It’s the most wonderful time of the year … | What time is that, you ask? | It certainly could be the upcoming holiday season. (Yes, we have Christmas decorations up at my house … and no, I don’t have any regrets.) 🎄 | But no, I’m not talking about that. | It’s Ditch Summit time! Well, it’s ALMOST Ditch Summit time. | That’s our free annual online conference for educators. I’m sharing details — and our slate of featured speakers — below. | Plus: If you have an interactive display in your classroom, you’ll want to check out this first section in the newsletter. | Inside: | 🖥👆🏻 20 ways educators can make the most of interactive displays 🚨 It’s coming! Ditch Summit speaker announcement! 📗 Ebook: Favorite teaching ideas from Ditch Summit sessions 📋 Survey: How teachers are feeling about AI 🎧 (Re)Introducing: The Ditch That Textbook Podcast ⏰ 15+ AI lesson planning time-savers 🫱🏼🫲🏽 Meet new tech tools in the Ditch Summit 🤔 One Airpod in the ear in class? Hmm … 👋 New community: AI for Admins 😆 Share that you’re going to Ditch Summit 🗄 TEMPLATE: Be the Bot
| | | | | 🖥👆🏻 20 ways educators can make the most of interactive displays |  | This message is sponsored by Samsung |
| If you have an interactive display in your classroom, it’s probably the focal point of your classroom technology. | Student desks are facing it, and chances are that whole-group instruction will include it. | However, sometimes, even if it’s front and center, we don’t feel like we’re making the most of our interactive displays. How can we use them to empower student learning and spark student curiosity? | I recently wrote a guest post for Samsung called “20 ways educators can make the most of their interactive displays.” It includes ideas on: | Getting started with an interactive display Building the display into lesson planning Upgrading student work with the display Leveraging digital teaching tools Creating class/school culture with the display
| Also, if you don’t have a display yet, I offer four tips to find funding for one! | Samsung’s interactive displays let you take instruction far beyond paper and markers with an easy-to-use interface and vibrant colors. Learn more about them here. |
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| | | | | 🚨 It’s coming! Ditch Summit speaker announcement! | | No joke … this is one of my favorite things we do every year. 😆 | It’s the “Ditch Summit,” our FREE online conference for educators. | From December 11 to January 5, the summit will be open, which means you can watch: | 8 new featured speaker sessions 9 new “spotlight sponsor” sessions 80+ on-demand sessions from previous summits
| You can learn more about each of our featured speakers on the Ditch Summit homepage. | When you watch a session, you’ll be able to … | Receive a certificate of completion for PD credit Review and download notes summaries for each session Share with others in the #DitchSummit Twitter/X hashtag Participate in contests and prize giveaways
| Did I mention all of this is FREE? | What do I need to do? If you’re receiving this email newsletter, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll get all of the Ditch Summit content right here. | What if I know someone that wants to join? They can go to ditchsummit.com to register. It takes roughly 12 seconds to do. (Maybe less!) | Are any of the presentations live? No. None of them. They’re all pre-recorded and on-demand. We have participants from all over the world. This is our best solution to not leave anyone out. | What if I’m so excited about this that I just can’t wait? Just scroll down to this next section. This is maybe the next best thing … |
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| | | | | 📗 Ebook: Favorite teaching ideas from Ditch Summit sessions | | If you’ve never participated in a Ditch Summit, this will give you a little taste. | (Or if you have, this will help tide you over until the summit starts!) | We’ve gathered 15 of our favorite practical (VERY practical!) teaching ideas from sessions past of the Ditch Summit. | They’re summarized in ebook form. | Check out the ideas. If you like them, then make note of the name of the session and the presenter. Then, when the summit opens, go watch that session for even more great ideas! | Read: 15 practical ideas for your class from the Ditch Summit |
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| | | | | 📋 Survey: How teachers are feeling about AI | | I found this survey, done by Canva, of 1,000 teachers about their feelings about AI. Really interesting stuff. I thought these two findings paired well: | | How is it impacting the classroom? | 60% of teachers agree AI has sparked innovative ideas to enhance student productivity. 59% of teachers agree AI fosters creativity in their students. 56% of teachers agree AI simplifies their lives by reducing administrative burdens.
| See more results from this survey here. |
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| | | | | 🎧 (Re)Introducing: The Ditch That Textbook Podcast | | The Ditch That Textbook Podcast is back! | All the way back in February 2017, I started it as a daily 5-minute show. I recorded about 100 episodes faithfully. On again off again, I made it to episode 189 before I just couldn’t keep it up. | It’s been stuck on episode 189 since July 2020 … until today! | I’ve revived the show with my blog/social media editor Karly Moura. It’ll be a WEEKLY show now released on Mondays. We will recap what we’ve shared in the previous week’s email newsletter with extra commentary and extra features. | Our segments in the show currently are: | | Check out our podcast home page, where you can: | Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other platforms Listen to our new episode Check out the VERY DETAILED show notes (click “see more”) with links to everything we talked about
| You can also send us a voice message! This will be a fun way for us to get the voices of our subscribers in the show. Share additional ideas, tech tips, questions — or anything that’s on your mind! Be sure to tell us who you are. Go to the home page and click “Send voice message” to record one now. |
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| | | | | ⏰ 15+ AI lesson planning time-savers | | Lesson planning is hard. | It’s time consuming. It’s hard to come up with great ideas. It involves a lot of mental gymnastics. | Could you use some help? In today’s post, we share about … | using AI to enhance existing lessons planning new lessons with an AI assistant having AI create lessons and activities FOR you
| Here are some highlights you can try out right now: | Ask an AI assistant (like ChatGPT) for analogies that help our brains better understand new ideas Ask an AI assistant for common misconceptions or struggles that students wrestle with — so we’ll be better positioned to help them work through those challenges Ask Diffit for differentiated resources for lessons you’ll teach, like leveled readings and questions Ask an AI assistant to turn your content into an engaging story or a dialogue to help students interact with it in a different manner (hopefully opening up new pathways to learning)
| In this post, you’ll find three example lesson plans created with AI collaboration — an elementary reading lesson, a middle school science lesson, and a middle/high school history lesson. | We also share five AI-driven tech tools that can help you plan lessons. | Check it all out here: Lesson planning with AI: Save time and get ideas |
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| | | | | 🫱🏼🫲🏽 Meet new tech tools in the Ditch Summit | | We’re getting excited for the Ditch Summit, our free online conference for educators! This year, it runs from December 11 to January 5. | Good news: You don’t need to do anything to take part in the summit. You’ll get everything delivered to you in these email newsletters! | Better news: You’ll get to meet new apps and tech tools through the summit! | All of our 2023 Ditch Summit sponsors get to share a 30-minute “spotlight sponsor session.” In that session, you’ll get to learn more about their products, see how they’re used in the classroom, and get ideas you can use right away. | Even better news: Some of our sponsors have special giveaways, discounts, and even coupons to get their product for free! | We’ll share more details about the summit as it draws nearer. | For now, mark your calendar for December 11. It’ll be here soon! |
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| | | | | 🤔 One Airpod in the ear in class? Hmm … | | I’m still gearing up for my return to the classroom. | (Did you hear? After eight years of full-time professional development, I’m going to teach high school Spanish for a semester starting in January.) | I know there’s a lot that has changed since I last taught full-time. | Some are big things. But others are little … and responding to them appropriately is important. | Here’s one of them: the “one Airpod in the ear” issue. | How do you handle it? When is it OK … and when isn’t it? | Dozens of educators responded in this Twitter/X post. | The results were very, very mixed. (Which was what I had hoped for, honestly.) | Check out the responses — and drop your own reply in the post, too! | PS: Do you follow me on Twitter/X? I’m @jmattmiller if you want to! |
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| | | | | | 👋 New community: AI for Admins | | It’s tough right now being a school leader, making responsible decisions about AI in the best interest of students. | You don’t have to do it alone. | I just created a new FREE community for school leaders who are helping their school or district navigate AI decisions. | It’s called AI for Admins … but it’s not just for administrators. | If you consider yourself a school leader and are participating in AI-related decisions, this place is for you. | That means: superintendents, curriculum directors, IT directors, principals, tech/instructional coaches, teachers, library/media specialists ... anyone who's involved in AI conversations for schools/districts. | If you join AI for Admins, here’s what you’ll get: | An email newsletter where we’ll share ideas, tips, resources, and discussion. Topics could include school policies, AI integration into instruction, student considerations, AI tools, and more (when we have them). A community with resources and discussion boards where school leaders can learn, share, and collaborate on solutions.
| Click here to join AI for Admins for FREE | PS: Want to share this with your principal, IT director, superintendent, etc? | You can forward them this email … or copy/paste the text below: | I found a group called AI for Admins. It’s free, and it’s for anyone helping their school/district to make decisions about artificial intelligence. It includes an email newsletter and a community with discussion boards and resources. If you want to join, you can here: http://ditch.link/aiforadmins |
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| | | | | 😆 Share that you’re going to Ditch Summit | | The Ditch Summit starts in about three weeks. | (Three weeks … wow!) | It’s our free online conference for educators with ~100 sessions … interesting, relevant topics … and brilliant presenters. (Plus free certificates of completion for PD credit.) | The good news: You get access to the Ditch Summit with your subscription to this email newsletter. There’s nothing special you need to do. | However … | There’s something special you CAN do if you’d like! | You can share on social media that you’re participating in Ditch Summit! | Use this Google Slides template to create a custom image with your picture in it! (It’s easy to add your picture. There are instructions in the template!) | Download the image by going to File > Download as > PNG. | Then share it on social media! (Tag me, too: @jmattmiller on Twitter/X!) | Need some text to copy? Here, I’ve got you covered below … | I’m going to #DitchSummit, a FREE online conference for educators! | It has ~100 sessions on interesting, relevant topics with fantastic presenters! | I’m excited about (insert what you’re excited about … or delete this if you want). | You can join for FREE, too! Register at: http://DitchSummit.com |
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| | | | | 🗄 TEMPLATE: Be the Bot | | Looking for a quick and easy activity during Thanksgiving week? | (By the time you get this, you might be on break already … so stick it in your pocket for the days leading up to winter break!) | The Be the Bot activity helps students summarize and predict — and it’s fun because it feels like a game! | Here’s how it works: | Come up with a question to ask an AI assistant (ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Bard, etc.) related to your class content Give students their own copy of the Be the Bot template Students copy/type the question in the first text box of the Be the Bot template Students anticipate what they think the AI assistant will say about that question/topic When they’re done, you ask the AI assistant the question on your teacher device and display the results to students Students compare/contrast what the AI assistant said to their own response
| Example prompts: | I’m traveling to (insert place). What are the top places I should visit while I’m there? What are the most important happenings in the life of (person you’re studying)? What are the most important things one should consider when (activity you’re doing in class)?
| Why this works: | Prioritizing: The AI assistant won’t state everything there is to know about the given topic. Therefore, it has to prioritize the most important things. It’s a good exercise in assigning importance. Summarizing: Students have to recall and summarize what they’ve learned about that topic, which helps them consolidate memory and learning. Justifying: Before seeing the AI results (and even after!) students can say why they think certain items should be on the list.
| Ready to use this template? Get the Be the Bot template here |
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| 😄 Smile of the day | What’s your score? Mine is four … cut hair/clothing, throw up, wet shoelace, and animal in backpack. | | h/t Education to the Core and Jennifer Grace via Teacher Memes Facebook group |
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