Start Here
Welcome. Whether you just found this site, someone forwarded you an article, or you’ve been reading for a while and want to see the full picture, this page is your map. It covers what I believe, why it matters, and which articles to read first.
TL;DR
I help K-12 educators design learning experiences where AI supports student thinking instead of replacing it. My work centers on one practical conviction: if we want students to use AI well, we have to name the thinking we expect, set concrete expectations for how AI collaborates on each step, and make learning visible along the way. I call these AI-enhanced processes, and they are the backbone of my book, AI-Enhanced Processes: Powerful Strategies for K-12 Classrooms (Second Edition, with a foreword by Katie Novak), and every article on this site.
The Problem I Keep Coming Back To
Most schools have some version of an AI policy. Many of them sound decisive but stay conceptual. “Use AI responsibly.” “AI is allowed with integrity.” Teachers read these policies and still don’t know what to do on Monday morning. Students read them and interpret “allowed” however they want.
Without concrete expectations, the path of least resistance wins. A student pastes the prompt into ChatGPT, copies the output, and submits something polished that they can’t explain. A teacher assigns the same essay they always have, gets suspicious results, and now the conversation is about cheating instead of learning.
I call the worst version of this cycle school slop: assignments nobody feels invested in, where students generate the work with AI, teachers respond with AI, and a grade gets passed back and forth. It is fast, it looks finished, and it drains the human presence from the room.
What I Believe
Learning lives in the process. AI can produce a polished product in seconds. That means a polished product alone is weaker evidence of thinking than it used to be. Meaningful learning requires both process AND product. Products give work purpose. Processes shape the thinking that makes the product worth creating.
AI is a guest in the room, not a tool on the shelf. When we invite a human guest into class, we prep the guest and we prep students. We explain why they’re there and name how we’ll work with them. AI deserves that same intentional hosting every time it enters a learning experience.
Efficiency is for adults. Effort is for learners. Teachers should use AI to save time on admin work, planning, and iteration. But student AI use is fundamentally different. Students are building the cognitive muscles that will serve them for life. Are we building Iron Man, where the human remains the pilot and AI is the superpower? Or are we drifting toward Wall-E, where humans forget how to walk?
Name the thinking. Set the expectations. Make it visible. These three moves are the core of everything I write about. Break work into specific cognitive moves, decide how AI collaborates on each one, and build in lightweight documentation (I call them breadcrumbs) so students can notice their own growth and teachers can coach while the work is still alive.
Core Articles
Below are five articles that cover the full landscape of what I write about. I’ve ordered them so each one builds on the last. If you read all five, you’ll have a thorough understanding of my work. If you only read one, start with the first.
Read #1: How to Design AI-Enhanced Processes
This is the most comprehensive piece on the site. It walks through the three powerful moves (name the thinking, set expectations, make learning visible) with examples, planning tools, and Monday-ready resources. If you want to understand what an AI-enhanced process actually looks like in a classroom, start here. Fair warning: there’s a sous-vide cat joke in the opening paragraph that sets the tone for everything.
Read #2: The Metaphors We Use for AI
How we talk about AI shapes what we do with it. This article unpacks five categories of AI metaphors (calming, tool, threat, productivity, and teammate) and argues for treating AI as a guest collaborator. It’s the piece that explains why I use the language I use across everything else I write.
Read #3: Designing for Creative Thinking in the Age of AI
This one tackles a question I hear constantly: what happens to student creativity when AI can generate polished work instantly? I introduce the Think, Generate, Edit framework, share a story about remixing a song I wrote in 1997, and lay out what it actually means to define a “creative learner who uses AI.” If you teach in the arts, design, or any subject that values original expression, this is for you.
Read #4: Who Should Be Efficient with AI in Schools? Part 1: The Why
This is the piece where I make the case that student AI use cannot simply copy adult habits. I use Wall-E and Iron Man as competing visions of our AI future, draw on Carol Dweck’s mindset research and Daniel Kahneman’s work on cognitive shortcuts, and argue that the habits we practice with kids today become the habits they carry into adulthood.
Read #5: Who Should Be Efficient with AI in Schools? Part 2: The How
This is the companion piece that turns the argument into classroom moves. It covers breadcrumbs vs. autopsies, how to avoid process-based education becoming surveillance, and a step-by-step Monday-ready tool for designing your own AI-enhanced process with sticky notes and a pen.
The Idea in 30 Seconds
If you remember three things from this site, let it be these:
1. Name the thinking. Use action verbs that treat thinking as something students actively do. If the thinking isn’t named, AI fills the vacuum.
2. Set expectations for student-AI collaboration. For each thinking move, clarify what AI can do, what it cannot do, and what must remain human. Share this with students before they begin.
3. Make learning visible through breadcrumbs. Build in lightweight documentation so students can notice their own growth and teachers can coach while the work is still happening. Not to prove innocence. To make thinking useful.
About the Book
AI-Enhanced Processes: Powerful Strategies for K-12 Classrooms (Second Edition) is the foundation everything here builds on. It’s packed with classroom examples, process templates, and practical strategies grounded in learning science. If you find the ideas on this site useful, the book goes much deeper. Stay tuned for its release.
One More Thing
None of us is yet an expert in AI for educational purposes. We are all learning. What I try to model in my own work is transparent AI use, honest disclosure, and a willingness to experiment, get it wrong, and keep iterating. If you are an educator figuring this out alongside your students, you are in the right place.
Start where you have momentum. Redesign one task as a process. Name the thinking. See what happens.
Welcome aboard. I’m glad you’re here.