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There is a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercial that has lived rent-free in my brain for years.

Two people. One has chocolate. One has peanut butter. They collide. The result is the greatest food combination in the history of human civilization.

It is, when you think about it, a missed connection that actually connected. A what-if that became a what-is.

And it made me think about all of the things in history, literature, and science that almost connected and didn’t.

What if the United States had joined the League of Nations?
What if Gatsby had actually gotten Daisy?
What if the supply had found the demand before the market collapsed?

Those are not idle questions. Those are some of the most rigorous cognitive moves a student can make. And it turns out there is a format perfectly designed to help them make those moves.

Welcome to the Craigslist Missed Connections activity. Population: every subject area you have ever taught.

This week’s post covers:

👉 What counterfactual thinking actually is and why Kahneman and Tversky spent decades studying it
👉 Why asking “what if?” makes students more curious (yes, the research says this)
👉 What the Craigslist format does that a traditional essay prompt cannot
👉 Examples across History, ELA, Science, Economics, Math, World Languages, Art, and Music
👉 A free template AND a fully written exemplar — the US and the League of Nations, written by the League itself, with a reply from Henry Cabot Lodge who has thoughts

The exemplar includes a reply from Henry Cabot Lodge. He is not wrong, exactly. And that is the whole point.

Free template linked in bio. Tag me when your students write one. I want to read every single missed connection they didn’t know they needed to write. 💔

#teachersplaiground #craigslist #missedconnections #counterfactualthinking #historyteacher #ELA #edtech #teaching #educators #creativeclassroom #playfulpedagogy #whatif

There is a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercial that has lived rent-free in my brain for years.

Two people. One has chocolate. One has peanut butter. They collide. The result is the greatest food combination in the history of human civilization.

It is, when you think about it, a missed connection that actually connected. A what-if that became a what-is.

And it made me think about all of the things in history, literature, and science that almost connected and didn’t.

What if the United States had joined the League of Nations?
What if Gatsby had actually gotten Daisy?
What if the supply had found the demand before the market collapsed?

Those are not idle questions. Those are some of the most rigorous cognitive moves a student can make. And it turns out there is a format perfectly designed to help them make those moves.

Welcome to the Craigslist Missed Connections activity. Population: every subject area you have ever taught.

This week’s post covers:

👉 What counterfactual thinking actually is and why Kahneman and Tversky spent decades studying it
👉 Why asking “what if?” makes students more curious (yes, the research says this)
👉 What the Craigslist format does that a traditional essay prompt cannot
👉 Examples across History, ELA, Science, Economics, Math, World Languages, Art, and Music
👉 A free template AND a fully written exemplar — the US and the League of Nations, written by the League itself, with a reply from Henry Cabot Lodge who has thoughts

The exemplar includes a reply from Henry Cabot Lodge. He is not wrong, exactly. And that is the whole point.

Free template linked in bio. Tag me when your students write one. I want to read every single missed connection they didn’t know they needed to write. 💔

#teachersplaiground #craigslist #missedconnections #counterfactualthinking #historyteacher #ELA #edtech #teaching #educators #creativeclassroom #playfulpedagogy #whatif

Looks like I get to let the dogs out at ISTE baby!!!!

Looks like I get to let the dogs out at ISTE baby!!!!

Almost forgot to take my #TechTshirtTuesday photo rocking my new @knowtteacher #KnowtKnights shirt.

Also #RIPmyVoice

No more smiles, I’m going to sleep, I feel like crap. In lieu of flowers you can cashapp me for ice cream, milkshakes, and other cold and soft treats.

Almost forgot to take my #TechTshirtTuesday photo rocking my new @knowtteacher #KnowtKnights shirt.

Also #RIPmyVoice

No more smiles, I’m going to sleep, I feel like crap. In lieu of flowers you can cashapp me for ice cream, milkshakes, and other cold and soft treats.

I have seen a lot of edtech demos. I have nodded politely at a lot of tools that were essentially slight variations on something that already existed. I have smiled, taken the tote bag, and moved on.

I did not move on from @getknowt

What I watched at their @tcea_org booth was the moment I realized that Quizlet had stopped, high-fived each other, and called it done — while the team at Knowt looked at everything Quizlet built, said "hold my beer," and kept going.

I got so excited that I applied to become a Knowt Knight — their inaugural ambassador cohort. Not because someone paid me to. Because I have watched this tool work.

Here’s what makes it different:

👉 Notes from literally anything — PDFs, YouTube videos, recorded lectures, Google Docs, websites
👉 A lecture recording feature that saves your voice as a summary note for students who missed class
👉 Multiple study modes all built on a spaced repetition engine
👉 An AP library that would have changed how I taught APUSH and AP Gov
👉 Kai — an AI study companion that generates personalized podcasts from study material AND calls students on their devices for an interactive conversation about what they’re studying

That last one made me stop walking at the demo booth.

New post covers the neuroscience of retrieval practice, why spaced repetition actually works, and how I use Knowt both as a teacher and to teach students to use it independently.

Oh, and it’s free to get started. Which still surprises me every time I say it.

Link in bio.

#teachersplaiground #knowt #knowtknights #edtech #retrievalpractice #spacedrepetition #AIinEducation #teaching #educators #studytools #APexam

I have seen a lot of edtech demos. I have nodded politely at a lot of tools that were essentially slight variations on something that already existed. I have smiled, taken the tote bag, and moved on.

I did not move on from @getknowt

What I watched at their @tcea_org booth was the moment I realized that Quizlet had stopped, high-fived each other, and called it done — while the team at Knowt looked at everything Quizlet built, said "hold my beer," and kept going.

I got so excited that I applied to become a Knowt Knight — their inaugural ambassador cohort. Not because someone paid me to. Because I have watched this tool work.

Here’s what makes it different:

👉 Notes from literally anything — PDFs, YouTube videos, recorded lectures, Google Docs, websites
👉 A lecture recording feature that saves your voice as a summary note for students who missed class
👉 Multiple study modes all built on a spaced repetition engine
👉 An AP library that would have changed how I taught APUSH and AP Gov
👉 Kai — an AI study companion that generates personalized podcasts from study material AND calls students on their devices for an interactive conversation about what they’re studying

That last one made me stop walking at the demo booth.

New post covers the neuroscience of retrieval practice, why spaced repetition actually works, and how I use Knowt both as a teacher and to teach students to use it independently.

Oh, and it’s free to get started. Which still surprises me every time I say it.

Link in bio.

#teachersplaiground #knowt #knowtknights #edtech #retrievalpractice #spacedrepetition #AIinEducation #teaching #educators #studytools #APexam

Before the kids these days started talking about vibes, I was already vibe-aware.

I always feel like Steve Buscemi when I hear them say it. But my inner Spicoli? He gets it.

Because I have stopped a lesson mid-activity because the vibes were off. I have sent a backchannel message to a kid in the middle of class — a quiet "hey, you okay?" through Google Classroom — because something told me to. Not a data point. Not a dashboard alert. Something I couldn’t fully articulate but couldn’t ignore.

Every teacher reading this knows exactly what I’m talking about.

It has a name, your teacher spidey-sense, or as researchers call it, teacher intuition. And it is one of the most sophisticated things a human being can do.

This week’s Friday post is the third in a series I’ve been building all month, and it’s the one that connects everything:

👉 What pedagogical tact actually is and why it’s not just a feeling
👉 Why the data-driven decision-making movement has quietly told teachers their gut doesn’t count
👉 Why AI will never have a Spicoli mode, no matter how advanced it gets
👉 Why you’ve been running vibe checks since before the kids had a name for it

And yours are backed by neuroscience.

Link in bio. This one’s for every teacher who has ever known something was wrong before they could explain why.

#teachersplaiground #teacherwellbeing #teacherintuition #pedagogicaltact #AIinEducation #teaching #educators #teacherlife #vibecheck #teacherspidysense

Before the kids these days started talking about vibes, I was already vibe-aware.

I always feel like Steve Buscemi when I hear them say it. But my inner Spicoli? He gets it.

Because I have stopped a lesson mid-activity because the vibes were off. I have sent a backchannel message to a kid in the middle of class — a quiet "hey, you okay?" through Google Classroom — because something told me to. Not a data point. Not a dashboard alert. Something I couldn’t fully articulate but couldn’t ignore.

Every teacher reading this knows exactly what I’m talking about.

It has a name, your teacher spidey-sense, or as researchers call it, teacher intuition. And it is one of the most sophisticated things a human being can do.

This week’s Friday post is the third in a series I’ve been building all month, and it’s the one that connects everything:

👉 What pedagogical tact actually is and why it’s not just a feeling
👉 Why the data-driven decision-making movement has quietly told teachers their gut doesn’t count
👉 Why AI will never have a Spicoli mode, no matter how advanced it gets
👉 Why you’ve been running vibe checks since before the kids had a name for it

And yours are backed by neuroscience.

Link in bio. This one’s for every teacher who has ever known something was wrong before they could explain why.

#teachersplaiground #teacherwellbeing #teacherintuition #pedagogicaltact #AIinEducation #teaching #educators #teacherlife #vibecheck #teacherspidysense

Almost 30 years ago, @tonicbandofficial released "If You Could Only See" and created a core musical memory for me.

I also found a way to connect it to education because, of course, I did. YOU CAN BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR.

Here's the thing: we ask students to claim and support things constantly. It's baked into every writing structure we teach. Paragraph structure. Essay structure. Lab reports. All of it.

What do we rarely do? Ask them to question.

Not "do you have any questions" at the end of class. The harder thing: asking students to look at their OWN argument and find what it doesn't explain. The gap. The thing a reasonable person would push back on.

That's Claim, Support, Question — and it's the first routine in Post 6 of my @projectzerohgse series.

Then we swing the other way entirely with the See, Think, Wonder family:

👁️ See, Think, Wonder — the most widely known routine that a surprising number of teachers are using slightly wrong (the separation of those three moves is the whole game)
🔗 See, Wonder, Connect — swaps Think for Connect, asking students to link what they see to prior knowledge and other disciplines
🎨 See, Think, Make, Discuss — developed for civic art, adds a making step between thinking and discussing

Free templates for all four are linked in bio. And yes, I rewrote the Tonic lyrics at the end. No I will not be taking questions.

#ProjectZero #VisibleThinking #ThinkingRoutines #TeachersOfInstagram #CriticalThinking #HarvardProjectZero #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground #ClassroomTeacher #SeeThinkWonder

Almost 30 years ago, @tonicbandofficial released "If You Could Only See" and created a core musical memory for me.

I also found a way to connect it to education because, of course, I did. YOU CAN BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR.

Here's the thing: we ask students to claim and support things constantly. It's baked into every writing structure we teach. Paragraph structure. Essay structure. Lab reports. All of it.

What do we rarely do? Ask them to question.

Not "do you have any questions" at the end of class. The harder thing: asking students to look at their OWN argument and find what it doesn't explain. The gap. The thing a reasonable person would push back on.

That's Claim, Support, Question — and it's the first routine in Post 6 of my @projectzerohgse series.

Then we swing the other way entirely with the See, Think, Wonder family:

👁️ See, Think, Wonder — the most widely known routine that a surprising number of teachers are using slightly wrong (the separation of those three moves is the whole game)
🔗 See, Wonder, Connect — swaps Think for Connect, asking students to link what they see to prior knowledge and other disciplines
🎨 See, Think, Make, Discuss — developed for civic art, adds a making step between thinking and discussing

Free templates for all four are linked in bio. And yes, I rewrote the Tonic lyrics at the end. No I will not be taking questions.

#ProjectZero #VisibleThinking #ThinkingRoutines #TeachersOfInstagram #CriticalThinking #HarvardProjectZero #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground #ClassroomTeacher #SeeThinkWonder

What are you doing at noon Eastern today? Come hang out with some amazing folks @genially_official on their YouTube channel and learn about the NEW AI builder mode!

https://www.youtube.com/live/sPP2EBOvg_w

What are you doing at noon Eastern today? Come hang out with some amazing folks @genially_official on their YouTube channel and learn about the NEW AI builder mode!

https://www.youtube.com/live/sPP2EBOvg_w

Last Monday, I shared the GoFundMe activity with the @ditchthattextbook community.

I expected some nice engagement. What I did not expect was for the community to hand me two more ideas before the week was out. 🤯

That is the thing about sharing your work publicly. You think you are giving something away. What actually happens is the people you share it with make it better, bigger, and more interesting than you could have made it alone.

So this week: Jumpstarter and Teacheon.

Jumpstarter is our classroom version of Kickstarter — a one-time campaign with tiered rewards. Students don’t just make an emotional appeal. They have to think like entrepreneurs and ask: what does my subject actually offer, and what can I give someone in exchange for their belief in it?

Teacheon is our classroom version of Patreon — an ongoing subscription model where supporters get exclusive access over time. Students have to think about their subject not as a single moment but as an ongoing story with continuing value.

Together with last week’s GoFundMe, these three templates cover a full progression of persuasive and economic thinking:

👉 GoFundMe: why should someone care?
👉 Jumpstarter: what do they get in return for a one-time investment?
👉 Teacheon: what do they get from sustained investment over time?

Any subject. Any grade. Two free templates linked in bio.

And if the community hands me a fourth idea before next Monday — apparently that’s how this works now. 😂

#teachersplaiground #kickstarter #patreon #edtech #teaching #playfulpedagogy #creativeclassroom #educators #historyteacher #ELA #scienceteacher

Last Monday, I shared the GoFundMe activity with the @ditchthattextbook community.

I expected some nice engagement. What I did not expect was for the community to hand me two more ideas before the week was out. 🤯

That is the thing about sharing your work publicly. You think you are giving something away. What actually happens is the people you share it with make it better, bigger, and more interesting than you could have made it alone.

So this week: Jumpstarter and Teacheon.

Jumpstarter is our classroom version of Kickstarter — a one-time campaign with tiered rewards. Students don’t just make an emotional appeal. They have to think like entrepreneurs and ask: what does my subject actually offer, and what can I give someone in exchange for their belief in it?

Teacheon is our classroom version of Patreon — an ongoing subscription model where supporters get exclusive access over time. Students have to think about their subject not as a single moment but as an ongoing story with continuing value.

Together with last week’s GoFundMe, these three templates cover a full progression of persuasive and economic thinking:

👉 GoFundMe: why should someone care?
👉 Jumpstarter: what do they get in return for a one-time investment?
👉 Teacheon: what do they get from sustained investment over time?

Any subject. Any grade. Two free templates linked in bio.

And if the community hands me a fourth idea before next Monday — apparently that’s how this works now. 😂

#teachersplaiground #kickstarter #patreon #edtech #teaching #playfulpedagogy #creativeclassroom #educators #historyteacher #ELA #scienceteacher

Some mornings, I tape a sign to my board before my students arrive.

It started on a large Post-it pad on a wheeled easel. It tells my students where to find their assignments. That loud or unexpected noises are a trigger for me today. That I can't focus on more than one person talking at a time.

I have an anxiety and panic disorder. Some mornings the medication takes a while. Some mornings it doesn't kick in at all. And on those mornings, I still have a classroom full of students who need me to show up.

The bad morning sign is the system I built to make that possible.

What I'm doing on those mornings has a name. It's called emotional labor. And every teacher reading this is doing it every single day — whether they have a diagnosis or not.

This Friday's post is the most personal thing I've written on this blog. It covers:

👉 What emotional labor actually is and why teaching is one of the highest emotional labor professions that exists
👉 Why "remember your why" is not just inadequate — it's a convenient fiction that blames teachers instead of systems
👉 The difference between burnout and compassion fatigue, and why the distinction matters
👉 What the research says actually helps (spoiler: it's not a bubble bath)

You are not a vending machine. You are a person doing one of the hardest emotional jobs that exists.

Link in bio. This one's for you.

#teachersplaiground #teacherwellbeing #emotionallabor #compassionfatigue #teacherburnout #mentalhealth #educators #teaching #teacherlife #youarenotvendingmachine

Some mornings, I tape a sign to my board before my students arrive.

It started on a large Post-it pad on a wheeled easel. It tells my students where to find their assignments. That loud or unexpected noises are a trigger for me today. That I can't focus on more than one person talking at a time.

I have an anxiety and panic disorder. Some mornings the medication takes a while. Some mornings it doesn't kick in at all. And on those mornings, I still have a classroom full of students who need me to show up.

The bad morning sign is the system I built to make that possible.

What I'm doing on those mornings has a name. It's called emotional labor. And every teacher reading this is doing it every single day — whether they have a diagnosis or not.

This Friday's post is the most personal thing I've written on this blog. It covers:

👉 What emotional labor actually is and why teaching is one of the highest emotional labor professions that exists
👉 Why "remember your why" is not just inadequate — it's a convenient fiction that blames teachers instead of systems
👉 The difference between burnout and compassion fatigue, and why the distinction matters
👉 What the research says actually helps (spoiler: it's not a bubble bath)

You are not a vending machine. You are a person doing one of the hardest emotional jobs that exists.

Link in bio. This one's for you.

#teachersplaiground #teacherwellbeing #emotionallabor #compassionfatigue #teacherburnout #mentalhealth #educators #teaching #teacherlife #youarenotvendingmachine

My dad once spent 45 minutes at Thanksgiving dinner presenting a fully documented legal case about a Costco parking spot.

He had witnesses. He had a diagram. He had printed receipts.

He also wasn't entirely wrong. Neither was the other driver. And he absolutely could not handle that.

I think about that parking lot constantly when I think about what we're actually teaching students when we teach them to think.

Because most of the things worth thinking about don't resolve. And most of our students have never been explicitly taught to sit in that.

Post 5 in my @projectzerohgse Thinking Routines series is about exactly this. Two routines:

⚔️ Tug of War — a fairness dilemma on a rope. Students load reasons on both sides and weigh their strength. The goal isn't a winner. It's a map of the complexity. My uncle needed this routine desperately.

👁️ Beauty and Truth — four questions that teach students to look at something beautiful and ask what it might be hiding. In a world drowning in carefully constructed images designed to make us feel things and believe things, this might be the most important routine in the whole series.

Both come with free templates, linked in bio.

If you've been following along — Parts 1 through 4 are there too. We are not done yet.

#ProjectZero #VisibleThinking #ThinkingRoutines #TeachersOfInstagram #CriticalThinking #MediaLiteracy #HarvardProjectZero #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground #ClassroomTeacher

My dad once spent 45 minutes at Thanksgiving dinner presenting a fully documented legal case about a Costco parking spot.

He had witnesses. He had a diagram. He had printed receipts.

He also wasn't entirely wrong. Neither was the other driver. And he absolutely could not handle that.

I think about that parking lot constantly when I think about what we're actually teaching students when we teach them to think.

Because most of the things worth thinking about don't resolve. And most of our students have never been explicitly taught to sit in that.

Post 5 in my @projectzerohgse Thinking Routines series is about exactly this. Two routines:

⚔️ Tug of War — a fairness dilemma on a rope. Students load reasons on both sides and weigh their strength. The goal isn't a winner. It's a map of the complexity. My uncle needed this routine desperately.

👁️ Beauty and Truth — four questions that teach students to look at something beautiful and ask what it might be hiding. In a world drowning in carefully constructed images designed to make us feel things and believe things, this might be the most important routine in the whole series.

Both come with free templates, linked in bio.

If you've been following along — Parts 1 through 4 are there too. We are not done yet.

#ProjectZero #VisibleThinking #ThinkingRoutines #TeachersOfInstagram #CriticalThinking #MediaLiteracy #HarvardProjectZero #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground #ClassroomTeacher

@briskteaching just relaunched their Brisk AI Professional Certifications! Level 1 and Level 2 are live, self-paced, and free. A great deep dive for teachers looking for depth in your AI Education.

https://www.briskteaching.com/community#become-pro

If you don't take the classes, beware, spooky @imeddiejames is coming for you!

@briskteaching just relaunched their Brisk AI Professional Certifications! Level 1 and Level 2 are live, self-paced, and free. A great deep dive for teachers looking for depth in your AI Education.

https://www.briskteaching.com/community#become-pro

If you don't take the classes, beware, spooky @imeddiejames is coming for you!

I love to find different ways to use tech tools with my students! Some people wonder how I coached students participating in over 200 individual speech events? The answer is easy! Upload their performances for targeted feedback in @edpuzzle!

Getting them to think about their needs helps them think more critically about their performances!
@mannydiscotech

I love to find different ways to use tech tools with my students! Some people wonder how I coached students participating in over 200 individual speech events? The answer is easy! Upload their performances for targeted feedback in @edpuzzle!

Getting them to think about their needs helps them think more critically about their performances!
@mannydiscotech

I was brainstorming with Claude this morning and asked it to help me find culturally familiar formats that could work as disguised mastery checks in the classroom.

It threw out a list. And one stopped me cold. Something I would have never thought of in a billion years.

A GoFundMe page. 🤯

Here’s the thing, most students haven’t made one. But they’ve seen them. They’ve been tagged in them. They’ve watched them go viral. They know on a gut level what makes one compelling and what makes one easy to scroll past.

And the gap between “I have seen this” and “I have never made one” is exactly where learning lives.

So I built the template this morning and I’m handing it directly to you. I haven’t even used it in a classroom yet. Come experiment with me.

The activity works across every content area, History, ELA, Science, Economics, Civics, and asks students to identify stakes, establish an argument, quantify success, and write for a real audience. It looks like a meme. It’s secretly a rigorous thinking exercise.

Free template linked in bio. Tag me when your students make one. I will reshare every single one. 👀

#teachersplaiground #gofundme #edtech #teaching #playfulpedagogy #AIinEducation #educators #historyteacher #ELA #scienceteacher #socialstudies

I was brainstorming with Claude this morning and asked it to help me find culturally familiar formats that could work as disguised mastery checks in the classroom.

It threw out a list. And one stopped me cold. Something I would have never thought of in a billion years.

A GoFundMe page. 🤯

Here’s the thing, most students haven’t made one. But they’ve seen them. They’ve been tagged in them. They’ve watched them go viral. They know on a gut level what makes one compelling and what makes one easy to scroll past.

And the gap between “I have seen this” and “I have never made one” is exactly where learning lives.

So I built the template this morning and I’m handing it directly to you. I haven’t even used it in a classroom yet. Come experiment with me.

The activity works across every content area, History, ELA, Science, Economics, Civics, and asks students to identify stakes, establish an argument, quantify success, and write for a real audience. It looks like a meme. It’s secretly a rigorous thinking exercise.

Free template linked in bio. Tag me when your students make one. I will reshare every single one. 👀

#teachersplaiground #gofundme #edtech #teaching #playfulpedagogy #AIinEducation #educators #historyteacher #ELA #scienceteacher #socialstudies

In 2001, serious people in serious publications were losing their minds because students could Google things.

Sound familiar?

We did it with Google. We are doing it with AI. And three things I saw on my feed this week convinced me it's time to say that out loud.

This week's post is a reaction to posts from @theaieducator.io , @coachthomastech, and @give.spark — and it goes deep on something I think we've been avoiding.

The device was never the problem. The plan was.

We've had nearly a quarter-century post-Google to get intentional instructional design right. We've failed. Spectacularly. But the good news? We've learned this lesson before. And we can learn it again.

This one covers:
👉 Why AI didn't break school — it exposed it
👉 The Goldilocks problem of edtech (and what edtech minimalism gets right)
👉 What the AAP's new policy statement means for your classroom
👉 UDL, SAMR, and the crappy Google Doc that changed how I think about tech integration
👉 The one question that should guide every lesson you plan

Link in bio. This one's worth your time.

#teachersplaiground #AIinEducation #instructionaldesign #edtech #SAMR #UDL #teaching #educators #edtechminimalism #intentionalteaching

In 2001, serious people in serious publications were losing their minds because students could Google things.

Sound familiar?

We did it with Google. We are doing it with AI. And three things I saw on my feed this week convinced me it's time to say that out loud.

This week's post is a reaction to posts from @theaieducator.io , @coachthomastech, and @give.spark — and it goes deep on something I think we've been avoiding.

The device was never the problem. The plan was.

We've had nearly a quarter-century post-Google to get intentional instructional design right. We've failed. Spectacularly. But the good news? We've learned this lesson before. And we can learn it again.

This one covers:
👉 Why AI didn't break school — it exposed it
👉 The Goldilocks problem of edtech (and what edtech minimalism gets right)
👉 What the AAP's new policy statement means for your classroom
👉 UDL, SAMR, and the crappy Google Doc that changed how I think about tech integration
👉 The one question that should guide every lesson you plan

Link in bio. This one's worth your time.

#teachersplaiground #AIinEducation #instructionaldesign #edtech #SAMR #UDL #teaching #educators #edtechminimalism #intentionalteaching

This is what they made @adobeexpress for right? To make @ditchthattextbook Yoda memes?

This is what they made @adobeexpress for right? To make @ditchthattextbook Yoda memes?

Hot take: the first answer a student gives you is almost never their best thinking.

Not because they're wrong. Because thinking, real thinking, the kind that actually changes how you see something, almost never lives on the surface.

Part 4 of my @projectzerohgse Thinking Routines series is about exactly this. Three routines that refuse to let students stop at the first thought:

🌀 Step In, Step Out, Step Back: move through three lenses: inside the experience, outside looking in, zoomed all the way back. (This one comes straight from my 20+ years in competitive speech and debate. It's the routine I wish someone had handed me at 14.)

🎨 Colors, Shapes, Lines: students respond to content not in words but in pure visual metaphor. Then they explain their choices. 'Why broken lines? Why upward triangles?' is where the magic lives.

🗂️ The Elaboration Game: four students build one collaborative description of one section of an artwork. Nobody is allowed to say what it means until the very end. Observation before interpretation. Every time.

Free templates for all three are linked in bio. And if you've been following along — Parts 1, 2, and 3 are there too.

The first thought is just the beginning. ✨

#ProjectZero #VisibleThinking #ThinkingRoutines #TeachersOfInstagram #CriticalThinking #HarvardProjectZero #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground #ClassroomTeacher #EdTech

Hot take: the first answer a student gives you is almost never their best thinking.

Not because they're wrong. Because thinking, real thinking, the kind that actually changes how you see something, almost never lives on the surface.

Part 4 of my @projectzerohgse Thinking Routines series is about exactly this. Three routines that refuse to let students stop at the first thought:

🌀 Step In, Step Out, Step Back: move through three lenses: inside the experience, outside looking in, zoomed all the way back. (This one comes straight from my 20+ years in competitive speech and debate. It's the routine I wish someone had handed me at 14.)

🎨 Colors, Shapes, Lines: students respond to content not in words but in pure visual metaphor. Then they explain their choices. 'Why broken lines? Why upward triangles?' is where the magic lives.

🗂️ The Elaboration Game: four students build one collaborative description of one section of an artwork. Nobody is allowed to say what it means until the very end. Observation before interpretation. Every time.

Free templates for all three are linked in bio. And if you've been following along — Parts 1, 2, and 3 are there too.

The first thought is just the beginning. ✨

#ProjectZero #VisibleThinking #ThinkingRoutines #TeachersOfInstagram #CriticalThinking #HarvardProjectZero #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground #ClassroomTeacher #EdTech

Looks like I need to head to @hottopic in 2003 before teaching this morning!

Looks like I need to head to @hottopic in 2003 before teaching this morning!

But how can I air guitar while driving home safely? #nohandsonthewheel

But how can I air guitar while driving home safely? #nohandsonthewheel

Feels about right

Feels about right

My office is covered in Funko Pops. My classroom has about 30 of them. And over the years, several of my graduating students have handed me a Funko Pop on their way out the door as a goodbye gift. 🧸

They know me. And they showed it the way I would have shown it.

So it only made sense that I eventually turned my obsession into a classroom activity.

The Funko Pop Summary Activity asks students to design the official Funko Pop for a key figure or concept from your unit. The box is a contribution-based biography where every design choice has to mean something: the colors, the name, the tagline, the accessories. Then students use Adobe Firefly or Canva's AI image generator to prompt the actual figure into existence.

It looks like an art project. It is absolutely not just an art project.

I've run it with presidents, the Framers of the Constitution, and famous economists. But it works in ANY content area. ELA, science, math, world languages — if it has a story worth telling, it has a Funko Pop waiting to be designed.

Free template linked in bio. I want to see every single one your students make. Tag me. I will reshare them all. 👀

#teachersplaiground #funkopop #edtech #AIinEducation #teaching #playfulpedagogy #teachersofinstagram #socialstudies #ELA #historyteacher

My office is covered in Funko Pops. My classroom has about 30 of them. And over the years, several of my graduating students have handed me a Funko Pop on their way out the door as a goodbye gift. 🧸

They know me. And they showed it the way I would have shown it.

So it only made sense that I eventually turned my obsession into a classroom activity.

The Funko Pop Summary Activity asks students to design the official Funko Pop for a key figure or concept from your unit. The box is a contribution-based biography where every design choice has to mean something: the colors, the name, the tagline, the accessories. Then students use Adobe Firefly or Canva's AI image generator to prompt the actual figure into existence.

It looks like an art project. It is absolutely not just an art project.

I've run it with presidents, the Framers of the Constitution, and famous economists. But it works in ANY content area. ELA, science, math, world languages — if it has a story worth telling, it has a Funko Pop waiting to be designed.

Free template linked in bio. I want to see every single one your students make. Tag me. I will reshare them all. 👀

#teachersplaiground #funkopop #edtech #AIinEducation #teaching #playfulpedagogy #teachersofinstagram #socialstudies #ELA #historyteacher

Also... he was right. 🐱

Kids are born as little Harry Carays. Asking everything. Embarrassed by nothing. Deeply, aggressively interested in the world.

And then they go to school.

I just wrote a reaction to Isabelle Hau's incredible piece in Educational Leadership on curiosity, neuroscience, and the future of learning — and took it into the classroom-level conversation I think educators actually need right now.

Also featuring: Forky from Toy Story 4, the Google revolution, Matt Miller, a full Harry Caray callback, and me thanking Claude for checking my grammar.

Link in bio. Come hang out. My friends call me Whiskers. 🐱

#teachersplaiground #curiosity #edtech #AIinEducation #teaching #educators #growthmindset #ProjectZero

Also... he was right. 🐱

Kids are born as little Harry Carays. Asking everything. Embarrassed by nothing. Deeply, aggressively interested in the world.

And then they go to school.

I just wrote a reaction to Isabelle Hau's incredible piece in Educational Leadership on curiosity, neuroscience, and the future of learning — and took it into the classroom-level conversation I think educators actually need right now.

Also featuring: Forky from Toy Story 4, the Google revolution, Matt Miller, a full Harry Caray callback, and me thanking Claude for checking my grammar.

Link in bio. Come hang out. My friends call me Whiskers. 🐱

#teachersplaiground #curiosity #edtech #AIinEducation #teaching #educators #growthmindset #ProjectZero

The silence that followed was not the good kind.

They had thoughts. I could literally see it on their faces. One kid was chewing his pencil so hard I was worried about his enamel. They just... couldn't get the thoughts out.

That's not a thinking problem. That's a language problem. And it's the thing I kept coming back to when I put together Post 3 in my @projectzerohgse Thinking Routines series.

This one is about helping students find their words. Three routines, three free templates:

📰 Headlines — summarize the whole thing in 8 words. sounds easy. it is not.
✨ Imagine If... — break one rule of the world and watch what students know come pouring out
🎧 Listening: Ten Times Two — the audio twin of Looking Ten Times Two from Post 2. two listens. wildly different things noticed each time.

The thread tying all three together: you cannot do any of these well without actually understanding the thing you studied. The language IS the mastery check.

Free templates linked in bio. Catch up on Posts 1 and 2 while you're there!

#ProjectZero #VisibleThinking #ThinkingRoutines #TeachersOfInstagram #CriticalThinking #EdTech #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground #ClassroomTeacher

The silence that followed was not the good kind.

They had thoughts. I could literally see it on their faces. One kid was chewing his pencil so hard I was worried about his enamel. They just... couldn't get the thoughts out.

That's not a thinking problem. That's a language problem. And it's the thing I kept coming back to when I put together Post 3 in my @projectzerohgse Thinking Routines series.

This one is about helping students find their words. Three routines, three free templates:

📰 Headlines — summarize the whole thing in 8 words. sounds easy. it is not.
✨ Imagine If... — break one rule of the world and watch what students know come pouring out
🎧 Listening: Ten Times Two — the audio twin of Looking Ten Times Two from Post 2. two listens. wildly different things noticed each time.

The thread tying all three together: you cannot do any of these well without actually understanding the thing you studied. The language IS the mastery check.

Free templates linked in bio. Catch up on Posts 1 and 2 while you're there!

#ProjectZero #VisibleThinking #ThinkingRoutines #TeachersOfInstagram #CriticalThinking #EdTech #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground #ClassroomTeacher

Story time: I announced a 20-part YouTube series on vibe coding back in February. Then a new World of @warcraft Expansion dropped. I am not proud of this. I am, however, back.

Vibe coding is my absolute obsession right now, and if you haven't heard of it yet, it's the idea that you can use AI tools like Canva Code, Gemini Canvas, and Claude Code to build fully custom, interactive classroom apps using nothing but natural language. No syntax. No brackets. No computer science degree. Just your pedagogical vision and a really good prompt.

I've built history simulators, SEL check-ins, vocabulary games, and AI tutors...all in an afternoon.

In my latest post I'm sharing:
🎮 Where the YouTube series stands (6 episodes live in each track!)
🎭 What's coming next (a Claude Code module omg)
🎤 Where I'm presenting at the end of the month
🔧 A free Vibe Coding Prompt Generator I built you and dropped right in the post

The generator is also living in the App Arcade on my site. Describe what you want to build, pick your tool, and walk away with a ready-to-paste prompt.

Link in bio. Go build something weird. ✨

#VibeCoding #EdTech #TeachersOfInstagram #AIinEducation #CanvaCode #GeminiCanvas #ClaudeCode #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground #ClassroomInnovation #NoCodeTeacher

Story time: I announced a 20-part YouTube series on vibe coding back in February. Then a new World of @warcraft Expansion dropped. I am not proud of this. I am, however, back.

Vibe coding is my absolute obsession right now, and if you haven't heard of it yet, it's the idea that you can use AI tools like Canva Code, Gemini Canvas, and Claude Code to build fully custom, interactive classroom apps using nothing but natural language. No syntax. No brackets. No computer science degree. Just your pedagogical vision and a really good prompt.

I've built history simulators, SEL check-ins, vocabulary games, and AI tutors...all in an afternoon.

In my latest post I'm sharing:
🎮 Where the YouTube series stands (6 episodes live in each track!)
🎭 What's coming next (a Claude Code module omg)
🎤 Where I'm presenting at the end of the month
🔧 A free Vibe Coding Prompt Generator I built you and dropped right in the post

The generator is also living in the App Arcade on my site. Describe what you want to build, pick your tool, and walk away with a ready-to-paste prompt.

Link in bio. Go build something weird. ✨

#VibeCoding #EdTech #TeachersOfInstagram #AIinEducation #CanvaCode #GeminiCanvas #ClaudeCode #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground #ClassroomInnovation #NoCodeTeacher

Hot take: your students aren't bad at thinking. Nobody gave them the tools to realize they're already doing it. 🧠

I wrote a whole blog post about four of my favorite @projectzerohgse thinking routines...and yes, I open it with a story about having a full-on academic crisis over soup @dillonsgrocery (It's a Red Light Yellow Light thing. You'll understand when you read it.)

The four routines covered:
👤 Who Am I? — disguised mastery checks that actually work
👁️ Looking Ten Times Two — teaching students to fight the scroll
📓 Reporter's Notebook — reading to interrogate, not just consume
🚦 Red Light, Yellow Light — my personal favorite (see: soup)

Free templates for all four are linked in my bio. Go get weird with it. Your students are ready.

#ProjectZero #VisibleThinking #ThinkingRoutines #TeachersOfInstagram #EdTech #CriticalThinking #ClassroomTeacher #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground

Hot take: your students aren't bad at thinking. Nobody gave them the tools to realize they're already doing it. 🧠

I wrote a whole blog post about four of my favorite @projectzerohgse thinking routines...and yes, I open it with a story about having a full-on academic crisis over soup @dillonsgrocery (It's a Red Light Yellow Light thing. You'll understand when you read it.)

The four routines covered:
👤 Who Am I? — disguised mastery checks that actually work
👁️ Looking Ten Times Two — teaching students to fight the scroll
📓 Reporter's Notebook — reading to interrogate, not just consume
🚦 Red Light, Yellow Light — my personal favorite (see: soup)

Free templates for all four are linked in my bio. Go get weird with it. Your students are ready.

#ProjectZero #VisibleThinking #ThinkingRoutines #TeachersOfInstagram #EdTech #CriticalThinking #ClassroomTeacher #TeacherBlogger #TeachersPlAIground

Alright, after the excitement, panic, and fear have subsided... as 20th century philosopher @JAYZclassicBars in his classic track PSA once said:

"allow me to reintroduce myself....my name is..."
#AobeEduCreative #ACELeader #ACEInnovator #teachersplAIground #LetsGetWeird

Alright, after the excitement, panic, and fear have subsided... as 20th century philosopher @JAYZclassicBars in his classic track PSA once said:

"allow me to reintroduce myself....my name is..."
#AobeEduCreative #ACELeader #ACEInnovator #teachersplAIground #LetsGetWeird

OMG!!!!! @mrsbongiornoedu @annkozma723 @claudiozavalajr @AdobeForEdu #AobeEduCreative

I am literally speechless!!!!!

OMG!!!!! @mrsbongiornoedu @annkozma723 @claudiozavalajr @AdobeForEdu #AobeEduCreative

I am literally speechless!!!!!

This month's @AdobeForEdu creative challenge is an awesome lesson in Juxtaposition and Alignment in design.

I tried my best to juxtapose a current and younger version of me! No matter how old I get, that kid is still chilling inside, being chaotically weird every day!

#AdobeEduCreative

Design your own: https://new.express.adobe.com/new?instructions=view%3Aexpress%2Fhow-to%2Fin-app%2Flearn-alignment-and-juxtaposition&gaSource=home-k12

This month's @AdobeForEdu creative challenge is an awesome lesson in Juxtaposition and Alignment in design.

I tried my best to juxtapose a current and younger version of me! No matter how old I get, that kid is still chilling inside, being chaotically weird every day!

#AdobeEduCreative

Design your own: https://new.express.adobe.com/new?instructions=view%3Aexpress%2Fhow-to%2Fin-app%2Flearn-alignment-and-juxtaposition&gaSource=home-k12

the chaos is the curriculum.

I built two canva templates and two interactive group chat templates one Discord, one WhatsApp, that you can drop in front of students and watch them actually argue about the text. No login. No setup. Just vibes and unreliable narrators.

the Discord one has roles. there's a Skeptic, a Defender, a Context Provider, and a Lurker Who Goes Off. that last one is magic for the kid who never speaks in class and then says the thing that reframes everything.

the WhatsApp one is for when you want the hallway conversation to happen inside the lesson. short messages. read receipts. someone is always about to say something unhinged.

both templates are free. the teacher guide is free. the pedagogy writeup explaining why this works is free. all of it is in the blog post. link in bio.

if something genuinely chaotic happens in your chat log, please report back. that's literally why I make these.

#edtech #teachersofinstagram #iteach #classroomtech #teacherlife #edchat #instructionaldesign #digitalliteracy #teachersplaiground

the chaos is the curriculum.

I built two canva templates and two interactive group chat templates one Discord, one WhatsApp, that you can drop in front of students and watch them actually argue about the text. No login. No setup. Just vibes and unreliable narrators.

the Discord one has roles. there's a Skeptic, a Defender, a Context Provider, and a Lurker Who Goes Off. that last one is magic for the kid who never speaks in class and then says the thing that reframes everything.

the WhatsApp one is for when you want the hallway conversation to happen inside the lesson. short messages. read receipts. someone is always about to say something unhinged.

both templates are free. the teacher guide is free. the pedagogy writeup explaining why this works is free. all of it is in the blog post. link in bio.

if something genuinely chaotic happens in your chat log, please report back. that's literally why I make these.

#edtech #teachersofinstagram #iteach #classroomtech #teacherlife #edchat #instructionaldesign #digitalliteracy #teachersplaiground

What if the best way to prove a student understands something...is to make the thing defend itself? 🎤

Interviews with Inanimate Objects is one of my favorite activities. Give a concept a personality, a grievance, and a hot seat, and watch your students accidentally become experts.

New post is live on Teachers plAIground — includes a full interview example, two templates, 12 persona archetypes to assign your concepts, and a tech-level up with @adobeforedu and four ways to hand the whole thing over to your students once they've got the hang of it.

The Oxford Comma is FURIOUS and has things to say. Link in bio 🔗

#StrategicWeirdness #TeachersOfInstagram #EduContent #ClassroomActivities #TeacherLife #MiddleSchool #HighSchool #InterviewsWithInanimateObjects #TeachersPlAIground #AdobeEduCreative

What if the best way to prove a student understands something...is to make the thing defend itself? 🎤

Interviews with Inanimate Objects is one of my favorite activities. Give a concept a personality, a grievance, and a hot seat, and watch your students accidentally become experts.

New post is live on Teachers plAIground — includes a full interview example, two templates, 12 persona archetypes to assign your concepts, and a tech-level up with @adobeforedu and four ways to hand the whole thing over to your students once they've got the hang of it.

The Oxford Comma is FURIOUS and has things to say. Link in bio 🔗

#StrategicWeirdness #TeachersOfInstagram #EduContent #ClassroomActivities #TeacherLife #MiddleSchool #HighSchool #InterviewsWithInanimateObjects #TeachersPlAIground #AdobeEduCreative

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