International Dot Day #withSchoolAI #EdChat

As a high school teacher, I had not idea what Dot Day was and that it was a big deal is schools all over the world. When I taught Middle School, I started to hear more about Dot Day from students and it sounded like a really fun story and activity. Once I finally sat down and read the book by Peter H. Reynolds, I was blown away. It was the type of story I needed to read when I was starting school and feeling like everyone was better than me at everything. As an undiagnosed neurodivergent learner throughout K12, it was hard not to feel "less than" when compared to my peers. I never thought I would be able to "make my mark" in any meaningful way. A simple story can really change the narrative for a young student if we make the time. 

Working at SchoolAI, I get the chance to spend time building amazing Spaces to support the awesome work educators are already doing in their classroom. With International Dot Day approaching next week, I was wondering if there was a way to create a Space to support this important day in school. After some fun exploring different prompts, I put together a Space that will allow the students to watch a reading of the story and be prompted by SchoolAI's Dot about ways they have made their mark even when things were tough. Then, they get to create their own Dot using the Doodleboard PowerUp. Here is a screenshot of my Doodleboard. 

I hope you have a chance to use the Space with your students who are looking for a way to explore Dot Day and make their mark. These types of Spaces are perfect for launching and sharing with families at home so they can explore with their children. 

If you want to find more Spaces that are created in the SchoolAI Community, join the Champions Program and you will get weekly updates on all of the amazing things educators are doing to make school awesome. 

Back to School #withSchoolAI #EdTech

It is Back to School time and we have some amazing things in store in the SchoolAI Community! 

First, have you joined the Champions Community?

Once you join the Champions Community, you will have access to all of the awesome resources that are being shared on the Community page. 

We have a Facebook Group and a WhatsApp Channel to help everyone stay connected. This is also where you will find all of the Champions resources to help you complete the Seasonal Challenges. We are currently in Season 1 and people are working hard to complete the Challenges. Here is the best part, it is not about competing against others. Everyone can complete challenges, earn points, and get swag! The ultimate award is a trip to the ISTE+ASCD conference in Orlando in the Summer of 2026 AND a day at Magic Kingdom! 

We have just launched our first Mini-Season that can have folks earn even more points and Ultra-Mythic entries by sharing SchoolAI on socials. Check out the Champions Community for more info. 

I'm excited about all of the amazing things goin on in the SchoolAI community and I hope you will join us for some great opportunities to learn and grow together. 

Hugs and High Fives, 

Nick

Win a Trip ISTE/ASCD 2026 & Magic Kingdom! #withSchoolAI

🌟 Join Season 1 of the SchoolAI Champions Program! 🌟

Season 1 runs from August 5 – October 31, 2025

Get ready to earn points, unlock exclusive rewards, and compete for the Ultra-Mythic Prize:
🎉 A trip to the ISTE/ASCD 2026 Conference in June AND a magical day at Disney’s Magic Kingdom!

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✨ How to Get Started✨

1. Join the Champions Program

👉 Fill out the form to officially join the Champions community.

2. Access Community Resources

💬 Join the SchoolAI Community and open the shared Champions Folder with:

• 🎥 Launch video

• 🏋️ Champions badge

• 📁 Seasonal challenge guides and other resources

3. Complete Seasonal Challenges

💡 Take part in fun, impactful classroom and community challenges to earn Champion Points.

4. Unlock Epic Tiers & Prizes

🏆 Points help you reach Rare, Legendary, or Mythic Tiers, unlocking:

• Exclusive SchoolAI swag

• Entries for the Ultra-Mythic Prize — the trip to ISTE/ASCD & Magic Kingdom!

5. Stay Engaged

📣 Share your SchoolAI journey, inspire your network, and keep collecting points!

🌟 Announcing SchoolAI Champions: Empowering Educators Around the World! #EdTech #withSchoolAI

We’re thrilled to introduce SchoolAI Champions, our exciting new program designed to celebrate, support, and reward educators who are making a difference in their classrooms and communities through the power of AI!

🎉 What Is SchoolAI Champions?

SchoolAI Champions is an evolution of our beloved Insiders program—reimagined to offer more opportunities, more recognition, and yes, more fun! This new initiative is all about uplifting the amazing work educators are doing globally and giving back through epic prizes, a supportive community, and meaningful challenges.

We’ve listened to your feedback and crafted something that truly stands apart in the EdTech world. This isn’t just another ambassador program—it’s a celebration of your brilliance, creativity, and impact.

🗓 Season 1 Launches August 5 – Be There!

Mark your calendars: Season 1 officially kicks off on August 5. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this groundbreaking journey from the very start.

Each season will bring fresh opportunities to earn swag, share how you're using SchoolAI, complete creative challenges, and rack up points that unlock incredible rewards.

✅ Ready to get started? Fill out the Champions form below and secure your spot in the program.

🌐 Join the Champions Community Space

Community is at the heart of SchoolAI Champions. When you join, you’ll gain access to our Champions Community Space—a vibrant hub where educators connect, collaborate, and celebrate each other’s success.

👉 Join the Champions Community Space now

This is where you'll find exclusive announcements, seasonal updates, behind-the-scenes fun, and the camaraderie of like-minded innovators.

🧭 Seasonal Challenges, Real Rewards

Every season brings new ways to participate and shine. Whether it’s creating resources, sharing your classroom wins, attending events, or inviting new educators to explore SchoolAI—every action earns you points that can lead to real prizes and exclusive swag.

You’ll get to:

• Complete fun, themed challenges

• Earn swag and limited-edition merch

• Be featured as a Champion spotlight

• Win big in seasonal giveaways

🤔 Want to Learn More?

If you’re curious about all the amazing updates coming to the Champions Community, we’ve got you covered. Click the link below to watch a short video explaining everything you need to know:

🎥 Watch the update video

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🚀 Let’s Have Some Fun, Together

The SchoolAI Champions program is unlike anything else in EdTech. It’s about recognizing the real heroes in education—you. Together, we’re going to build something incredible. So come along, bring your energy, your passion, and your creativity.

We can’t wait to celebrate with you. 🎊

👉 Sign up for SchoolAI Champions today!

Don't Cancel Reflection Time #EdChat #PBLChat

One of the things that is so easy to cut when crunched for minutes is the time and space for reflection. We do this for ourselves as educators and we do this for students as well. Sometimes we ask students to reflect at home, knowing that many of them will not do this. Reflection is an important part of the learning process and it should be the last thing that is cut when completing work. As teachers, we need to build in reflection time for ourselves and for our students. 

The other part that can make reflection kind of tough is remembering what you thought about a lesson the next school year. You try to leave notes for yourself, but sometimes cannot make heads or tails of what you meant when you wrote, "Think bigger and smaller at the same time!" (Note: I actually found a note like that once to myself a year later and have no idea what I was trying to tell myself.) Reflection is not always about preparing for the next year. Sometimes it is about processing in the moment to better understand how a lesson went and using that information the next class to debrief with students. 

I built a couple of SchoolAI Spaces that teachers can use for themselves and with their students to help the reflection process. What is nice about using these Spaces is that they will remember the thread you have been using to reflect and can help you make connections over the course of the entire year. Imagine having all of your reflections available to you when you need them to compare how lessons went from the start of the year to the end of the year. 

Teacher Reflection Space

Student Reflection Space

Now imagine students having access to that powerful AI Space so they can reflect and see their growth over the year and the teacher gets the insights to explore on the backend. That would be a game changer for the teacher and for the student. Being able to connect and see the reflections taking place in real time or having a digital space where students can reflect where and when they have time. 

I just had this idea, but Admin could use a Space to share with teachers after evaluations that could help them walk through the lesson that was observed and reflect in a way that allows the admin to see their thinking in a clearer way. 

No matter the reason, reflection is a key part of the learning process and there is Science to back it up. Take the time to reflect on your work and let students do the same. I guarantee you will see benefits for everyone involved.  

Hugs and High Fives, 

NP

New Webinar Series! Connecting the Dots #EdChat

Hello everyone! I am excited to announce that I will be starting a new webinar series with SchoolAI called Connecting the Dots. The focus of this webinar is on the current state of education from a wide variety of viewpoints. My goal is to always have an educator join us in a conversation where they can share their story. I feel it is so important to give teachers a platform to be heard.

These webinars are all free to anyone that wants to listen to the conversation and ask some questions along the way. The conversations w
ill be recorded and shared at a later date.  

The first Connecting the Dots webinar will be Monday April 28th at 8PM EST. I'd love to have you there to be part of the first of many great conversations connecting the dots in education. If you want to share on social, here is one post that I am using you can copy and paste for your community. 

🔥 Two incredible educators. One powerful conversation.

Jennifer Roberts and Marnie Diem Diem on Apr 28 8PM EST for Connecting the Dots webinar!

Brought to you by SchoolAI and hosted by me!

Register for Free! 🔗 bit.ly/43X7N9w

hashtag#withSchoolAI hashtag#AIinEdu

I hope to see all of you there!

Hugs and Hugh Fives, 

NP

Giving Students Space #EdChat #AIinEDU

One of the things that I learned during my time in the classroom is that giving students Space can be make a huge difference. You can be the most engaging teacher in the world, but some students will not engage. The have so much going on that the 50 minutes in your classroom is just not working for them on some days. Some teachers will drill down on those students and make sure they engage in some way, but all that does is make the students curl up tighter in their own ball of security. 

I think it is not realistic to expect students to be ready to go and engage and learn every class. The world around them is vastly different than it was for many of us growing up. They know far more about the world around them and have a wide range of issues that they are dealing with, that there are going to be days that they do not have the bandwidth to commit to school the way a teacher would like them to. 

I remember the first time I realized that my class is not the most important thing in the world for a student. I say this, because there are teachers who still act like their worksheet is the end all be all of learning and not completing it is a high crime. Anyway, I talked to a student after class to ask them why their paper is not completed and submitted. They looked at me and their eyes welled up and said they have been up late for multiple nights taking care of their sick sibling while their mom works the late shift this week. She wanted to get the paper in on time, but she just has not had the energy to commit to it. 

I felt like a grade A turd after that. Two things stuck out to me;

1. I have not created a classroom environment that allowed for this students to feel like they can ask for extra time. 

2. My class should never be more important that a student's wellbeing. 

I worked really hard to change the way that my class functioned moving forward. I also worked really hard to make my class as accessible as possible. It was a catalyst for me to move away from textbooks and use Evernote to store all class notes and readings so students could access them from their phones. I started to dive into EdTech to bring as much equity to my class as possible. As the tools changed, the goal was the same, how do I make sure all students feel like they can engage when they are ready to engage. Anytime, anyplace learning. 

I bring all of this up because there are plenty of conversations about AI in the classroom and I do not hear enough people talking about the value of AI when it comes to accessibility. There are so many students that benefit from using AI to help them learn when they are ready to learn and are in a place that allows them to learn. Sometimes, those places are not in a school. Sometimes, they are in their home, alone in their room, blocking out the noise from down the hall. Sometimes it is when they get to visit their friend and take a deep breath and let it out before diving into classwork with a peer they trust. There are so many reasons why a student will not be ready or able to engage in class, and space is the best think we can give those students sometimes. 

I look at how I started using AI in the classroom before I left to create content and to training for SchoolAI and it was always around accessibility and inclusion. Creating Spaces for students to help them when they needed help was a way to support their learning when they were ready and where they were. Does the student need to take a mental health day and cannot get to school? Well, the Space I created was there for them when they were ready to explore. Student have another doctor's appointment that had them miss their 17th day of school? There was a Space for them. Did a student have a hard time getting their writing started because their dyslexia makes them feel less than? I had a Space for them too. 

Using Spaces from SchoolAI allowed me to make sure that my students were able to get the access and support they needed when they needed and when they were ready to engage with it. You can use just about any AI tool out there to make a worksheet and the students can use AI to answers all of the questions on the worksheet. Using a Space that allows the students to drive the learning and focus on the parts they need to learn is all about personalization and differentiation in a way that was not possible for teachers before. 

The next time you are thinking about creating more busy work for students to engage them, take a moment and think whether or not Space is actually what they need to be successful.  

Hugs and High Fives,

NP

Start Small: 3 Easy Ways to Introduce AI Without Overhauling Your Lessons #AIinEDU #EdChat

"AI in the classroom? That sounds like too much extra work right now."

I get it. You have been hit over the head with all of the AI talk right now. You do not have the time to sort through the chatter to find the things that will simply help your students learn or help you teach. These feelings are not new. When other internet based tools were released, there were many teachers that had no idea where to start, so they didn't. It's not like everyone jumped on board Google Docs, YouTube, Web Quests, etc. when they were readily available. The thing is, you are using AI all of the time and you might not even realize it. Whether it is search results in Google or Netflix suggestions after you binge a show, you are using AI and getting awesome results from it. It takes time to ease into using a new tool and I want to give you 3 easy ways to bring AI into your life without having to overhaul all of your lessons that move beyond having AI rewrite your email or create another worksheet.

1. AI as a thought partner

One of my favorite things about using AI is that it can help me think through issues I'm having. It is not about having AI solve my problems, it is having AI walk me through the problems and suggesting solutions. Some of the suggestions are terrible. They are not practical and they really would not work in the classroom. However, those bad ideas often lead to the solution. As I work through the logistics of the suggestions, I will find the answer along the way. It is really something amazing. 

This is truly no different than the times I spent with teachers in the hallways between classes thinking through lessons or classroom management issues. I wonder if you have found, like I did, that those hallway conversations are not happening like they used to. Those free moments have been taken by other tasks and those interactions are not happening at the same frequency. Using an AI Assistant in SchoolAI or using ChatGPT to quickly work through ideas is an easy way to bring AI into your educational career without the worry of having to change everything that you do. 

Example Prompts you can use:

Sometimes you are at the end of your rope with how to deal with a student and need other suggestions to help solve the problem. This is a simple prompt to get the ideas going on supporting classroom management issues. 

1. I’m having trouble with __________ (specific challenge, e.g., students staying focused during group work) in my __________ (grade level/subject) class. Some students __________ (specific behavior, e.g., finish too quickly and get off-task), while others __________ (another challenge, e.g., struggle to get started). Can you suggest strategies to __________ (goal, e.g., balance pacing and keep everyone engaged)?

Find new ways to support a wide range of learners in the classroom can be very tough. It is important to make sure that 504 and IEP students are getting what they need to be successful. A simple prompt can help so many students in the classroom. 

2. I’m designing a lesson on __________ (topic, e.g., ecosystems) for my __________ (grade level/subject) class. I want to incorporate activities that support __________ (specific needs, e.g., visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners) and also accommodate students who __________ (unique challenges, e.g., need reading support or are English Language Learners). Can you suggest ideas that keep the core objective intact while addressing these diverse needs?

Variety is a spice of life they say, but it is not something that always gets into our lessons. After a while, teachers fall into a rut of the type of assignments or projects they give to students. It can be tough to get out of the rut, so asking AI for lesson ideas can help move to a new space with new ideas. 

3. My __________ (grade level/subject) students are struggling with __________ (specific issue, e.g., staying engaged during history lectures). I want to make the material more __________ (teaching goal, e.g., interactive, relevant, or student-driven) and help them see how it connects to __________ (real-world application or student interests). Can you suggest strategies or tools to help achieve this?

2. Formative assessments made easy

We all love the idea of formative assessments, but they can be time consuming to create and collect the data. As there is an even greater push towards data driven instruction, we need a way to get these formative assessments into our every day class structure. I think this can be done with bellringers and exit tickets. The traditional way of having students write on notecards or scraps of paper can work, but the teacher is often stuck trying to read handwriting and group similar ideas/concepts to help inform the next steps. It does not have to be that way AI. 

Utilizing AI to help create bellringer and exit ticket questions is the easy part. Having AI take a look at the answers and come up with common threads is how you can take these formative assessments to the next level and it can be done in a matter of seconds. Here are two scenarios that can help you get the formative assessment data to make data driven decisions for your classroom. 

1. You can create a formative assessment using Google Forms and share that with students. The students spend the next five minutes doing a short response to the topic for the bellringer and all of those responses go to Google Sheets. Trying to parse data in Sheets in a pain in the butt. However, it can be downloaded as a CSV file and that can be used to get answers. Take the file and upload it to ChatGPT or SchoolAI Coteacher and ask it to find common themes in student answers. You can drill down as much as you want depending on how much info the formative assessment collected. That information can be used to inform the direction you take for the rest of class. Once you get comfortable with the workflow, it will become faster and faster to accomplish in class. 

2. You can take out the middle man and use a Bellringer or Exit Ticket Space from SchoolAI instead of using Forms. Create the Space, launch it with your students using Google Classroom, Canvas, or posting the link in another LMS. The students engage with the Space, the teacher can see their interactions in real-time and then use the insights provided on the dashboard to inform next steps in class. Again, the teacher can go even deeper by downloading the Space as CSV file and uploading to Coteacher to get more in-depth data. The nice part of this approach instead of using ChatGPT is that the data shared with SchoolAI is secured and fully COPA and FERPA compliant. That cannot be said of all AI tools. Be mindful of that when using AI and sharing student or teacher data. 

These two approaches help teachers create and use formative assessments to make data informed decisions. This is a huge step in the right direction of AI use in the classroom. AI is great at parsing data and it does it quickly as part of a workflow you can establish. The amount of time that is saved using AI for data driven decision support can be used for other tasks or for taking it easy on a Wednesday night so you can watch some TV and enjoy a nice beverage. Either way, you now have the time to make that choice and you did not have that chance before. 

3. Differentiate like a boss

One of the things that I found to be most difficult and time consuming, but extremely important, was differentiating assignments, tests, projects, etc. Besides being legally required to do so based on IEPs and 504s, it is important to give students the best chance to be successful and meet them where they are. However, if you do not have a support person in the class that can differentiate assignments for you, you are on the line to make sure that every students that needs an assignment, test, project, reading piece, etc is differentiated. That can be long and arduous process. AI can now make that process simple and fast. Here are just a few prompt examples that you can use to help differentiate different class assignments in an instant. 

You can alter reading levels for students and even have translations as needed. This prompt will help you adjust reading levels as needed for students. If you want create them in a batch, just add a sentence that requests the content in multiple reading levels.  

1. I have a __________ (grade level/subject) class reading __________ (text title or topic), but I need the text adjusted for students who read at a __________ (different reading level, e.g., 4th-grade level or ELL beginner). Can you simplify the text while keeping the core ideas intact and include __________ (optional: vocabulary definitions, guiding questions, or key takeaways)?

For students with ADHD, chunking is a wonderful approach to helping them stay on task and do each part at a time so they do not feel overwhelmed. Instead of having to go over each assignment with these students and chunk it for them, AI can chunk it quickly and then it can be shared to them via email or printed and handed to them. You can do this with almost any AI model. 

2. I’m assigning __________ (type of assignment, e.g., a research paper or science project) to my __________ (grade level/subject) class, but some students struggle with completing large tasks. Can you break this assignment into __________ (number of steps, e.g., 4-5 manageable sections) with clear instructions and include __________ (optional: deadlines, checklists, or guiding questions) to help students stay on track?

Sometimes using AI is about giving students more options that you can think of at the moment. As I moved to more of a project based learning approach, I wanted to make sure that all of my students had a chance to showcase their work in ways that were meaningful to them. I can't think of all of the projects all of the time, so having AI create options that I can easily share is a huge time saver. If you want to take it to the next level, you could use SchoolAI to create a Space that would ask students a variety of questions and then suggest a personal presentation approach. Here is an example you can use in your class. 

3. I want my __________ (grade level/subject) students to complete a project on __________ (topic, e.g., Ancient Egypt), but I want to offer them choices in how they present their work. Can you suggest __________ (number, e.g., 3-5) different project formats (e.g., slideshows, posters, videos, or podcasts) that align with the same learning objectives, so students can pick the format that best fits their strengths and interests? 

There is a time and place to have AI write your emails or create another multiple choice test. That is not where a teacher should stop when it comes to AI use. That just scratches the surface of what is possible when it comes to using AI to support teaching and learning. These three approaches can help you become more comfortable in your use of AI and give you time back to use as you see fit. AI can and should be used to support sound pedagogy if you truly want to help students. Keep that in mind when you see and use AI tools. 

If you have any questions about using AI, please feel free to reach out, leave a comment, or connect on socials @TheNerdyTeacher. 

Hugs and High Fives, 

NP

Utilizing AI in the Library #TLChat #SchoolAI

I am really excited about the work I have been doing the past few weeks with the amazing Shannon Miller and SchoolAI. There has been so much content created to support classroom teachers to help make school awesome every day, but we did not want our amazing librarians and media specialists to feel left out. Working with Shannon, we created a couple of really cool Spaces that we think you will love. 

What Book Should I Read Next?!

One of the tough things for a young reader is to figure out what they should read next. There are so many options, it can be tough to choose if you do not know what might be perfect for you. The Teacher Librarian might be unavailable when the students needs to ask questions about their next book or the student is at home and wants to be able to choose their next book as soon as possible. I built a Space to help with this exact problem! Shannon took the Space to FETC and shared it with her workshop with over 100 librarians and they loved it! You can remix the Space and add any other parameters you want to meet the needs of your school. You can even add a csv file of your catalogue so it can only recommend books from your collection. If you want the Space to have a specific theme for a specific month to recommend certain books, you can do that too! Have some fun and play around with the Space and let me know how you made it your own. 

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus Research Space

Many years ago, the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus took media literacy circles by storm. It was an amazingly silly resource that educators started to use to help teach media literacy using the Internet. This amazing collection of information put together by Lyle Zapato on his site, has helped thousands of students understand that, just because it is on the Internet, does not mean it is true. I think about the PNWTO often, which is admittedly weird, and how it was such a fun way to engage students in an important learning task. As I was thinking of ways to explore media literacy and AI, I thought about the PNWTO again and came up with a Space that can be used to help students understand that AI needs to be understood in a similar vein as basic Internet searches from years ago. 

I also used SchoolAI to create a worksheet to help the students prompt the Space and write down their answers. You can find the worksheet here and make your own copy as needed. If you want the prompt I used to generate this worksheet, you can find that here. Using the prompt will allow you tag any standards from your state that you might need. The overall goal of the Space is to engage students in using AI to research a topic and the Space will give more and more ridiculous answers to the questions until the students starts to question the accuracy. Once that happens, the Space will start to ask the student how they could go about verifying information they find online or through using AI. Let me know if you use this with your students and how it went. 

SchoolAI Librarian/Media Specialist Community Space

Lastly, I am excited about the launch of a space in the SchoolAI Community dedicated to librarians and media specialists. You spoke up and we listened! The contribution to edtech from these educators is immeasurable. They are having amazing conversations around AI in schools and we wanted to make sure they could continue to have these conversations and share their ideas in the community. As part of that, we had Shannon Miller on the SchoolAI Sandbox! Join us for an hour filled with important conversation on the role of AI in the library and schools as a whole. We are really excited about this partnership with Shannon Miller. Watch the recording here! The last time Shannon and I dove headfirst into a project, we organized The Epic Romeo and Juliet Project. If you do not know what that is, please check it out. 

We hope to see you in the new Community space to lead, innovate, and collaborate. 

As always, big hugs and high fives, 

-Nerdy

Citations in the world of AI #EngChat #EdChat

I encountered a great question about citing things students finding using AI resources. If students were using a Space in SchoolAI and they were given information they wanted to use in an essay, how might they go about citing that? Well, the folks at MLA and APA are one step ahead and have provided examples on how to do that. I was able to take that work and build a Space that will help students with their citation questions that you can use with your students. 

What is nice about this Space is that it will not only properly format their citations, it will provide help with in-text citation as well. In-text citation was one of my big focus points when I taught writing to my grade nine and ten students. I really drilled it home because I always viewed proper citation as a mechanical function that should be completed and checked during proofreading. I was probably a little too hard on it, but I feel like it payed off for students. 

I once had a former student visit the classroom during their Fall break and they told me their professor told them that they were the only one in the entire lecture hall sized class to have accurate in-text citations and they wanted to make sure to tell me. It made my entire week. It was even better because they came in and told me while I had my Freshmen with me, so they got to hear the story as well. 

Citation can be a tedious part of any writing process, but it is much easier than it has ever been. There are plenty of programs out there that will create citations for you and and you no longer have to worry about having too many spaces or not enough spaces in the citation. You do not have to worry about the punctuation in the citation. I remember being marked down for these thinks in high school. With the advent of AI, how the heck to you cite ChatGPT? I remember when we asked the same question about wikipedia and other websites. Well, MLA and APA do not let their writing community down. There are guidelines on how to cite chat conversations with AI. There are even guidelines on citing memes! 

To help cut through the noise, I built a Space that will help users with their citations. It is built to help with citing AI specifically, but I also built in examples and pdfs from MLA and APA to help with all citations types and to even provide examples to showcase what they user should have. I have also built the Space to NOT write essays for students, but help them insert in-text citation as needed. 

If you want to explore the Space, give it a look over and see how it might help you or your students. 

MLA and APA Citation Space

Growing @GetSchoolAI with Basecamp #EdChat #SchoolAIBasecamp

I've been working at SchoolAI for almost a month and it has been a wonderful experience. I could not be happier with my teammates and our goal to make school awesome for everyone, everyday. As part of that, I am happy to announce the rollout of Basecamp! Basecamp is the complete AI training program for teachers. My team has worked hard to create training courses, Live and On Demand, that can help educators grow their understanding of SchoolAI and how it can be used to support student learning. 

Think of it this way. You are a young Jedi looking for guidance after the Order 66 wiped out almost all of the Jedi. Basecamp is your way to continue your exploration of the Force so that you can support your community. 

I am very proud of the all of the work that has gone into launching Basecamp and I know that it will only continue to grow in its awesomeness as more classes are added. If you are considering an AI tool for your classroom, school, or district, check out Basecamp and see how it can transform your understanding of AI can do for you and for your learning community.

Unsolicited Back to School Advice #EdChat

Unsolicited Back to School Advice

Created with DALL-E

It is that time of year again where teachers all over the country are getting ready to head back to their classrooms. Some are heading to their very first classroom. It can be a scary time for new and veteran teachers. There might be new admin in place, a new curriculum, might be rolling out, or a host of other things that can up the anxiety level. With all of that in mind, I thought I would share some unsolicited advice that might help any teacher get through the back to school butterflies. 

1. Focus on what you can control

The most important thing when it comes to back to school jitters is focusing on what you can control. You cannot control the new admin, or the new procedures in place for dealing with tardy students, or the broken stall in the bathroom from last year that is still not fixed despite multiple work orders having been submitted. You can control the way your classroom looks, the welcoming environment that students feel when they walk through the doorway. You can control the bulletin boards, and flexible seating. You can control how you greet the students at the door for each class. There are so many things you cannot control that can drive anxiety levels, up, but, there are so many thinks you do control in your classroom that help create an amazing learning experience for your students. Focusing on those will help kick the year off in the right direction. 

2. Note important school dates on your calendar

Hopefully your school releases a calendar that has all of the important dates marked. These should be school breaks, PD days, testing dates, etc. Mark these down in your calendar or plan-book (Do people still use teacher planners?) so you are not surprised later on when a lesson needs to be cut short or interrupted by a week of testing. This is also nice if you plan to take some of your personal days and you need to plan around school events. Make sure to check your school policy on using personal/sick days. If you are in a school that has a use them or lose them policy, keep that in mind throughout the year. Mental health is important and you need to make sure you use your days to support physical AND mental health issues. If you can help yourself, how will you be able to help others? Mark all of the important dates in your calendar so you will not be shocked later in the year. 

3. If your new, find out who does what and write it down

Being new to a building is tough for lots of reasons. You are hit over the head with the new teacher training and you can easily be overwhelmed with all of the new information being tossed your way. If you are not give a list of names with phone numbers, emails, and jobs, it is important to create your own. You should create a quick cheat sheet that has the name, numbers, and emails of the people in charge of various parts of the school. Administrators, office assistants, maintenance, school counselor, school nurse, etc. Anybody that you might need to call quickly or email. Most importantly, ask a veteran teacher how to get certain things done. Sometimes there are proper channels of getting things done and there are ways to get things done quickly. You only learn these things through experience, so connect with those who have it so you can learn it. I learned that one of the office assistants loved pumpernickel bagels. Whenever I got bagels for class or for the department, I would get one for her and drop it off at her desk. My forms were always processed quickly when dropped off throughout the year. Sometimes a little grease can get the wheels moving. I learned that from a veteran teacher after a couple of years. 

4. If you are a returning veteran teacher, keep an eye out for the newbies

There are going to be some bright eyed teachers stepping into the building for the first time with lots of crazy ideas of what teaching is going to look like for them. It is important to adopt these younglings and help guide them through the process so they do not burn out and you are forced to start the hiring process all over again. Provide them with the wisdom you wish you received as a new teacher or did receive thanks to an awesome veteran teacher. You might be thinking, "Am I a veteran teacher" and the answer is probably yes. It seems to have happened over night, but you are a veteran teacher now. I usually say if you can make it past the 5 year mark, you finally understand that you don't know everything and can start to learn and share with those around you. Find those teachers that need the support and help them be successful. 

5. Focus on growth

The last thing I want to share is the value of embracing the mistakes you are going to make. They are going to happen and you need to be ok with that. More specifically, learn from the mistakes and look to be better next time. Connect with a veteran teacher and talk about the mistake. Focus on growth this year. Whether you are new or a returning vet, by focusing on growth, you can be better. That is what we want for our students, so we should model that for ourselves. Every single teacher is on their own personal journey that makes them who they are in the classroom and as a person. If everyone is focused on growth and helping those around us with their growth, we can all be better in ways that make the entire school better for everyone. 

I know you did not ask for this advice and there are plenty of other things I could share with you, but I wanted to keep this short and sweet and let you explore the different ways to manage the back to school butterflies. Teaching can be tough, but it has an amazing community that is ready to support any teacher looking for help. Never be afraid to say, "I don't know" as long as it is followed up with, "but let's find out". You've got this, so go an make the 2024/2025 school year the best one yet.  

When Are You No Longer Innovative? #EdChat

I've been thinking about the concept of innovation and being innovative as an educator. At times, I think I have been innovative in different approaches to teaching and helping students learn. Whether that is through large projects like 20 Time that led to hosting TEDx Events or The Epic Romeo and Juliet Project or smaller changes to my every day instruction like increased wait time and how I ask questions. These big or little changes can have an impact on the students in class and pushes me to continually evolve as an educator. Despite these changes, and others over the years, I started to wonder at what point does an innovative strategy cross into the realm of traditional and no longer innovative. 

Right now, there is great work being done around brain science and what it can do to help teachers. An article from ASCD, Every Educator Needs to Know How The Brain Learns, does a wonderful job explaining the why of brain science for teachers. SEL is also very important in the classroom. I would argue that teachers have been concerned about Social Emotional Learning long before it was a buzzword in education. Where those teachers innovative in the fact that they were addressing something that was not considered mainstream yet? Once it became mainstream, is it no longer innovative?

Using a television in the classroom was considered extremely innovative at one time. Reading Rainbow and Sesame Street were considered so far ahead of their time. Using television, and visual media in general, was considered cutting edge. Those two programs were instrumental in educating tens of thousands of children around the country. It was innovative and impactful. Would you still call those programs innovative today? (Note: This dyslexic child learned to read because of LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow. Watching that cart with the TV wheel into class gave me so much hope that I would be able to read and be awesome like the kids featured on the show. I was able to meet Mr. Burton in person years ago and thank him with tears in my eyes. I know I wasn't the first or the last person to do that.)

June 2014 ISTE Conference

I have fully embraced Project Based Learning and Maker Education as a way to engage students in the learning process. I want to help students be creators and not just consumers of content. Project Based Learning has been around for a very l long time. Is it really still innovative to allow students to explore topics that are meaningful to them and let them learn through the process of discovery? I don't have the answer to that, but if PBL and MakerEd have transitioned into the realm of traditional pedagogy, does that mean it is time to find the next innovative approach?

I think the scary thing with being innovative as a teacher is the fact that failure is part of the process. Lessons are going to be bad or simply not work out. Being innovative is not easy and it is not something everyone is comfortable being in the classroom. It takes educators who are in the right environment to try the new ideas and see how they go. They document and share and hopefully their innovative idea grows and expands to classrooms all over. However, it is not easy. I imagine so many innovative ideas shrivel on the vine because education is not set up to support innovative teaching. 

As a teacher who advocates for teachers to try the big crazy idea, yells from the rooftop that mental health needs to be talked about for teachers and students, that wants nothing more to find a way to support and nurture other educators looking to take their innovative idea to the next level, I want all educators out there to think about how they can be supportive of innovation in the classroom. Innovation will constantly evolve as technology and research provides more options and answers. My goal moving forward is to continue to support innovative practices, raise up voices that are trying to make education better for everyone, and not give up on finding the best thing for teachers and students, I just hope that every teacher feels that they have the option to try that idea because it could be the one that changes a generation of learners.  

Easy EdTech Podcast Episode with Monica Burns

Hello there! Sending you a note today to let you know where you can learn a bit more about Comics in the Classroom and an AI Connection. I was recently interviewed by Monica Burns for an episode of her Easy EdTech Podcast.

Here’s the description of the episode: In this episode, I chat with Nicholas Provenzano, Makerspace Director, Consultant, and Author, about using comics and graphic novels as powerful literacy tools that provide students with engaging choices for reading and storytelling. You'll also hear fascinating examples of how he's leveraged free generative AI tools to help students collaboratively write stories, generate visuals, and produce digital comics, bringing their creative visions to life.

It’s available on all of the popular podcast platforms. You can listen on your favorite podcast app by clicking one of the links below or searching for “Easy EdTech Podcast.” If you’re not usually a podcast listener but interested in checking this out, you can listen straight from your web browser without downloading anything. 

Here are the links to the episode:

https://classtechtips.com/2024/07/02/comics-in-the-classroom-274/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/easy-edtech-podcast-with-monica-burns/id1454190031?mt=2

https://open.spotify.com/show/0qjdB2LMPLMPxOq05ewboe

I can’t wait for you to hear about Comics in the Classroom and an AI Connection in this new episode.

Hugs and High Fives, 

Nick

Empowering New Teachers: Strategies for Success and Retention in Modern Education

The educational world is faced with a shift in its workforce demographics, with new teachers becoming a larger portion of the profession than ever before. These new educators are not being adequately prepared for a system that can chew them up quickly without the proper support systems in place. There are some important systemic changes and effective strategies that can empower these new teachers, support instructional goals, and stem the flow of mass turnover of teachers. By focusing attention on instructional coaching, mentoring, addressing systemic issues, observations and feedback, and burnout prevention, new teachers, as well as veteran teachers, can begin to feel more comfortable and see success in their profession.  

Instructional coaching is a pivotal support mechanism for teachers because it provides them with personalized support and professional development. Instructional coaches should not be limited to new teachers. These trained professionals can help any teacher looking to improve on their practice. While a traditional approach to professional development would have many teachers in a large space all being told the same thing, Instructional coaching will allow for highly personalized professional development that is timely for the teacher. These coaching sessions could focus on lesson planning, classroom management, instructional strategies, technology implementation, and so much more. These coaches would work closely with the teachers to set goals, observe classroom practices, and provide feedback with the purpose of creating an environment that supports thoughtful reflection. 

The research backs up the idea that instructional coaching is valuable to teachers and their students. According to a study from EdResearch for Recovery in 2022, the difference between teachers who have coaching and those who do not is similar to a novice teacher and a teacher with five to ten years of experience. The article also showed that “the presence of a content-focused coach was associated with reduced turnover of novice teachers.”  These two examples are just a small example of the benefits of instructional coaching that can be found in study after study. The personalized nature of instructional coaching allows for relationships built on trust to be built and that leads to teacher growth and student gains. 

Mentoring is another approach of teacher support that needs to be considered when helping build a support system for all teachers, but especially new teachers. While instructional coaching can provide personalized professional development to support the professional growth of a teacher, a mentor also supports the mental well-being of these teachers. There are just some things that college cannot prepare a new teacher for and a mentor needs to be there to help guide them through a rough transition. Also, every building has their own rules and procedures that can be daunting for a new teacher to navigate on their own. On top of trying to get to know all of the names of their students, they have an entire new staff that need to get to know as well. Who do you go for field trip forms? Who is in charge of attendance? How do I find out which counselor is in charge of which student class? There are so many questions that a new teacher doesn’t even know which question to ask next. It can simply be too much to deal with while trying to get a grip on the art of teaching. 

Mentoring, usually led by a veteran teacher, can provide the one-on-one guidance that a new teacher needs to know to navigate their new career. This could include classroom management, student engagement, an understanding of the school community, and just an ear to express fears and frustrations. Too many new teachers are afraid to share their struggles because they do not want to appear to be a “bad” teacher. It is important for a mentor structure to be in place so all new teachers understand that all teachers feel like “bad” teachers when they start. 

According to research from the National Institute of Teaching, it is important to make sure that the mentor/mentee relationship is not an evaluative process “to foster trust and openess.” A research summary by Caskey and Swanson found that “when mentors are sufficiently prepared for their role, they report ‘satisfaction, confidence, effectiveness, self-efficacy and help enhance novice teacher effectiveness’” The data exists in many different forms that mentoring is a key factor in supporting teachers and retaining them long term. It is a financial investment, not just in teachers, but in the students as well. When students encounter constant turnover, they suffer from an instructional and social standpoint. If students do not have time to build strong relationships with their teachers because they never last more than a year or two, they find it hard to engage fully in the educational system. 

An important part of the mentoring and coaching process is the need for observations and feedback. They play an important role in the professional development of new teachers because they offer insights into best practices and areas of needed improvement. Structured observations do not have to be limited to mentors and coaches, supervisor observations and feedback meetings are also critical for the administration to have a deeper understanding of the work that teachers are doing in their classrooms. It is critical that these observations focus on various aspects of teaching, including student engagement, classroom management, and curriculum delivery.

Providing feedback is crucial when it comes to following up on an observation. The feedback needs to be supportive and constructive to truly help a teacher grow. Effective feedback needs to be specific, actionable, and needs to stay clear of criticism. Feedback should encourage a teacher to reflect on their practice with a way to be better. It should drive them to seek out professional development or experiment with new instructional approaches.The best feedback should have a teacher feeling excited about trying something new the next time they get a chance. An observation and feedback system that causes fear and anxiety is a failed system that will never support teacher growth. That issues stems from a larger school culture issue that needs to be addressed if a strong observation and feedback system is ever going to support teachers effectively. 

It is fundamental that administrators work to create a culture where observation and feedback is seen as a valuable tool to support teacher growth. Administrators should seek out professional development to better understand how to create a system that supports a strong school culture of observations and feedback. Providing time and space for teachers to visit other classes and provide feedback can help support a culture of growth and sharing. New teachers are just figuring out how schools run and their colleagues will let them know what to look out for if the culture is not positive. Creating a system that supports learning, observations, feedback, and trying new things can go a long way in supporting new teachers as they get comfortable in their new surroundings. 

One of the most common issues for new teachers is burnout. Veteran teachers are at risk of burnout in any given year, but new teachers, without the years of experience that provides coping mechanisms to deal with burnout, are at higher risk of leaving the profession due to burnout. Addressing the issue of burnout requires a broad approach that includes workload management, mental health support, and professional development. 

The traditional approach of assigning new teachers many of the extras during the school day, lunch duty, after school clubs or sports, fundraisers, etc, because they are the new teacher or because they are younger and it is assumed they have fewer responsibilities at home. These approaches are fundamentally flawed. The idea that these new teachers have the bandwidth to handle many extra duties is troubling. New teachers need to be afforded the time to acclimate to the profession before undertaking too many extra duties. Unfortunately, new teachers can be taken advantage of because they do not feel comfortable telling administrators no when asked to help. By adding to their workload in the attempt to make admin happy, new teachers burden themselves with extra work that can be taxing to their mental health. Schools should be limiting the amount of extracurriculars that new teachers are asked to do during the first couple of years in the classroom to support their growth as a classroom teacher.

New teachers often do not have anyone to talk to at school about their stress or fears that naturally arise as a new teacher. There is a fear that expressing those feelings will be viewed negatively and, possibly, impact their employment moving forward. Creating spaces for new teacher cohorts to get together and share these feelings is a great step to support them as they navigate their new profession. Supporting these new teachers and their mental health can lead to fewer sick or mental health days taken which ultimately saves schools money in sub costs. A study published in the Journal of School Psychology, found that teachers with depression actually teach their classes differently. The research found that those teachers spent less time on whole-group instruction and planning/organizing instruction. When teachers are overworked and under supported, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues can have a serious negative impact on the classroom. Schools need to make a concerted effort to support the mental health of all teachers, but especially new teachers, because they do not have the same coping mechanisms and strategies as their veteran peer teachers. 

A big stressor for new teachers is that feeling that they are always treading water. It can be tough to feel like you are ahead of the game when you are barely one day ahead of your class. Providing professional development opportunities that can support their practice that can save them time or build confidence can be wonderfully helpful. Paring up the new teachers with their mentor or department peers to explore professional development together can help the new teacher feel part of the community and provide a partner to discuss the new ideas they encountered in the PD session. While missing class time to attend professional development can itself be a stressor, providing opportunities to learn and grow will help long term and that is key in building a culture that supports new teachers. 

Supporting new teachers is crucial if schools are going to have ready and capable educators to replace teacher veterans that are retiring. The research shows the value of instructional coaching, mentoring, observational feedback, and mental health support in helping all teachers perform to the best of their abilities. It is easy to say that a school supports their teachers. It is even easier to check to see if that is true. If a school fails to have a system in place that truly dedicates time and money to support new teachers, they are not walking the walk and can expect high teacher turnover that will negatively impact their students. 

Caskey, M., & Swanson, K. W. (2023). Mentoring middle school teachers: Research summary. Association for Middle Level Education. https://www.amle.org/mentoring-middle-school-teachers-research-summary/#:~:text=The%20mentor%20must%20be%20patient,and%20supporting%20a%20new%20teacher.

Hobson, A., Maxwell, B., Manning, C., Allen, B., Stevenson, J., Kiss, Z., & Joergensen, C. (2023). New research from National Institute of Teaching offers helpful insights on mentoring new teachers. National Institute of Teaching. https://niot.org.uk/news-events/new-research-mentoring-new-teachers

Russell, J. L., & Booker, L. N. (2022). Design principles: Improving teaching practice with instructional coaching. Annenberg Institute at Brown University. https://annenberg.brown.edu/sites/default/files/EdResearch_for_Recovery_Design_Principles_3.pdf