Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

Sometimes when we try to speak words of encouragement for struggling students it can backfire. When a teen is hurting but they won't talk, what do you say? Lawrence C. Harris, a 20-year-old youth speaker and teen author, sat in our classrooms not long ago. He tells us what helped him and what made him pull away. Lawrence shares the well-meaning phrases that shut struggling students down, the words that keep the door open, and one small thing you can do at the start of class this week. What you'll learn: The two phrases teachers mean kindly that make a struggling teen retreat What to say when a student is clearly struggling but won't open up Why the student who seems happiest in class might be hiding the most The "one pebble a day" idea for a student who feels overwhelmed The decision that turned Lawrence's life around A start-of-class routine that gives students something to look forward to Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coo...

Classroom Engagement is something all teachers can struggle with. Does it ever feel like kids can't pay attention anymore? Do you feel like attention spans are shorter than ever? Whatever you think about attention spans, we still have to engage the students sitting in front of us. Dr. Michael McDowell, an 18-year public school educator who served as a math and science teacher, coach, principal, and superintendent, shares classroom engagement strategies that can help! Michael is the author of The Attention Gap. He walks us through a math lesson built in short intervals, and two routines you can try in any K-12 class tomorrow. What you'll learn: Why splitting a lesson into I do, we do, you do can wear students out What the attention research measured, and what it means for your class period The one question that tells you if students are with you A silent routine that has students watching your every move What one dot on a piece of student work can teach the whole class ...

Should schools ban AI or teach it? In September 2026, New York City banned student AI tools from pre-K through eighth grade, while the UAE, China, India, and Alabama moved to teach AI instead. Vicki Davis talks with two educators who use AI every day and think what we've all been teaching teachers about AI is already out of date. Christie Cloud is an instructional technology facilitator in Harnett County, North Carolina, and a founding member of EduGuardians. Dave Hinrichs is Director of Digital Platforms and Pedagogy for Johnston County Public Schools. Together they wrote a chapter in The Educators' AI Guide 2027. They explain why you should stop worrying about prompt engineering and just talk to AI, why you don't always need the most powerful model, how agentic AI works, what tokens are, how to fact-check AI, why they avoid AI detectors, and how to talk with students about integrity when AI can make higher grades than they can. Vicki closes with three takeaways, a heads...

If an AI site promises it won't "share your data," should you believe it? Well, first of all, there's a reason I put that in quotes! Our guest today, Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth, is an attorney with a law degree from Duquesne University, a classroom teacher with a doctorate in instructional technology, and the author of 10 books. Her answer is no, and she explains why. Today we dig into safety, protecting students by protecting their personally identifiable information (PII), and making smart use of AI. What you'll learn: The one thing Rachelle checks before she trusts any "we don't share your data" promise The surprising details that count as personally identifiable information Whether what you type into AI really stays in your account How far back one school data breach turned out to reach Who could be liable when a teacher accidentally shares student information Why educators are in the best position to teach students what not to type Discla...

Schools are funny. The weirdest things happen. But even in the midst of all of that hurry and scurry, we still have jobs to do, and AI for teachers can help get things done. Maurie Beasley, author of Teachers Have Bigger Fish to Fry, has some great perspectives to share with teachers. Maurie is a former teacher, counselor, and assistant principal who now directs technology for a rural Texas district. She shares how you can still figure out the best uses of AI even when you have bigger fish to fry! What you'll learn: What happened when a snake fell out of the air conditioning vent onto a teacher's desk The difference between efficiency AI and opportunity AI, and which one to start with Why her book skips the AI's bad answers, and what she printed instead The question Maurie says AI is finally making us ask about being human Who should be in control when the laptop lid goes up Show notes and full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1013 If this episode help...

I asked Gemini Notebook (formerly known as NotebookLM) a dress-code question, and it gave me the answer and the page number from our handbook. Vickie Echols says the turning point for her was when she was barreling through the hallway and the teacher she was with stopped and asked her, "Ms. Echols, do you always walk this fast?" That moment was a turning point for Vickie, and when she saw AI, she wondered how she could save time on tedious tasks to make more time for human moments, so she wrote AI for School Leaders: 62 Ways to Lighten Your Workload and Focus on What Matters. Vickie has lots of ideas, including how to fix tone in emails, how a superintendent used Gemini Notebook (formerly known as NotebookLM) to summarize meetings for board members, and the usefulness of Gemini Notebook when you're answering handbook questions (this tip is for teachers and administrators!). Show notes, the full transcript, and links: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1012 In this episod...