This week, during one of my coding classes, an unexpected lesson in financial responsibility took place. Students were happily using Copilot in Visual Studio Code to assist them with their programming questions until their tokens suddenly ran out.

RUT ROH!

Suddenly, the class conversation shifted from “Prompt the AI again” to “Maybe I should think about this for a minute.” Not even their rubber ducks could help them solve this situation.

Budget your resources, ask better questions, and take the time to think. It turns out that learning to code and learning to manage money have something in common.

Lesson learned: sometimes the best teacher in the room is a token limit.
AI Tokens and the Value of Thinking First

I asked him how his day was going, and he told me it wasn’t going so well. I asked why, and he explained a challenge he was facing with learning a specific baking technique. I could tell it was really weighing on him.

He mentioned that the college was teaching it differently from how he had learned it on YouTube, and he was struggling mentally. I could tell.

I then introduced myself, shared what I teach at the college, and told him a story I often share with my students.

Before attending Stevens Institute of Technology, I took a summer course on the Fortran programming language. I told him how much I struggled and how the course brought me to tears. So much so that I didn’t want to attend college in the fall. I did wind up passing the course with a passing grade.

I also reminded him that I now teach what I once struggled with and how much joy it brings me now. I think I made his day, and I plan to check in with him tomorrow.

He thanked me for sharing my story, and I saw him break into a big smile.

Hello one and all,

Let me tell you something that makes a bigger difference than most people realize: caring matters.

When you care about your work, your classmates, and your instructor, it shows. It shows in the way you write code, how you communicate, how you follow through, and how you respond when things do not go your way. Believe me, people can feel it.

Caring is not about trying to impress anyone; it’s about being genuine. It is about respect. It is about saying, “I value this class, the people in it, and the time we are all putting into it.” You can show care in simple ways that carry a great deal of weight. Come to Student Hours. Send a message in Canvas or Slack when you need help. Please let me know if anything is unclear or if you encounter any difficulties. Those small things tell me you care, and they make it much easier for me to show up for you.

When I see students who take extra time to ask a question, share an idea, or put in real effort, I notice it every time. You do not have to be perfect. You do not even have to know what you are doing half the time. What matters is that you care enough to try, to learn, and to connect.

The truth is, caring is contagious. When you care, others start to care too. That is how a class turns into a community.

Let us keep that energy going. It makes this whole thing worth it.

Bruce

In the piece, I reflect on how AI has quietly established itself in our daily lives, including my own morning routine. Yet, far more importantly, I raise the deeper question: modern AI systems are astonishing at pattern recognition and prediction, but what does it mean to know something today? I asked, “What does it mean to know something in 2025?”

I remain committed to helping students do more than just use AI. It’s not enough to hand over the facts. We must guide them toward understanding the story behind the facts, the reasoning behind tools, and the ethics behind technology. In my classes, I emphasize that AI is not neutral. It mirrors the choices and incentives of its creators; it may “know what’s right” but not why it’s right.

One concrete approach I’ve shared: an AI-driven version of the old rubber duck debugging trick. Students explain their thinking step by step, now supplemented by an AI “duck” that doesn’t give answers but provokes thought. It’s about building reasoning, not shortcutting it.

If you’re curious about how AI influences education, ethics, or simply how we live and work, I invite you to read the full article over at Clark College, reflect on the questions raised, and decide where you stand. The future won’t wait.

Here’s my slide deck >

After today, I’m convinced. Starting this winter, I’ll be bringing my courses back to being fully in person. I’ll still have a few online sections, but not many. My goal is to get them all back to the classroom eventually. There’s an energy and rhythm that come from being together that technology can’t replicate.

Because it was our first in-person class in a while, I handed out rubber ducks to each student. They’re part of how I teach coding, a symbol of debugging, reflection, and patience. Watching students line them up on their laptops made me grin. It reminded me that learning works best when it’s hands-on, a little playful, and shared with others.

To top it off, my morning class enjoyed cookies, pumpkin loaf, and scones from the Clark College bakery. For a moment, the room felt like a true community again, warm, curious, and connected.

There’s also an honesty to being in a physical classroom. You can’t hide behind AI or a screen. You have to show up, think on your feet, and engage. That’s where the real learning happens. And yes, I’m still an AI proponent. My students use it, and I teach them how to use it responsibly. However, AI doesn’t replace the value of showing up, questioning ideas, or learning face-to-face.

Technology has its place, but the best learning still happens when we share the same energy, the same attention, and the same spark that only real presence can create.

After five hours of what can only be described as interactive educational theater, I’m wiped. But in the best possible way.

Fellow educators, have you experienced this difference as well?

In short, workslop is the illusion of productivity without the substance of real work. It wastes time, erodes trust, and turns collaboration into a cleanup duty.

College is the real world. My students aren’t waiting for life to begin after graduation; they’re living it right now. Working jobs. Raising kids and balancing a million things.

So when I build assignments, I don’t pretend we’re in some academic bubble. I try to make my classes reflect what it’s actually like out there: teamwork, deadlines, problem-solving, communication, and showing up even when it’s hard.

It’s a reminder to myself: I’m not “preparing” students for the real world.

I’m teaching in it.

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Big thanks to David J. Malan, Kelly Ding, and all the incredible educators from around the world who showed up ready to share, question, and reimagine how we teach. The conversations were honest, the ideas were fresh, and yes, I took a lot of notes in Obsidian.

I’m already planning some updates to my CTEC 121 class at Clark College (based on CS50P), thanks to what I learned. Lifelong learning isn’t a slogan, it’s a commitment. A mindset. A refusal to phone it in.

And hey, if you don’t post the certificate photo, did it really happen?

Fast-forward. Now, kids type a sentence into an AI, and boom, they have a fully functional app. No clue what a loop is. No idea why it works. But it runs. It passes. It’s done.

And I know. Debugging still matters. Reading the code still matters. Talking it out with the rubber duck still works wonders. That duck has been my co-teacher for years. Add some pizza to the mix and we’re cooking with logic.

But here’s the twist: AI is learning to be the duck. It’s patient. It listens. It suggests. It never gets pizza sauce on the keyboard. And it doesn’t care if the student skipped class.

So now I’m asking:

What does it mean to “learn to code” today?

Is it about the code itself, or the thinking behind it?

Are we still teaching kids how to build, or are we teaching them how to talk to the thing that builds?

If you teach, code, parent, or care about this space, talk to me. The duck and I are listening. We’ve got questions. And snacks, of course.