Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

In the decades I have work in schools have taught me anything it is that learning requires effort. Teachers' first job is to motivate and nurture curiosity.

I taught middle school for years. I am very familiar with the rantings of folks who did not do the reading and are just trying to sound like they know what they are talking about.

How is this for a business plan?
Write a test and convince folks it means something.
Sell a curriculum that "prepares students for the test."
Have them pay to administer the test.
Ensure students fail the test.
Sell "improved" curriculum.

Truisms. Most of them are false.

I changed my ISP. My connection goes out for about 6 hours every afternoon. I seriously think I should get to deduct 25% from my bill and I should be paid for the time I troubleshoot it. Yes, I know, folks would game the system, but it really ticks me off.

So many courses are designed to teach students about to subject. That is a waste. If the course does not teach how to use the concepts and skills to understand the world differently, the tuition was wasted.

Hey students... please stop using AI to write you assignments. You are in school to develop you skills as a writer and thinker. You are not here to "pass" assignments.

Have AI write something for you and read it. Closely. Notice how trite it is.

Your answers don’t interest me as a teacher. Your thinking does.

When speak/ write without concern for truth, we are bullshitting.

Maybe it’s time we convince our students and ourselves that outcomes don’t matter in classrooms, learning does.

Many of my students’ responses to a prompt were very similar. I entered it in ChatGPT, and was unsurprised at the results.

If you can’t tell me how you might be wrong, I won’t believe you are right.

In the past when leaders proved they are unethical, I have left the organization. I’m not sure I have that privilege this time.

One thing I learned during my career in education: Data are those numbers that support the conclusions we already drew.

Some tech (e.g. calculators) always give the right answer. AI does not. We need to change how we interact with the answers.

Over my career, I have been a student of leadership. It is not getting better.

In general, the larger the N, the more reliable the measurements, and observations based on small N are viewed with skepticism.

When you start questioning your assumptions, you are starting to learn,

Remembering is fine, its just not that useful by itself.