Using Chat GPT and Other AI

A few years ago I advocated for the prohibition of cellphones in schools. I proposed that they be lockered between five minutes before school to five minutes after school, for whch I received a not inconsiderable amount of opprobrium and vitriol. Now of course the UN advises such a ban, which has been implemented by an increasing number of countries around the world.

Today I am advocating for the prohibition of AI and Chat GPT in schools, not because I am "anti-child" and "anti-education" but because I am pro both.

News : Teachers should (not) receive overtime pay

That so many teachers raise or support overtime pay dismays me, and such a stance shows how far we have fallen. I use "we" collectively because I do not support it and I am certain that those of my generation and those who went before would not either. Even agreeing to debate overtime for teachers harms teachers and teaching, and further pushes us (collectively) to the bottom.

High Quality Pre-School

I am doing a couple of consultancies at the moment in the Pre-School area, one with a new PS Director and the other with a Head of School who is planning on launching a PK - K program next year. Inevitably the question arises as what is a quality pre-school and or pre-school program.

News : Federal judge declines to block new Indiana law barring teaching of sex in grades K-3

This report from a few months ago prompts (not begs!!) several questions, and once again I am glad I am not a judge. Put simply, a group of people decided to oversimplify a number of complex issues and then pass once-size-all legislation. So what are these issues?

News : Education is too liberal

The Atlantic's "The Unraveling of American Universities" (link below) caught my eye. When I read it, I was reminded of similar debates at the school level, some of which I discussed recently in "Take the Politics out of Education" (link below), and of two personal experiences. My earlier piece reviews  implication of this in terms of program contents. Here, I will say something about school governance.

News : Take Politics Out of Education

A political candidate has recently called for "taking politics out of the classroom", just the latest to do so, and I am sure another such call will be made tomorrrow. This is obviously political, but it is also stupid. It is stupidity or the part of the speaker, or an assumption of stupidity in the target audience, or both. Education is a political act. Full stop. Period. What these people mean is "taking views and/or content I do not like out of the classroom".

News : No sympathy for student who beat teacher unconscious

This story came up a couple of times in my educational news feeds, and while it raises several issues, the one I'd like to address is that line thing. Where is the line between your rights and mine? Or alternatively, between the rights of the individual and those of the group. In this case, the school clearly made terrible policy decisions, although I do wonder to what extent they were forced into these decisions by district or state policy and by state law.

The ties that bind

One of the private schools near me has a uniform, one which is largely generic and pretty much the same for boys and girls. Both wear white button-down shirts, both wear v-necked sweaters and both wear ties. However now the girls are complaining at having to wear ties. They're not unhappy at everyine wearing ties, they appear not to dislike the ties themselves. They are unhappy that they as girls have to wear ties.

I'm really popular in Singapore

Every now and then I check traffic to this blog, and this week I have been amazed to see readership jump from the low hundreds to the mid thousands. And whereas hitherto, most of my readers have been US-based, this week they are almost entirely lcoated in Singapore.

News : Middle School assignment has parents discussing what’s appropriate at what age

The thing I find most ufrstrating about most educationally-related decisions, read judgments, is that so many people make so much noise to the effect that any particular decision is simple or dichotomous. Rarely, if ever, is a decision made by any educator at any level only "x' or "not "x", or without cause and/or effect. This one is very much in the news at the moment, and again we have the black and white pundits (what's more extreme than armchair-quarterbacking?) engaged what is in effect reductio ad absurdum.

Generational or Stupidity?

Every now and then the mysterious (or possibly sagacious) Youtube algorthm recommends something on the lines of entitlement meets reality. In a recent offering, a princess was arrested because she sat on a car police were trying to tow in an attempt to prevent the removal. The car was illegally parked, blocked the street, and was unregistered. She claimed the wreck belonged to her boyfriend but he was not there to prove ownership. Both the way she spoke to the police, and her reaction to the threat and ultimate application of arrest were revealing. I was reminded of this yesterday when I met a former colleague for coffee who told me the following tale.

It worked for me, but it was really corruption

The Youtube algorithm just sent me to one of those first amendment auditor channels where someone tried to do something at his local city office and couldn't. He was able to capture it all on camera which of course didn't go well for the city or the clerk. I was reminded of something which happened to me several years ago which only worked out because of who I knew. 

I have never used recruiters; here's why

Last week I was contacted by a recruiter looking for a principal for a school near here. He was new to recruiting and had done a LinkedIn search for possible candidates in this area. His challenge was not only was he new to recruiting, he was new to educational recruiting and knew nothing about the school, the role, or the sector. I know this particular school. It is not a particularly good one, and is owned by a for-profit company owned by venture capitalists and known for its emphasis of extracting profit. Its principals are not principals, but bureaucrats in a top-down structure who are charged with implementing central-office policies and procedures. 

When should schools begin their academic year?

I have just read a commentary on the differences around the country in terms of starting the school year. Without getting into the length of the school year, which is in and of itself an important discussion, I do think there are two important considerations in this discussion.

I blame Fox

 At the risk of seeming political, I blame Fox. Allow me to explain.

News : informal removals that schools use to remove challenging students with disabilities from class

A former colleague is a principal and she has a problem. She has a student with behavioral issues which include shouting, pushing and non-violent aggression, and in general he interrupts and even halts most of his classes. He also has an IEP and when she met with the parents after one incident, they made clear that their advocacy for him would include litigation should she do almost anything. Over the last two years, around 50 students have left the school citing specifically this student's negative effect on learning and/or fears of potential violence.

I broke my finger; the solution is to chop off my arm

We hear again and again that the public district school system is broken and not fit for purpose. Some of these criticisms are justified and supported by evidence, some are valid but hard to pinpoint and thus hard to evidence, and some are just wrong. Inevitably the result is almost entirely political. Instead of fixing what is broken, the solution is to create something new. This is not even treating the symptom and ignoring the disease. This is cutting off an arm beause of a broken finger.

News : I'm a 2nd-generation private school reject. Why kick out those who might need it most?

So somebody at a non-public school does something or many things and as a result is asked to leave. Clearly the school is at fault and must be publically excoriated, at least in the mind of the compainer. However I beg to differ. No school is right for every child, and sometimes the only option for a student (or family) who is not mission-appopriate, and assuing that discrimination is not a factor, is to ask him or her to leave.

News : Houston-area teacher fired for attending drag show at downtown bar

Again we have a report of a teacher being fired for doing something in her own time, and again she is in the wrong. Let me explain.

News : Gov. Katie Hobbs sounds the alarm over a school voucher program she agreed to fund

I have taught in both public and non-public schools and am a fan of the latter. However, I am not a fan of vouchers and current events in Arizona add support to my position.

Surprises from going private (tutoring)

I've recently taken a few private students for tutoring which is both fun and quite interesting, and at the same time keeps me a little in touch. The current crop includes G4, G8, G10 and G11 from three different schools and I am apparently English-ing and Math-ing.

Surprise Billing

I heard a commentary this morning on a medical Surprise Billing situation and though I would reprise my own experience. However to this day I remain convinced I was not victim to Surprise Billing, but instead of medical fraud.

A school fails to act; tragedy follows

This is both a strange and tragic story. A very young child brings a gun to school and shoots his teacher. Reportedly, he had previously threatened this and other violent actions so it was not impulsive which is my normal Preschool and Elementary behavior barometer. What concerns me are the actions of the school.

Arrested for attending school - not really

Right-leaning publications are reporting that a Canadian student has been arrested for attending classes at his high school, and/or that he was arrested for hsi political views. Of course, neither is true and none of the many reports I have read address the main issue.

Book bans

The surge in book bans, or at least attempts, across the country is challenging and like most things in education, is nowhere near as simple or as black-and-white as is suggested by so many commentators. I will share some of my thoughts below.

United Airlines is in trouble and it's because of me

For about 20 years, I flew only United Airlines (UAL) for work and leisure, and I had a United credit card as did the school where I was Director. I even signed up for their dining and shopping programs to earn more miles. I had a few vacations using United miles I brought my mother-in-law to visit several times using miles and the school sent several teachers to conferences using miles. Until one day United took them all away.

Gas stoves? I removed gas from my school

We hear a lot of discussion at the moment on gas stoves. Somebody somewhere said something about ending gas stoves, the Republicans say that Biden is sending goons with guns to take your gas stoves and Democrats are saying that they have never said any such thing. Meanwhile, cities worldwide are implementing restrictions or outright bans on new gas connections. Fifteen years ago, I began removing gas services from my school and at the time of my departure, we were down to gas in one building only; here's why.

Chat GPT

This artifical intelligence (AI) chat bot is really cat-amongst-pigeoning in the international community and while none of my friends or former colleagues have raised it with me, I have seen much clutching at pearls and wringing of hands in the media. Again, some of these concerns are misplaced.