Category: leadership
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Lead4Change Summit Reflections
I’m writing this from downtown Nashville, where I just wrapped up Day 1 of the Lead4Change Teacher Summit at the beautiful Hotel Noelle and VentureX Co-working space. It’s mid-April, the weather is gorgeous, and I’m feeling energized, seen, and hopeful. I want you to know why! In addition to sharing this blog post with details…
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A Powerful Story
In my 55 years of life on our planet and 32 years as a professional educator and teacher, I’ve shared a lot of stories and more than a few presentations. This evening, I believe I shared one of the most important and powerful stories I’ve ever personally connected with. But like we often do as…
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Is Any AI Use Ethical?
The past two days I had the opportunity to attend multiple sessions at the summer 2025 conference for “Civics of Technology.” It’s a grassroots organization which: …aims to empower students and educators to critically inquire into the effects of technologies on their individual and collective lives. We conduct research, develop curriculum, and offer professional development.…
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Civics Of Tech 2025 Conference
Today I attended and participated in 3 virtual Zoom sessions in the Civics of Technology 2025 online conference, a free gathering of educators, researchers, and technologists working at the intersection of civic engagement, media literacy and digital life. As a media literacy and STEM teacher, I love grassroots learning experiences like this conference. Conference materials…
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Zoom AI Meeting Summary
Today I facilitated another monthly Zoom webinar for the MediaEd Club of the Media Education Lab, and I was both pleased and amazed to receive an AI-powered “Meeting Summary” (directly from Zoom) following the recorded videoconference. I’m including an edited version of it below, and adding hyperlinks to referenced resources. Here’s the archived recording (47…
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Inspired by George Couros
This morning, I watched George Couros’ recent video from two weeks ago, How I Lost 120 Pounds & Changed My Life: Health, Confidence & Lessons in Self-Leadership. It’s about 20 minutes long, and I definitely recommend it: I watched this for several reasons. First, I’m continuing my own health journey alongside my spouse, and we’ve…
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Hijacked Minds and Broken Trust
In this wide-ranging podcast conversation, Scott Galloway discusses numerous issues of interest with Sam Harris, including how important it is that we rebuild trust in institutions across our society and culture, and the toxic power of Twitter / X in hijacking our minds for the worse. Listen to the original podcast episode on Pocket Casts.…
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Wisdom from Heather Smith
Heather Smith is the 2024 North Carolina Teacher of the Year! She teaches 8th grade math teacher at Waynesville Middle School in Haywood County Schools. These are my notes from her presentation, “Teachers: The Ultimate Influencers“ at the March 24, 2025 NCMLE ‘Middle School Matters’ Conference MY THOUGHT AND REFLECTIONS ARE IN ALL CAPS. In this…
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Road to Awesome
These are my notes from Darrin Peppard’s keynote at the March 24, 2025 NCMLE ‘Middle School Matters’ Conference. MY THOUGHT AND REFLECTIONS ARE IN ALL CAPS. Darrin’s books include: “The Road to Awesome: The Journey of a Leader”: roadtoawesome.net and roadtoawesome.net/books Darrin’s most recent book with Katie Kinder is “Culture First Classrooms: Leadership, Relationships, and…
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Why Regulate AI?
Why should we regulate artificial intelligence? This was the question we tackled at the Thursday evening discussion group at Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community in Manhattan, Kansas, on March 20, 2025. This presentation and conversation was shared by Wes Fryer of Charlotte, North Carolina, a 1988 graduate of Manhattan High School and current middle school and…