Latest posts
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I Said I Would Scream From the Rooftops. Consider This Me Screaming!
Back in June, at the end of an Adobe session at ISTE 2026, Claudio Zavala Jr. showed a room full of educators a one-minute and fifteen-second animated video that stopped me completely in my tracks. It was rich, layered, professionally rendered, and made entirely with AI-generated prompts. Every element editable. No animation degree required. No…
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The Best Thing I Found at ISTE 2026 Wasn’t at the Loudest Booth
I have a theory about conferences. The best stuff is never where the speakers are the loudest and the lights are the brightest. I developed this theory the same way I developed my best opinions about food: by ignoring the obvious choices and wandering until something unexpected stopped me cold. I am the person who…
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Who’s Ready to Soak Up the Sun at ISTE 2026 in Orlando?
The laptop, headphones, and portable batteries have been charged. The sunscreen has been forgotten. The kids have been hugged and kissed goodby with the promise of seeing them again in a week. I’m currently in KCI chatting it up with some World Cup fans and some Europeans who’ve traveled here to support their team, and…
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The College Application Essay: Where Your Students’ Favorite Subjects Finally Get Their Shot
Every year, approximately two million high school seniors sit down to answer one of the most absurd questions in American education. In 650 words or fewer, tell us who you are, what has shaped you, what you have learned from your greatest challenge, and why you are worth our investment. Please be specific. Please be…
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The Grading Trap: Why a 95% Was Never the Problem
On more than one occasion, a student has opened their PowerSchool account, seen their grade, and come to talk with me about it. When I asked what it was, they responded: a 95%. I knew I didn’t turn my poker face on fast enough. This was not the first time, and it will depressingly not…
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Your Body Already Knows What You Think
I want you to try something. Think about a topic you have a strong opinion about. Something you feel clearly and specifically. Not something abstract, something real. A policy, a decision, a choice someone you know made, a position your school or district has taken that you either love or deeply disagree with. Now: stand…
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The Therapy Session Intake Form: What Your Students’ Favorite Subjects Really Need (Free Classroom Activity Template!)
I have a therapist. She is wonderful. She is patient. She is exactly the kind of calm, grounded professional that someone with an anxiety disorder and a panic disorder probably needs in their corner. She also spent the better part of two years trying to get me to find my mind palace. For those unfamiliar,…
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The Difference Between Tolerating a Perspective and Understanding One
I have spent the better part of my life constructing arguments. Since 1998, policy debate tournaments have been a large part of my life. Argument construction is my identity. Arguments are the air I breathe. Competitive debate does something to rewire the way you think about argumentation and the world that is genuinely difficult to…
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Year Zero: What Happens When a 20-Year Teacher Starts From Scratch?
I have been teaching for almost twenty years. That sentence used to feel like a credential. Lately, it has started to feel like a question. Not in a crisis-of-confidence way, I love this job as much as I ever have, maybe more! But in a genuinely curious way. What would I do differently if I…
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The Performative PD Problem: Why Professional Development Is Broken and What You Can Do About It
Let me tell you about three professional development experiences from my career. All different content, yet one common thread endures. My very first PD session as a first-year teacher was a video about working with special education students. It used language and terminology that had been considered outdated for years. Nobody in the room flagged…