Transformative Principal

Darrin Peppard is a school district superintendent, speaker, author, publisher, and consultant focused on what matters most in leadership. Darrin’s an expert in school culture and climate as well as coaching and growing emerging leaders. He is known for his keen insight, culture-first leadership style, and dynamic personality.  In 2016, Darrin was named Wyoming Secondary School Principal of the Ye...

Scrible is about the writing process. - Impact of AI on writing. - What does “embrace it” actually mean? - It’s important to define it appropriately. - We talk about teaching and learning together, but they diverge a little bit here. - How does embracing it mean that students are using cognitive skills. - Litmus test for the use of automation in education: Does it help develop or bypass the develo...

What is journey modeling?  Take a look at what decisions people make and what it means for your potential people to look for you What brings true value to your School/District? Where are you bringing value to your employee and where are they bringing value to you?  What skill sets are you looking for and are articulated in the  Bringing people into your fold before you really get them in the door....

Generative AI in k12 education and it's impact on teacher prep and planning, assessments, writing instruction, and other subjects. Ethical use of generative AI and importance of transparency and demystifying it. Also, contrast generative AI tools with instructional AI, and how high can be leveraged to improve teaching and learning. Also, a conversation on civics and history instruction and it's im...

Welcome to another episode of Transformative Principal! In today’s episode, we have the privilege of speaking with Dr. Brett Jacobsen, the CEO of The Mount Vernon School, Mount Vernon Ventures, and Mount Vernon Online – The Global Online Campus. With over 15 years of experience leading Mount Vernon through a transformational period, Dr. Jacobsen has gained a national reputation for innovation in e...

Perhaps large language models could solve some challenges in schools.  Teacher attrition - how can you build excellence if you can’t keep teachers? Time is not enough to do deep work, which is required for effective planning.  The AI can’t do everything (nor should it).  Source it, shape it, share it. AI as a creative collaborator - Lesson seed Look at generative content like a sculptor would look...

Priten Shah is the CEO of Pedagogy. Cloud, which provides innovative technology solutions to help educators navigate global challenges in a rapidly evolving world, as well as founder of the civics education nonprofit United 4 Social Change.  His book is AI and The Future of Education: Teaching in the Age of Artificial Intelligence , published by Jossey-Bass (Wiley). In this episode, Ross and Prite...

Teens can use artificial intelligence to help them rock their homework. AI shouldn't be something parents and teachers are afraid of, and I had a great conversation with Transformative Principal Jethro Jones on how teens can use AI to TERMINATE their homework! And by terminate, I mean complete it. Obviously. -- See what Jethro is up to at www.jethrojones.com -- Register for my new Drop-In Coaching...

Generative AI offers many advantages for educators, for use in and out of the classroom. When I prompt for images of "a focused student," the first three are boys, two are white, the third is an Asian boy, and the fourth is an apparent high school female. If my anecdotal examples haven't convinced you, try for yourself, or refer to a respected resource on this subject, which characterizes how bias...

Mary Howard is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher and teaches 6th grade ELA and Science in Grand Island, New York.  She has found success using digital tools that not only make learning fun for her students, but encourage critical thinking, collaboration, and create a life-long passion for learning.  Whether the digital experience is related to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics or pr...

Episode adapted from this article  The use of AI chat tools has rapidly increased this year. AI chat tools have a difficult time with voice since they lack the emotional context that humans can interpret through the nuances of tone, pitch, expression, and most of all, uniqueness. More significantly, AI chat tools cannot express a person’s point of view because they lack the complex beliefs, values...

AI Edcamp for faculty Schools are opening and AI looms as a BIG  question mark. How will teachers and administrators use it? What about students? How can we start to understand the complexity of AI in schools? This brief, chock-full episode offers a prescription for busy administrators and teachers. Use the simple formula of an Edcamp and bring the expertise to your school community today! Concept...

Vriti Saraf is the CEO & founder of k20 Educators where she builds metaverse spaces for learning. She is also a co-founder of the first community organization on blockchain for educators, by educators, called Ed3 DAO. Both organizations aim to reimagine learning. Vriti has served as a teacher, a professor, a dean, & a director in public, private, & charter schools both locally & in...

Jethro Jones is interviewing Kiran Athota, CEO of FocalPoint Education, and Dr. Wendy Oliver, Chief Learning Officer at FocalPoint,K12, Inc. The discussion centered around the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education and its impact on student engagement and personalized learning. Athota and Oliver delved into the distinction between AI assistants and human teachers, em...

This episode discusses the potential of artificial intelligence in education and how it can empower both students and teachers. Cahlan Sharp talks about his experience building the micro school platform Prenda and how it aims to empower learners. He discusses how AI tools like chatbots and pulse check activities can help teachers gain insights into how students are doing and where they need help....

You have a long background in AI so you’ve seen the ups and downs of that field and the over-hype cycles of the past. Why are the warnings about AI credible now, and what do you see as the biggest dangers?   AI as a tool to remove drudgery It’s just doing a repetitive task over and over. Behavior has emerged from abstractions. These systems are babies. Questions schools should be asking about AI S...

Richard Gerver is a sought-after speaker, bestselling author, and world-renowned thinker on human leadership and human transformation.  His career began in education, first as a teacher and then as a school principal, when he turned the fortunes of a failing school and its pupils around in just two years. Since the success of his first book, focusing on his experience in frontline education, Richa...

What does it mean to maintain humanity?  - To practice the forgotten art of being the ordinary.  - We are ok as the messy, complex meat machines we were born with. Don’t have to be personal brands. Don’t have to elevate or project or photoshop.  - Reverence for the base model. - Technology does train us, regardless of what we think about that. - Have an understanding of the basis of what we have a...

Janessa Fletcher, Content Director for Education to the Core, discusses the future of AI in primary education. She explores the potential of AI in teaching reading skills, the need for supplemental resources, and the impact of technology on reading habits. Fletcher emphasizes the importance of the science of reading and personalized approaches to support students’ diverse needs. Dabbling in ChatGP...

Kevin Shindel, a high school social studies teacher, discusses the impact of technology and AI in classrooms. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the purpose and potential of AI before fully adopting it. Shindel raises concerns about trust, privacy, and the need for collaboration with AI. He believes AI is not just a tool, but an ecosystem that requires careful consideration. About Kevin...

Sarah Rubenstein, principal of OCEAN School, shares her experience using ChatGPT to write grant proposals. She highlights the time-consuming nature of grant writing and how ChatGPT helped her generate drafts quickly. Rubenstein believes that using AI for certain writing tasks is acceptable and efficient, freeing up time for more meaningful work. OCEAN School - 20 year-old school Family partnership...

Today we are talking with Michael B. Horn about the impact of AI on K12 (and higher) education and it’s level of disruption.  Are students more disengaged because of the pandemic or AI taking over jobs? Anxiety from high school students because it is just far enough away. In every field entry level role becomes something much different. Intermediary places that employ apprentices. Theory of interd...

In this podcast episode with Caleb Hicks, the focus is on creating learning experiences with AI. The discussion revolves around empowering teachers to move beyond traditional methods and become designers of engaging environments for students. The use of AI-powered apps and FERPA-compliant chat platforms are highlighted as tools to enhance student experiences. The concept of “spaces” is introduced,...

Dr. Paul Govani, an expert in human performance and coaching, emphasizes the importance of errorless learning and the role of AI in education. He believes that teachers need more practice and feedback to be effective, and that regular feedback for students is crucial for learning. Dr. Govani also discusses the need for tight feedback loops and the use of simulations to prepare teachers. Errorless...

In this podcast episode, primary educator and entrepreneur Emily Garcia discusses the science of reading and the role of teachers versus AI in teaching children to read. While there is systemic and explicit phonics-based instruction that is necessary for effective reading instruction, there are also many factors that prevent AI from being able to fully replace teachers. Teachers provide multiple i...