they were. 00:22:57.369 --> 00:23:00.909 Somebody brought up the idea of the power of memorizing things and how 00:23:00.909 --> 00:23:02.529 valuable it is to memorize things. 00:23:02.529 --> 00:23:06.399 Well, in a classical education, there are certain things that you, 00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:12.669 uh, memorized or did recitations in Latin or Greek or whatever, and 00:23:12.849 --> 00:23:19.899 those can be valuable, but it's not about the recitation of those things. 00:23:19.899 --> 00:23:24.579 It's about number one, understanding what those things are that you're, 00:23:24.789 --> 00:23:26.229 that you're trying to memorize. 00:23:27.234 --> 00:23:29.634 But also how those things actually apply to you. 00:23:30.324 --> 00:23:34.554 So recitations where everybody recites the same thing. 00:23:34.554 --> 00:23:39.294 The reason why that's done is so that it is easy for the teacher to say, yes, 00:23:39.294 --> 00:23:41.754 you got that thing and you recited it. 00:23:41.754 --> 00:23:43.464 And that's, that's all well and good. 00:23:44.064 --> 00:23:50.364 What's more valuable is having recitations of things that are truly meaningful 00:23:50.364 --> 00:23:55.149 to you, that help you with how you understand the world and what that means. 00:23:56.439 --> 00:23:57.339 That's the key. 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:05.379 And because of AI and technology, it's much easier to quote unquote grade that 00:24:05.439 --> 00:24:12.099 and say, yes, this person memorized this thing, because we have all these ways of 00:24:12.099 --> 00:24:14.409 tracking whether or not that that works. 00:24:14.649 --> 00:24:19.329 So you can record that and the AI can say, yes, this matches the 00:24:19.329 --> 00:24:20.709 thing that they were supposed to. 00:24:21.174 --> 00:24:22.014 To memorize. 00:24:22.404 --> 00:24:26.034 Whereas in a traditional classical classroom where everybody's memorizing 00:24:26.034 --> 00:24:30.714 the same thing that was done to make it easy for the teacher to say, yes, all 00:24:30.714 --> 00:24:32.454 these students can memorize this thing. 00:24:33.234 --> 00:24:36.684 And some of those, some of those recitations do still 00:24:36.684 --> 00:24:41.514 have value, and we can continue those, but not all of them do. 00:24:42.894 --> 00:24:44.844 So let me share an example. 00:24:44.844 --> 00:24:48.324 I was talking to one of the principals I coach the other day, and he mentioned that 00:24:48.324 --> 00:24:55.044 one of his friends was doing, uh, some, some PR work for a large organization 00:24:56.154 --> 00:25:00.564 and they were writing the newsletters, doing ads, doing doctor features, 00:25:00.624 --> 00:25:03.954 working with the logos, getting press releases out, all that kind of stuff. 00:25:04.494 --> 00:25:10.314 And the organization replaced him with a younger, more tech oriented person who's 00:25:10.314 --> 00:25:13.134 using AI to do most of the content work. 00:25:13.614 --> 00:25:17.604 Now, to be honest, I don't really have a problem with that. 00:25:18.084 --> 00:25:21.864 I don't, I don't think that's a bad idea necessarily. 00:25:22.554 --> 00:25:29.004 But the problem is, is when we identify and say that a person's job is this thing. 00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:33.639 Which is writing content, putting out press releases, 00:25:33.879 --> 00:25:36.159 newsletters, ads, doctor features. 00:25:36.849 --> 00:25:41.589 If that's their job, then it's probably pretty easy to say yes. 00:25:41.889 --> 00:25:45.939 That's what that, that's, that's easy to replace with somebody who costs 00:25:45.939 --> 00:25:49.269 a lot less and knows how to use AI and can do those things much faster. 00:25:49.989 --> 00:25:55.089 However, that's probably not what a PR person really does. 00:25:55.494 --> 00:26:01.704 The PR person creates relationships, connects with people, and develops 00:26:01.704 --> 00:26:05.694 these relationships in a way that the organization gets benefit 00:26:05.844 --> 00:26:10.014 from those relationships and the network that that PR person has. 00:26:11.154 --> 00:26:16.074 This is really valuable and something that, uh, we forget about when it 00:26:16.074 --> 00:26:17.999 comes to hiring people for work. 00:26:19.764 --> 00:26:25.914 The work is not just doing these discreet tasks, however, part of work is doing 00:26:25.914 --> 00:26:30.864 some discreet tasks, and when the discreet tasks can be done better, more efficiently 00:26:30.864 --> 00:26:36.954 and more effectively with ai, that's not a bad idea to use AI to do that. 00:26:37.944 --> 00:26:43.104 In fact, that's a smart, fiscally responsible way to manage that. 00:26:44.634 --> 00:26:48.054 So in this situation, the AI can generate press releases. 00:26:48.684 --> 00:26:51.774 And draft newsletters and marketing content and create 00:26:51.774 --> 00:26:53.064 ads and do all that stuff. 00:26:53.634 --> 00:26:57.444 But what AI cannot do is build deep relationships with donors 00:26:57.444 --> 00:26:58.614 and the people that work there. 00:26:59.334 --> 00:27:02.274 It cannot have nuanced conversations that could bring in 00:27:02.274 --> 00:27:03.924 major gifts to the organization. 00:27:05.064 --> 00:27:10.704 I can't read a room and connect human to human with somebody within that place. 00:27:11.274 --> 00:27:17.124 So the real value of that PR role was the relationships, the trust, and the high 00:27:17.124 --> 00:27:19.404 stakes human connection to other people. 00:27:19.794 --> 00:27:24.204 Those are the kinds of things that we need to be teaching kids to develop 00:27:24.504 --> 00:27:30.354 and understand because ai, while it's great and can do a lot of cool things. 00:27:30.744 --> 00:27:32.724 Still cannot do those things. 00:27:33.084 --> 00:27:38.484 And to be honest, if an AI is doing those things, it feels more invasive than if a 00:27:38.484 --> 00:27:44.184 human is doing it because it feels like it is mining you for data and seeking for 00:27:44.184 --> 00:27:49.224 transactional outcomes from the things that you are talking with it about. 00:27:53.334 --> 00:27:55.794 So in our schools, we have this formulaic learning. 00:27:56.874 --> 00:28:00.504 Where students can now put a calculus problem into chat GT 00:28:00.864 --> 00:28:02.514 and get an instant solution. 00:28:03.234 --> 00:28:06.744 They can paste in a history assignment and say, write this like a 10th grader, 00:28:07.014 --> 00:28:10.314 and make sure, oh yeah, make sure you include, uh, spelling mistakes. 00:28:10.314 --> 00:28:12.894 So my teacher doesn't suspect that I used AI for this. 00:28:13.824 --> 00:28:19.314 Everything that we've made formula in schools, essay, homework, the basic 00:28:19.314 --> 00:28:22.344 problems that we give students, even in. 00:28:23.259 --> 00:28:28.809 The real world, like the PR stuff that we were talking about, all of it is just 00:28:28.929 --> 00:28:31.959 ripe and ready for AI to take it over. 00:28:33.009 --> 00:28:37.119 But the human skills that we rarely teach, but that we desperately 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:40.629 need are things that are essential. 00:28:40.959 --> 00:28:43.239 These are what I like to call organic skills. 00:28:43.854 --> 00:28:47.664 These are connecting with people authentically, building and sustaining 00:28:47.664 --> 00:28:51.114 relationships, being supportive in a crisis and helping someone through 00:28:51.114 --> 00:28:55.524 a hard time, and collaborating on complex, ambiguous assignments. 00:28:55.584 --> 00:28:58.254 And there are so many more of these organic skills. 00:28:59.214 --> 00:29:04.854 But the problem is, is that these organic skills don't show up well on a test, are 00:29:04.854 --> 00:29:07.884 difficult at best to explicitly teach. 00:29:07.914 --> 00:29:09.324 And so we don't really know how to do it. 00:29:09.324 --> 00:29:10.314 So we often just. 00:29:10.704 --> 00:29:15.684 Ignore it, but they're also exactly what will matter the most when 00:29:15.684 --> 00:29:17.874 AI can do almost everything else. 00:29:20.244 --> 00:29:22.794 So the big question is how do we change? 00:29:24.504 --> 00:29:25.314 That's tough. 00:29:28.074 --> 00:29:30.924 And many educators feel like, Hey, we've been doing this 00:29:30.924 --> 00:29:33.129 for 20, 30 years of my career. 00:29:33.654 --> 00:29:34.884 What are we supposed to do now? 00:29:35.094 --> 00:29:35.964 I am old. 00:29:36.264 --> 00:29:38.634 I've been at this a long time, and. 00:29:39.534 --> 00:29:43.584 Completely changing how I practice my teaching is gonna be a big change. 00:29:44.604 --> 00:29:49.134 Also, the other question is, how do we change when we don't even 00:29:49.134 --> 00:29:50.604 know where the destination is? 00:29:50.934 --> 00:29:53.814 We don't even know really what we're preparing our kids for. 00:29:54.204 --> 00:30:00.774 And so we're just gonna do the best we can, um, and just, just try to, try to 00:30:00.774 --> 00:30:02.124 do the best we can with what we got. 00:30:02.184 --> 00:30:03.804 And that's all there is to it. 00:30:05.604 --> 00:30:07.494 And it can feel like. 00:30:08.724 --> 00:30:13.194 You know what it was like to drive before GPS, for example. 00:30:13.854 --> 00:30:17.844 You had a destination, you knew how to get there, and that was good. 00:30:17.844 --> 00:30:22.044 Now, GPS came along and now people use it in the cities where they live and 00:30:22.044 --> 00:30:26.274 they don't know how to get across town, and they look up everything in their 00:30:26.274 --> 00:30:28.554 GPS, even in the place where they live. 00:30:30.384 --> 00:30:31.464 That's where we're at right now. 00:30:31.524 --> 00:30:34.944 We have this new tool and we really don't know how to, how to deal with it. 00:30:36.504 --> 00:30:41.334 So if I were a principal right now, this is, this is what I would do first. 00:30:41.784 --> 00:30:46.944 And, you know, maybe this isn't first, I should say let's, let's do this one first. 00:30:46.944 --> 00:30:48.564 I was gonna say one thing, but I'm gonna change that. 00:30:49.104 --> 00:30:52.944 Here's what we should do first, everything students create should 00:30:52.944 --> 00:30:55.224 have an audience beyond the teacher. 00:30:56.394 --> 00:30:59.544 If the only person who sees it is the teacher, then it's essentially a 00:30:59.544 --> 00:31:03.684 pointless assignment, and they exist only to generate a grade and a check mark. 00:31:04.614 --> 00:31:08.244 You can have many different real audiences, classmates, families, 00:31:08.244 --> 00:31:12.354 community members, online readers, or viewers of whatever you're creating. 00:31:13.314 --> 00:31:17.454 Students should be making things for real people, not just for a grade. 00:31:17.544 --> 00:31:18.804 So that would be the first thing. 00:31:19.164 --> 00:31:22.854 If you're going to give a student something to do or have them 00:31:22.854 --> 00:31:26.724 do anything, then it's gotta be for more than just the teacher. 00:31:27.354 --> 00:31:30.414 And it can be anybody besides the teacher, but it's gotta be 00:31:30.414 --> 00:31:32.724 for more than just the teacher, because if the teacher is only it. 00:31:33.534 --> 00:31:37.194 It is just there to get a grade and a check mark, and every kid 00:31:37.194 --> 00:31:38.454 understands that and knows that. 00:31:39.564 --> 00:31:44.244 The second thing that I would do if I were a principal today is I would 00:31:44.244 --> 00:31:49.494 say no more traditional assignments, and I would demand that our student 00:31:49.494 --> 00:31:55.134 information systems like PowerSchool and Canvas and all these things were 00:31:55.134 --> 00:32:00.564 redesigned so that we have no more assignments and no more traditional tests. 00:32:01.929 --> 00:32:05.409 Now I'm taking a hard stance on that, but there could be a 00:32:05.409 --> 00:32:07.569 place for a test for something. 00:32:08.019 --> 00:32:12.519 But the reality is these things are way too easy to fake with ai. 00:32:13.089 --> 00:32:16.359 Also, they are often meaningless and everybody knows it. 00:32:16.419 --> 00:32:18.279 The students know, and the teachers know. 00:32:18.849 --> 00:32:20.859 Furthermore, grades are just made up. 00:32:20.919 --> 00:32:25.419 They always have been, and they always will no matter what class you're in. 00:32:25.479 --> 00:32:27.009 That grade is just made up so. 00:32:29.514 --> 00:32:32.364 No more traditional assignments and no more traditional tests. 00:32:33.204 --> 00:32:35.364 So that's a big ask, isn't it? 00:32:35.574 --> 00:32:36.774 I mean, that's tough. 00:32:36.864 --> 00:32:43.314 I know that I am, people get upset when I say things like that, but the reality 00:32:43.314 --> 00:32:50.304 is we need to be assessing students in a way that is real, that one proves 00:32:50.304 --> 00:32:54.024 that they actually know what, what we think they should know, and two, gives 00:32:54.024 --> 00:32:56.274 them opportunities to do that as well. 00:32:58.179 --> 00:33:02.379 It, it's really fascinating how several of my kids', teachers in middle school 00:33:02.379 --> 00:33:06.849 and high school have said things like, well, we need to do handwriting. 00:33:07.029 --> 00:33:08.979 Like we're gonna have our students do handwriting. 00:33:09.669 --> 00:33:15.369 Now, the thing that is frustrating about this is, uh, is their reasoning behind it. 00:33:15.939 --> 00:33:21.699 What they're not saying is kids can do everything in chat, GBT, so we're doing. 00:33:22.059 --> 00:33:25.569 We're doing handwriting because, uh, that way they won't use hat. 00:33:25.569 --> 00:33:32.439 GPTI guess some people are saying that, and that's a pretty dumb reason because 00:33:33.129 --> 00:33:36.909 what you're doing is you're forcing kids to do something that is a longer and more 00:33:36.909 --> 00:33:39.909 difficult process than typing things out. 00:33:40.569 --> 00:33:43.179 We have the technology, it works better. 00:33:43.209 --> 00:33:45.819 We should use it as an English teacher. 00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:51.399 I know what it's like to read 200 essays over the weekend that are handwritten. 00:33:52.509 --> 00:33:56.019 You wanna know something that is probably the fifth circle of hell. 00:33:56.439 --> 00:34:02.439 Reading students' poorly handwritten essays because it's way more difficult 00:34:02.679 --> 00:34:04.749 than reading typewritten text. 00:34:05.169 --> 00:34:09.849 It's way more difficult for the teacher, number one, and it's 00:34:09.849 --> 00:34:11.859 rejecting the technology that exists. 00:34:11.859 --> 00:34:14.229 That should make it easier for us to read. 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:19.869 Now I did say before that, uh, should we even be doing things. 00:34:20.709 --> 00:34:23.889 Just to make it easier for teachers, and I don't think we should, but 00:34:23.889 --> 00:34:27.399 at the same time, teachers are not making their jobs easier by having 00:34:27.399 --> 00:34:33.369 handwriting as their, their re re uh, their response to AI usage. 00:34:34.209 --> 00:34:35.619 That's not the right approach either. 00:34:41.229 --> 00:34:42.759 So when kids can. 00:34:45.714 --> 00:34:48.144 The second thing I was gonna say, I lost my train of thought for a sec. The 00:34:48.144 --> 00:34:51.684 second reason teachers are saying that kids should use handwriting is they 00:34:51.684 --> 00:34:58.314 say, well, uh, it's been proven that, uh, it's better for the brain if kids 00:34:58.374 --> 00:35:00.984 write things long form with their hand. 00:35:01.674 --> 00:35:02.454 And you know what? 00:35:02.934 --> 00:35:04.284 I totally believe that. 00:35:04.734 --> 00:35:08.064 But that is a really stupid response when the last five years. 00:35:09.009 --> 00:35:12.219 Even longer, but especially the last five years, we have forced 00:35:12.219 --> 00:35:13.749 everything into this typewritten thing. 00:35:13.749 --> 00:35:17.079 If you really believed that you would've been doing that for 00:35:17.079 --> 00:35:18.819 the last five years and longer. 00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.269 So that is just ridiculous. 00:35:22.449 --> 00:35:25.719 What they're really saying with that is, I don't wanna say that it's 00:35:25.719 --> 00:35:30.069 because of Chap GBT, so I'm going to say the brain science tells us this. 00:35:30.609 --> 00:35:35.139 And while that may be true, and personally I do believe there is great 00:35:35.139 --> 00:35:37.929 value in writing things down, uh. 00:35:38.379 --> 00:35:41.739 That is a lame excuse when that is not how you've been 00:35:41.739 --> 00:35:43.869 acting for the last five years. 00:35:45.339 --> 00:35:51.219 These two responses, uh, just prove that the work itself is meaningless 00:35:51.339 --> 00:35:54.609 and it's not worth doing, and so the kids should look for any shortcut. 00:35:55.449 --> 00:35:56.859 That's what the kids hear. 00:35:57.189 --> 00:36:00.764 This is meaningless, and we should try to find the fastest way to get it done. 00:36:02.379 --> 00:36:06.159 If the assignment is pointless, then changing the medium, the pen and paper 00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:08.229 instead of typing doesn't fit the problem. 00:36:08.469 --> 00:36:11.559 It just makes the pointless task even more tedious. 00:36:12.099 --> 00:36:18.339 Now again, I'm not saying that writing long hand with a 00:36:18.339 --> 00:36:20.439 pen and paper is a bad idea. 00:36:20.829 --> 00:36:25.359 I actually think that it's a very good idea and I love my, uh, fountain pens 00:36:25.359 --> 00:36:30.579 that I use every single day, even though I really love using technology also. 00:36:31.179 --> 00:36:34.359 So let's, let's make sure that that's clear. 00:36:35.559 --> 00:36:39.489 Now with all this ranting that I'm doing, there are some things that you might 00:36:39.489 --> 00:36:41.649 think I'm saying, but I'm actually not. 00:36:42.339 --> 00:36:45.009 I'm not saying we don't need reading or writing anymore. 00:36:45.339 --> 00:36:48.369 I think we actually do more so than ever. 00:36:49.269 --> 00:36:52.419 I'm not saying we don't need critical thinking, we just need 00:36:52.419 --> 00:36:53.559 kids to regurgitate things. 00:36:53.559 --> 00:36:54.309 I'm not saying that. 00:36:54.339 --> 00:36:55.779 I think we actually do need that. 00:36:57.654 --> 00:37:02.244 I am saying we still need to learn to read, write, think, and communicate. 00:37:02.604 --> 00:37:07.974 That is important, but we also have to add purpose to that, and there are 00:37:07.974 --> 00:37:10.164 many different purposes that are valid. 00:37:10.164 --> 00:37:13.404 For example, reading because it's enjoyable and meaningful 00:37:13.404 --> 00:37:16.434 to me is a perfectly valid goal. 00:37:18.114 --> 00:37:21.174 I can read whatever I want and that's great. 00:37:21.999 --> 00:37:25.329 Writing because it reaches a real audience and matters to 00:37:25.329 --> 00:37:27.789 someone is powerful as well. 00:37:28.809 --> 00:37:30.069 Writing is essential. 00:37:30.069 --> 00:37:32.319 Writing is how we communicate effectively. 00:37:35.229 --> 00:37:40.809 The, the critical thinking that we must have for our students allows them to 00:37:40.809 --> 00:37:44.949 further understand when an AI is being truthful and when it's hallucinating. 00:37:45.879 --> 00:37:51.099 That's very difficult to see right now and that's understandable. 00:37:52.419 --> 00:37:58.149 I know that a lot of, uh, educators will object to the things that I'm 00:37:58.149 --> 00:37:59.859 saying and I'm, I'm okay with that. 00:38:00.819 --> 00:38:04.779 Um, one of the main things is if Jethro, if you say that we can't 00:38:04.779 --> 00:38:10.299 give real assignments, then one, I'm gonna lose the whole classroom and. 00:38:10.779 --> 00:38:15.249 If you say that as a principal, your teachers are probably gonna metaphorically 00:38:15.249 --> 00:38:17.439 flip you off like some of you are. 00:38:17.769 --> 00:38:21.849 Were doing, and I bet a lot of people just stopped listening when I said 00:38:21.849 --> 00:38:23.859 that and they're like, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. 00:38:24.069 --> 00:38:25.119 He's full of baloney. 00:38:25.419 --> 00:38:29.409 I'm turning this off and I'm gonna go complain about it on social media. 00:38:29.949 --> 00:38:32.019 That may be the case, and I get it. 00:38:32.289 --> 00:38:33.249 I get where you're at. 00:38:34.329 --> 00:38:38.409 I've been saying this for a long time though, and I've been pushing 00:38:38.529 --> 00:38:40.119 for school to look like this. 00:38:40.464 --> 00:38:44.964 For a very long time, ever since I had that student in my class, I've been 00:38:44.964 --> 00:38:50.664 pushing for this kind of an education, an education that is real and means a 00:38:50.664 --> 00:38:58.914 lot and, and gives kids the skills that they really need in life, regardless of 00:38:58.914 --> 00:39:01.224 what their life or the future looks like. 00:39:03.204 --> 00:39:05.574 And I understand the resistance, but. 00:39:06.714 --> 00:39:10.074 Well, I understand the resistance and it is really hard to change. 00:39:10.224 --> 00:39:10.884 I get that. 00:39:12.804 --> 00:39:13.674 Here's the other thing. 00:39:14.334 --> 00:39:15.354 We talk about rigor. 00:39:15.744 --> 00:39:20.934 We just love to talk about rigor and PLCs and other meetings, and 00:39:20.934 --> 00:39:24.504 we spend all this time saying, well, what does rigor really mean? 00:39:26.094 --> 00:39:31.284 Well, the reality is relevance is more important than rigor because 00:39:31.284 --> 00:39:34.554 relevance helps us see that what we're doing actually has meaning. 00:39:35.424 --> 00:39:39.594 That in and of itself forces us to step up our quality. 00:39:41.604 --> 00:39:45.234 So the key questions we need to be asking is, is there a real 00:39:45.234 --> 00:39:47.724 reason or purpose for this work? 00:39:49.674 --> 00:39:52.404 Why am I doing this work in this class? 00:39:53.124 --> 00:39:55.074 Kids need to know the answer to that question. 00:39:55.794 --> 00:39:59.124 If it is because I need to get an A, that's a pretty terrible reason. 00:40:00.894 --> 00:40:07.284 Kids and everybody can do a lot of really hard things when they're meaningful. 00:40:07.884 --> 00:40:14.274 People can go to great lengths when they have a real relevant meaning behind it. 00:40:15.654 --> 00:40:17.004 That is a powerful thing. 00:40:18.684 --> 00:40:23.604 The other idea I mentioned of having an audience beyond the teacher is 00:40:23.604 --> 00:40:27.324 that it gives a simple, concrete way to start building relevance. 00:40:28.149 --> 00:40:33.669 And so if instead of having an assignment of, you know, for whatever class it 00:40:33.669 --> 00:40:35.739 is, write an essay about this thing. 00:40:36.279 --> 00:40:41.679 Instead, explain this to your mom or dad, like just start there. 00:40:42.294 --> 00:40:44.094 Explain this concept to your parents. 00:40:44.124 --> 00:40:47.244 Explain this concept to a, to a younger sibling or an older 00:40:47.244 --> 00:40:49.914 sibling, or something like that. 00:40:50.724 --> 00:40:52.884 A lot of teachers will ask, what? 00:40:53.304 --> 00:40:56.604 What would I do with students all day if I stopped giving assignments? 00:40:56.844 --> 00:40:58.554 What would their res, what would they even do? 00:40:59.664 --> 00:41:03.774 Well, we live in a world where there is infinite information and learning 00:41:03.774 --> 00:41:08.544 opportunities, and the question of what will I do all day comes 00:41:08.544 --> 00:41:10.494 from this mindset of filling time. 00:41:10.899 --> 00:41:13.599 It does not come from a mindset of unleashing learning. 00:41:14.649 --> 00:41:19.719 And so if you had, if you could get rid of all the assignments for whatever subject 00:41:19.719 --> 00:41:24.549 you may teach or you taught, if you could just get rid of the assignments and say, 00:41:24.909 --> 00:41:31.509 how could I really maximize kids learning information and having a real audience to 00:41:31.509 --> 00:41:34.059 show things to, what would that look like? 00:41:34.479 --> 00:41:35.799 What would that unlock for you? 00:41:36.099 --> 00:41:37.539 What would you be able to do? 00:41:38.304 --> 00:41:41.964 I started this my first year teaching, and I got in trouble for this because I 00:41:41.964 --> 00:41:46.554 had students blogging on the internet, and these were inner city kids at a 00:41:46.554 --> 00:41:50.454 school that should have been Title one, but we didn't do Title one for 00:41:50.454 --> 00:41:54.024 the middle schools, only for the elementary schools, but all of the 00:41:54.024 --> 00:41:56.634 elementary schools that were Title One fed into our middle schools. 00:41:56.634 --> 00:41:59.874 So we really should have been a Title one school. 00:42:02.064 --> 00:42:05.904 We started blogging and these kids that everybody said they don't know how to 00:42:05.904 --> 00:42:09.594 write, they're not going to write, they won't ever do poetry because they hate it. 00:42:10.224 --> 00:42:13.044 These kids were writing regularly. 00:42:13.524 --> 00:42:20.394 I only had six computers in my classroom and I had to, uh, fight the kids to. 00:42:21.039 --> 00:42:23.859 B to like give everybody time to do it. 00:42:24.339 --> 00:42:28.149 And kids were just hammering to get onto these things to write their 00:42:28.149 --> 00:42:33.339 blog with in the early two thousands with hardly anybody reading it. 00:42:33.429 --> 00:42:37.209 But knowing that it was out there and they could access it from a different computer 00:42:37.209 --> 00:42:39.789 somewhere else was a huge thing for them. 00:42:39.789 --> 00:42:42.849 And they thought that was incredible and they loved that what we were 00:42:42.849 --> 00:42:45.699 doing was actually being out there for someone else to see. 00:42:46.239 --> 00:42:48.879 And that my job in grading it was. 00:42:49.494 --> 00:42:52.644 Was asking them questions about what they were learning through their 00:42:52.644 --> 00:42:54.264 writing and how they understood things. 00:42:54.264 --> 00:42:55.704 It was incredibly powerful. 00:42:56.634 --> 00:42:58.404 I didn't have to worry about filling my day. 00:42:58.404 --> 00:43:02.424 In fact, I had to worry about having too much stuff for the kids to do 00:43:02.424 --> 00:43:05.244 because I didn't have enough time for them all to be on the computers. 00:43:05.784 --> 00:43:07.464 That was what the real challenge was. 00:43:07.554 --> 00:43:10.044 And again, don't, don't get it twisted here. 00:43:10.044 --> 00:43:11.814 Don't think about the wrong thing. 00:43:12.384 --> 00:43:15.804 It wasn't about the computers and it wasn't about the technology. 00:43:15.834 --> 00:43:17.724 It was about the audience. 00:43:18.774 --> 00:43:22.554 The relevance that somebody else was reading their writing 00:43:22.554 --> 00:43:23.814 and that mattered to them. 00:43:24.414 --> 00:43:26.424 Now, did it matter to every student? 00:43:26.934 --> 00:43:31.284 No, not every student wanted their stuff out there in front of everybody. 00:43:31.584 --> 00:43:33.024 Guess what was really easy? 00:43:33.354 --> 00:43:33.714 Okay. 00:43:33.714 --> 00:43:37.059 Just turn into me and I'll be the only person that you're. 00:43:38.259 --> 00:43:39.909 Uh, that is the audience. 00:43:40.449 --> 00:43:41.889 That's totally fine too. 00:43:42.189 --> 00:43:45.699 But the thing is, is when I gave them an opportunity, the kids were 00:43:45.699 --> 00:43:51.429 clamoring because kids love when they have agency, they can do incredible 00:43:51.429 --> 00:43:56.079 things when they are given the chance to pursue meaningful work. 00:43:57.159 --> 00:44:00.819 And even if they start with something like playing games like Minecraft, 00:44:01.329 --> 00:44:06.279 they eventually want more and they want more beyond what they do. 00:44:08.124 --> 00:44:13.134 So our deeper goal for education is we need to raise good people 00:44:13.344 --> 00:44:14.664 who can think critically. 00:44:15.204 --> 00:44:20.244 We need to raise individuals who can hold two opposing ideas in their heads at once. 00:44:20.964 --> 00:44:25.134 And we need to raise young people who can resist the algorithmic rabbit 00:44:25.134 --> 00:44:31.104 holes and polarize thinking that our current society is so big on right now. 00:44:31.914 --> 00:44:34.524 We need people who don't default to tribalism. 00:44:35.169 --> 00:44:38.799 We need people who can disagree without dehumanizing each other, 00:44:40.839 --> 00:44:44.829 and we need people who won't kill each other figuratively or literally 00:44:45.279 --> 00:44:47.109 over the differences that they have. 00:44:48.999 --> 00:44:53.769 We need to raise human beings to be good adults. 00:44:54.459 --> 00:44:58.269 The goal should not be to get this kid from first grade to second grade, or 00:44:58.269 --> 00:45:02.349 from 10th grade to 11th grade or from high school into college or career. 00:45:02.919 --> 00:45:04.239 The goal should be. 00:45:04.719 --> 00:45:09.549 To help this child become the most flourishing human being 00:45:09.549 --> 00:45:11.019 that they possibly can be. 00:45:12.219 --> 00:45:16.329 And sometimes that means we're gonna spend a lot of time on reading in 00:45:16.329 --> 00:45:19.569 the early grades and make sure that they have the skill of reading. 00:45:20.049 --> 00:45:23.979 Sometimes that means we're gonna go down these rabbit holes and kids are gonna 00:45:23.979 --> 00:45:27.729 change their mind on the things they're interested in a hundred times, and we're 00:45:27.729 --> 00:45:32.019 gonna be annoyed as the adults because they go down a path and then they stop. 00:45:32.559 --> 00:45:36.219 Right before they get to something good and that's okay. 00:45:36.219 --> 00:45:37.659 That's part of being a human. 00:45:37.719 --> 00:45:42.489 We can let that happen because if we're not focusing on assignments 00:45:42.489 --> 00:45:46.749 and test scores, we can focus on them developing into the kind 00:45:46.749 --> 00:45:48.639 of human beings that flourish. 00:45:49.899 --> 00:45:51.039 That's what we want. 00:45:52.359 --> 00:45:55.959 Inevitably, people ask this question, well, what about state testing? 00:45:56.679 --> 00:45:58.689 What about the state assessments that we've built? 00:45:58.689 --> 00:45:59.439 Everything around? 00:45:59.439 --> 00:46:00.279 Well, you know what? 00:46:00.459 --> 00:46:01.719 That was a bad idea. 00:46:02.664 --> 00:46:08.394 No matter when we did that, that was a bad idea because a test, a state 00:46:08.394 --> 00:46:13.644 test especially, is a legislatively convenient way for somebody else to say 00:46:13.644 --> 00:46:15.384 whether or not we're doing a good job. 00:46:16.614 --> 00:46:22.314 And you know, people don't like this view either, but it doesn't really 00:46:22.314 --> 00:46:27.084 matter if we do this other way of learning that I've been talking about. 00:46:27.624 --> 00:46:29.004 Those test scores come. 00:46:30.669 --> 00:46:33.279 The thing that's amazing is that when kids have relevance and they 00:46:33.279 --> 00:46:37.509 have a real audience, the things they learn grow exponentially. 00:46:39.009 --> 00:46:43.509 It's a really bad idea to build an entire system around one big test. 00:46:44.619 --> 00:46:47.799 That was a dumb decision, but we did it. 00:46:47.979 --> 00:46:50.319 Okay, what are we gonna do? 00:46:51.519 --> 00:46:53.679 When I ran this type of project-based learning at my 00:46:53.679 --> 00:46:55.599 school, students were working. 00:46:56.259 --> 00:47:00.669 Students who were working on real projects learned far more than they 00:47:00.669 --> 00:47:02.289 would have from traditional lessons. 00:47:02.589 --> 00:47:05.439 You can go hear about it on my podcast, Transformative Principal. 00:47:05.709 --> 00:47:09.069 Go to Transformative Principal dot org, click on episodes and 00:47:09.069 --> 00:47:11.079 search and search for synergy. 00:47:11.349 --> 00:47:13.419 And you can learn all about how we set that up. 00:47:14.409 --> 00:47:15.579 This is what it looked like. 00:47:16.929 --> 00:47:23.199 One group of students, they met an hour and a half, uh at a time, twice a week. 00:47:24.774 --> 00:47:28.824 And over the month or so that we watched these kids and what they were doing, 00:47:29.244 --> 00:47:34.794 they passed off over 45 standards that if we were to create a lesson plan 00:47:34.794 --> 00:47:38.244 for each one of these standards, for them to pass, it would've taken way 00:47:38.244 --> 00:47:40.374 more time than what they actually had. 00:47:41.994 --> 00:47:44.424 The standards were not just their seventh grade standards. 00:47:44.754 --> 00:47:47.574 They went all the way up to 12th grade and they covered multiple 00:47:47.574 --> 00:47:49.524 content areas and not just one. 00:47:50.769 --> 00:47:55.509 We have interdisciplinary, uh, learning happening with standards 00:47:55.509 --> 00:48:00.459 from seventh to 12th grade and get this, they learned things that we 00:48:00.459 --> 00:48:04.689 didn't have standards for, but it was obvious that the learning occurred. 00:48:05.529 --> 00:48:07.269 Let me give an example of what that looked like. 00:48:09.954 --> 00:48:13.164 These kids had had said, we're gonna bring on some other kids into our group. 00:48:13.614 --> 00:48:16.674 They, they brought the other kids in for a couple weeks and they said, 00:48:16.884 --> 00:48:18.714 Mr. Jones, this is not working. 00:48:19.734 --> 00:48:23.544 How do we fire these kids that we brought in without them thinking 00:48:23.544 --> 00:48:26.964 that we don't value and appreciate them, but we recognize that this 00:48:26.964 --> 00:48:28.764 just is, this just isn't gonna work. 00:48:29.094 --> 00:48:33.384 Do we have a standard for compassionate firing in K 12 education? 00:48:33.834 --> 00:48:34.974 No, we don't. 00:48:36.204 --> 00:48:38.514 Is that a valuable skill to learn? 00:48:38.934 --> 00:48:40.734 Yes, it sure is. 00:48:41.364 --> 00:48:43.044 It's a very valuable skill to learn. 00:48:43.224 --> 00:48:48.234 How do you treat people with compassion even when they are completely failing 00:48:48.444 --> 00:48:49.974 at what you expect them to do? 00:48:51.894 --> 00:48:54.204 This kind of learning is incredibly valuable. 00:48:54.204 --> 00:48:58.014 It is exactly what we should be striving for, and it doesn't come 00:48:58.044 --> 00:48:59.934 from worksheets or test prep. 00:48:59.964 --> 00:49:00.984 It doesn't come from assignments. 00:49:02.574 --> 00:49:03.174 Tests. 00:49:03.384 --> 00:49:07.554 It comes from real, relevant, valuable work. 00:49:08.544 --> 00:49:09.564 But here's the other thing. 00:49:10.794 --> 00:49:14.604 When I talk to people about this, they complain and say, well, we're 00:49:14.604 --> 00:49:16.224 held accountable for test scores. 00:49:17.244 --> 00:49:18.984 The reality is, is that you're not. 00:49:19.704 --> 00:49:21.954 What happens when a school fails on state tests? 00:49:22.704 --> 00:49:27.564 Well, in my experience, we got more money when we failed, so that's the opposite. 00:49:28.404 --> 00:49:32.574 Of getting punished, but usually nothing happens. 00:49:33.264 --> 00:49:36.564 Teachers and principals rarely lose their jobs over scores. 00:49:36.564 --> 00:49:41.874 However it does happen and there is, uh, there is a mechanism for that 00:49:41.874 --> 00:49:44.424 to happen that if you do so poorly, that the state takes over your 00:49:44.424 --> 00:49:46.704 school and they fire half the staff. 00:49:47.424 --> 00:49:52.944 Uh, and by fire I mean they do reduction in staffing, which means 00:49:52.944 --> 00:49:55.584 that you don't actually lose your job, you just go to a different school. 00:49:56.124 --> 00:49:59.514 So there really is not a lot of accountability for test scores. 00:49:59.874 --> 00:50:06.744 And maybe, maybe someone may get moved out of a school, but that is rarely the case. 00:50:06.744 --> 00:50:11.034 And when that does happen, you're getting moved out of a school not fired from your 00:50:11.034 --> 00:50:12.744 job and losing your teaching license. 00:50:13.014 --> 00:50:14.694 That's, that's not what happens. 00:50:15.594 --> 00:50:19.284 And if somebody has evidence of that ever happening, please share it with 00:50:19.284 --> 00:50:21.444 me because I've never heard of that. 00:50:22.569 --> 00:50:25.749 You know who does have accountability when their kids don't learn Parents, 00:50:26.919 --> 00:50:32.079 they have the real accountability of having that child who hasn't learned 00:50:32.079 --> 00:50:36.459 appropriately for their whole life with them for the rest of their lives. 00:50:37.959 --> 00:50:42.159 If you have a kid in your class who fails, they most likely go on to the 00:50:42.159 --> 00:50:46.124 next grade or a different teacher, and you most likely never see them again. 00:50:47.799 --> 00:50:49.269 That is the real thing. 00:50:49.539 --> 00:50:53.199 You know, who else fails our communities when we have kids who 00:50:53.199 --> 00:50:56.949 don't know, who turn into adults that don't know how to do things 00:50:57.909 --> 00:51:00.519 and become a drain on the community? 00:51:00.969 --> 00:51:03.399 That is who's accountable? 00:51:03.699 --> 00:51:05.649 Schools are not actually held accountable. 00:51:06.384 --> 00:51:11.124 We are held accountability in things that don't really matter that much, 00:51:11.184 --> 00:51:13.314 like rankings and awards and labels. 00:51:13.884 --> 00:51:17.574 But another way that we are held accountable is in the public perception. 00:51:18.594 --> 00:51:22.674 But if that public perception is purely based on test scores, it's 00:51:22.674 --> 00:51:24.204 really actually not that good. 00:51:25.014 --> 00:51:26.754 That's not actually that beneficial. 00:51:27.024 --> 00:51:29.034 We think that it is, but it really isn't. 00:51:30.144 --> 00:51:33.714 Parents don't want kids who are good at taking tests. 00:51:33.984 --> 00:51:36.924 They want kids who are living happy and fulfilled lives. 00:51:38.394 --> 00:51:41.904 We've created a system that rewards the things that we decide to measure. 00:51:42.504 --> 00:51:43.494 That's what we always do. 00:51:43.974 --> 00:51:49.614 We decide to measure test scores, and so we create a system that rewards 00:51:49.614 --> 00:51:54.689 that, and then we keep doing those same things because that's what's measured. 00:52:00.294 --> 00:52:01.944 Let's think about a different measure. 00:52:03.894 --> 00:52:06.834 Let's suppose that we just said, all right, here's, here's how 00:52:06.834 --> 00:52:08.334 we're gonna measure our success. 00:52:08.814 --> 00:52:12.954 If the key metric was, let's say, US News and World Report said, we're gonna 00:52:12.954 --> 00:52:17.724 change our algorithm and how we rank schools, and we're gonna say that the 00:52:17.724 --> 00:52:22.074 percentage of students whose writing is published somewhere in a book, a 00:52:22.074 --> 00:52:24.174 blog, local paper, magazine, whatever. 00:52:25.299 --> 00:52:28.149 We're gonna measure the number, uh, the percentage of students whose, 00:52:28.239 --> 00:52:29.799 whose writing is published somewhere. 00:52:30.519 --> 00:52:34.689 What do you think schools are gonna do the very next year they're going to start 00:52:34.689 --> 00:52:36.849 talking about and publishing and sharing? 00:52:37.179 --> 00:52:41.529 How many of their students published a book, a blog, a 00:52:41.529 --> 00:52:43.209 local paper, an online magazine? 00:52:43.539 --> 00:52:44.589 Whatever that was. 00:52:45.129 --> 00:52:49.089 Schools would shift so fast to helping students publish. 00:52:49.359 --> 00:52:53.229 Teachers would redesign all their assignments to produce publishable work. 00:52:53.649 --> 00:52:58.359 If that were the thing that got us the kudos, that's what we would do if 00:52:58.359 --> 00:53:02.649 a state had the courage to say, we're done with test scores and instead. 00:53:03.024 --> 00:53:05.964 We're going to measure good acts by students. 00:53:06.114 --> 00:53:10.494 Hey, there's another side thing that would be a terrible thing to build your system 00:53:10.494 --> 00:53:14.124 around because then kids are just doing good acts because they get noticed for it. 00:53:14.544 --> 00:53:15.804 But let's say that happened. 00:53:16.104 --> 00:53:17.304 What would schools start doing? 00:53:17.574 --> 00:53:21.414 They would start publicizing how many good acts their students are 00:53:21.414 --> 00:53:22.734 doing and they'd start recording it. 00:53:23.634 --> 00:53:27.054 The thing is, is that it's really quite simple to change the system. 00:53:27.294 --> 00:53:27.899 Doesn't mean it's easy. 00:53:28.559 --> 00:53:29.669 It is quite simple. 00:53:30.179 --> 00:53:34.109 What you focus on and what you measure is the thing that gets done. 00:53:35.849 --> 00:53:37.229 We could start changing that. 00:53:37.469 --> 00:53:39.809 What we measure ourselves right away. 00:53:40.559 --> 00:53:44.309 What if we created a national ranking of schools based on this percentage of 00:53:44.309 --> 00:53:47.459 students who have published something and we just started ranking that. 00:53:48.119 --> 00:53:49.649 What if, uh. 00:53:50.049 --> 00:53:52.539 Even if we started with just five schools and we said, this 00:53:52.539 --> 00:53:53.679 school is the number one place. 00:53:53.679 --> 00:53:56.979 If you want to go, if you want to have your student publish, be 00:53:56.979 --> 00:53:58.779 a published author in some way. 00:53:59.739 --> 00:54:00.669 What if we change that? 00:54:00.669 --> 00:54:06.789 However, to, uh, this, this school produces the, uh, highest 00:54:06.789 --> 00:54:08.169 number of YouTube followers. 00:54:08.379 --> 00:54:11.499 This school produces the highest number of Twitch followers. 00:54:12.069 --> 00:54:16.719 People would instantly shift and they would change instruction to get that 00:54:16.899 --> 00:54:19.509 work, whatever it is out into the world. 00:54:21.369 --> 00:54:24.729 And and we could put guardrails on it and say, it's not just any publishing. 00:54:24.729 --> 00:54:27.009 It has to be this certain level. 00:54:27.009 --> 00:54:27.969 And we define that. 00:54:29.049 --> 00:54:33.219 If we start a list, people would start changing and saying, this is the kind 00:54:33.219 --> 00:54:35.139 of thing that we want to be known for. 00:54:37.449 --> 00:54:41.319 Now, I've gone on a bit of a tear about all these things, and 00:54:41.349 --> 00:54:42.849 I'm already at almost an hour. 00:54:43.539 --> 00:54:46.179 Obviously I could talk about this for a long time if you're still here. 00:54:46.854 --> 00:54:47.334 Bless you. 00:54:47.364 --> 00:54:47.904 Thank you. 00:54:48.354 --> 00:54:51.954 We should chat because if you're still listening to this, then we're 00:54:51.954 --> 00:54:56.994 obviously of the same, same, uh, mind on some of these things, and I 00:54:56.994 --> 00:54:58.374 don't have all the perfect answers. 00:54:58.374 --> 00:54:59.184 Don't get me wrong. 00:55:00.024 --> 00:55:01.104 Here's the big picture. 00:55:01.554 --> 00:55:04.224 Our current system was built for pre AI world. 00:55:04.644 --> 00:55:08.004 It rewards test scores, compliance and convenience. 00:55:08.874 --> 00:55:13.369 AI has exposed how fragile and shallow a lot of our system is. 00:55:14.079 --> 00:55:18.309 How easy it is to cheat when all of our tasks are meaningless. 00:55:19.329 --> 00:55:23.859 Right now we have a very real opportunity to redesign schooling around 00:55:23.949 --> 00:55:30.009 real learning, real relationships, real purpose and real audiences. 00:55:30.489 --> 00:55:32.019 That doesn't have to be the whole world. 00:55:32.139 --> 00:55:34.119 That can be a very small group. 00:55:34.119 --> 00:55:35.469 It can be the person's family. 00:55:35.979 --> 00:55:38.769 That's, it's not the point that we're trying to make, you know, 00:55:38.769 --> 00:55:42.519 content creators and Instagram famous and YouTube celebrities. 00:55:42.519 --> 00:55:43.899 That's not what I'm talking about. 00:55:43.899 --> 00:55:46.989 What I'm talking about making it real so that it actually matters. 00:55:47.469 --> 00:55:52.899 Working with an actual local business to help them redesign their marketing, those 00:55:52.899 --> 00:55:54.819 are the kinds of things that are valuable. 00:55:59.079 --> 00:56:02.139 The other part of our opportunity is to build a generation of students 00:56:02.139 --> 00:56:06.969 who can, can think deeply and can connect meaningfully and can 00:56:06.969 --> 00:56:13.869 navigate an i an AI saturated world as fully flourishing human beings. 00:56:14.529 --> 00:56:17.649 That's what our opportunity is to create right now. 00:56:18.249 --> 00:56:19.034 And if you are. 00:56:20.064 --> 00:56:23.724 If you're like, yeah, that's what I want to do, then we should connect. 00:56:23.784 --> 00:56:27.804 Let's talk about this more because I'm not in a school anymore, so I have 00:56:27.804 --> 00:56:31.674 time to think about and support people who are trying to do these things. 00:56:32.874 --> 00:56:35.034 When you're in the middle of it, it can be difficult. 00:56:35.274 --> 00:56:36.144 So reach out. 00:56:36.144 --> 00:56:40.359 Let's connect Jethro at hey.com, 8 0 1 7 Jethro. 00:56:40.359 --> 00:56:41.154 Gimme a call. 00:56:41.394 --> 00:56:45.324 Would love to chat with you more, but let's get started and let's start making 00:56:45.324 --> 00:56:46.944 some of these things come to pass. 00:56:47.227 --> 00:56:48.337 Thanks so much for listening.