Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

Steve Swanson built an AI grading tool — and then deleted the feature that would have returned AI-generated grades straight to students. He's a high school engineering teacher who was staring down 150 assignments after a field-trip week, and he built ClassLens because he needed it for his own gradebook. But when he got to the point where he could push one button and have everything graded and sent back automatically, it felt wrong. So he took the button out. In this Tech Tip Tuesday conversation, Steve makes the case for "human in the loop" — not as a buzzword, but as the actual job of teaching. He also answers a question he pitched to me by email, and it's the right one: what is the single question every teacher should ask before letting an AI tool grade student work? In this episode, you'll learn: The 30-second checklist to run before you let AI grade a stack of student work The one question to ask any vendor about where student data goes — and what "t...

Hope isn't just a feeling — it's a practice you can build. Psychologist and author Dr. Julia Garcia ( The 5 Habits of Hope ) joins Vicki Davis to redefine hope as something educators can practice, even in the hardest seasons. Recorded shortly after Vicki lost her father, this is an honest, encouraging conversation about hopelessness, grief, and the small habits that help us hold on to hope. In this episode, you'll learn: Why we experience hope as a feeling — and how to practice it instead The habit of reflection: pausing long enough to connect with something real The habit of receiving: learning to name and accept support How to reshape the thought patterns that keep us stuck How to keep teaching and creating through grief Full show notes and transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e944 If this episode encouraged you, share it with a teacher friend who needs a little hope today. Check out this episode!

How do students actually learn? AP Psychology teacher Blake Harvard — The Effortful Educator — shares the cognitive science of attention and memory that every K-12 teacher can use tomorrow. In this episode of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast, Vicki Davis talks with Blake Harvard about why attention is a necessary component of learning, the simple pre-test that primes the brain, and the mistake of making hard content even harder. Blake breaks down the two strategies with more than a century of research behind them — retrieval practice and spaced practice — and why rereading notes just doesn't work. In this episode, you'll learn: Why attention is where we lose students the most — and how to win it back The power of a quick pre-test to prime the brain for new content How limited working memory means complex material needs simpler activities Why retrieval practice (not rereading) builds lasting memory How spaced practice beats cramming — in less total study time Listen, then...

Heart first, tools second. That's the secret to teaching well in the age of AI — and on this Cool Cat Teacher Talk, Vicki Davis and three educators show you how. Great teaching still happens, even in the hardest times, and the research is clear: the most powerful thing in any classroom is still a human relationship. In this episode, Vicki talks with Dr. Patricia Dickenson (author of "Smart Teaching in the Age of AI") about teacher-driven instruction and using AI to plan, differentiate, and rethink assessment; with Dr. Jie Tao (founding director of Fairfield University's AI & Technology Institute) about building AI out of compassion and using agentic AI without giving up control; and with instructional coach Amy Storer about the practical tools teachers are most excited about right now. In this episode, you'll learn: Why teacher-driven instruction still wins — and how to bring your authentic self into the room How to use AI to plan, differentiate, and asse...

Experiential learning through travel changes students for good — and Denver science and CTE teacher Angela Cannava proves any teacher can lead it. In this episode of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast, Angela shares how curriculum-aligned international trips with EF Explore America transformed her students: a forensics lab in Great Britain where they did real DNA fingerprinting, and a Belize Ridge-to-Reef conservation expedition with a midnight bat workshop. She tells the story of a student who barely spoke in three years coming home changed, and a Belize traveler now headed back to work at the conservation NGO he visited on the trip. In this episode, you’ll learn: - Why curriculum-aligned travel makes lessons “stick” long after the trip ends - How travel transforms your relationships with students — and the culture of your whole classroom - The two things to nail before your first trip: a diverse chaperone team and clear student expectations - How to make international travel doable o...

Art teacher Tim Needles brings AI art into the classroom without losing the watercolors, clay, and joy of real art. In this Tech Tool Tuesday, Tim shares how he uses Adobe Express and text-to-image to amplify student imagination, why the kids who use AI well are simply more descriptive, and the daily 10-minute creativity habit that helps teachers fight burnout. Plus: the legacy mural project that reaches a whole community, and the student who broke INTO the art room to keep working — and now works at Industrial Light & Magic. In this episode, you'll learn: How to bring AI art into any subject with Adobe Express (works on a Chromebook) Why specificity makes the difference between weak and strong AI art prompts How to keep students respecting traditional media in the age of AI A simple daily creativity habit that protects against teacher burnout Why "fun is underrated" — and how passion projects change kids' lives Full show notes and resources: https://www....