3. Rethinking the Assignment in the Age of AI

Imagine you're a software engineer building a productivity app. Over the years, you redesign the user interface switching from a clunky desktop app to a sleek web interface, then to a mobile app, and eventually to a voice assistant. Each iteration looks more modern, is easier to use, and uses newer tech. The user interface is improving, but the task never changes for the user. Its lipstick on a pig, eventually the app will no longer be relevant?

Now swap out the app for a classroom assignment, the worksheet.

For decades, worksheets have been a staple of classroom instruction.  Over time, like software interfaces, they've been “modernized”:

• Paper worksheet (v1.0) – The original analog. Print, copy, distribute, collect, grade.

• Scanned worksheet (v1.1) – Save paper. Send as an image. Students print at home.

• Fillable worksheet (v2.0) – Add text boxes. Now students can type instead of write.

• Google Form (v2.5) – Add automation. Immediate feedback. Still mostly multiple-choice.

• Fillable PDF (v2.6) – Slightly more interactive. Better formatting. Still the same questions.

• AI-rewritten worksheet (v3.0) – Use ChatGPT to rewrite the questions. Fresh wording, maybe new contexts. But… still a worksheet.

Each version may feel like progress. But from the learner’s perspective, the core function hasn’t changed. It’s still a teacher-designed task with right answers and little room for exploration. The look and feel evolve, but the purpose and learning experience remain fixed.

You ask me questions, I find or remember the answers and fill them in, then I turn in the assignment and get my grade.  Not dissimilar from the game fetch.  That's right, we made fetch happen.

A Call to Lead Differently

If all we do with AI is produce shinier worksheets, we’re doing old things in new ways and calling it innovation.

But if we reimagine the role of the student as a designer, investigator, and collaborator then use AI as part of a Dynamic Thought Environment, then we’re not just upgrading the interface we’re upgrading the learning experience.

That’s the real opportunity.
And that’s the challenge we must rise to meet.

2. Who’s Listening? AI and Student Privacy

 As AI tools become more common in education, one question keeps coming up and for good reason:

“Is this safe for students?”

It’s a fair concern. We value student privacy, and we should. But just like with any other technology, privacy and AI are not mutually exclusive. With the right approach, we can use AI while protecting student data.

So, What Should We Watch For?

Here are the real risks to pay attention to:

• Personally identifiable information being entered into public tools

• Student work being used to train AI without consent

• Unvetted tools with unclear data practices

• Behavioral tracking in platforms without transparency

None of these mean AI has to be off-limits... they mean we need thoughtful boundaries.

If Students Can’t Use AI Yet… That’s Okay

Some schools or districts haven’t opened AI to students. That doesn’t mean they’re behind, it means they’re being careful.

If that’s your district:

• Use teacher-facing AI tools to streamline your own work

• Talk with colleagues about safe, meaningful student use

• Get involved in shaping your district’s AI policy

• Pilot ideas and share what works

This moment isn’t a stop sign, it’s an invitation to lead.

How to Model Responsible Use

Even with guardrails, you can still bring AI into your classroom by:

• Avoiding names or IDs in AI inputs

• Teaching students to ask abstract, task-based questions

• Reflecting on how AI supported learning (not just the final product)

• Staying transparent with families about how AI is used

Bottom Line

Privacy matters and so does preparing students for a world where AI is everywhere.

We don’t have to choose between safety and innovation. We just have to choose to lead with intention.

If AI access isn’t open yet, use this time to help shape what thoughtful, ethical, student-centered AI use could look like in your district.

Don't be a problem stater, be a problem solver.  Help design the solution with the other great minds walking around your district.

1. Picking Up Where I Left Off (kind of)

It’s been a few years since I last wrote here. Like so many other things, this blog went quiet during COVID. In that time, I changed districts, learned, listened, and found my perspective on education growing. Now, I’m ready to start having these conversations again.

It feels like the right time to return. Education has changed, and so has the conversation around education technology. Most of all, AI is quickly becoming part of our daily lives, and it’s something we can’t afford to ignore.

When it comes to AI, I’d be a fool to claim I know exactly where things are going, but I’d be a greater fool to believe things will be the same a year from now. I don’t have all the answers, but I do want to have the conversation and at the very least, fumble through the possibilities as we figure this out together.

I want to go beyond viewing AI as just an efficiency tool. Let’s focus on it as a learning tool, with practical examples: how it can help students build real-world skills, how teachers can use it to deepen student thinking, and what questions we need to be asking to use it responsibly and effectively.

I’m excited to start this dialogue again, and I’d love for you to join me as we explore where AI can take us in education.

Maker Project - Work out Timer

So I wanted to make a timer to help me work out, but I figured I could make it myself using an Arduino Uno and a 4 digit 7 segment display (digital number display).

Here is what I wanted:  I wanted a timer that would count down from a time (30 seconds) for work out, followed by a rest time (10 seconds).  Then I wanted it to repeat until I was done.  Here are some resources that I used to gather information.

Resources:

1. Timer with Reset button - Copied the code from here.  this helped me understand the code as well as the plugs on the display - check out the notebook paper image. This helped me get the connections and a timer set up, but it counts down and stops.  Will restart if you press the button.  Thank you RishiSadana.
2. Description of millis() function and what that means.  This is what I used to set the parameter for which function to run in my code.  Thank you Arduino Project.
3. How I learned to programmatically reset the Arduino (I used the 2nd method on this website). Thank you Syed Zain Nasir.

Here is how I altered the code from resource #1.  I have annotated it, but here are the changes that I made.

1. I added a green light for the workout timer - countgo
2. I added a red light for the rest timer - countrest
3. Length of timers
1. n is the length of the workout timer
2. m is the length of the rest timer
4. Order of code
1. Start with the "m" rest
1. countrest - millis() < m
2. translation - run the rest timer until it reaches zero
2. Do "n seconds of workout
1. countgo - millis () >= m && (and) millis < n + m 
2. translation - time is between 10 and 40 seconds - I just wrote it this way so I could change the rest and workout time if I wanted.
3. Restart the loop.

Here is the code if you want it:

Focus, Attention, Distraction

When I train on the use of technology in the classroom, teachers often bring up how distracting it can be.  I would love to give solutions like put the device away, or collect the devices, but the truth is...the devices that are distractions are also the devices that allow students to be curious and to search for answers.  So I don't.

What others tend to call distracted behavior, I refer to as curiosity.  Our brains are designed for it.  We find something that is interesting and we learn more about it.  When something grabs our attention, we have laser-like focus to learn about it.  When we have an interesting problem, we focus in on how to solve it, solve it, then move on.

I guess we just need to help our students be curious about our content.  With so many distractions on hand, we are competing for attention.  You can drive yourself crazy with the trying to remove all distractions, but I figure we just need to start working differently.

Knowing that focus will not be on one thing for the entire 50 minutes of the class period... How are we going to design our lesson?  Where will the focus be?  How will we grab attention?  Once we have it, what are we going to do with it?

Once you have tried that... What data did you collect (quantitative or qualitative)?  What does that tell you about your lesson?  Did it work? How will you use this information to adjust your lesson tomorrow?

Innovating as a Mashup Artist

I have a nice drive in everyday.  I travel through a section that is so remote, there is no cell phone network connection, so I download and listen to podcasts.  I know this is something that others do frequently, but seeing as I just moved to this area, it is new to me.  I have fallen in love with the EntreLeadership podcast and am starting from the beginning (I am about 3 years behind).  This morning I listened to one with Austin Kleon, who wrote the book How to Steal Like an Artist. His take on innovation was one that I have agree with and that I think can apply to education as well.  He discussed that we tend to bring together the voices of others and mash them up to come up with our own voice.

How does this apply to innovation?  

Innovation is not the constant search for something new or the tireless journey for the cutting edge of new devices and tools.  For many of us, innovation is taking many things that we have at our disposal and making something new out of that.  Whether it be our voice, our thoughts, our products, or new ideas.

Isn't that what we want for our students?  

We teach them things so they can innovate.  I taught chemistry and science.  I did not want my students to memorize reactions that they would forget, I wanted them to replicate what I had taught them, combine it with other learnings from other classes, their personal history, and make something new.  Innovation is not making something new or replicating what another has done, it is transforming what we learn and experience and mashing it up into something new.

Where have you heard this before?  

You have heard people say to "give students voice" or ensure students are thinking critically.  What is that if not asking students to innovate by mashing up that which they have learned and experienced and turning it into a new thought.

The scary part about this is that we are never quite sure where this will go.  As teachers, we are not the masters of the background of every kid that comes into our room.  How do we respond to something that we are not expecting or something that, better yet, we do not yet understand?

An Innovative Classroom

Remember that our job as teachers is to innovate the learning environment so our students can think innovatively about the ideas, facts, and concepts that we present them.  Essentially, we are teeing them up to innovate with our content areas, but that is only one thing that students will use to innovate.  We ask that they value what we bring to the table, we need to make sure that we also value what they bring to the table.

Why am I stoked on Named Versions in Google Docs?

Ever wonder why a feature shows up?  I know we often look at the changes made in technology and, many times, scratch our heads thinking, why.  I tell my kids that it is one thing to say something doesn't make sense and it is another to understand how it can makes sense.  Enter named versions in the version history of Google Docs.  I thought it would be nice to have a rough draft and a final draft (or if you write like I do, rough draft 1 through 47 and never a final draft), but that was the end of it.

Then I started my current project, updating policies and regulations in our school district.  This is not a task that I love to do or even one that I have the knowledge to tackle alone.  So to get some help from friends, I turned the dusty PDF's into google docs and formatted them accordingly.  Lately, I have been obsessed with using the headings to make a table of contents, or even an outline.  That way, I can add names to the sections and they pop up at the top of the document for disseminating work (pro-tip).  Ramble ramble ramble, what the heck does this have to do with named versions?

So I named the version after I was done formatting the document.  Why?  Because I was trying to avoid doing the work.  Did I mention that this is not the most exciting thing about my job?  I just recognize the importance.  After I went through and modified the document for the sections that I feel I am responsible, I went back and named the version of the document.

Once there I named the new version (just double-click the time and type) and decided to click the button that I never click (in red below).

Why? Because I wanted to...avoiding work.  Actually, it is because I am haphazardly genius.  When clicked, not only does it make all of the non-named versions disappear, it shows the version with the collection of edits made between the named versions.  Probably something that most know, but, whatever, an epiphany for me!  To one up this, if you print from this view, it will print the edits made as a collective set of edits.  Why do I like this?  Because I like track changes (suggesting mode), but not while I am working.

 So, needless to say, I have more policies to edit today, but I felt it only necessary to share this with my reader(s).  Procrastination...maybe.  A great feature that can help with project management and updating shared documents...definitely.  Stop procrastinating and get back to your work, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black.