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✅ Table of Contents
🧪 5 Ideas to Try
- ChatGPT’s Image Generation in the Classroom
- Create Podcasts from Your Notes with NotebookLM or Gemini
- Use NotebookLM to Study for Exams
- New Features in OneNote with AI
- Should Schools Ban Cell Phones? Research Says…Maybe Not
🔍 4 Interesting Facts
- “Blue” Robot from NVidia + Disney = Real-Life R2D2
- Cloud Privacy Concerns with Amazon Devices
- AI Chatbot Reduces Anxiety—But Should It Replace Counselors?
- Malware Warning for ASUS Gamers
🎓 3 Things to Learn About
- Student Opinions: AI Is Here, and We Have Thoughts
- Changes to Special Education Funding You Should Know
- This Week’s Curated News: What I’m Reading and Why
💡 2 Quick Tips
- Is Your Laptop Battery Draining Fast? This Might Be Why
- Before You Buy Edtech AI Tools, Ask These 4 Critical Questions
❤️ 1 Powerful Thought
- Burnout, Boundaries, and Why I Stayed in Teaching — My personal story + podcast with Morgane Michael and Charlie Peck
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5 Ideas to Try
5️⃣ChatGPT’s Image Generation is here.
I watched the Open AI image generation announcement video, Here are some things we did and links to the prompts:
- Whiteboard. I used their prompt and tweaked it to create a whiteboard with a reflection including all of the things I taught that day (see the prompt).
- Sportscar in Arizona. Then in 9th grade a student asked me to create a pink Glickenhause 0300S, and then we tinkered (as you look at the prompt, you’ll see the more we revised it, the worse it looked including a floating shoulder in the last version.)
- Student images. I uploaded a photo of three boys and turned them into cartoons and also Veggie Tales characters. Then, I uploaded a sketch from a student and turned it into an animation. She said, “this is the first time I’ve been excited about AI.” (Uploaded image chats aren’t sharable.)
- Heart Infographic. Then, Jessica came in, our Science Department chair, and we talked about creating an infographic for how the blood moves through the heart. We had a very specific prompt. Our trouble came when we wanted to edit. There are selection and editing features but they were clunky and troublesome. But, when this is worked out (or I learn how to do it), then, this sort of thing is something teachers will ask for. (See the prompt.)
- I’m out of credits! When I have more, I’ll be recording a video and writing a blog post.
- This was first rolled out to the plus and pro versions but will be coming to free. Sam Altman wrote a tweet asking people not to use it so much as it was burning up their servers. While I take his tweet with a grain of salt, I did have a lot of error messages.
Link 🔗https://www.coolcatteacher.com/new-daily-education-and-technology-news-for-schools-3-29-2025/
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4️⃣Create podcasts for teaching content.
NotebookLM now lets you create a podcast from your notes and ask interactive questions—but you can only make one podcast at a time. You can also click interactive mode, and you can ASK IT QUESTIONS. My teachers are very excited about the notebook LM and uploading all of their content to create other questions that are much more aligned with their standards and content. One teacher said she created a podcast about the heart and a struggling student listened to it yesterday and aced her quiz today.
Download your podcasts you make in Notebook LM and make another one.You can basically only make one podcast at a time, though, so download it, delete the one you have and create a new podcast. Keep them in a folder and keep using them.
You don’t have to use Notebook LM for this, however as Gemini can now create podcasts for you as well.
Link 🔗https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/03/audio-overview-gemini-app.html
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3️⃣How to Use Notebook LM to Study
My students (who are over 18) are so excited about using Notebook LM to study for exams. I’ve given them PDF’s of content, practice tests they’ve already taken and answers so they can train their notebooks. Tiago Forte delivers a power-punched Notebook LM video that has gone viral.
Link 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nl6hz2nYFA&t=5s
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2️⃣New One Note Features
If your school uses One Note and Copilot, start learning about the AI features in this valuable notebook service. Additionally, if you run meetings, Mike Tholfsen’s new video is a must watch.
Link 🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCgl-W7D-oM
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1️⃣Cell Phone Bans
With PEW showing 68% of adults believe cell phones should be banned in class but not all day and 72% of teachers saying cell phones are a distraction, so many of us are watching the research to see what works. I read a study this week that said cell phone bans don’t work and don’t improve student wellbeing. However, others like Nicholas Bradford at Edweek say if you’re going to do it, it should be total and not be the teacher’s problem. My next 10 minute teacher (which should post today at coolcatteacher.com/e887 ) will be with Marc Issek’s author of Captivate who tends to agree that bans are completely pointless and unenforceable. The jury is still out!
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4 Interesting Facts
4️⃣ Blue is the new R2D2 - except it is real! Robots are here!
NVidia, Disney, and DeepMind have unveiled “Blue” a cute little R2D2 like Robot. While it doesn’t talk yet, the bells and whistles sound pretty familiar. It responds and you can sort of tell how it is responding. I’m not sure of the applications of these, but it walked out of video onto the stage recently and into the hearts and minds of those who are eager to learn about the future. This is a video I’m sharing with my students.
Link 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ3MZZoZ23M
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3️⃣Amazon devices will now process all of your voice conversations in the cloud.
This and other recent issues have prompted Steven J. Vaughan to write that privacy is dead in the Register. This is a conversation with having with students.
Link 🔗 https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/31/privacy_dead_opinion/
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2️⃣AI Chatbot Reduced Depression, Anxiety and Eating Disorders
An artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot trained by Dartmouth researchers to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) significantly reduced depression, anxiety, and eating disorder symptoms.
Personally, this concerns me greatly as people push to have AI chatbots (read the Wall Street Journal Article) support school guidance counselor shortages.
Link 🔗 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/202504/ai-therapy-breakthrough-new-study-reveals-promising-results
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1️⃣ Malware Targeting Gamers who have ASUS Computers
A new malware is impacting gamers - it pretends to be an ASUS utility. Be careful and use this article to fix this and to be educated about the problem.
Link 🔗 https://lifehacker.com/tech/info-stealing-malware-on-windows
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3 Things to Learn About
3️⃣ What is the love/hate relationship students have with AI?
My students recorded an episode with me talking honestly about the challenges of going to school in a world of AI. I applaud their honest and brave conversation as well as what they shared about how their friends are using AI in college. Also, basically, only those who don’t know how to use AI are the ones who get “busted” by AI detectors. Don’t brag on using them, they don’t work. (See MIT’s article if you don’t believe me.)
Link 🔗 https://youtu.be/KbkNHddOk1Q
2️⃣ Special Education Funding in the US
With budget cuts and changes in the organizations running a variety of education programs, the Hechinger Report gives an overview on what will change about funding for those with special needs in the US. If you’re concerned, read this article. That said, we know that often transitions can be bumpy.
Link 🔗 https://hechingerreport.org/special-education-and-trump-what-parents-and-schools-need-to-know/
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1️⃣ Read My Curated News Post
I’ve brought back my weekly news post with my bookmarks from the week along with why I think they are important. Although AI can summarize, I think there is a place for human curated content especially for those who don’t want the effort of vetting everything that AI pulls in, some of which is irrelevant. I included a whole section on how I”m using ChatGPT’s new image generator.
Link 🔗 https://www.coolcatteacher.com/new-daily-education-and-technology-news-for-schools-3-29-2025/
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2 Tips
2️⃣What is draining your laptop?
This article will help you understand the problems in your laptop.
Link 🔗 https://lifehacker.com/tech/how-to-discover-which-apps-drain-your-laptop-battery-the-most
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1️⃣Before Your School Buys AI
Ask these 4 questions from James O’Hagan is a powerful post full of items you need to discuss with your IT department. He dives deep but the questions are:
- What data trained it?
- Who labeled it?
- How did they check bias?
- Who owns/controls the data?
Link 🔗 https://ohagan.medium.com/before-your-school-buys-ai-ask-these-4-questions-or-pay-for-the-mistakes-later-590c581b23d0
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1 Thought
On the latest Cool Cat Teacher Talk, I sat down with authors Morgane Michael and Charlie Peck to talk about teacher boundaries and burnout. I also share my personal story about why it took me 20 years to learn to advocate for myself and how I now set boundaries and have those hard conversations.
Link 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfjoex1_eIk&t=1s
It hasn’t been an easy journey to learn how to stay into teaching. I know in those early years I had to be helped by veteran teachers to have perspective and also learn how to advocate for myself.
Often I had conversations when I was so emotional while I was advocating for the right thing but perhaps not in the right way. Learning how to set boundaries and have a sustainable career in education has to be something that we do. I’ve poured my heart and the things I teach new teachers into this two part series.
Because I care about you and teaching and that your children need you -- you, my dear friend, have to learn how to teach well while also having a family life. My Mom always told me, "your students will have many teachers but your kids will only have one mom." It kept me grounded so I could live life with no regrets. I've made mistakes but have worked and learned how to balance over the years because if the choice came between my family and my career as a teacher, I would have had to choose my family if it couldn't have worked out.
I do want to help you.
Thank you for helping me by subscribing to my newsletter, clicking the links, and telling others about it. I do my best to give you helpful things that I’m using to learn from right now. This is all written by me and I hope it helps. Blessings to you this week!
See you later educator,
Vicki Davis
@coolcatteacher
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