Ever feel like the important work keeps getting overshadowed by what’s urgent? In this episode, I reflect on the quote “Think big. Start small. Scale fast.” and share how the Eisenhower Matrix helps me keep my priorities aligned. I also share updates from Snorkl, Google Classroom, and SchoolAI, plus a candid take on More Than Words by John Warner. Tools featured include Snorkl Coach, Video Explorer, and Read Along with custom content.
#EduDuctTape Episode 123
0:00:00 INTRO
0:02:23 Today’s Soapbox Moment: “Parking Lots, Right Turns, and What’s Important”
- Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast: Stories from the Stage on Disruption, Transformation and the Accelerating Future - https://www.amazon.com/Think-Start-Small-Scale-Fast/dp/097365547X
- The Eisenhower Method, Time management on Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_management#Eisenhower_method
0:10:10 Snorkl Coach
- Introducing Snorkl Coach - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQASwWKcMTA
0:12:29 Read Along in Google Classroom
- Read Along in Google Classroom - https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/14174515?hl=en-GB#zippy=%2Cassign-reading-materials
- Educators can now upload content to Read Along in Google Classroom - http://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/04/upload-content-to-read-along-google-classroom.html
- New AI tools for Google Workspace for Education - https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/workspace-gemini-classroom-iste-2024/
0:14:34 SchoolAI Video Explorer Spaces
- SchoolAI - Video Explorer - https://app.schoolai.com/spaces/clnaw1t7u000ayvpt3po1373k
0:16:17 Honest Review of More Than Words by John Warner
- More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI: Warner, John - https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Words-Think-Writing/dp/1541605500
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Ever feel like the important stuff keepsgetting bumped by the urgent stuff?
In this episode, we dig into thattension, starting with a quote.
I really like think big,start small, scale fast.
Then we'll look at how the EisenhowerMatrix can help us make decisions in our
classrooms that prioritize what matters.
Plus some updates from Snorkl,Google Classroom and SchoolAI,
(00:22):
and a candid book reflection.
Let's get into it.
So I'm coming to you alittle bit late today.
I should have had thisepisode to you last week.
I could have recorded it one night atlike 11:00 PM I was all ready to go,
(00:43):
but it was 11:00 PM and I didn't wannado that to myself, so I apologize.
Gotta take care of ourselves though.
Folks, so I'm here a couple dayslate and earlier in a week than I
normally am releasing on a Monday.
Don't normally do that.
Uh, I'm gonna aim to releasetwo episodes this week.
The episode right now that you'relistening to that should have come out
last week and later on, like Thursday,the episode that should have come out
(01:04):
this week just to keep myself on schedule.
So hopefully you are,subscribed so that you don't.
Miss that episode when itcomes out later this week.
I'm liking this pattern of an episode likelast week's episode, or two weeks ago, I
guess it is now, uh, with an interview.
The episode's coming out later thisweek with an interview would be Bryon
Carpenter this week, , and the episodelike you're listening to today, , which
(01:26):
just has a soapbox moment and someEdTech updates, and so I'm cycling
back and forth between the two of them.
They both have the updates piece in them.
But . I'm cycling between a soapboxmoment one week and interview the
other week, making it a little moremanageable for me, and hopefully it's
keeping it interesting for you too.
Uh, before we get into it for today, Iwould be also appreciative if you would
share the show with your colleagues.
(01:47):
Provide a rating in, , apple Podcastor Spotify or anywhere else that you're
listening that might have that option.
, or give the show a review inthere if that's an option.
We're going into the slow monthsfor, uh, education podcasts.
And shows, as we approach,uh, the summertime.
So it helps if the word's out thereso that the listenership stays.
I've got a lot of stuff I wannaupdate you guys on, so I don't
(02:09):
want to, uh, take time off in June.
I wanna , keep coming at youwith episodes, so it'll help
if you keep pushing it so thatpeople are hearing what to show.
And I, I really just wanna help them, uh,with education and educational technology.
So hopefully by you sharing them,, that'll help get the word out there.
(02:38):
So a few episodes back, I told you aboutmy oldest child getting his learner's
permit and how the idea of him behindthe wheel like totally freaked me out.
Well, we're a few months in now,and here's what I've learned.
Teaching your kid to drive isless about one big moment and
more about a hundred little ones.
(02:59):
We didn't start on the highway.
We started in a parking lot, then anempty park with a few winding roads,
then our quiet neighborhood, thenslightly busier roads, one red light.
Then two.. By the way, Iuse, uh, Waze directions.
Like you just Google Maps.
There's Apple Maps, there's Waze.
(03:19):
I use Waze, WAZE.
Uh, I use Waze in my car andmy preferred Waze voice comes
from the comedian Nate Bargatze.
Uh, he cracks me up the wholetime, like even no matter how
many times I hear the things hesays in there, they cracked me up.
Uh, but one of my favorite thingshe says is, in one mile turn, right.
Right Turns are one of the easiestturns a lot easier than that other way.
(03:42):
Makes me chuckle everytime he's joking of course.
But he's right err I mean correct.
Not right.
Correct.
So yeah, we started with right turns,they are the easier of the two ways.
And then we moved up to left turns,then right turns on busier roads,
then left turns on busier roads.
And each time we drove Ihad him do a little more.
(04:05):
Go a little faster, a little more complexof a ride, a little more to think about.
And honestly, that's whatprogress actually looks like.
Not just when you're teachingyour 15-year-old how to
drive, but in everything.
As I sat in the passenger seatpressing that imaginary brake
pedal every now and then, I wasreminded of a quote from Jim Carroll.
(04:25):
He said, think big, start small.
Scale fast and that's what we'redoing with my son in the car.
Right?
The big picture.
It is big and it's clear he needs tobe road ready, but we're getting there
intentionally one drive at a time,but we're doing it regularly, right?
We we're started small, rightin the, in the parking lot.
(04:48):
We are scaling fast now.
He's driving on regular roadsand we're thinking big him
driving by himself someday.
Right, and it's thesame in our classrooms.
We want to grow as educators.
We want to build future ready learners whoare critical thinkers and collaborators
and are ready for whatever thisworld and AI throw at them, right?
(05:09):
That's the thinking big.
That's our big goal.
But if we try to leap straight to thatfinish line and do too much too fast.
It'll be worse than if I took my sondriving on the highway on day one.
Like that's the equivalent of it, right?
We don't wanna go drivingon the highway on day one.
You don't wanna try to do everythingin your classroom on day one either.
So.
What if you just start inthe parking lot, right?
(05:32):
Instead of letting your kids usea full fledged, large language AI
model right away, could you justhave them interact with a really
simple custom chat bot in MagicSchoolinstead of recording a podcast?
Could we start with recordinga few responses to questions
in a Padlet or with Mote?
Those are just examples, but thinkabout like, what's something really
(05:53):
big you'd like to do that seemsoverwhelming, and how could we
start small to get us to there?
I recently read a reflectionfrom an educator I support.
She had just seen a presentationfrom an another teacher and
she wrote in her reflection, Ican't possibly do all of that.
And you know what?
That's okay.
(06:13):
She doesn't have to do.
All of that.
At least not yet because most bigthings don't happen all at once.
They happen a little at a time withpurpose and practice scaling, right?
Thinking big and scaling fast.
One small step at a time.
The way my son's drivingskills are happening.
(06:36):
But it's important toremember the think big part.
We have to know what our goal is.
We can't just do small things inour classroom if we don't know
what we're trying to get to.
Right?
Don't just start implementing AIor other ed tech tools because
you think it's the next step.
Do it because it's the next step onthe journey to your ultimate goal.
(06:58):
So we have to think big first.
We have to have that goal, andthen we take those small steps.
Here's the tricky part though.
Taking those small steps oftendoesn't happen because we get
caught up in the parent emails,the requests from the office, the
planning for today's lesson, right?
We get caught up in that day-to-daystuff, and so we have to remember
(07:20):
that while those things are urgent.
They are, there are other thingsthat are important but not urgent.
That's where those small steps fit, right?
Using AI in a new way today or usinga new ed tech tool, or trying a new
strategy, or giving our students, some agency over what they're
learning, those don't seem urgent.
(07:42):
but they are important, right?
They're important for getting us to ourgoal, but they're not urgent right now.
But we have to scale fast, so right.
We have to keep doing those thingsto keep the scaling happening,
and that's where the EisenhowerMatrix comes in handy.
It is a time management tool usedoriginally by President Eisenhower and
(08:03):
later popularized by Stephen Covey, andit divides tasks into four quadrants.
Urgent and important.
Important but not urgent.
Urgent but not important, and neither.
So we're thinking about howurgent is something and also
how important is something.
When my son first got his learner'spermit, we went weeks without practicing.
(08:24):
We really did.
He was ready to practice.
We didn't start, I knew we should be doingit, but it was tough to find time to fit
it in, not because it wasn't important.
Yeah, but because it didn't feelurgent, and that happens to us
in our classrooms too, right?
It's something important, but it's noturgent and other urgent things come up.
So we don't do that thing.
And here's the thing, if we'd waiteduntil it was urgent to teach my son
(08:48):
to drive, when it was time to take histest, he wouldn't be ready for that test.
He wouldn't be ready to drive safely.
And the same goes for us.
If it's important, we can't wait.
We have to prioritize it even whenthere's no alarm going off to get it done.
So with him, since learning to drive isimportant, we took it one step at a time.
(09:10):
Consistently scalingfast in your classrooms.
Think about what are those importantthings that it's time to stop putting off.
What are the small steps thatyou can take to scale fast?
You might not be ready for highwaydriving yet, but you could find
a parking lot version of that.
Think big thing and start there.
(09:32):
Because when you start smallwith the right vision, you could
scale faster than you think.
Before we jump into today's edition ofEdTech and Education News and updates,
a quick reminder if something intoday's segment makes you go, Ooh, I
need to try that, or, eh, not for me,or even, yeah, but I've got a better
(09:56):
option for that, Jake, let me know.
I really do love to hear yourinsights post about them on Bluesky
using #EduDuctTape or leave a voicemessage at speakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
First, let's talk about Snorkl Coach.
(10:17):
It's a new feature in Snorklthat acts like a just in time
support system for students.
Kind of like a virtual TA that sitsquietly in the corner until needed.
Before we get too far into thisexciting announcement from Snorkl,
let me point out that it's onlypart of the premium accounts, so.
When teachers who are a part of a schoolor a district with premium plans, toggle
(10:40):
it on a little button appears in thebottom corner of the student's screen.
So yes, you could choose if this is onor off every time you launch an activity.
When students click that button,they could do three things, ask
it questions, use text to speech,or get the content translated.
The coach even sees what they'reworking on through the whiteboard,
(11:03):
so the guidance is personalizedto what the student needs, right?
Then not generic, just basedon the question itself.
This means that if, for example, thestudent is solving a math problem and
they get stuck halfway through it.
The coach would make sure they'reon the right path and then help
them with the next step rather thanjust starting from the beginning.
Regardless if the student needs helpwith the beginning stages of the
(11:25):
problem, I think this is some awesomeapplications of universal design for
learning here, making the content andthe question more universally accessible.
But it doesn't stop there becausestudents still then have to finish by
answering the question in their own words.
So that blend of scaffoldingand accessibility and then
(11:45):
accountability feels reallyintentional, and I like it a lot.
And what's cool is that it not onlysupports the learner, to me, it also
makes the assessment piece more accuratebecause we're seeing their knowledge
and their ability to apply theirskills with those scaffolds in place.
But if you're worried that it'll makethe assessment inaccurate by having
(12:05):
those scaffolds, you can always turnit off when you launch the activity.
Again, though, this is only forusers who are a part of a school
or a district with a premium plan.
So those of you that have thosepremium plans, have you tried it yet?
Let me know with the #EduDuctTape, or dropus a message at speakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
(12:29):
Next up, let's talk about ReadAlong in Google Classroom, because
this tool just got a big upgrade.
So if you missed the originalannouncement, read Along is a Google
Workspace for Education feature thathelps students build independent
reading skills using ai so teacherscan assign texts from a library of.
800 plus books, including books fromHeggerty and ReadWorks and others,
(12:54):
, plus some that include Spanish supportand the teacher assigns them and then
gets insights into students' reading,accuracy, speed, and comprehension.
So that's, that was already a solid win.
That's good news, especially for earlyreaders or multilingual learners.
But now educators can upload their.
Own content to read along.
(13:15):
So the books that they had were great,but you can now put in your own content
for the learners to use in there.
So if you've got maybe some culturallyrelevant material or texts about
students' interests or texts thatrelate to local situations or your
local government or your communityor something like that or you just
have content that fits your curriculumbetter than what's in the library, you
(13:37):
can assign it directly and still getthe same AI powered reading feedback.
This feels like a really smartmove toward flexibility and
representation in literacy instruction.
That said, it is worth noting thisfeature is only available if your
district has Education Plus, orthe Teaching and learning add on.
(13:58):
I always like to point out, it'shard to know which plans your
district has, but it's good.
Kind of become, kind oflike a logic puzzle for you.
If you're a teacher and you don'tknow, if you don't have the read along
option for Google Classroom, um, thenyou're not Education Plus and you don't
have the Teaching and Learning add-on.
So if you don't know, this is aneasy way to confirm if you do or not.
(14:18):
If you're using Read Alongor thinking about trying it.
Let me know what kind ofcontent you'd want to upload.
So what are you using this new featurewhere you can upload your own content.
What are you using that for?
Share with us using #EduDuctTape or leavea message at speakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
SchoolAI just added a new space calledVideo Explorer, and I think it's one
(14:43):
that a lot of us will want to play with.
So here's the idea.
You drop in a YouTube link, youdescribe your learning goals.
What are you using that YouTubevideo to teach the kids about
or get them thinking about?
And then SchoolAI creates an.
Interactive video experience forstudents as they watch the video pauses
at key moments and the chatbot asksthe students questions that check for
(15:05):
understanding, kind of like guidednotes meets chatbot based review.
This is a really neat alternativeto tools like EDpuzzle, , or
Screencastify quizzes or other toolsfor formative assessments during videos.
Except here it's a chat bot experience.
That's pretty rad.
I think it'd be really cool.
Uh, the issue is i, I don't thinkthe formative data would be organized
(15:27):
in a way that's quite as beneficialas using a tool like EDpuzzle.
Uh, but still I think this is a reallycool, , potential experience here.
And because it's tied to thelearning outcomes that you set.
So you tell it what the learningoutcomes you're looking for are.
It feels like a customizable layerof scaffolding rather than just like.
Algorithmic guesswork by the ai.
(15:47):
So it's not just saying like, oh,I think these are the questions
from this video I should ask about.
You're saying these are the specificgoals that I'm teaching here.
Focus on that with your questioning.
So all that said, I have not triedit yet myself, so I'd love to hear
from folks who have, uh, how well dothe pauses line up with your goals.
Do students engage with it differentlythey than they do with a plain video?
(16:07):
Do they like it more than a toollike EDpuzzle or Screencastify?
Let us know with a #EduDuctTape.
Or leave a message at speakpipe.com/edu.
Duct tape.
So a quick follow up about a book thatI've mentioned a few times here and on
Social, more Than Words by John Warner.
(16:28):
When I first heard about it, I wasintrigued and genuinely hopeful.
The premise of reinventing how we thinkabout writing instruction, especially in
light of AI, really resonated with me.
Some of the sneak peeks I saw pointedto ideas like moving past the five
paragraph essay, making, writing a moremetacognitive experience, writing about
(16:48):
your thinking, your learning, yourgrowth, and talking with students about
when AI should or should not be used.
So I was excited as I got it orfound it and learned about it.
When I first had the copy, I sharedquotes, I highlighted passages.
I was all in to the idea of this book.
But.
After finishing it, I've got to behonest, I did not vibe with this book.
(17:10):
There were definitely moments thatpushed my thinking and a few lines
I'll carry with me, but overall itfelt uneven, more rant than roadmap.
Um, at times it read more like a loveletter to writing or a vent about AI with
a few valuable, sharp insights mixed in.
And, and that's okay.
Not every book has to be for every reader.
(17:33):
I still appreciate the questionsthat Warner is raising.
It's clear he's anawesome writing teacher.
I'm always grateful when authorstake risks, even when I don't
fully connect with that execution.
So just to be clear, it's not that Idisagreed with everything in the book.
In fact, there were parts I stronglyagreed with and parts I didn't.
(17:53):
And Warner makes a great point actually.
In the book, he talks about how weshould learn from people we disagree
with, not just the ones we align with.
So even though he and Idisagree on some things, I.
Still can learn from him, and Icould not agree more on that front.
So no, it's not because his viewof AI is less optimistic than
mine, that I didn't enjoy it.
(18:13):
It's just that.
I didn't, and that's okay too.
And I, I felt awkwardsharing this on the podcast.
At first.
I was like, do I really wanna share aless than positive review of a book?
Um, but I think we have tobe honest with each other.
So I wanted to tell you, I've, I'vetalked about this book before, and
then when I read it, I was like,yeah, I didn't really love it.
And so I felt like I should be honest withyou and share that information with you.
(18:35):
So if you picked it up becauseI mentioned it and you've read
it, I'd love to hear your take.
Did it resonate for you?
'cause looking on good reads andthings like that, there's plenty
of positive reviews for this book.
So maybe you loved it.
Um, were there parts that stuck for you?
Were there parts you really liked?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
#EduDuctTape or speakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
(18:56):
Well, that's it for this round ofEdTech and education news and updates.
Got thoughts on any of today's topics?
As always, I want to hear about them.
If there was a tool that you'reusing differently or something you're
trying based on this, or somethingI should have included or should
include in the next episode, hit me up.
#EduDuctTape on Bluesky orspeakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
(19:18):
I love hearing how you're usingthese updates in real classrooms.
Thanks for being here.
Please make sure you're subscribedso you don't miss that next episode,
which I hope to release here in a fewdays with my friend Bryon Carpenter.
Peace out everybody.
Ever feel like the important stuff keepsgetting bumped by the urgent stuff?
In this episode, we dig into thattension, starting with a quote.
I really like think big,start small, scale fast.
Then we'll look at how the EisenhowerMatrix can help us make decisions in our
classrooms that prioritize what matters.
Plus some updates from Snorkl,Google Classroom and SchoolAI,
(00:22):
and a candid book reflection.
Let's get into it.
So I'm coming to you alittle bit late today.
I should have had thisepisode to you last week.
I could have recorded it one night atlike 11:00 PM I was all ready to go,
(00:43):
but it was 11:00 PM and I didn't wannado that to myself, so I apologize.
Gotta take care of ourselves though.
Folks, so I'm here a couple dayslate and earlier in a week than I
normally am releasing on a Monday.
Don't normally do that.
Uh, I'm gonna aim to releasetwo episodes this week.
The episode right now that you'relistening to that should have come out
last week and later on, like Thursday,the episode that should have come out
(01:04):
this week just to keep myself on schedule.
So hopefully you are,subscribed so that you don't.
Miss that episode when itcomes out later this week.
I'm liking this pattern of an episode likelast week's episode, or two weeks ago, I
guess it is now, uh, with an interview.
The episode's coming out later thisweek with an interview would be Bryon
Carpenter this week, , and the episodelike you're listening to today, , which
(01:26):
just has a soapbox moment and someEdTech updates, and so I'm cycling
back and forth between the two of them.
They both have the updates piece in them.
But . I'm cycling between a soapboxmoment one week and interview the
other week, making it a little moremanageable for me, and hopefully it's
keeping it interesting for you too.
Uh, before we get into it for today, Iwould be also appreciative if you would
share the show with your colleagues.
(01:47):
Provide a rating in, , apple Podcastor Spotify or anywhere else that you're
listening that might have that option.
, or give the show a review inthere if that's an option.
We're going into the slow monthsfor, uh, education podcasts.
And shows, as we approach,uh, the summertime.
So it helps if the word's out thereso that the listenership stays.
I've got a lot of stuff I wannaupdate you guys on, so I don't
(02:09):
want to, uh, take time off in June.
I wanna , keep coming at youwith episodes, so it'll help
if you keep pushing it so thatpeople are hearing what to show.
And I, I really just wanna help them, uh,with education and educational technology.
So hopefully by you sharing them,, that'll help get the word out there.
(02:38):
So a few episodes back, I told you aboutmy oldest child getting his learner's
permit and how the idea of him behindthe wheel like totally freaked me out.
Well, we're a few months in now,and here's what I've learned.
Teaching your kid to drive isless about one big moment and
more about a hundred little ones.
(02:59):
We didn't start on the highway.
We started in a parking lot, then anempty park with a few winding roads,
then our quiet neighborhood, thenslightly busier roads, one red light.
Then two.. By the way, Iuse, uh, Waze directions.
Like you just Google Maps.
There's Apple Maps, there's Waze.
(03:19):
I use Waze, WAZE.
Uh, I use Waze in my car andmy preferred Waze voice comes
from the comedian Nate Bargatze.
Uh, he cracks me up the wholetime, like even no matter how
many times I hear the things hesays in there, they cracked me up.
Uh, but one of my favorite thingshe says is, in one mile turn, right.
Right Turns are one of the easiestturns a lot easier than that other way.
(03:42):
Makes me chuckle everytime he's joking of course.
But he's right err I mean correct.
Not right.
Correct.
So yeah, we started with right turns,they are the easier of the two ways.
And then we moved up to left turns,then right turns on busier roads,
then left turns on busier roads.
And each time we drove Ihad him do a little more.
(04:05):
Go a little faster, a little more complexof a ride, a little more to think about.
And honestly, that's whatprogress actually looks like.
Not just when you're teachingyour 15-year-old how to
drive, but in everything.
As I sat in the passenger seatpressing that imaginary brake
pedal every now and then, I wasreminded of a quote from Jim Carroll.
(04:25):
He said, think big, start small.
Scale fast and that's what we'redoing with my son in the car.
Right?
The big picture.
It is big and it's clear he needs tobe road ready, but we're getting there
intentionally one drive at a time,but we're doing it regularly, right?
We we're started small, rightin the, in the parking lot.
(04:48):
We are scaling fast now.
He's driving on regular roadsand we're thinking big him
driving by himself someday.
Right, and it's thesame in our classrooms.
We want to grow as educators.
We want to build future ready learners whoare critical thinkers and collaborators
and are ready for whatever thisworld and AI throw at them, right?
(05:09):
That's the thinking big.
That's our big goal.
But if we try to leap straight to thatfinish line and do too much too fast.
It'll be worse than if I took my sondriving on the highway on day one.
Like that's the equivalent of it, right?
We don't wanna go drivingon the highway on day one.
You don't wanna try to do everythingin your classroom on day one either.
So.
What if you just start inthe parking lot, right?
(05:32):
Instead of letting your kids usea full fledged, large language AI
model right away, could you justhave them interact with a really
simple custom chat bot in MagicSchoolinstead of recording a podcast?
Could we start with recordinga few responses to questions
in a Padlet or with Mote?
Those are just examples, but thinkabout like, what's something really
(05:53):
big you'd like to do that seemsoverwhelming, and how could we
start small to get us to there?
I recently read a reflectionfrom an educator I support.
She had just seen a presentationfrom an another teacher and
she wrote in her reflection, Ican't possibly do all of that.
And you know what?
That's okay.
(06:13):
She doesn't have to do.
All of that.
At least not yet because most bigthings don't happen all at once.
They happen a little at a time withpurpose and practice scaling, right?
Thinking big and scaling fast.
One small step at a time.
The way my son's drivingskills are happening.
(06:36):
But it's important toremember the think big part.
We have to know what our goal is.
We can't just do small things inour classroom if we don't know
what we're trying to get to.
Right?
Don't just start implementing AIor other ed tech tools because
you think it's the next step.
Do it because it's the next step onthe journey to your ultimate goal.
(06:58):
So we have to think big first.
We have to have that goal, andthen we take those small steps.
Here's the tricky part though.
Taking those small steps oftendoesn't happen because we get
caught up in the parent emails,the requests from the office, the
planning for today's lesson, right?
We get caught up in that day-to-daystuff, and so we have to remember
(07:20):
that while those things are urgent.
They are, there are other thingsthat are important but not urgent.
That's where those small steps fit, right?
Using AI in a new way today or usinga new ed tech tool, or trying a new
strategy, or giving our students, some agency over what they're
learning, those don't seem urgent.
(07:42):
but they are important, right?
They're important for getting us to ourgoal, but they're not urgent right now.
But we have to scale fast, so right.
We have to keep doing those thingsto keep the scaling happening,
and that's where the EisenhowerMatrix comes in handy.
It is a time management tool usedoriginally by President Eisenhower and
(08:03):
later popularized by Stephen Covey, andit divides tasks into four quadrants.
Urgent and important.
Important but not urgent.
Urgent but not important, and neither.
So we're thinking about howurgent is something and also
how important is something.
When my son first got his learner'spermit, we went weeks without practicing.
(08:24):
We really did.
He was ready to practice.
We didn't start, I knew we should be doingit, but it was tough to find time to fit
it in, not because it wasn't important.
Yeah, but because it didn't feelurgent, and that happens to us
in our classrooms too, right?
It's something important, but it's noturgent and other urgent things come up.
So we don't do that thing.
And here's the thing, if we'd waiteduntil it was urgent to teach my son
(08:48):
to drive, when it was time to take histest, he wouldn't be ready for that test.
He wouldn't be ready to drive safely.
And the same goes for us.
If it's important, we can't wait.
We have to prioritize it even whenthere's no alarm going off to get it done.
So with him, since learning to drive isimportant, we took it one step at a time.
(09:10):
Consistently scalingfast in your classrooms.
Think about what are those importantthings that it's time to stop putting off.
What are the small steps thatyou can take to scale fast?
You might not be ready for highwaydriving yet, but you could find
a parking lot version of that.
Think big thing and start there.
(09:32):
Because when you start smallwith the right vision, you could
scale faster than you think.
Before we jump into today's edition ofEdTech and Education News and updates,
a quick reminder if something intoday's segment makes you go, Ooh, I
need to try that, or, eh, not for me,or even, yeah, but I've got a better
(09:56):
option for that, Jake, let me know.
I really do love to hear yourinsights post about them on Bluesky
using #EduDuctTape or leave a voicemessage at speakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
First, let's talk about Snorkl Coach.
(10:17):
It's a new feature in Snorklthat acts like a just in time
support system for students.
Kind of like a virtual TA that sitsquietly in the corner until needed.
Before we get too far into thisexciting announcement from Snorkl,
let me point out that it's onlypart of the premium accounts, so.
When teachers who are a part of a schoolor a district with premium plans, toggle
(10:40):
it on a little button appears in thebottom corner of the student's screen.
So yes, you could choose if this is onor off every time you launch an activity.
When students click that button,they could do three things, ask
it questions, use text to speech,or get the content translated.
The coach even sees what they'reworking on through the whiteboard,
(11:03):
so the guidance is personalizedto what the student needs, right?
Then not generic, just basedon the question itself.
This means that if, for example, thestudent is solving a math problem and
they get stuck halfway through it.
The coach would make sure they'reon the right path and then help
them with the next step rather thanjust starting from the beginning.
Regardless if the student needs helpwith the beginning stages of the
(11:25):
problem, I think this is some awesomeapplications of universal design for
learning here, making the content andthe question more universally accessible.
But it doesn't stop there becausestudents still then have to finish by
answering the question in their own words.
So that blend of scaffoldingand accessibility and then
(11:45):
accountability feels reallyintentional, and I like it a lot.
And what's cool is that it not onlysupports the learner, to me, it also
makes the assessment piece more accuratebecause we're seeing their knowledge
and their ability to apply theirskills with those scaffolds in place.
But if you're worried that it'll makethe assessment inaccurate by having
(12:05):
those scaffolds, you can always turnit off when you launch the activity.
Again, though, this is only forusers who are a part of a school
or a district with a premium plan.
So those of you that have thosepremium plans, have you tried it yet?
Let me know with the #EduDuctTape, or dropus a message at speakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
(12:29):
Next up, let's talk about ReadAlong in Google Classroom, because
this tool just got a big upgrade.
So if you missed the originalannouncement, read Along is a Google
Workspace for Education feature thathelps students build independent
reading skills using ai so teacherscan assign texts from a library of.
800 plus books, including books fromHeggerty and ReadWorks and others,
(12:54):
, plus some that include Spanish supportand the teacher assigns them and then
gets insights into students' reading,accuracy, speed, and comprehension.
So that's, that was already a solid win.
That's good news, especially for earlyreaders or multilingual learners.
But now educators can upload their.
Own content to read along.
(13:15):
So the books that they had were great,but you can now put in your own content
for the learners to use in there.
So if you've got maybe some culturallyrelevant material or texts about
students' interests or texts thatrelate to local situations or your
local government or your communityor something like that or you just
have content that fits your curriculumbetter than what's in the library, you
(13:37):
can assign it directly and still getthe same AI powered reading feedback.
This feels like a really smartmove toward flexibility and
representation in literacy instruction.
That said, it is worth noting thisfeature is only available if your
district has Education Plus, orthe Teaching and learning add on.
(13:58):
I always like to point out, it'shard to know which plans your
district has, but it's good.
Kind of become, kind oflike a logic puzzle for you.
If you're a teacher and you don'tknow, if you don't have the read along
option for Google Classroom, um, thenyou're not Education Plus and you don't
have the Teaching and Learning add-on.
So if you don't know, this is aneasy way to confirm if you do or not.
(14:18):
If you're using Read Alongor thinking about trying it.
Let me know what kind ofcontent you'd want to upload.
So what are you using this new featurewhere you can upload your own content.
What are you using that for?
Share with us using #EduDuctTape or leavea message at speakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
SchoolAI just added a new space calledVideo Explorer, and I think it's one
(14:43):
that a lot of us will want to play with.
So here's the idea.
You drop in a YouTube link, youdescribe your learning goals.
What are you using that YouTubevideo to teach the kids about
or get them thinking about?
And then SchoolAI creates an.
Interactive video experience forstudents as they watch the video pauses
at key moments and the chatbot asksthe students questions that check for
(15:05):
understanding, kind of like guidednotes meets chatbot based review.
This is a really neat alternativeto tools like EDpuzzle, , or
Screencastify quizzes or other toolsfor formative assessments during videos.
Except here it's a chat bot experience.
That's pretty rad.
I think it'd be really cool.
Uh, the issue is i, I don't thinkthe formative data would be organized
(15:27):
in a way that's quite as beneficialas using a tool like EDpuzzle.
Uh, but still I think this is a reallycool, , potential experience here.
And because it's tied to thelearning outcomes that you set.
So you tell it what the learningoutcomes you're looking for are.
It feels like a customizable layerof scaffolding rather than just like.
Algorithmic guesswork by the ai.
(15:47):
So it's not just saying like, oh,I think these are the questions
from this video I should ask about.
You're saying these are the specificgoals that I'm teaching here.
Focus on that with your questioning.
So all that said, I have not triedit yet myself, so I'd love to hear
from folks who have, uh, how well dothe pauses line up with your goals.
Do students engage with it differentlythey than they do with a plain video?
(16:07):
Do they like it more than a toollike EDpuzzle or Screencastify?
Let us know with a #EduDuctTape.
Or leave a message at speakpipe.com/edu.
Duct tape.
So a quick follow up about a book thatI've mentioned a few times here and on
Social, more Than Words by John Warner.
(16:28):
When I first heard about it, I wasintrigued and genuinely hopeful.
The premise of reinventing how we thinkabout writing instruction, especially in
light of AI, really resonated with me.
Some of the sneak peeks I saw pointedto ideas like moving past the five
paragraph essay, making, writing a moremetacognitive experience, writing about
(16:48):
your thinking, your learning, yourgrowth, and talking with students about
when AI should or should not be used.
So I was excited as I got it orfound it and learned about it.
When I first had the copy, I sharedquotes, I highlighted passages.
I was all in to the idea of this book.
But.
After finishing it, I've got to behonest, I did not vibe with this book.
(17:10):
There were definitely moments thatpushed my thinking and a few lines
I'll carry with me, but overall itfelt uneven, more rant than roadmap.
Um, at times it read more like a loveletter to writing or a vent about AI with
a few valuable, sharp insights mixed in.
And, and that's okay.
Not every book has to be for every reader.
(17:33):
I still appreciate the questionsthat Warner is raising.
It's clear he's anawesome writing teacher.
I'm always grateful when authorstake risks, even when I don't
fully connect with that execution.
So just to be clear, it's not that Idisagreed with everything in the book.
In fact, there were parts I stronglyagreed with and parts I didn't.
(17:53):
And Warner makes a great point actually.
In the book, he talks about how weshould learn from people we disagree
with, not just the ones we align with.
So even though he and Idisagree on some things, I.
Still can learn from him, and Icould not agree more on that front.
So no, it's not because his viewof AI is less optimistic than
mine, that I didn't enjoy it.
(18:13):
It's just that.
I didn't, and that's okay too.
And I, I felt awkwardsharing this on the podcast.
At first.
I was like, do I really wanna share aless than positive review of a book?
Um, but I think we have tobe honest with each other.
So I wanted to tell you, I've, I'vetalked about this book before, and
then when I read it, I was like,yeah, I didn't really love it.
And so I felt like I should be honest withyou and share that information with you.
(18:35):
So if you picked it up becauseI mentioned it and you've read
it, I'd love to hear your take.
Did it resonate for you?
'cause looking on good reads andthings like that, there's plenty
of positive reviews for this book.
So maybe you loved it.
Um, were there parts that stuck for you?
Were there parts you really liked?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
#EduDuctTape or speakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
(18:56):
Well, that's it for this round ofEdTech and education news and updates.
Got thoughts on any of today's topics?
As always, I want to hear about them.
If there was a tool that you'reusing differently or something you're
trying based on this, or somethingI should have included or should
include in the next episode, hit me up.
#EduDuctTape on Bluesky orspeakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
(19:18):
I love hearing how you're usingthese updates in real classrooms.
Thanks for being here.
Please make sure you're subscribedso you don't miss that next episode,
which I hope to release here in a fewdays with my friend Bryon Carpenter.
Peace out everybody.
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