Do you ever get sucked in to those YouTube videos where people make elaborate structures in the jungle using really basic tools? I love those things. So satisfying, you know? But guess what would happen if you sent me into the jungle with a stick and told me to build a swimming pool? I’d laugh. […]
What Would You Most Like to Learn About This Summer?
Dear colleague, It’s a big week in DSJ land: finishing an article series, my students in an essay-writing sprint (AKA me in a reading/feedback sprint), and my new book releasing. (Stay tuned re: the book!) So today, I’d love love LOVE to hear from you. You’d be doing me such a favor to respond to […]
The Time I Asked ChatGPT to Write an Essay Comparing Narnia, The Shining, and Rocky
Every time that I start thinking, “No, AI will never be able to do that,” I bring to mind the following example of a recent conversation I had with a computer. Three months ago, I would’ve thought this kind of thing impossible. So there I was, bored in an airport by myself, having just finished […]
I Was Wrong About ChatGPT and AI (Part 2 of 3): What I’m Not Saying and Why I’m Interested
April 26 27 28 29 30, 2023 Dear colleague, I appreciate all the concerned letters I got from folks after my recent blog post regarding ChatGPT and AI. For those of you worried that your colleague Dave has gone off and drank the Tech Bro Kool-Aid all of a sudden, let me do two things […]
The Thing with Cheating
The thing with cheating in school is that it trades a short-term “positive” (completion of an assignment; better grade) for a long-term negative (lost learning opportunity; inaccurate feedback on learning; degradation of character). In my classroom practice, the surest way to decrease student cheating is to give my students regular opportunities to think on these […]