Snow!

“We’ve lost the ability to love people because we litmus test them at every point. . .” ibid overcast.fm/+AA3KNhgbFXg...

“I love a good argument. But I also love grace.” A fine framing of public discourse from Jon Stewart interviewed by David Remnick on the New Yorker Radio Hour. overcast.fm/+AA3KNhgbFXg...

If somebody suggests you watch _The Life of Chuck_, you should listen to them.

First day of school here. A good moment for an oldie - my advice to teachers at the start of a new year. Still advice I would give. Especially now. Happy new year! budtheteacher.com/blog/2008/08...

Huh. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/b...

Chatbots Can Go Into a Delusional Spiral. Here’s How It Happens. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/t...

The assumption that generative AI could be a "valuable partner" is unevidenced and the example activity is critical thinking work that could better be done in the absence of AI. It's thinking of something you COULD do with AI. Rather than what students SHOULD do to learn.

I put together a 4-page doc for those wary of the rush to integrate in K-12 schools (though much applies beyond). Four of the main arguments for teachers using AI tools & introducing kids to AI as early as kindergarten are addressed with rebuttals linked to sources.

The first:

If you were thinking about rereading the Constitution with your book club, but you’re maybe in between book clubs, this podcast is for you. Highly recommend. overcast.fm/+AAyIOyIrdZo

Kicking off the 2025 CASE Convention. Learning with Colorado colleagues and educational leaders.

I dunno. Maybe it’s not the best use of time to mock or parody or amplify the Coldplay video thing.

This morning’s beach read. Catching up on some back issues.

“We ought to think about A.I. as an entertainment system before anything else.” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/o...

“Poetry and art in general can be this amazing connective tool. . . . It engenders empathy. And sometimes I can forget this, but adding beauty to the world is a thing unto itself. We were born astonished. We should never grow out of our astonishment.” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/a...

The future is weird and uncomfortable.

This book is well worth your time. And the time of anyone suggesting to you that “this time, it’s different” when they tell you to believe everything about the future of “AI.” thecon.ai

Writing is hard work. Especially for scientists. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/h...

Building customized LLM agents in a Microsoft tool on iPadOS via the Chrome web browser. The future is weird. #istelive25

As usual, @hickstro is doing good work on how to teach writing with technology. These resources on AI and writing instruction are well worth your time. docs.google.com/presentation...

Writing in a chair in a common space at ISTE. Did I Bloggers Cafe?

Instagram announces improvements in reporting issues with posts and accounts for schools today at ISTE-ASCD25. Good step forward - but requires the school to be on the platform. Thanks, Richard Culatta, for moving this forward. about.instagram.com/community/ed...

I did NOT have Colin Kaepernick advocating for the power of AI and storytelling as a part of my #istelx experience.

So today’s take out the trash day at the Supreme Court, then?

The point of teaching literature is simply this: Every story we read is a new lens on the world. When we read diverse books, we grow as people. We become wiser and more empathetic - more able see other people. SCOTUS’ ruling allows intolerance to continue and makes us a weaker nation.

Off to #iste25 this weekend. See y’all there?

Tuesday night at Red Rocks.

Resisting the urge to subtweet a rough edtech talk that was supposed to be a workshop. Okay. I’m not resisting the urge all that well.

Returning to the world after a week of beach and pool time with my children and extended family. Seven and a half hour turnaround from airport to house back to airport. Been a minute since I’ve airported like this.

“Digital computers are fundamentally disconnected from the world; they are operating entirely on the abstraction of it. They are being fed pictures of the world. It is like someone living in a box and knowing the world only through photos of it.” harpers.org/archive/2025...

Jesse Watters is a nitwit. Possibly even a ding dong. Is all.

“The question is how do you show the presence of absence?” Sajet said at the time. “How do we actually signal that there are a whole lot of people and voices and opinions missing?” I think about that lots. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/a...

Doing the wrong thing faster, with extra sparkle and bling, isn’t a systems improvement. It’s a colossal waste of time and energy and capacity. That’s all.

But do we need a game to reinforce the ideas from a paper, or just a few distraction free moments to, you know, read the paper?

I don’t mind one bit that all of the algorithms are sending me clips from _Cheers_ right now. Not. One. Bit.

Weeded and mowed and rebuilt a carburetor and weeded and now there’s beer. Hey, summer. I see you there.

Weeding and hearing about quiz show scandals. overcast.fm AA2ileO3saI

Boo. Boooooooo. www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...

All. Of. This.

“Common People,” _Black Mirror_’s season opener, is peak sci-fi. Watch it. Maybe twice. Think about it. Talk to folks about it. I’d teach it if I had a classroom right now.

On the top of my reading pile.

Amateur hour at HHS. They’re not broken. They’re people. If you can’t see the people, you’re the one who’s broken. Probably the brain worm.

Resisting the urge to shout frustratedly at the universe. Mostly to the east of my current location. Mostly. Two time zones east.

Just listening to the West Wing while cleaning up after cooking dinner for my people. And ignoring the news. Happy Saturday.

A challenging test of the ability of AI to transform language, rather than just compress it: “take Auden’s sestina Paysage Moralisé and turn into a limerick.” “What about the deeper meaning?” I think Gemini 2.5 does best.

Finally found a good use for generative AI - sending cease and desist notes to vendors who “just want to connect.” Huzzah to the future.

I’m proud to be a CSU Ram. That was a rough end to a phenomenal game.

“Removing thinking from writing renders an act not writing.” — More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI by John Warner a.co/ah9sTa4

“Because ChatGPT cannot write. Generating syntax is not the same thing as writing. Writing is an embodied act of thinking and feeling. Writing is communicating with intention.