Hello Reader,

You are so important. We as teachers are the vital keys to opening up the doors of learning for our students. We also have to be committed to learning new things as well as ourselves. And there’s a lot to learn. I know things are changing constantly. This is why we need a system of innovation that works for us. That is sustainable. Here are a few tips for learning and growing in the age we are now entering with AI and LOTS OF NOISE!

🗂️ Table of Contents

1. Tips for Succeeding in the AI Onslaught
   • 🧭 Tip 1: Find People You Trust
   • 🛠️ Tip 2: Edit Your AI's Memory
   • 🔍 Tip 3: Use Prompts That Invite Other Viewpoints
   • ❌ Tip 4: Abandon Tools That Don't Work
2. 💥 A Warning on AI Lesson Plans
3. 🧪 Why Prompting Matters (and Tuesday’s AI Webinar)
4. 📚 From Newbie to Now: How Sharing Our Learning Matters
5. 🎙️ The 10 Minute Teacher Podcast Is Back – 5 Days a Week!
6. 📢 This Week’s Must-Listen Episodes
   • Early Childhood with Isabelle Hau
   • Uncertified Teachers in Texas with Jacob Kirksey
   • Engaging Math with Dan Meyer
   • Playful Grammar with Patty McGee
7. 🖋️ Make Your Mark: Why Your Voice Matters
8. 🙏 A Personal Note on Trust

Tips for Succeeding in the AI Onslaught

TIP 1. Find People You Trust. So, for now, I’m working to find people I trust whom I can read. People in various domains who have a lens that helps me look through it. People who aren’t always like me but who add value. In fact, I intentionally follow people who I know have a different view of the world than I do. I'm continuing to use Feedly RSS but sending things I want to dig into to my Readwise Reader where I can annotate and save quotes to Readwise, my electronic quote management system which pulls in my Kindle highlights from the books I read but also the highlights and notes from the web that I choose to put in there. (I also have an index card file box by category -- see #7 on this blog post.)

TIP 2. Judiciously edit the “memory” of my ChatGPT. Right now, with ChatGPT memory turned on, ChatGPT has changed. People are using these prompts to gauge how well ChatGPT knows them and to see if there are things it "remembers" that it shouldn't or don't belong there.

And, as I shared last week, I recommend reviewing your memory and ensuring you’re satisfied with it. Also, you can click the “temporary” button to have a chat that is “off the record,” so to speak. This is because your past interactions with ChatGPT impact your future results. This is not always good (see #3.) If I'm going to use AI, I want it to work as effectively and accurately as AI could work, which admittedly right now is far from perfect if you're supervising it well.

TIP 3. Use Prompts that Invite Other Viewpoints. As I shared previously, because of the “memory bubble” (kind of like the filter bubble with Google), I’m ensuring that part of my prompting strategy includes prompts that introduce views contrary to my natural bent, like:

• “Imagine the opposite of the what was just stated…” (or I can insert the topic)
• “What if ___” (Put a different viewpoint in there)
• Consider the primary counterarguments to what was just written
• What are the limitations of..
• How would my perspectives change if I was different in (what way)...
• Where are my biggest blindspots…
• Shift the perspective and write about this topic as if you were …
• How would someone who strongly disagrees with this view this issue and why
• Use words like “critical” “objective” “counteargument” “optimistic” “pessimistic”

I collect good prompts in a library of prompts.

Speaking of prompting well, there is a lot more about prompting, as you see in my notes below. These are going into AI lessons for my students but also, am teaching this next Tuesday night from 5:30 - 8:00 pm. Tuesday's webinar course is targeted to higher ed and upper level grades 6-12 educators although business people or anyone using AI will learn from this session. The proceeds go to student scholarships and it is 2.5 CEU’s offered through Albany State University.

TIP 4. Critically Evaluating the Results of Any Tool I Use and Choosing to Abandon Tools that Aren't Giving Me Results that Fit with My Expertise As a Teacher - A Warning about AI Generated Lesson Plans

So, I’m fighting (and I Mean fighting) with ChatGPT’s Scheduled tasks to see what it can actually do. It has to prove to me it works before I’ll share. I’m breaking down my prompting strategy b/c I don’t believe most K12 bots are producing any kind of quality.

After reading James O’Hagan’s What AI Lesson Plans Reveal About Who Matters and the accompanying research, he reinforces the pressing thought at the back of my mind every time I attempted to use AI lesson plan writers: AI lesson plans don’t measure up with student engagement.

James O'Hagan says,

May it never be! Are we about to institutionalize poor pedagogical practices? Are we about to make worksheets something we carry into the future? Seriously? Is this the direction we feel good about heading?

Let me let you in on a secret. Do you know how many AI generated lesson plans I have used?

Zero.

Nada.

Nothing.

I haven't been able to get one that measures up to what I know works. So, if you generate one you don't like - DO NOT USE IT.

TIP 5: Why Prompting Matters And My Upcoming Course

And if you want to do prompts, let's work on prompts that work to generate lesson ideas with the pedagogical practices that work.

As this sort of research comes out, I’m moving back to working directly with the latest models of ChatGPT, Perplexity Pro, and Claude and fine tuning how I create prompts, I’m creating playbooks and working with customized instructions and documenting how to do it.

I'm sharing this in the course Tuesday, as well.

TIP 6: The Power of a Beginner

When I started my blog in 2005, in March 2006 I wrote a post about the Power of a Newbie that

I can't always know a lot about new things. It isn't possible for any of us, but I can grab a pen and paper and jot down some notes and share my learning journey. So that is what I'm doing.

Right now, I am a teacher who is learning how to use agents, multi-modal AI tools like BoodleBox being used in higher ed, and taking courses from industry professionals outside education who are at the forefront. I love reading the research and also sharing my experience.

And for us to move forward in AI, we have GOT TO, as teachers, share what we are seeing. LLM's are different for everyone. We have to share what we're seeing so we can evaluate, create, and analyze our way forward to DO THE RIGHT THING for this generation.

TIP 7: Build your PLN

10 Minute Teacher is Back to Every Weekday

In the meantime, I’ve moved back to five days a week for the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast with a similar format that I had before the pandemic (the pandemic and some ensuing issues led me to go one day a week). Here’s the format:

• Motivational Monday - Monday motivations
• Edtech Tool Tuesday - New tool(s) in edtech and how to use them
• Wonderful Classroom Wednesday - stories of great teaching from the classroom
• Thought Leader Thursday - Top thought leaders in education share
• Fantastic Idea Friday - Ideas to use today are shared

So, if you haven’t already, subscribe in the format you like:

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Pandora | Spotify | YouTube | ​Audible ​

This week's shows so far

🎧 The Importance of Early Childhood Education and What the Research Says with Isabelle Hau

Early childhood is when 90% of brain development happens—making educators true “brain sculptors.” Isabelle C. Hau shares why relationships, play, and relational intelligence are key to thriving. This episode is a must-listen for early childhood leaders and teachers who shape the future every day.

🎧 Listen now: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e889

56% of new Texas teachers are uncertified

That’s not a typo. In this eye-opening episode of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast, Dr. Jacob Kirksey reveals how the teacher pipeline crisis is affecting real classrooms—and what it means for your students, your school, and your future.

💡 Did you know?

• Some schools have over 80% uncertified hires
• A year with an uncertified teacher can mean 3–4 months of learning loss
• Many new teachers have no college degree or formal training at all

We talk about burnout, student behavior, missed diagnoses (like dyslexia), and how certified teachers are being stretched thin to fill the gap.

🎧 This is one of the most important episodes we’ve done all year.
​ 👉 Listen now: www.coolcatteacher.com/e890​

Engaging Math with Dan Meyer 🎧

Are your students truly engaged in math—or just going through the motions? In this episode, Dan Meyer shares real ways to make math come alive using tools like Desmos and Amplify.

👉 Listen or watch now: ​www.coolcatteacher.com/e891​

Teaching Grammar with Fun and Play with Patty McGee 🎧

Grammar doesn’t have to be boring! Literacy coach Patty McGee shares fun, shame-free grammar strategies that help students build better sentences through play and creativity. These ideas are simple, powerful, and ready to use tomorrow.

👉 Listen now: www.coolcatteacher.com/e892

Make Your Mark

None of us is here forever but we all leave a mark. I want to have something good and the best “most good” is to impact tindividual humans to know they are important that teaching is important and every student is important. Parenting is so vital.

What we do matters and how we move forward matters.

We need lots of new voices sharing their "newbie" experiences and reporting on their observations. We have to as educators, rise up and hold AI creators accountable for accuracy, protecting children, and making good decisions.

Notes on Trust

Thank you for subscribing to another newsletter. And if you’re wondering why my format for the newsletter is tweaked each week – part of it is how I feel and what I’m learning that week.

Another part is that I want you to know that this newsletter is 100% written by me for you. I’m not using a template and AI isn’t writing it. (Except for my super cutesy table of contents and I just think that helps you scan to see what is useful.)

And that, my friends, I hope prompts some trust to keep me in your inbox, a gift I don’t take for granted.

Joyfully still in your service,

Vicki Davis
@coolcatteacher

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