I’ve long rallied against over-prescribed and scripted learning. This particular form was about accountability. In some respects, I get it. But I do believe it remains a relevant and important conversation. Goals, focus, and relentlessness are concepts central to education reform and frameworks designed to improve schools. But my memory of the field trip somehow pushes back a bit on that perspective. The field trip was sure to connect to curricular outcomes, but that was not my first instinct as to why we should go. It was an opportunity for my kids to experience something I couldn’t give them in a classroom. To me, that seemed enough. Goals and metrics are useful tools for businesses and, yes, even kids. But as we are now being forced to ask the question, “What does it mean to be human?” I feel less interested in goals and more interested in experiences. I want to lean more into a human being, not a human doing.

We went to Mexico City a few weeks ago. If you asked, “What was the purpose or goal of the trip?” I might have said, to relax, to see things, to reunite with old friends, to spend time with my wife and daughter. All those are true, but framing it that way isn’t something that really captures the approach we took. Most of the time, it was spent with little planning, open to serendipity as much as possible. Less planning and more present. Listen, I know many read this and will argue that both of these can be true. Certainly. But in a time when we are tempted daily by the lure of efficiency and productivity, I think we must become more intentional about just being. In that being, we become more present and more human. Not because we accomplished something, but because we experienced something. What we experience becomes personal and individual.

As I reread this, I’m sure AI could tighten this up, make it clearer. Perhaps I’ll share another post where I’ve done that. For now, I’ll let my words stand as they’ve been written with the hopes they resonate. I’m coming to terms with what AI means for me; not completely, but more clearly. I’m still working on what this means for schools and kids.

What I’m finding is that it’s very difficult to make any kind of generalizations about how we use AI. What’s good for one person may not be for someone else. There’s a great deal of autonomy at play here, particularly as we age and perhaps have developed those skills we are so worried AI will replace.

Let me share one very specific example of something I’m currently wrestling with. As a speaker and presenter, I’ve always taken great care and pride in my slide decks. I admire those who can speak for an hour without any visuals (I call that naked presentations). Not only would I find that extremely challenging, but my slides are part of the story. Sometimes an image, a video, or a clear graphic does as much as my spoken word. Since the onset of PowerPoint and Keynote, many have recognized that its default settings lack the intention and impact of a well-designed set of slides. Early influences like Garr Reynolds and Guy Kawasaki helped me take my deck seriously. I poured hours into slide design, not at the expense of content and my own speaking, but as a way to amplify and create emotion that would make my message stick. Contemporaries like Adam Bellow, Ewan McIntosh, John Spencer and Bill Ferriter did it better than I did, but were presenters I aspired to.

Many others are fine speakers who might use a standard template, pop in a few bullet points, the occasional image and spend their time crafting the talk. While I appreciate a well-designed slide deck, I’m sure many are fine with something basic and enjoy the presentation just the same. Different styles for different folks.

Along comes AI. Beginning with tools like Gamma, which offer “Effortless AI design for presentations,” seems like a really great idea. I think it is. But like the person who prefers to buy their own groceries, create every sauce from scratch and experiment with spices and quantities, I used to be one who appreciated and enjoyed the effort. I think of John Spencer, who designs every graphic and creates amazing animations from nothing and not only appreciate the effort but know how much those animations contribute to his message sticking. It’s only been of late that I’ve switched from exclusively using Keynote and PowerPoint to the web-based tool. Mostly out of convenience because of collaboration with colleagues, but there are some other benefits as well. But the downside is a lack of control for some things. I’m less likely to make a complicated animation that serves to tell a story and instead settle for a simpler approach. Some will argue that simpler is sometimes better, and I agree, but it’s always about intention and not just being resigned to work within the limitations of a tool. I’ve become quite used to the “Beautify this slide” option in Google Slides. A simple text-based slide is magically transformed into a graphic with enhanced text that is easier to read and aesthetically more pleasing. Wow, a quick click that used to take me maybe 5 or 10 minutes to get right. It’s at this point that I’m weighing the cost/benefit. Is that 5 minutes for me to create that slide instead of AI worth it? I don’t think that’s a simple answer. Sometimes the answer might be obvious, in that it was never that important, no one will care or notice. Other times, it’s made me move on to something else, and because the slide I left looks good, I’ve forgotten the key ideas that I wanted to highlight. The 5 minutes I would spend looking for an image or choosing a font, changing the colour of a couple of key words, helped me be confident and passionate about the slide and its message. But back to the cost/benefit question, I rarely use the same presentation, and so when I have 3-5 presentations in a week, while I certainly might borrow from one deck, I’m typically making significant changes to align to the audience and their ask. In that scenario, I often have to make those choices to move on.

Last week I was talking to Alan Levine about his use of AI, and you’ll hear his response in its entirety in an upcoming episode of The CanadianEd Leadership Show. He talked about how much he still loves to use his own images or find images from others. For him, this is about the humanity of it. Sure, AI can generate any photo or image you want, and he did say that if he couldn’t find something that truly represented his message he would use i,t but that was a last resort. For me, it did give me pause to question my own process. I always took pride in my slides. Less so now. I even apologize to folks, as the Beautify My Slide feature tends to produce “tells”. It’s obvious it’s A,I and part of me hates that. Again, for those who do not enjoy making slides but understand their role in the message, they will see this as incredibly helpful. Ultimately, the goal is to give a presentation or talk that moves people, or gets them to learn or consider something new. Slides can play a part of that for certain. In the same way that many are finding pleasure in Hello Fresh or simply going out to eat, their focus is perhaps more about the act of eating together than it is in the act of creation. But for those who enjoy making a meal from scratch, they find added pleasure in sharing that meal with others who perhaps also find added appreciation for a meal made from scratch.

George Couros has a different perspective in that his designing slides are about alone time, a relaxing time to sit with ideas. He’s not interested in saving time with slide design. Chris Kennedy might disagree. But neither is suggesting there is one way. AI gives us options and choices that we didn’t have before. Those choices require more thought than simply gauging their ability to save time.

Whether it’s writing, slide design, thinking, or researching, it’s very difficult to say when AI should or shouldn’t be used. Not just because of development issues in learning, but because we each have different values, goals and priorities. I’m still wrestling with this. For those who will hear me speak this week, half of my slides will contain “beautify my slides” artifacts and half won’t. Some of you will care, some of you won’t. I’m still trying to decide for myself.

When I present, I’m clear to tell people I’m on the fence. To some, this is a cop out. To others this might demonstrate my lack of expertise. I prefer that latter. I’m learning and do not want to fall prey to the Dunning-Kruger Effect

I’m currently somewhere between the Valley of Despair and the Slope of Enlightment but more in the valley. I suspect I might be here for a while. I’m encouraging others to get comfortable in that spot for a while.

In the meantime, while the adults in charge wrestle and work towards a path forward and enlightenment, I believe we have a serious obligation to our young people. I have, for a long time, believed the role of educators is to be brokers of hope. Joy for me is not a silly little word but a serious goal. It’s become even more of a pursuit since the birth of my grandchildren. The world around us is mostly working to suggest joy is not attainable, maybe not even desirable. The number of educational leaders telling us how terrible everything is makes it very difficult at times to bring a smile to our face, lest we broach toxic positivity. And yet my instinct, and I believe the facts, don’t always align with this approach. My recent podcast with Graeme Mitchell reinforces the work of Hans Rosling and Steven Pinker that suggests maybe things aren’t as bad as we think.

If you read that and think I think the world is fine, I don’t. recognized trends that might challenge the work of Rosling and Pinker and some moments make me worried and fearful of the future. Specifically, when it comes to AI, it isn’t a difficult argument to make that it is causing more harm than good. Certainly, if we consider social media, many of us would agree it’s been a net negative. We’re still in the very early days of AI. It’s been a joy and a satisfaction to work and support so many districts and organizations as they are taking on the challenges with intention, curiosity and purpose. The fence sitting posture remains.

However, it matters what we lead with. I wrote this post 10 years ago, and I’m very proud of it still because I believe it captures a concept that isn’t often talked about. When I began this work in 2023, it was working to help quell the fears of AI and focus on the possibilities. In 2026, I’m more likely to have to continue to remind people of the risks. That said, when I think about the grandkids and then every kid in our schools, I remember that our role is certainly to challenge them, to equip them with the minds and resources that will bring human flourishing. They need hope. Not false hope, but hope that life is complex and beautiful at the same time. We are brokers of hope. If you feel hopeless, I ask you either work to address that or maybe look for another profession. To be clear, we can do both but starting with hope matters.

The 2025 winners:

Best Mug: Rachel Fruin
Matching Presenter: Adam Garry
Shortest Winter Walk: Kylie Hand
Best Trades and Tech Offerings: Mike McMann and Fort Vermillion School Division
Celebrity Crush Moment: Nora Young
We Finally Did: Kevin Kaardal
Best AI Parent Night: Krishna Burra and Limestone School Division
Presentation Audible: Alec Couros
Canadian Conference: CASSA and Reg Klaasen
Collaboration and Community: Zone 6 Alberta School Divisions and Sean Beaton, Tom Hamer, Scott Brandt
PD Location: Powell River, SD 47 and Paul McKenzie
Consistency and Service: Ian Landy
Best Scramble Partner: Terra-Lee Gratton, Keith Gamblin, Steve Schaar and Peter Barron
AI Focus Matt Henderson and Winnipeg School Division
AI Summit Amos Fodchuk, Katy Fodchuk, Yumna Ahmed, Jennifer Pineda, Christine Sachs and Darren Hudgins
AI Scavenger Hunt: Brent Jewell
New Co-Presenters: Tom D’Amico and Katie White
Old Man Music Lover: Jon Becker and Michelle Baldwin
The Old Joke: Bud Hunt
New Team of Facilitators: Tania Sterling, Whitney McKinley, Bill Corcoran and Michael Chechlie
Most Inspiring Conversation: Graeme Mitchell and Noah Pearmain
We Have to Have Another Episode: Sandra Herbst
Surprising Episode: Jason Bucherri
Same Guy, Different Lip-Sync: Steve Boutlier
Diamond Dogs” Award for Fictional Professional Development: Stephen Perchard and Ryan Kelley
Doodle in the Boardroom Award: Camille Williams Taylor
Superintendent Video: Mark Pearmain
Vulnerable Blog Post: Chris Kennedy

All of these winners are worth your while to seek out and learn from. See you next year.

I love what Chris wrote last week about baseball. Of all the major sports, it’s likely in the most decline among young people because of its pace, which is what Chris suggests we celebrate. I agree.

That pace and length of the season add to the heartbreak and joy. As someone who watches nearly every game beginning in April, I am pretty invested. What I say every year is, “As long as the Bluejays play meaningful baseball well into September, I’ll be happy”. I was. They could have lost in a wildcard series, and that would have been fine. But expectations continued to grow, game by game and series by series. With that build, the Jays gained more and more fans. Pretty soon, people I know who never watched a game all year, couldn’t name more than 3 players, were talking about bullpen strategy and quality at bats. Some folks get upset at that, but I’ve done that for other teams. Our local Moose Jaw Warriors hockey team had a good run a couple of years ago, and I gladly joined the bandwagon. Going to games with 5,000 other folks from our little city was a lot of fun and so good for the city.

If you’re not Canadian, I don’t think you can understand. We got a taste of this last February during the 4 Nations Cup. As a country, we rallied and used the political tension of the time to bring us together. In that case, a victory was the only outcome we would accept.

This was different. Yes, it was heartbreaking, and the number of podcasts and sports shows and social media posts dissecting secondary leads, lodged balls, base running errors and pitching mistakes is too numerous to count, and while it’s sometimes fun to debate, it doesn’t really matter.

This wasn’t just about your team having a good run. I’ve been part of many of those and sometimes even won. (Raptors in 2019 and Riders in 2013). Not often, but I know the feeling. This team was different. They loved each other. That’s rarer than almost anything. I remember teams like the New York Yankees in the late 70s, where there was so much infighting. Kobe and Shaq didn’t get along, but they won. The 2025 Toronto Blue Jays played for their city and the country. But mostly for each other. It was infectious.

I’m not sure what the lesson is, but before I wrote this (I’ve been writing this on my phone at the Toronto airport), I wondered if AI could help me come up with something. I don’t use AI for writing because I like what I’m doing now- challenging myself to say something of value. But here’s a link to my conversation with Claude. (It was better than the paid version of ChatGPT)

Some of those would be interesting to explore sometime. So is there a lesson for schools? Probably lots. But I found a video that perhaps captures things best of all. Courtesy Shelby Hayle

I think there are going to be books, documentaries and studies done about this team. There’s so much to learn about culture, team, fans and love. I suppose when I look back at some of my experiences, the best ones had an element of love and care for each other. The time I spend with my colleagues at Discovery Education probably most closely connects to the 2025 Blue Jays when I consider the quality of people, the fun we had together and how we relied on a variety of skills and talents. Chris Bassit was asked about replicating this team and its culture, and he didn’t think it was possible. A lot of pieces came together during this magical run. Perhaps it can never be created but at a minimum, the memory of the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays will endure and bring a smile to millions. That’s not nothing.

Nostalgia is a funny thing that is often clouded and susceptible to our fractured memories. I love to look back on my life, particularly my childhood, and recognize how blessed and privileged I’ve been. I wrote this after binge-watching The Wonder Years.

It’s Canadian Thanksgiving as I write this and so as I take time to be thankful it often leads me to think about not only my past but also the present. It may seem odd to think of our day and age as “the good old days”. Much of our attitudes and beliefs about the state of our world today is a product of the media, which we all agree comes at us too hard and too fast. Our brains were never designed to consume this much information, specifically information about issues and people and places that are so far beyond our individual purview. News and social media sites have discovered that rage sells and that collective rage has created a perception that the world is terrible and worse than ever.

Objectively, I don’t think that’s true. People like Steven Pinker have written extensively about this. Globally, we can see that the world has never been safer, medical advancements are allowing us to live longer, worldwide poverty is at an all-time low, and we are more inclusive as a society. I think the issue of inclusiveness and racism is interesting. We are certainly talking about it more today than ever and there is still more work to do. That said, we have and are making significant progress. I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Brad Baker about the state of Indigenous learning in Canada.

I don’t mean for this to be a dismissal of the issues of our day. As it’s often said, two things can be true. We have significant issues facing us that may indeed cause more damage and turmoil than any time in human history. But we are also experiencing some of the best things humans have ever had. As an educator, parent and grandparent I believe we have an obligation to provide hope and possibility. While much of that obligation is about looking ahead, let’s not lose sight of the joy and goodness of today. My delight project is but one way I’ve tried to see these days as the good old days. There are times when I hesitate to share my joy, knowing that not everyone is experiencing life in the same way. While I don’t want to be tone deaf to those who are struggling with real challenges, I think many of us become victims of a narrative that simply isn’t true or at least are very one-sided. I have good friends in the education space whose message is consistently telling us how bad things are in education. While I’m on board with efforts to make schools better, I can’t help but look at how many caring and thoughtful leaders and classroom teachers are working tirelessly to make schools great places to spend a day.

Maybe one day we’ll tell our grandkids about this era—about how we could talk to our phones, work from anywhere, and watch any concert, lesson, or cat video on demand. Maybe they’ll laugh at how primitive we were. Or maybe, if we’re lucky, they’ll envy us a little—for being here when possibility still felt raw and the future was something we were helping to invent.

Yes, there’s plenty to fix. But gratitude doesn’t require denial. It just asks us to notice. And if we can do that—if we can see the wonder in our own messy moment—then maybe we’re already living in the good old days.

Driving home this evening, I had this moment of gratitude that I deemed as delight. Today was not a day that I’ll likely remember. It was pretty ordinary by almost any measure. But it was full of delights along the way that I was mindful of throughout.

I had 4 great calls and conversations with clients. Each one of these have been people that I’ve worked with over the year and for some over the years. Each conversation was about the hope, excitement and work we would create together. The trust that these people have put in me is not something I take for granted. I ended each call with a smile, looking forward to being with them in person.

I took a little break late in the morning to pick the rest of my apples. Apples themselves are a delight I previously wrote about. This year, I had a particularly abundant amount. A huge harvest. Today I picked off the last of them. I’ve typically just eaten them, but this year I managed to convince my wife to make apple crisp, who said she’d make apple crisp any time I peeled enough apples. I have several bags of peeled apples frozen and ready to be used for apple crisp on demand.

I wrapped up work early and headed to the golf course. My buddy texted me late to say he wasn’t going to make it. But the sun was shining and our golf season isn’t going to last long, so I decided to play alone. The course wasn’t busy, and so it was a very leisurely round. In addition, I took advantage and tapped into another of my previous delights. I believe I found 58 balls.

It was a perfect temperature and a little of that fall crispness in the air. I love summer, but I truly find delight in being outside when the temperature sits right around 15C/60F. I did have one scary moment. On the 5th hole, which is a downhill par 3, I hit a pretty good shot. When I could finally see the green, my ball was about 4 inches behind the hole. I’m not sure how it didn’t go in. I’ve never had a hole-in-one and getting one when you’re playing by yourself would be terrible and always in question.

As I drove home from the golf course, I just felt a deep sense of gratitude for the entire day. I realize how privileged/blessed I am to have a job that I can often do from home. I’m privileged/blessed to have a yard with an apple tree. I’m privileged/blessed to be able to play golf. I’m not sure there’s much here I take much credit for it’s not lost on me that not everyone can enjoy or experience these delights. I’m also sure that not everyone, even if they could, would find delight in these things. I can’t speak for anyone but these are things that brought me delight today. As I said, I’m sure I’ll forget this very ordinary day. Maybe writing it down preserves it in some way. Tomorrow should bring some more delights. You just have to pay attention.

The other day, I was speaking with Tom D’Amico, a recognized leader and advocate for technology and AI in education. Tom’s reputation is well-earned through years of thoughtful work in this space. He shared a story about his daughter, a teacher, whose students expressed discomfort using AI and requested alternative assignments. Tom was excited that students were speaking up and that teachers were responding by offering multiple ways for students to demonstrate their learning. This story is likely not unique. It reflects the diverse and evolving attitudes toward AI—an ongoing and growing tension that also presents an opportunity.

Beyond the tensions about productive struggle, the promise of efficiency is introducing its own tensions. We can’t deny AI’s ability to save time—it’s an enticing prospect, especially in times of tight budgets and financial pressures. School districts are understandably exploring these opportunities. I’m now spending more time supporting the business side of education as they navigate AI’s potential. But this pursuit of efficiency comes with its own set of questions, and rightly so. Just because AI can produce efficiency doesn’t mean we should automatically embrace it.

My son recently shared a telling example from his workplace in the finance sector. His company runs a large call center fielding inquiries from seniors concerned about their finances. The company is considering using AI to handle basic and routine questions, leaving human agents to address more complex issues. On the surface, this makes sense. However, it raises an important point: those basic calls provide agents with a mental break from the more demanding interactions. Without that balance, agents risk burnout. While this is a narrow example, it underscores the nuanced tensions that accompany AI adoption—tensions that we need to acknowledge and navigate thoughtfully.

For educators, this moment offers a valuable opportunity. We can engage in rich, challenging discussions about the use and value of AI, while also designing differentiated experiences that honour varying comfort levels and perspectives. Too often, educators shy away from conflict. I would argue this is a time to lean into it. Some tensions are inevitable—AI is impacting us in ways beyond our control. Other tensions arise from the careful balancing of AI’s costs and benefits. These are precisely the conversations we need to welcome and examine more deeply. Tension is important and necessary.

Ultimately, fostering a culture that embraces these discussions will help us move forward as a community, rather than deepen divides. This is the work ahead of us—and it’s work worth doing.

As I write this, I realize the first paragraph isn’t great. AI could make it better. But I’m leaving it. I’m leaving it for 3 reasons. First, I’m lazy. The reason I blog is that I’ve always treated it as somewhat of a brain dump. Certainly, I want to be coherent and provide something of value to others, but as I’ve often said, my 20 years of blogging are more of a repository of my thinking than anything else. Second, I want this to be me. I’ve not yet trained AI to recognize my style well enough to produce anything that could be mistaken for me. But also, see my first reason. Third, I enjoy the process of wrestling with ideas, deleting words and ideas and seeing a piece of writing to the end. While I use Grammarly to some extent, I find its suggestions a tad annoying and yes, they make my writing better, some of my flaws are fine. (Full disclosure: I used AI to generate the title.)

One of my influences over the years was Clay Shirky. I say “was” because I’ve not heard much from him lately. Cognitive Surplus, Here Comes Everybody, and his TED talks were seminal pieces in my learning and understanding of the Internet. He also wrote a piece later on about why he banned laptops in his classroom. I wrote about that. For whatever reason, his name came to mind, and I wondered what he was thinking about Genai. Interestingly enough, he wrote about it last month. I resonated with much of what he wrote:

After observing that student action and thought is the only possible source of learning, Simon concluded, “The teacher can advance learning only by influencing the student to learn.” Faced with generative AI in our classrooms, the obvious response for us is to influence students to adopt the helpful uses of AI while persuading them to avoid the harmful ones. Our problem is that we don’t know how to do that.

I’ve been working for the better part of the last 2 years exploring the risks and possibilities. I’m just now entering the kind of work where we’ll deal with this challenge directly. It’s complicated and complex. Just like I wrote about Shirky and his laptop experiment, that you have to give it a try before you decide to shut things down, Shirky suggests that’s already been happening in higher ed.

Since the arrival of generative AI, I have spent much of the last two years talking with professors and students to try to understand what is going on in their classrooms. In those conversations, faculty have been variously vexed, curious, angry, or excited about AI, but as last year was winding down, for the first time one of the frequently expressed emotions was sadness. This came from faculty who were, by their account, adopting the strategies my colleagues and I have recommended: emphasizing the connection between effort and learning, responding to AI-generated work by offering a second chance rather than simply grading down, and so on. Those faculty were telling us our recommended strategies were not working as well as we’d hoped, and they were saying it with real distress.

The ubiquity of this technology is such that it’s going to be harder and harder to distinguish between the good and bad uses of Genai. I’ve been pushing the idea of productive struggle as a primary goal of school. Learning isn’t always hard, but it can be. We live in a world that is obsessed with reducing barriers, both for good and also because, as humans, we are typically looking for shortcuts. I’m 61. I don’t need to “learn” to write, but I enjoy spending time choosing my words and seeing an idea come to life. I know others who use AI much more directly in their writing. To me, that’s personal preference. But in the developmental stages of life, that’s not a preference.

The story that Shirky shares about William, describes what may be an inevitable path where AI just does what schools have typically asked for, and learning becomes secondary or non-existent. Currently, I’ve seen progress in trying to create some guidelines and structures to support students and teachers in navigating our use of GENai. However, what Shirky is describing here goes beyond those guidelines to address the emotions and cognitive struggle that is often unintentionally being offloaded to AI. I talk to many who sense an unpleasant feeling when they use AI, and that shouldn’t be dismissed. This goes way beyond just trying to “catch” kids using AI inappropriately or to avoid work, but is about doing the work. The “work” in this case isn’t the product but the thinking and all the things a teacher likely doesn’t see. One of my favourite questions is asking students what they choose to leave out of an assignment or project. This helps me and them understand how they edit and curate their work.

Maybe we need to explicitly teach the concept of productive struggle, or as Shirky calls it, “desirable difficulty”. Resilience and grit may be part of it, but I suspect it’s even more than that. Maybe we need to encourage our students and ourselves to monitor our feelings and call out when AI feel weird. As adults, we have the advantage of more experience not using AI. I recently talked with a high school teacher who was sharing similar stories about how her students were reluctant to use AI for fear of learning loss. As teenagers, they have memories of learning without AI. Like many of us older folks who remember learning without the Internet, our high school students are the last generation to have some memory of learning without AI.

I’m writing this not because I have a ton of answers, but as I continue to support educators in this work, this is currently my biggest fear. What I am grateful for is knowing how many educators are willing to address this concern and work towards something that helps students.

Recently, I’ve had the privilege of connecting with Andrew McLuhan, grandson of Marshall McLuhan. His insights have deepened my appreciation for his grandfather’s work, which I’ve long admired. Andrew reminded me that while most of us focus on media literacy, Marshall McLuhan was equally invested in media ecology—a concept anchored in his most famous phrase: “The medium is the message.” Media literacy equips us to critically analyze media content, uncovering bias and influence. Media ecology, on the other hand, explores how media themselves—regardless of content—reshape the way we think, feel, and interact. Where media literacy asks what a message means, media ecology asks how the medium changes the message and its effects on society.

If you’ve read McLuhan or Neil Postman, it might seem as if they were deeply skeptical—if not outright critical—of media. It’s worth remembering that both were writing long before the digital age exploded. I asked Andrew if his grandfather was anti-media or saw media as harmful to society. He shared that Marshall McLuhan worked hard to maintain neutrality—to be a true scientist. He believed that allowing bias into his studies would obstruct his ability to truly understand a medium. That doesn’t mean he lacked opinions, but rather that he saw bias as a barrier to comprehension.

Remaining neutral today is no small task. Being neutral is often condemned, “You must choose a side.” This is where my frustration lies. I want to examine the political tension and chaos that dominate our current reality. As a Canadian, I see my own country grappling with the influence of events happening just south of the border. Watching the U.S. navigate its divisions makes it difficult to find media that calmly, logically, and critically interpret the implications of policy and governance. The media ecology itself is fractured. Many of my colleagues in education—those who do share political views—lean heavily in one direction.

As I strive to maintain the mindset of a media ecologist, I see people who are angry, afraid, and disillusioned. I intentionally seek out perspectives that differ from my own to better understand the reasoning behind them. Often, I find those perspectives presented with a sense of certainty, even smugness. On both sides, people seem baffled by the inability of others to “see the truth.” They express frustration and, more troublingly, a belief that understanding and coexistence may no longer be possible.

Even suggesting civil discourse today can feel naïve. Some have written it off entirely. And yet, I remain desperate to find examples of thoughtful, intelligent people engaging across ideological divides—people who wrestle with difficult issues, challenge each other’s thinking, and explore the real-world consequences of policy decisions. If such models exist, they are marginalized, unsupported, or invisible in today’s media landscape.

Years ago, I followed a podcast called “An Atheist and a Christian,” where two friends with fundamentally different worldviews had respectful, curious conversations. It wasn’t about winning arguments; it was about understanding. I found it inspiring—both for what I learned and for the demonstration of what civility could look like.

This week, I searched for a similar platform where Americans with opposing views engage in meaningful discussion. I couldn’t find one. Today’s dominant formats—podcasts and short-form videos—reward speed, certainty, and outrage. The most successful content often caricatures the opposition, portraying them as stupid or evil rather than presenting thoughtful counterarguments. These trends aren’t accidental. They’re engineered to attract followers and engagement. Consumers, in turn, are incentivized to stay in their echo chambers.

The closest I came was a new podcast from Gavin Newsom, where he invites right-wing guests to share their views. I appreciated the attempt, but the episodes I watched lacked the depth and challenge I was hoping for. Still, I learned something new. The podcast, predictably, is criticized from both sides: the left sees it as pandering; the right views it as politically motivated.

Many readers will insist there are not two sides—only one right side and one wrong. But I’m not interested in picking sides. I’m trying to follow McLuhan’s example and understand why this is happening. When you immerse yourself in each information bubble, it genuinely feels like entering a parallel universe. How can people live in the same country—even the same neighbourhood—see the world so differently? It’s both unsettling and fascinating.

From a Canadian perspective, U.S. polarization exerts a heavy influence. While Canada is not immune to division, the stakes seem higher in the U.S., and the ripple effects are real. As an educator committed to diversity, critical thinking, media literacy, and civil discourse, I feel a responsibility to imagine and help build environments where differing viewpoints can be explored—spaces that aren’t governed by algorithms designed to stoke rage and deepen division.

At this moment, it appears we may have to create these spaces ourselves. If examples exist, I’d love to hear about them. If not, perhaps we can begin experimenting together. And if you’ve noticed a growing unwillingness to talk across lines of difference, I’d love to know what you think is driving that. Surely, you know people whose beliefs differ from yours—people you still respect. If not, we may already be losing the battle for civil discourse. There isn’t a lot of civility from anyone these days. And if that disappears, I fear it could be replaced by something far more dangerous.

Here’s my very first blog post:

Brilliant, I know. Interestingly this post garnered 6 responses which speaks to how things used to be. This was pre-social media as we know it today but it was part of Web 2.0 which was the new ease and opportunity to create as well as consume content.

I’ve always been an early adopter. I joined Youtube in 2006 and Twitter in 2007. I’ve never referred to myself as a content creator but the numbers don’t lie:

• Blog Posts: 1,441
• YouTube Videos: 366 (that’s just my channel, like over 500 with contributions to other channels
• Tweets: 28,947
• Photos: 19,057 (flicker only)
• Podcast Episodes: 184 (over multiple shows)

Blogging has remained my most important platform. From the beginning, I was excited to be able to share without restriction or gatekeeping. I would post about anything I wanted. The value was partly to document my thinking, bookmarking new tools, sharing something useful for others and occasionally engaging in interesting conversations. What I never did then and not since was strategically use these platforms to grow and build my brand. That word itself has been explored a lot in this space. I didn’t learn about SEO or explore the myriad of tools designed to make the most of digital marketing. I know that cost me $$ and opportunities. But I’m naturally lazy and wasn’t interested in making a business out of it. That is no criticism to those who have. They’re smarter and more motivated than I am.

I have no real idea how many people read this blog. It’s been years since I looked at the stats. I know somewhere I have an email subscriber list. I did look at that about 5 years ago and saw I had about 500 subscribers. My guess is most of them have this go straight to trash. At one point I had 40,000 Twitter followers which always blew my daughters away and to this day can’t figure out how that happened. Neither can I.

I’ve been posting content for 20 years and I still enjoy it. I have no idea if others find value, although I do know my recent podcast seems to be well-received by many. I have no plans to do anything new or different. I’ve recently watched a colleague Tim Childers grow a pretty nice YouTube following which seems to be a nice part-time retirement gig. This stuff still fascinates me and it’s nice to see people find ways to connect and provide real value to others. I hope I can continue that. Happy anniversary to me.

A few years ago, I listened to a Freakonomics podcast that explored how our understanding of risk and reward has evolved. It examined how institutions, from financial markets to sports leagues, have blurred the lines between entertainment and gambling, creating an environment where betting is not just accepted but actively encouraged. More recently, Michael Lewis’ latest season of Against the Rules has taken a deep dive into the explosion of sports gambling, exposing how the industry has positioned itself at the center of modern sports culture. He highlights how accessibility, technology, and aggressive marketing have made betting almost inescapable—especially for young people. The podcast also reveals the way these gambling sites have utilized AI to the point where they can’t lose and not only target poor players but also throttle good ones. While Canada and the US are relatively new to legalized sports gambling, other countries can tell you the negative impact it will bring.

The normalization of sports gambling is happening at an alarming rate, and it’s targeting young audiences with precision. If you watch a game today, you’ll see that betting odds are seamlessly woven into broadcasts, social media feeds, and even classroom conversations. While many like me hate it, it is appealing to many and particularly young men.

If we’re going to be serious about fostering critical thinking around things like AI and media in general, we have to include the impact of gambling. We already know that schools play a crucial role in teaching digital literacy and responsible decision-making. But are we prepared to help students navigate the risks of a world where gambling is as accessible as checking the score of last night’s game?

Consider how we talk to students about risk. We educate them about the dangers of substance abuse, social media manipulation, and financial responsibility, but gambling often flies under the radar. It lurks in the spaces where students feel most comfortable—on their phones, in their group chats, and even in casual conversations about sports. The rise of micro-betting, where fans can wager on things as small as the outcome of the next pitch, further erodes the distinction between engagement and addiction.

There’s a lesson here that ties directly into well-being. Just as unrealistic expectations in relationships or careers can lead to dissatisfaction and anxiety, so too can the false promises of easy money and endless wins. The dopamine rush of a small victory can be addictive, and the inevitable losses can spiral into something much darker. Young people, especially boys, are particularly vulnerable to this cycle, as many of them are still developing impulse control and critical decision-making skills.

So, what should schools do? First, we need to name the problem. Sports gambling is no longer a fringe issue—it’s a mainstream force shaping how students engage with sports and money. Schools should integrate discussions about gambling literacy into curricula, much like they do with media literacy and financial literacy. We need to equip students with the ability to recognize how the odds are stacked against them and how gambling companies manipulate behaviour.

Second, we need to shift the conversation about sports. The joy of watching and playing sports shouldn’t be tied to financial stakes. Educators and coaches can reinforce that fandom doesn’t have to come with a betting slip. Schools can also partner with mental health professionals to address gambling addiction in the same way they approach substance abuse and gaming addiction. Sports plays such an important role in society. Perhaps in our world today not only does it represent a healthy escape but it can bring communities and people together in a wholesome and powerful way. Sports gambling doesn’t add to it but takes some of that away.

Finally, parents and educators need to be more aware of the signals. When students casually mention betting on a game, it’s worth asking: Do they understand the risks? Are they chasing losses? Is gambling becoming a core part of their social interactions? These are the kinds of questions we should be asking before the problem becomes too big to ignore.

I don’t have all the answers, but I know this: expecting young people to navigate this issue alone is not realistic or fair. Just as we have learned to guide them through the challenges of social media, online safety, and mental health, we need to step up and help them understand the risks of sports gambling. Schools, as places of learning and community, have a responsibility to be part of that conversation. I did talk recently with Tom D’Amico, Director of Education at Ottawa Catholic who told him that his school counsellors were already dealing with this addiction with young boys. Good for them. My ask is that we don’t wait until it reaches that level of addiction.

If this resonates with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What role do you think schools should play in addressing sports gambling? Is this something your community is already talking about, or is it still under the radar?

I recall listening to a podcast many years ago, so long I can’t even remember the source, that talked about how marriage and our expectations of marriage have changed over the years. It used to be that marriage was more like a partnership, one that took into account how each would complement one another. In many cases, it was more focused on a business relationship. In an agricultural context, people looked to see how their partner would be able to support the family farm. In addition, there was never an expectation that a spouse would be able to meet all of your needs. A person’s well-being was more of a community effort; relying on family and friends and other things to support you. Over the years, the role and expectations of a spouse changed to be something greater. The idea that your spouse was your soul mate or that they completed you, placed high expectations on someone else to be all things for you. I would argue an unrealistic expectation. I’m not a marriage counsellor but I do believe that a happy marriage means that each partner must seek out other supports to be fulfilled. As well, the idea that your early days of romance and desire will remain constant throughout your life is also a very unrealistic expectation. This doesn’t mean that you have a lousy marriage or a less-than-ideal one, it means that things change and can change for the better as you mature.

I share that because I think there is something to be learned here that connects to well-being. We’ve known for a while about the Instagram-filtered world we live in where people only share a thin slice of their lives, often presenting an unrealistic and highly curated representation of life. Even when we understand this is happening, the messaging we hear from so many sources suggests that we must always be reaching for the stars and that being satisfied is seen as settling for less. You can and should be doing better. Expectations from not only our partners but our friends, our families our jobs and our passions are often glamourized and simply unattainable. Once again, I don’t doubt that many people struggle with mental health but for those who simply question all their choices and feel down about them, I wonder if they may be expecting too much. I worry that they are seeking some kind of perfection when not only do I not think that’s possible but I don’t think it’s healthy.

My life is far from perfect. I’m certain my 60 years on this planet have taught me a few things. Contentment is often a misrepresented idea. I want for nothing. I also am grateful for an average Tuesday. A day where if I look at it objectively, nothing interesting happens. But in the routine of that day, I find moments of delight and joy and sit with them. They aren’t worth sharing with anyone but being able to reflect in the quiet and the loud and chaos that happen can remind you to be grateful. What many think of as a remarkable life misses out on the joys of being and living. The people I respect and admire aren’t people that are famous but ones like my nearly 93 year old father who wakes up everyday with a plan. The plan usually involves a game of cards, golf and coffee with a different friend each day. Over the years the activities may have changed but the purpose hasn’t. He has told me many times that he’s lived an amazing life.

I have no idea if my sentiment here resonates with anyone or not and certainly if mental health and well-being is a struggle for you, please seek help. But if you’re not at that stage but you are less satisfied than you’d like to be maybe it’s you and the things you expect from others and the things around you.

I’ve been using this thinking device of late.

So I wanted to capture a few things I know I’ll be wrestling with and wondering about in 2025. To keep me accountable, I’ll share three other topics I’ll share thoughts on in the coming days. Future posts will be about:

• Are We Being Realistic about Our Beliefs about Well-Being?
• Should Schools Be Talking About Sports Gambling?
• Do We Focus Too Much on Global Issues?

But for today I’ll share some reflections on Generative AI and Fence-Sitting.

My work over the past 18 months has been dominated by our work in supporting school districts in the thoughtful use and implementation of Generative AI. Our message and belief have been clear from day one: Generative AI is full of opportunity and risk. As Leon Furze wrote:

I often get asked to explain, or more accurately, defend my position on AI in education. I actually quite like sitting up here on the fence with a good view of both the pros and the cons. I’ve also got a lot of respect for people on either side of the fence: the critics who wouldn’t touch AI with a 10-foot virtual pole, and the early and enthusiastic adopters who’ll find ways for everything they possibly can. I think we benefit from both perspectives, but I just can’t make myself fall to one side or another.

That’s precisely how I feel. I’m naturally a centrist in many things and I’ve come to realize that many people don’t like that. As we often see in politics and sports, people want you to choose a side. Right or wrong, I won’t do that.

I’ll give you an example of my ongoing struggle with AI. I read this research paper or to be honest, I skimmed it and used ChatGPT with the following prompt:: “I need you to look very closely at this research paper. Provide me with a detailed analysis of the methodology, a summary of the findings, the recommendations of this paper as well as any arguments that might challenge the findings, the method or the recommendation. Be fair and unbiased.”

I hope you picked up on the irony of that. The paper was about the impact of cognitive offloading and its findings suggested that it is happening. My use of AI was precisely cognitive offloading. I knew that but was trying to choose whether I wanted to spend my time thinking about the findings and if I needed to read the whole paper to do so. I can list the reasons why I think I made the right decision and also list the reasons I think I was wrong. I also think there’s a discussion to be had about the difference between adults offloading thinking versus children. These are essentially the kinds of questions that I find both fascinating and challenging. It’s not always fun to hold competing ideas in your head. At some point, we all seek a resolution. There are a number of other quandaries and ethical issues that require extensive conversation and reflection.

In November I was facilitating our first day in an Alberta school division. I referenced this post of mine and if saving time is always important and if we do save time, what are we saving it for? What unfolded was a very intense discussion among participants who had very different beliefs and perspectives. On the one hand, one participant shared how they had used AI to help them write a eulogy. They were not a particularly confident speaker and used AI to write something they felt good about delivering. Another participant questioned it and suggested that even a poorly written but heartfelt speech would have been better. Always seeking to make things more polished shouldn’t be a default. There was a back-and-forth “debate” that I let continue because I felt it represented the larger issues of the impact of AI. As I listened, I felt myself fully on the fence as both sides made compelling arguments. I felt no need to choose a side.

As I will continue to be knee-deep in this work I wonder if I’ll begin to see more evidence that will sway me closer to one side or the other.

I’ll end with a quote that I have previously attributed to Malcolm Gladwell which I believe I heard on a podcast but can’t find the source but either way I like the sentiment: “Ideas and dissonance should bring you joy”

I did not use AI to write this (although I did use Grammarly) but the image is AI-generated.

The official course name was EC&I 832 and the course catalogue reads:

EC&I 832 Digital Citizenship and Media Literacies (3)
This course examines the complex nature of identity and citizenship in our digital world. Students will interrogate the interconnected areas of media literacy, online identity, and responsible participation in local and global networks as they relate to educational contexts and society at large.

My good friend Dr. Alec Couros has taught this course many times and graciously handed over his syllabus and course outline from previous semesters for me to use. I kept a similar structure but as has been my practice since I began teaching post-secondary in 2007, I built much of the content around my network and guest speakers. For me, this is the best thing I can do for my students, introduce them to some of the smartest people I know and add these people to their network. As my students shared their own summaries of their learning as well as their final projects, each and every one of my guests were mentioned and called out for the impact they had on my student’s thinking. If I do nothing else, this was a win.

The greatest challenge I would face was how might GenAI play a role in our learning. Here is the snippet of my syllabus where I laid out the ground rules:

3.1 Use of Generative AI

Students are permitted to make use of available technological tools, including generative AI (GenAI) tools as supplementary resources in this course. When leveraging these technologies, students are encouraged to critically evaluate the generated content and to integrate it with their understanding to produce original work.

While students are free to use generative AI to brainstorm or draft their assignments, the final submission should primarily reflect the student’s original understandings and insights.

Generative AI tools may be used to assist in students’ understanding of course content or in their completion of coursework for this class. However, if students choose to use generative AI to help with their coursework, they must be sure to cite and credit any generative AI tools in the manner in which they were used.

Schools and education in general is struggling to determine when, how and if generative ai should be used in learning. Part of this course will require your reflections and meta cognition as to how you choose to use it and whether it not it enhances not only your products and assignments but your own learning. 

Students should practice including how they use GenAI in all writing and assignments. 

We met every Tuesday evening and in nearly every class we wrestled with this. 2 specific incidents still have me thinking. The first involved one of my students who reached out to me and suggested that they felt one of her classmates was using AI to comment on their blog. While this was not a breach of our agreement it did raise some interesting ethical dilemmas. If you respond to the comment, are you just responding to a bot? Did the person leaving the comment feel invested in the ideas and simply needed support articulating it or was it simply an act of compliance? What value does that comment offer for the writer? The second incident involved me. Students submitted a form that outlined their thinking and some details about their final project. This was intended for me to help steer them in the right direction and provide feedback about whether the project would meet the criteria or perhaps it needed to be broadened or maybe narrowed down. I utilized ChatGPT to provide feedback and considerations and then added my own that was more based on my understanding of their circumstances and the potential usefulness of the project in their context. I shared the feedback and was transparent about my use of AI. I openly asked every student to share their feelings about me doing that. A few responded saying they assumed I would use it and many were quite pleased with the feedback. While no one openly shared any criticism, one student at least, shared some uneasiness in their summary of learning video. The truth is I felt the same. On the one hand, AI provided overall provided better feedback than I might have given. On the other hand, if that’s true, why would they need me? I suppose in hindsight I might have asked them to seek feedback from AI and then I might be able to add nuance, context or other personalized feedback that the AI might not be able to provide.

I love teaching and I want to give a shout-out to my students. You can find them and read some of their work on our class blog hub. While I’m sure there were moments of compliance and for many it was just part of knocking off the credits they needed for their degree I also know that for the most part, they were engaged, and thoughtful and were focusing on their learning and not their grade. I once again invited them to do some self-assessment and I have no reason to doubt their own assessment and remind them how little I think grading has to do with learning. As much as I work towards creating a community, I realize that a 13-week course with students who work full time and many have families is not a robust community that we might think of but I was very proud of how they supported one another and pushed each other’s thinking.

Finally, let me thank the guest speakers and they need to know how impactful they were to my students:

Mike Ribble, Alec Couros, Andrew McLuhan, Wes Fryer, Jennifer Casa-Todd, Chris Kennedy, Bonnie Stewart and Dave Cormier

I recently had a conversation with a school superintendent who shared some ways his administrative assistant could use Generative AI to be more efficient. The assistant, while impressed with AI’s capabilities, responded, “Is this so I can just do more work?” That’s not an unreasonable response. Most conversations about time-saving in education center on the idea that reducing paperwork and routine tasks would enable us to spend time on more valuable activities – the human side of things. Whether that’s connecting more with students or working on projects that will truly make a difference for educators.

But efficiency for efficiency’s sake isn’t always what it seems, and it can lead to unintended consequences. Consider the technological advances of the 1950s: home appliances promised women more time to do things they enjoyed. Instead, these innovations raised the standard of cleanliness in homes. Women found themselves dusting behind shelves and in nooks and crannies they previously hadn’t even considered. The promise of saving time never materialized – we just asked more of people.

It’s quite easy to track time saved when using generative AI. My colleagues can provide tangible results from their effective use of it. The Ottawa Catholic District School Board is working to document these time-saving ventures. Their work will help us understand which tools and prompts we should leverage, and it might encourage those who are hesitant to explore more. However, we shouldn’t assume that saving time automatically improves our jobs or lives. For that to happen, we must be intentional about what we do with any time saved.

I use a piece of software called Descript to edit my podcasts. Before using Descript a one-hour podcast recording would take me about three hours to edit, produce and publish. Descript helps remove filler words and creates clips and descriptions that now reduce the three hours to one. I just saved two hours. Which leads me to the question, what will I do with those 2 hours saved? Those of us who work in education and many other professions have never-ending jobs. All of us could and some of us do work 80 hours a week and we never finish. Our to-do lists never get completely crossed off. These two hours of savings could be used to carry on with that list. Sometimes that’s the right thing to do and I might be happy to focus on another task that is more rewarding or maybe more urgent. This week after editing my latest podcast I did not choose to do more work. Instead, I shut off my computer and took my two grandsons to the park.

This was clearly an example of AI making my life better, more human, and more well.

The documentation work at the Ottawa Catholic School Board is critical in helping us understand how and why we want to use generative AI in education. Broad claims about time and efficiency leave too many questions and even create pushback. What one person calls “mundane” might be important to someone else. Look at self-checkouts – they’re already showing signs of failure. While most complaints focus on technological ineffectiveness (which leads to theft), there’s also a realization that human interaction is part of the shopping experience. These “mundane” exchanges offer health and well-being benefits we don’t often consider. Many cashiers likely take pride and joy in their work. Perhaps instead of eliminating these roles, we could redirect human interaction to other parts of the shopping experience.

I love efficiency in so many areas of my life. Stupid things like hitting all the green lights on my drive from my daughter’s place to my house or getting to the airport just in time for a flight. I play these little games in my head and feel good about not “wasting time”. My family knows this about me and when I brag about the time I “saved” on a drive home, they’ll ask “So what did you do with all this time you saved?” Of course, I didn’t do anything special and it proved the silliness of that pursuit which I already knew was silly.

When it comes to real opportunities to save time with AI, it could be more than something silly. But what I hope we consider is what we might be saving for. If it’s just more work that’s not all that interesting to me. If it’s so that I have more agency over my time to choose something better or something I’d rather do, then I’m all ears. The current state well well-being in our schools is not great. While not a panacea, AI could be used to support well-being. As I continue to educate myself and others about the possibilities and risks of Generative AI in particular, I want to be sure to ask what we are saving time for. In the end, I want it to make life better, and more human and not simply to perpetuate an already unsustainable life of productivity.

What do you think? Have you found it to save you time? What did you do with that time?

Do you ever settle for “good enough”? On the surface, it sounds bad. It sounds like you aren’t giving your all. Particularly in education when we have mantras like “Whatever it takes”, “All means all” and “no child left behind”. These are daunting phrases meant to evoke seriousness and urgency. As educators, we have a sacred duty to serve children and we take the responsibility very seriously. Our work isn’t trivial. Still, the truth is, the truth that we don’t talk about often enough in education and other vocations is that to be successful and thrive, we have to accept that for some things and some tasks good enough is good enough.

As an educator, you never are done. If you devote 80 hours a week to your job, you can still find things to work on, improve on, or tweak. We all have limits and depending on your personality or time of life, those limits differ for different folks. My 14 years as a classroom teacher taught me that there would never be enough time to do everything the way I wanted. I made choices. It meant that some days, heaven forbid, my students did a worksheet. Sometimes in PE, I just let them play. Sometimes I spent hours planning a PBL experience knowing that it would allow me time in the future given there might be less planning once the project got started.

I currently have 3 beautiful grandchildren who live near me and I want to spend time with them and they want me to spend time with them too. I have the luxury of some flexibility in my day. If they ask me to go for a walk, I’ll work to make that happen. I also will take time for myself as well. They won’t be at this amazing age for long. I’m not wasting this time. It means I have to be very intentional about my work. Prioritizing things makes me more productive for my job. I’m more focused and energized and produce high-quality work. And yet there are times when I make choices to say “good enough”.

Generative AI has helped me with this. Design work can get to “good enough” more quickly, allowing me to spend time making it way better than good enough in the same amount of time. Other times, it’s getting me to a place of good enough faster and I can spend time doing other things. Sometimes those “other things” are not work-related.

My job is still an endless list of tasks and time that could be spent making everything better just like my days as a classroom teacher. As much as I like my job, it does not define me. I know what matters to me. I’m proud of my work and am grateful for my years of service and opportunity. But with so many things competing for my time and attention, I have to make choices on how I spend my time and place my attention. Over 13 years ago I wrote about this idea and it remains for me an important concept and belief. I write this knowing many struggle with the very idea of calling something “good enough”. I don’t suggest it’s easy to say it, particularly if you’re worried about what others might think. If you’re happy to work endless hours or feel you have no choice, I would ask you to consider your end goal and recognize your limitations. We all have limited time and energy and should have clear priorities.

Consultant: This role is one I’m learning more about and feel more comfortable with every group I work with. Listening is a big part of this work. I work to resist jumping in when it’s important for those I’m serving to do most of the talking. With so many wise and experienced leaders, they don’t need me for much but look to me for confirmation and insights on their planning to really excel. Timely support and critical friend best describe this work.

Facilitator: Having 12 districts in a room with slightly different configurations requires a fine balance between structure and time. Much of the feedback we received suggested these teams often don’t get concentrated time to work together but we worked to provide the right amount of time, sprinkled with new learning that was used to spur them on. Constantly reading the room and making adjustments defines success in this role.

Teacher: I’m excited to be teaching again this semester. It’s been 4 years since I last taught a class. This semester I’m teaching EC&I 832 at the University of Regina. I’m specifically excited to explore the role of Generative AI in my work and my students. I shared some of my initial thoughts in both my syllabus and in our conversations. Being able to practice many of the ideas and beliefs I share in my day job makes this so rewarding.

Documentarian: I was privileged to spend Thursday working in West Vancouver Schools alongside with Cari Wilson who organized a beautiful morning with visits to 4 schools and 4 amazing teachers. We’re working on capturing their early learning around #genai and they all delivered thoughtful and insightful reflections that I hope to use to create some compelling short videos. Having the right questions and letting people share the things that matter to them helps push this into something people want to watch.

Presenter: I bookended my week with this role. This is the role I have the most experience in and feel most comfortable with. I opened the week with the operations team from Surrey Schools (School District #36 Surrey)#36 Surrey) and ended the week with high school teachers from Frank Hurt Secondary and Fraserview Secondary Schools. Both groups brought different dynamics and curiosities to the conversation but particularly with the high school teachers I felt and saw full engagement.

It was a nice way to finish a long week of work with this thank you from principal David Baldasso who used ChatGPT to help write this:

I would be remiss if I didn’t say a specific thank you to Adam Garry who has helped me fine-tune some of these “hats” as well as Alec Couros for supporting me in my work at the U of R.

This was 4 months ago. Unlike tech innovations of the recent past where you might see a demo and then maybe 2 years later you could try it, this is moving uber fast.

Today, I played with Google’s Notebook, followed Alec Couros’s suggestion, and uploaded a copy of my book. I also added my blog. Within minutes it created this 9-minute audio podcast of my book.

While there is still much more to explore and understand about this tool, just this feature itself is fascinating. Uploading a copy of my book and website makes me the perfect person to critique the content and I have to say if I had had this when my book was first released I likely would have used this to promote it. These 9 minutes do an amazing job of summarizing my book in a way that is engaging and easily consumable. I did look into the privacy policy and as it stands now, they are not using this to train their AI models. That said, I don’t fully trust that. I never wrote my book to make a bunch of money so I’m less worried about copyright.

More to come…..

I feel like I’ve done a good job surrounding myself with diverse opinions and experts in this area and at the same time have to remove myself from thinking too deeply at times because it’s extremely taxing mentally. Whether it’s politics, climate change or other major societal issues, it’s hard to live in 2024. No one can escape and most of us are trying to figure out what it means to be a good citizen and a flourishing, happy human.

Today I’m asking myself when should writing be hard? The promise of GenAI is often that it makes writing easier and even better. Whether it’s to spell check or fix your grammar or even to write an entire book, AI can perform all these tasks. For those who are objectively poor writers and don’t enjoy writing, it might be a lifesaver. Even those of us who write as part of our job and are good at it, it can be extremely useful. Like almost any new skill, writing is really hard. As a grandparent, I watch my granddaughter struggling to read, and my grandsons struggling to learn to skate and ride a bike, all these life skills are at one time hard and productive struggle is part of learning. As parents and teachers, we know this. Part of our job is not to eliminate the struggle but to embrace it and help them either during or perhaps after that it’s a good thing.

Today I’m writing this without any use of GenAI for the content but are using the spell and grammar checks. Given the title of this post, that seems like the correct choice. The issue I have is determining when the struggle is important. I think there are certain times when struggle is important. I’m going to write what I believe they are and then I’m going to see what a GPT might suggest they are. First here are my first attempts at when I believe writing should be hard:

• When you’re learning to write. This is most obvious for early writers to understand the basics like sentence structure but it extends as you develop more skills and are working to use writing for different purposes like narrative, persuasive and creative writing.
• When you’re trying to understand your thinking. A topic like this is one I need to understand deeply for myself. While GenAI could tell me what to think, I need to own this. I often use the example of school district mission statements. They do not vary all that much from district to district but you have to be able to make it your own. The reason you “reinvent the wheel” is to get your own wheel. Sometimes the result of the thinking doesn’t necessarily turn into good writing but the feelings and thoughts you put into trying to write your family member a heart-felt card force reflection and can conjure up feelings and ideas that may be latent or forgotten.
• When your writing matters. Many writings don’t matter that much. An email to your boss or a conference description matters, but if it’s just about communicating information and emotion isn’t a big part of it or you’re not heavily invested then GenAI can be a time saver. But if you want to be sure that something has the right tone and feel, it probably should be hard. That doesn’t say you can’t use GenAi but probably only to make slight edits.
• When a topic is complex and nuanced. Similar to my second point, the difference here may not be in your thinking but in your lack of understanding or appreciation of a nuanced or complex topic. This exact post is a prime example. Writing forces you to research or deep dive into ideas that push your thinking. While you could just read about it, writing helps to synthesize ideas or simply reveals how challenging some topics might be.

Here’s what ChatGPT said:

• Deep Personal Reflection: When writing requires personal introspection or emotional depth, like journaling, memoirs, or sensitive communication, the human experience is irreplaceable. AI-generated text might lack the authenticity or nuance of personal reflection.
• Developing Critical Thinking: For tasks meant to challenge or build analytical skills, such as academic essays or problem-solving exercises, it’s important to engage in the mental process fully. Relying on AI shortcuts the opportunity to refine reasoning or logical argumentation.
• Creative Integrity: When originality and creative expression are the essence of the work—like poetry, fiction, or artwork—AI can limit the authenticity or risk compromising the writer’s unique voice.
• Mastering Writing Skills: Writing is a skill that improves with practice. When learning to craft persuasive arguments, structure content, or develop style, it’s important to struggle through the process. Using AI too early in these stages can impede long-term growth.

So we aren’t a million miles off. I didn’t include the creative integrity idea. Good catch.

As I work with more and more districts this question as well as many related others are ones that everyone has to wrestle with. I feel like I should respond to the other question which is, “When Should Writing Be Easy?” This was hard enough to write. I’ll save that one for another day. As always your comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Several years ago, I wrote a Back to School Speech that was written in response to many of the bad speeches I had heard. It got quite a bit of response including a district that created a video from it. I wanted to rewrite it with a slightly different feel but a similar tone. I used ChatGPT to provide some of the reframing to include some of the new challenges of burnout and anxiety that many teachers and students face. This one, like my previous speech is written as a Superintendent or School leader:

Good morning, everyone,

I know the start of a school year can be overwhelming, with endless tasks ahead of you and so many responsibilities pulling you in different directions. But before you dive into your preparations, I wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts with you.

First, I hope you truly had a chance to rest and recharge over the summer. In today’s world, our work has only become more complex and demanding. The pressures on you as educators are immense, from meeting curriculum standards to addressing the diverse needs of each student in your care. It’s no small task, and that’s why it’s so important to prioritize your well-being. You cannot pour from an empty cup.

As we begin this school year, I want to remind you that taking care of yourself is not only necessary but critical. Lean on us—your leadership team. We are here to support you, and we will hold you accountable for balancing your passion for your work with your health and happiness. You don’t have to do it all alone. Let us help you when things feel overwhelming. We also expect you to hold us accountable. When we are asking for unreasonable things, you need to let us know. While we have the greatest faith in your ability, we sometimes ask too much. As a system we’ve not done a great job at making your job better. While we know it’s always going to be hard, we want you to thrive and we will examine everything that’s not working towards that goal and together we want to improve it. We won’t tell you to “do yoga” as a solution. That’s a bandaid at best.

Yes, teaching is increasingly complex, and the world outside our classrooms is more chaotic than ever. But never forget: what you do here goes beyond any curriculum or academic standard. The role you play in shaping minds, hearts, and lives is perhaps one of the most significant ways we can all make the world a better place. Your influence extends far beyond the walls of your classroom. Remember that the little things you do every day—the kind word, the encouragement, the patience—those are the things that change lives. While we’re good at measuring achievement as described by test scores and grades, we want to continue to consider curiosity, well-being and belonging as even more important. I realize that can sound like a platitude but as leaders we need to work with you to make that a thing.

You’ve done this before. You’ve succeeded before. When the days feel long, remember that this school year is not a sprint, but a marathon. Pace yourself. Celebrate the small victories along the way and take time to reflect on the great work you’ve done in the past. My friend Joe Sanfelippo says “Start and end each day with joy.” Share your learning—both your successes and your challenges—with your colleagues. Cut yourself some slack when things don’t go as planned because none of us are perfect, but we are always growing. While we all are striving for the very best all the time, sometimes “good enough” is “good enough“.

So, as we embark on this new journey together, know that you have a community behind you, cheering you on. Go help your students to learn, smile, and belong. Ask hard questions, try new things, and share your experiences. And above all, find joy in the process. It’s not only okay to have fun, it’s essential.

This year is your year. We’ve got your back.

(Image by MidJourney)

I just wrapped up one of the best and most fulfilling weeks of work I’ve ever had, this time in British Columbia. My colleague Adam Garry and I went full throttle, spending full days in 10 different districts, helping them build their understanding of Generative AI. After an incredible start to the week—three days that I’ve already raved about—I capped it off with the West Vancouver School District. I’ve worked with this district for over a dozen years, building fantastic relationships along the way. The district’s culture speaks for itself, with its incredible stability and very little turnover. In a room of 60-70 school and district leaders, I knew so many by name and had the privilege of watching them evolve in their leadership roles over the years.

Chris Kennedy invited me to kick off their year by leading a day focused on the risks and possibilities of #genai. I’ll admit, I had my worries. This was their first day back—usually reserved for the lighter stuff—and here I was, rolling in with what could be considered some pretty heavy and heady content. I also wondered if these folks, who have seen me present more times than I can count, might be craving a fresh face. So yes, I had my concerns.

But I’ll tell you this: starting a PL session by taking a gondola ride up Grouse Mountain is not a bad way to ease into the day. For a prairie boy like me, the setting was nothing short of magical. We kicked off with some lighthearted fun, poking at my friend Chris Kennedy, who graciously let me use him to demo a deep fake. While no one fell for it (obviously), they appreciated the effort. And in true me-fashion, I spent far too long creating a 30-second video—but let’s be honest, I wouldn’t change a thing. One participant told me the day flew by, which is always a good sign.

To top it all off, they showered me with more swag than I deserved. (Side note: Chris Kennedy doesn’t like being outdone, and I’ve been known to boast about the awesome swag other districts give me, so I think this was his way of making sure West Van stays in the game.)

We ended the day with a fantastic dinner on a patio, and what truly took me by surprise was how many people took the time to come up to me, not just to say thank you, but to share specific moments and ideas from the day that resonated with them. They didn’t have to do that, but they did—and it overwhelmed me with gratitude. I’ve delivered thousands of presentations in my career, but this one stands out as one of the most satisfying. As I soaked in their kind words, it hit me that this wasn’t just a one-off expression of thanks. This district’s success comes from the way they live gratitude every day. Their students and staff experience it regularly—it’s part of what makes them want to come to work, and why they enjoy being in each other’s company.

I hesitate to use the word “family” because it gets thrown around too often, but this place really does feel special. From the Trustees to the Superintendent, from District Leadership to the School Leaders and Teachers—they care about each other and, more importantly, they care for each other.

A few themes have stayed with me throughout my career, with joy and community being right at the top. This day was a perfect example of both. I’d like to think I contributed to that, but I definitely know I received it.

While I’m not in any way an influencer. I was approached recently to see if I would try one out and provide an honest review. Seemed like a good deal. So I ordered this beauty from Anthrodesks. I got the 60 x 30 model which is huge.

This thing is a combination of simple, sturdy and clean. I’m not great with written instructions but this video made setup easy.

In just a couple of days, it was kind of stunning to notice the change in energy and alertness. I’m not a morning person and it usually takes me 30 minutes or so to get going. So I start sitting and reading and having my coffee but once the caffeine kicks in, I’m up and working feeling really good. Now my breaks are to sit and have flipped the time I spend during the day on my feet and off my butt. We’ve all heard about the dangers of sitting so I looked up this research that focuses specifically on the value of standing desks. This research essentially finds that standing desks improve health, productivity and well-being. While it’s too early for me to speak about productivity and well-being, I can say I’ve had less back and neck pain.

So the delight here for me comes from many angles.

• Free: That’s delightful. Also, I was under no obligation to say anything nice about the product but other than the fact it’s super heavy and awkward to move around, it’s pretty cool.
• Funky tech: I like the cool factor. The controls are super easy to use and I like having different settings for different tasks. I’m still playing around with that.
• Long-term benefits: who doesn’t like that? I’d love to know if others have experienced some of these benefits over time.

I can’t provide you any comparisons of other standing desks but this guy seems to agree that it’s a pretty good deal.

It’s just nice to be asked. Whether it’s to go for dinner, coffee, a tee time, a work project or a speaking engagement, getting asked to do something or go somewhere brings me delight. I think particularly about invitations that are specific to me. They are an acknowledgement that someone needs me. Getting an email from someone asking me to speak reminds me I have something to offer and that my experience in education and ability to communicate has value. When a work colleague asks me to help them with a project, it reminds me I have specific skills that are valued. When my grandkids as if I can play with them reminds me that they enjoy spending time with me. When I get invited to play golf, it reminds me that I’m a good playing companion and someone enjoys my company. My first response to these requests is delight, a feeling of gratitude that someone is thinking of me and wants me to participate and engage with them. But beyond delight, I feel a sense of obligation to honour those invitations by being and bringing my best. I want the invitations to continue and repeat.

I think about teaching specifically and how much of teaching is about invitations. One of my favourite quotes is from Stephen Downes:

I think there is an important transfer of ownership in this quote that requires an invitation. Inviting kids to learn, to engage, is the art of teaching. Great teachers are continuously inviting students to learn. They don’t force them. Not all invitations are accepted, in fact in many cases the percentage might be quite low. Thinking about the delight I experience when I receive an invitation makes me wonder how we can create those kinds of invitations for students. How do we get kids to feel like they are important, and that we need them the participate? Maybe that’s impossible. But maybe we could be better at making kids feel like it matters to us.

Dan Meyer has been talking about inviting kids to learn his whole career. This video that Dan recently shared shows a teacher creating invitations for a less-than-engaged student to join. It’s hard to know if this student felt any delight with the invitation but it’s obvious while he’s not always accepted these invites, he does accept this one.

Invitations are wonderful to receive and probably more wonderful to hand out, especially when you didn’t expect the RSVP box to be checked “I accept”.

I don’t know anything about the medical profession and can’t imagine the times when you’re literally dealing with life and death. While it’s hard to relate to the life of a doctor, I did think about those in education who may face some similar challenges. It’s not hard to see that many educators are not thriving. They aren’t experiencing the joy of the profession and the system at times makes it difficult.

While I’ve spent the last decade or so talking about joy, I’m always somewhat hesitant with that message. I don’t know how much of it is based on individual experiences and circumstances. and how much of it is based on personal dispositions and personalities. I’m always suspect of anyone who tells you to “get over it” or “be happy”. I’ve always prefaced my message but saying, I’ll share my experience and I trust you can determine what and if it applies to you.

What I can tell you is that when it comes to my relationship with my work, joy has always won. I’ve certainly been blessed to work with people and organizations that have supported me for the most part. But there have certainly been times when it’s been difficult, when people have been challenging when I’ve felt like quitting. Like everyone, it takes time to get over those moments but I think because I decided a long time ago that play and joy were not ideas that were only for the young they are the basis of who I am today. There’s no question that the amount of time I’m able to spend with my grandchildren makes this much easier but I know even before that, I knew these things mattered. When I wrote my book, it was before any grandchildren and it was my desire to help educators get back to their own childhood and keep it with them. I’m still committed to that work and am grateful for any opportunity I have to share that message. While I’ve been doing it for a while, I forget the message remains and in fact is likely more important to share as time goes on.

I used to think this was just about a lack of joy but it’s also about the need to justify our existence through our work. Many times those that either act like work is the most important thing or think that work is the most important thing sacrifice joy and play in pursuit of…I don’t know what. Unlike my doctor friend we rarely are dealing with life and death issues in education and while I know many things are serious, I’m not willing to take myself that serious.

I was prompted to write this after a friend shared this video with me. It is eerily similar to the doctor friend shared with me and it serves as a reminder to remain playful and joyful no matter what age we are or what we do. It’s not easy but it’s what I believe makes for a beautiful life.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dr Rangan Chatterjee (@drchatterjee)

This past week we returned to see some new displays and once again were delighted and enjoyed this little detour.

Thinking about this made me think about how simple this idea is. It’s something that could be done almost anywhere. We love finding little treasures and elements of beauty that happen simply because someone thought it might be nice. I hope the creators of this museum realize how much pleasure and delight it brings to visitors. I think it’s a reminder that creating small moments of delight might be missed by some but for those who are paying attention and seeking out these simple but brilliant acts of creativity, it’s something very memorable.

On the other end of the spectrum of favourite people are my 3 grand-kids. As I’ve mentioned often, they are truly my pride and joy. Biased, I unabashedly brag about them and show them off whether in person or via social media. I love them and am proud of them and take delight in them. I feel very similar about my Dad.

When we golf in Florida, we’re often paired up with people. Without exception, they are amazed at how fit and how well he plays the game at 91. Probably for the last decade, I’ve seen this response over and over. People envy his health and all desire to be able to golf as well as he does when they reach that age. I watch in delight as he gets asked lots of questions about his life and they watch in awe as he still can hit a drive nearly 150 yards. Yesterday the couple we played with was a man and a woman in their 70s. Dad is a great golf partner for several reasons. He plays quickly, compliments and encourages his playing partners, and always shares a story or two that makes people laugh. At the end of our round, they asked if they could take a picture together. It was like watching a celebrity with his fans.

It’s not lost on me how fortunate I am. I’m grateful for all the time I’ve had with him and understand like he does, that this is all bonus time. My Dad is a delight in many ways and this was another cool example.

I was generally pleased with how savour became a focus. Not perfectly but with a greater intent and it will remain something I remind myself to do on a regular basis. For 2024 I want to be more patient. I don’t think of myself as particularly impatient but I also think it’s a very contextual term. There are instances when I am patient. I know I’m much more patient as a grandfather than I ever was as a father. When it comes to travel, I’m very patient with travel delays and mishaps and I even pride myself at how much more calm and patient I am than most. As I work to savour more of my life, I can see how patience is often required. But I do know that I could be more patient in a number of areas.

I tend to take great joy in efficiency, particularly efficiency of time. My kids laugh at how much joy I get when I go through a string of green lights or when I fast forward through a program and remark at how “time we saved”. I like playing golf in under 4 hours and so on. I’m not sure it’s about stopping these practices entirely but you see how much I value these perceived time saving practices.

As a result of that it often creeps into areas where it shouldn’t. When it comes to work, I am very quick to respond to emails and messages. I get somewhat annoyed if others don’t respond as quickly as I think they should. However, in my earnest desire to be responsive, I think I often miss opportunities to be more clear and thoughtful with my responses. I need to be more patient. I need to sit with ideas and conversations more.

When it comes to seeing results in health choices, financial goals and even work goals, I tend to want results more quickly than is reasonable or necessary. Being persistent but patient is usually a good formula for success. Changing habits and actions rarely offer instant results. In this case discipline and patience make a great partnership.

As I mentioned, I like playing golf and I like playing fast. That said, there are occasions when it’s not in your control. Rather than getting frustrated, I need to have patience. I need to remember, I’m outside, with my friends, playing a game I love in beautiful surroundings, why do I want to rush that?

While I’m relatively patient with my grand kids, there are times when they are telling a story or playing at the playground and I’m tired or bored and want to move on. I need to remind myself they are at the most wonderful stage of life and it’s going to be gone soon. Why not enjoy those moments and let them linger, rattle on and just be kids.

Even when I’m grocery shopping, maybe don’t look for the shortest line. Maybe use the time in line, not to look at my phone but maybe look around and have a chat with someone. The extra 3 minutes I might save aren’t going to matter in the end.

Life moves faster than we want most of the time. Not that patience changes that but for me patience is about acceptance of things I can’t control as well as making better use of my time to be more thoughtful, caring and attentive. I’ll report back in 12 months.

Listening to Von Miller and others talking about the impact of Ware’s efforts to support their growth and leadership development was powerful. This type of passing down of knowledge and wisdom is part of the tradition of so many sports. Those who do this intentionally are beloved by teammates and fans alike. Once again, we are seeing the best in the world getting even better because of sharing. As a pickleball fan, I appreciate how this sense of community and mentorship is prevalent in all sports, fostering a spirit of camaraderie and improvement. For those new to the sport, knowing how do you play pickleball for beginners is essential to getting started and becoming part of this supportive community.

I had a conversation today with a first-year teacher. She’s not doing particularly well. She has a challenging class and some difficult parents and administrators who are not as supportive as they could be. It broke my heart to hear about someone who has invested 4-5 years of her life toward a dream and is now facing that critical point where she may not choose to stay in the profession. This is not an isolated issue. If you’re reading this, you may have someone who mirrors this situation. The answer is not easy and the problems are complex.

Similarly, in the realm of online gaming, finding reliable and supportive environments can be challenging. For example, many players are now turning to Casino Anbieter Schweiz for a more dependable and enjoyable experience. These platforms often provide better support, a wider range of games, and secure payment methods, addressing many of the concerns players might have. Just as new teachers need supportive environments, so do online gamers in their pursuit of safe and enjoyable gaming experiences.

As I watched that documentary about Ware though I couldn’t help but wonder how we pass along our knowledge and wisdom to young educators. How many of you could like Von Miller in the clip above point to a veteran educator who helped you become a better teacher? I’ve worked with many good teachers but I don’t know that I can point to any that took time to do what Ware did for Miller and his other teammates. Yes, a football team and school staff do not work together nearly as much and the opportunities are not as accessible. It’s not that teachers are withholding their insights but the opportunities to see each other in action remains a conversation we talk about but don’t act upon.

I realize that this sounds like a call for mentorship and while that would be ideal I’m not sure it’s realistic or even necessary. It’s a bit daunting for both parties. I’m trying to imagine a culture where the passing down of learning and experiences happen more informally. I won’t write about a solution here but rather plant a seed for leaders to think about what it could mean if we honored veteran teachers by celebrating their work and achievements which would in turn help young teachers identify potential mentors. I’d also plant a seed to consider more opportunities to share stories and reflect on tips and strategies for success. My life as an educator has always been blessed by the many who have found time and space to blog and share online. The final seed I’d plant is for leaders to model what that might look like if they started unsolicited, and pass along wisdom to their new teachers. It seems that in professional sports there is an unwritten rule that since the game has been good to you, you owe it to pay it forward. I’m not sure that same sentiment exists in our educational institutions.

The collective knowledge of our institution is enough to sustain us and keep us relevant and essential. Our problem remains designing structures and opportunities for that knowledge and care to be shared and experienced more broadly.