We’re two weeks into the school year, and I’ve already seen some incredible examples of authentic learning in action. It’s a good reminder of Steve Wozniak’s advice: keep the main thing the main thing—and don’t sell out for something that only looks better.
This week’s newsletter rounds up 10 links worth your time, from AI and education to remote learning, punk archives, and why cell phone bans never work.
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Math is supposed to be the most “objective” subject in school. Two plus two equals four, no matter who you are, right? But research shows the way we teach early math is full of bias—and those inequities start shaping kids’ identities before they even reach third grade.
That’s the focus of the Racial Justice in Early Math project, a collaboration between the Erikson Institute and the University of Illinois Chicago. The team is developing resources—books, classroom activities, teacher trainings—to help educators confront racial bias in how young children experience math.
As project director Priscila Pereira points out, bias isn’t just an individual teacher problem; it’s baked into structures like scripted curricula, under-resourced schools, and practices like ability grouping. Danny Bernard Martin, a professor at UIC, highlights how stereotypes like “Asians are good at math” and deficit narratives about Black children filter into classrooms, shaping expectations in damaging ways. Even the smallest teacher choices—who gets called on, whose creative solutions are validated—can reinforce or disrupt those narratives.
The initiative is working to equip educators with not just strategies but reflective spaces: webinars, fellowships, and immersive experiences where teachers and researchers can rethink what it means to create racial justice in early math classrooms. As Pereira puts it, “We just have to keep doing the work, because we know what’s right.”
It’s a reminder that math isn’t just about numbers—it’s about identity, power, and whose ideas we choose to value.
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David Wiley is experimenting with what he calls “generative textbooks” — a mashup of OER (open educational resources) and generative AI. His core idea is:
What if anyone who can create an open textbook could also create an AI-powered, interactive learning tool without writing code?
From Open Content to Open AI-Driven Learning
For decades, Wiley has championed open education resources (OER)—teaching and learning materials freely available to adapt and share under open licenses like Creative Commons. With generative AI now in the mix, Wiley sees a unique opportunity to merge the participatory spirit of OER with the dynamic adaptability of language models.
The result? A new kind of learning tool that feels less like a dusty PDF and more like a responsive learning app—crafted by educators, powered by AI, and free for students to use.
The Anatomy of a Generative Textbook
Wiley’s prototype isn’t just a fancy textbook—it’s a modular, no-code authoring system for AI-powered learning. Here’s how it works:
Learning Objectives: Short, focused statements about what learners should master.
Topic Summaries: Context-rich summaries intended for the AI—not students—to ground the model’s responses in accuracy.
Activities: Learning interactions like flashcards, quizzes, or explanations.
Book-Level Prompt Stub: A template that sets tone, personality, response format (e.g., Markdown), and overall voice.
To build a generative textbook with ten chapters, an author creates:
One book-level prompt stub
Ten learning objectives (one per chapter)
Ten concise topic summaries
Various activity templates aligned with each chapter
A student then picks a topic and an activity. The system stitches together the right bits into a prompt and feeds it to a language model—generating a live, tailored learning activity.
Open Source, Open Models, Open Access
True to his roots, Wiley made the tool open source and prioritized support for open-weight models—AI models whose architectures and weights are freely available. His prototype initially sent prompts to a model hosted via the Groq API, making it easy to swap in different open models—or even ones students host locally.
Yet here’s the catch: even open models cost money to operate via API. And according to Wiley, most educators he consulted were less concerned with “open” and more with “free for students.”
A Clever—and Simple—Solution
Wiley’s creative workaround: instead of pushing the AI prompt through the API, the tool now simply copies the student’s prompt to their clipboard and directs them to whatever AI interface they prefer (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, a school-supported model). Students just paste and run it themselves.
There’s elegance in that simplicity:
No cost per token—students use models they already have access to.
Quality-first—they can choose the best proprietary models, not just open ones.
Flexibility—works with institution-licensed models or free-tier access.
Of course, there are trade-offs:
The experience feels disjointed (copy/paste instead of seamless).
Analytics and usage data are much harder to capture.
Learners’ privacy depends on the model they pick—schools and developers can’t guarantee it.
A Prototype, Not a Finished Product
Wiley is clear: this is a tech demonstration, not a polished learning platform. The real magic comes from well-crafted inputs—clear objectives, accurate summaries, and effective activities. Garbage in, garbage out, especially with generative AI.
As it stands, generative textbooks aren’t ready to replace traditional textbooks—but they can serve as innovative supplements, offering dynamic learning experiences beyond static content.
The Bigger Picture: Where OER Meets GenAI
Wiley’s vision reflects a deeper shift in education: blending open pedagogy with responsive AI-driven learning. It’s not just about access; it’s about giving educators and learners the ability to co-create, remix, and personalize knowledge in real time.
Broader research echoes this trend: scholars explore how generative AI can support the co-creation, updating, and customizing of learning materials while urging care around authenticity and synthesis.
Related Innovations in Open AI for Education
VTutor: An open-source SDK that brings animated AI agents to life with real-time feedback and expressive avatars—promising deeper human-AI interaction.
AI-University (AI‑U): A framework that fine-tunes open-source LLMs using lecture videos, notes, and textbooks, offering tailored course alignment and traceable output to learning materials.
GAIDE: A toolkit that empowers educators to use generative AI for curriculum development, grounded in pedagogical theory and aimed at improving content quality and educator efficiency.
Final Thoughts
David Wiley’s generative textbooks project is less about launching a product and more about launching possibilities. It’s a thought experiment turned demonstration: what if creating powerful, AI-powered learning experiences were as easy as drafting a few sentences?
In this vision:
Educators become prompt architects.
Students become active participants, selecting how they engage.
Learning becomes dynamic, authorable, and—critically—free to access.
That’s the open promise of generative textbooks. It may be rough around the edges now, but the implication is bold: a future where learning tools evolve with educators and learners—rather than being fixed in print.
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In 2018, Dan Brown (yes, thatDan Brown of The Da Vinci Code) helped fund a project at Amsterdam’s Ritman Library to digitize thousands of rare, pre-1900 books on alchemy, astrology, magic, and other occult subjects. The result, cheekily titled Hermetically Open, is now live with 2,178 digitized texts—freely available in their online reading room.
At first glance, this might feel like a niche curiosity, the kind of thing best left to academics or fantasy novelists. But the truth is, these works are a goldmine for educators looking to spark authentic learning across disciplines. They’re messy, strange, multilingual (Latin, German, Dutch, French, and English), and they blur the boundaries between science, philosophy, medicine, and mysticism. And that’s exactly why they’re valuable.
Why Teachers Should Care
For a few hundred years, it was nearly impossible to separate theology, philosophy, medicine, and natural science from alchemy and astrology. Isaac Newton himself famously spent as much time on apocalyptic prophecies and alchemical experiments as he did on calculus and optics. To engage students with these texts is to remind them that knowledge has always been interdisciplinary, networked, and evolving.
That makes them perfect material for authentic learning and connectivist classrooms: students work with primary sources, make connections across fields, and grapple with how humans have always sought to explain the world.
How Different Subjects Can Use the Collection
English & Literature (HS & College):
Analyze archaic language, quirky spellings, and “long s” typography in original texts.
Compare occult poetry or allegories to Romantic and Gothic literature.
Use passages as mentor texts for student-created “modern grimoires” or magical realism writing.
History & Social Studies (MS–HS):
Trace how alchemy influenced the rise of modern chemistry.
Explore how astrology shaped political decisions in early modern Europe.
Debate the blurred lines between science and mysticism in intellectual history.
Science (HS Chemistry & Physics):
Contrast alchemical “recipes” with modern chemical equations.
Investigate how flawed models of the universe still paved the way for discovery.
Discuss how cultural context shapes what gets counted as “science.”
Art & Design (All Grades):
Study illuminated manuscripts and esoteric symbols as design inspiration.
Create modern visual interpretations of alchemical diagrams.
Explore symbolism as a universal language across time.
Philosophy & Civics (HS & College):
Debate the tension between hidden vs. open knowledge.
Compare Platonic philosophy, Christian theology, and occult traditions.
Examine how fringe ideas challenge (and sometimes advance) mainstream thinking.
Why It Matters
When students encounter these texts, they’re not just paging through dusty old curiosities. They’re stepping into a world where knowledge wasn’t siloed, where science, spirituality, and imagination lived side by side. For teachers, this is a chance to create assessments that matter—projects where students remix history, art, and science, using both ancient texts and modern tools like AI.
It’s weird. It’s wonderful. And it’s exactly the kind of resource that can make authentic learning feel alive.
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I gave all my Apple wealth away because wealth and power are not what I live for. I have a lot of fun and happiness. I funded a lot of important museums and arts groups in San Jose, the city of my birth, and they named a street after me for being good. I now speak publicly and have risen to the top. I have no idea how much I have but after speaking for 20 years it might be $10M plus a couple of homes. I never look for any type of tax dodge. I earn money from my labor and pay something like 55% combined tax on it. I am the happiest person ever. Life to me was never about accomplishment, but about Happiness, which is Smiles minus Frowns. I developed these philosophies when I was 18-20 years old and I never sold out.
For centuries, scientists, artists, and philosophers have tried to pin down a “perfect” way to map color. But here’s the problem: color isn’t just physics, and it isn’t just perception—it’s both. Try to squeeze it into a neat geometric model, and you’ll quickly realize it refuses to stay put.
That’s what makes French video essayist Alessandro Roussel’s latest ScienceClic piece so fascinating for educators. He takes us from Isaac Newton’s prism experiments all the way to modern models of hue, brightness, and saturation. Along the way, he shows why there isn’t just one map of color, but many. Each communicates something different about how humans experience this slippery phenomenon.
So what’s the classroom connection?
In art: Students can compare different models of color—Newton’s circle, Munsell’s tree, the modern RGB cube—and reflect on how each changes the way we think about mixing, matching, or designing with color.
In science: Teachers can use these models to illustrate how physics collides with perception. Why do two people see the “same” red differently? How does light wavelength interact with the human eye and brain?
In interdisciplinary projects: Color mapping opens doors to conversations about how humans create systems to explain the unexplainable. It’s a perfect bridge between STEM and the humanities.
And then comes the kicker for students who think we’ve “solved” everything already: scientists recently managed to engineer a new, so-called impossible color called ‘olo’—a shade outside the traditional visible spectrum.
It’s a reminder that color isn’t just a solved equation or a finished wheel. It’s a living, shifting puzzle that still invites curiosity, wonder, and experimentation.
Imagine giving your students that as a challenge: If color can’t be mapped perfectly, what’s your best attempt?
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Blistering verdict:Brené Brown turns vulnerability from a punchline into a power-up.Daring Greatly isn’t self-help fluff; it’s a rigor-backed field guide for stepping into the arena when your brain is screaming, “Nope.” It reads fast, hits hard, and leaves you with language—and habits—that change how you lead, teach, parent, and show up.
Spoiler-free recap (no “cheap seats” commentary included)
Brown’s premise is simple and seismic: vulnerability is courage in action—the willingness to be seen when outcomes aren’t guaranteed. Drawing on years of qualitative research, she maps how shame (the fear of disconnection) drives perfectionism, numbing, and armor… and how shame resilience (naming what’s happening, reality-checking our stories, reaching out, and speaking it) gives us our lives back.
You’ll walk through:
Scarcity culture (“never enough”) vs. worthiness (“I’m enough, so I can risk more”).
Armor types—perfectionism, foreboding joy, cynicism—and how to set them down.
Empathy as antidote (connection > fixing).
Wholeheartedness: living with courage + compassion + connection, anchored by boundaries.
No plot twists to spoil—just a research-driven blueprint that makes bravery behavioral, not mythical.
Why this book still matters (and why your team/family/class will feel it)
It rewires the courage myth. Courage isn’t swagger; it’s risk + emotional exposure + uncertainty. That framing scales from a tough conversation to a moonshot.
It gives you a shared language. “Armor,” “scarcity,” “shame triggers,” “wholehearted”—terms your team can actually use in meetings without rolling their eyes.
It upgrades feedback culture. Vulnerability isn’t oversharing; it’s specific, boundaried honesty. That’s the backbone of psychological safety and real performance.
It’s ruthlessly practical. The book reads like a human-systems playbook: name it, normalize it, and move—together.
AI & authenticity. In a world of auto-generated polish, human risk-taking is the differentiator. Vulnerability is how we build trust beyond the algorithm.
Hybrid work, thin trust. Distance amplifies story-making. Brown’s “story I’m telling myself…” move is rocket fuel for remote teams and relationships.
Schools & Gen Z. Teens live under surveillance capitalism. Teaching boundaries + worthiness beats any pep talk on resilience.
Read it like a field guide (fast, no navel-gazing required)
Skim for tools, then circle back for depth. Treat each section like a drill you can run this week.
Practice out loud. Say the scripts: “Here’s what I’m afraid of… Here’s what I need… The story I’m telling myself is…”
Pick one arena. A hard 1:1, a classroom norm, a family ritual. Ship courage in small, observable iterations.
For my fellow geeks & builders
If Neuromancer gave us cyberspace, this gives us the social API for courage. It’s the middleware between your values and your behavior under load. Think of shame as a high-latency bug; Brown gives you the observability tools to catch it in prod and roll a patch without taking the system down.
Who will love this
Leaders & coaches who care about performance and people.
Educators & parents building cultures of belonging without lowering standards.
Makers & founders whose work requires public risk and iterative failure.
Anyone tired of armoring up and ready to try brave instead of perfect.
Pair it with (next reads)
The Gifts of Imperfection (Brown) — the on-ramp to wholehearted living.
Dare to Lead (Brown) — her organizational upgrade, perfect for teams.
Crucial Conversations (Patterson et al.) — tactics for high-stakes talk, post-armor.
Final verdict
Five stars, zero hedging.Daring Greatly is the rare book that alters your behavioral defaults. It’s sticky, quotable, and wildly usable the minute you close it. If you build products, classes, teams, or families, this is the courage stack you want installed.
Ready to step into the arena? Grab Daring Greatly in paperback, hardcover, or audio—whichever format helps you practice while you read. (Some links on my site may be affiliate links, which help support this work at no extra cost to you.)
The Eclectic Educator is a free resource for everyone passionate about education and creativity. If you enjoy the content and want to support the newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps keep the insights and inspiration coming!
“In a world of infinite meetings, the scarcest resource is a goal people still remember after the coffee goes cold.”—my inner monologue every Tuesday at 7:45 a.m.
The bell hasn’t even rung when the dread kicks in. Our math PLC shuffles into a windowless room, walls plastered with mission statements no one can quite quote. The agenda glows on the projector—review data → craft SMART goal → adjourn—and someone opens last year’s spreadsheet. The cursor blinks like a taunting metronome:
Specific? “Raise Algebra II mastery five percent.” Measurable? “Benchmarks track that.” Achievable? “If the moon aligns with spring break.” Relevant? “District said so.” Time-bound? “May 15—graduation is May 16.”
Click Save. Google Drive adopts another orphan destined to be rediscovered—unfed and unloved—during next August’s in-service.
SMART ≠ Smart Enough
George T. Doran’s 1981 article introduced SMART as a managerial life-hack for middle managers drowning in vague memos. It worked because clarity beats wish-craft, so the acronym stuck. But teaching isn’t widget manufacturing, and a Professional Learning Community (PLC) is not middle management. Drop the vanilla acronym into a PLC and you often get tidy compliance—polite, forgettable, and incapable of nudging practice. (community.mis.temple.edu)
I’m not here to bury SMART; I’m here to jailbreak it. A goal that’s merely Specific and Measurable can still be pedagogically hollow. “Cover Unit 9 by Friday” is S-M-A-R-T and about as inspiring as a DMV form.
To make SMART sparkle inside a PLC, we have to graft it onto four live wires:
The Science of Learning & Development (SoLD)—brains toggle between threat and reward;
Connectivism—knowledge flows through networks, not warehouses;
Authentic learning anchored in your district’s Portrait of a Learner;
and the 4 Shifts Protocol, an instructional OSHA for deeper learning.
Flash these firmware updates onto the SMART scaffold, and the goal begins to breathe.
SoLD: Wiring the Goal to the Brain
Why does vanilla SMART sputter? Because it’s silent on how humans learn. SoLD research shows brains remain plastic when three conditions coexist: high challenge, high belonging, and obvious relevance. Stress without support drowns the prefrontal cortex in cortisol; stress with support sparks focus and growth. (soldalliance.org)
SoLD’s three non-negotiables translate into PLC design questions:
Do learners feel seen?
Is the work just beyond current mastery?
Can every brain tag the task as useful outside class?
Compare two drafts:
Vanilla — Increase correct factoring of polynomials by five percent. SoLD-Tuned — By March 1, our Algebra II PLC will co-design three community-based modeling tasks—housing prices, local wage growth, skateboard trajectories—to lift correct use of multiple representations from 52 % to 75 %, measured by a shared rubric at a public expo.
The rewrite injects authenticity (local data), public exhibition (belonging + accountability), and the sort of demanding lift brains find exhilarating instead of paralyzing.
Connectivism: Goals as Network Packets
George Siemens argued that learning is less about what you know and more about how quickly knowledge flows through your network. In PLC terms, the nodes are you, your colleagues, that teacher on Instagram who posts slick Desmos hacks, and the treasure trove of lesson plans fermenting in Google Drive. A goal that stops at student data is a half-closed circuit—knowledge stagnates; momentum dies. (jotamac.typepad.com)
A network-savvy SMART goal spells out connection rituals:
a shared Drive folder where every lesson artifact lives;
a standing five-minute “What I tried this week” round-robin at each PLC;
a Friday Google Classroom prompt where teachers asynchronously swap feedback clips.
Bandwidth is a pedagogy. If the SMART statement doesn’t declare how the signal moves—from teacher to teacher and from student back to teacher—the circuit stays dark.
Authentic Learning & the Portrait of a Learner
Your district likely brandishes a glossy “Portrait of a Graduate”—creative problem-solver, compassionate collaborator, civic-minded innovator. Trouble is, many goals never leave the gated community of state standards; they measure skill fragments in lab conditions and call it progress. Authentic learning demands the opposite: skills unleashed in messy, consequential contexts, judged by audiences who care. Real-world stakes super-charge motivation and memory. (Edutopia)
That shows up in the Relevant clause. Instead of “aligns with KY Standard A2.Q.E,” try:
Students will design statistical dashboards for the city’s housing task force and defend their recommendations at a public forum.
Now the graduate-profile competencies are mission requirements, not hallway décor.
The 4 Shifts Protocol: Deeper-Learning Guardrails
Scott McLeod and Julie Graber’s 4 Shifts—deeper thinking, authentic work, student agency, technology infusion—work like a four-question crash test. Ask them of every draft goal: Does the task demand real cognitive wrestling? Will the product matter outside class? Do learners steer key decisions? Does tech amplify learning rather than merely digitize worksheets? If you answer “no” to any, keep writing. (dangerouslyirrelevant.org)
Most beige goals die on question 2: they yield products destined for the recycling bin, not the community or the Web.
Crafting Goals for PLCs, Not in PLCs
Here’s how our team writes without turning the meeting into a TED-style slog:
We walk in with evidence, not impressions—photos, student reflections, screenshots. We verb-hack mushy words like improve into verbs that signal complexity: design, simulate, defend. Every first-person singular becomes we—collective efficacy is grammatically plural. Before anyone clicks Save, we schedule two mid-cycle check-ins and agree on which artifacts (videos, drafts, rubric snapshots) will anchor them. Finally, we script a diffusion ritual—maybe a 60-second TikTok recap or a slide deck for the next faculty meeting. When sharing is baked into the goal, it doesn’t depend on hero-level willpower later.
A Full-Stack Example
Here’s a possible Algebra II goal :
By April 30, our Grade 10 math PLC will co-create, peer-review, and teach two interdisciplinary projects where students build interactive dashboards using local housing and wage data. At least 80 % of students will accurately interpret variability and propose actionable recommendations, judged by a shared rubric and showcased during a public “Data Night.” The team will meet every other Wednesday to iterate, store artifacts in a shared Drive folder, and survey students’ sense of belonging before and after the unit.
Break-down:
SoLD — belonging survey + public showcase.
Connectivism — Drive folder, peer-review rhythm, community data partnership.
The acronym didn’t change, but the genome inside is worlds away from “raise scores five percent by May.”
Dumpster Fires I’ve Authored (So You Don’t Have To)
I’ve written SMART goals that cratered spectacularly. Patterns emerge:
Input worship—“cover all twelve units” tracks what teachers do, not what kids learn.
Equity blindness—averages hide who’s drowning.
Ankle-high ambition—easy feels achievable, but starves growth.
Write-once, read-never—static goals in dynamic systems rot.
The fix is unglamorous: reopen the document, ask where belonging, relevance, or cognitive demand evaporated, and then rewrite.
Why This Matters More Than Benchmarks
A well-coded SMART goal has just two outcomes: teacher practice shifts and student cognition blooms. Everything else—acronyms, rubrics, meeting norms—is scaffolding. When a goal hits all four live wires, classrooms feel weird in the best sense. Students argue over data visualizations. Parents cheer on their children in Instagram stories from public showcases. Teachers trade spreadsheet formulas like favorite playlists. One morning, you realize no one’s counting ceiling tiles; everyone’s too busy debugging and learning in real time.
If that sounds utopian, remember: it’s biology plus bandwidth plus sentences you’ll actually reread. The brain loves hard problems in safe rooms. Networks love traffic. A SMART goal that guarantees both is no longer paperwork—it’s propulsion.
Your Turn
Open last year’s PLC folder, find the stalest goal, and run it through SoLD, Connectivism, authentic relevance, and the 4 Shifts. Rewrite until it hums like good sci-fi—plausible, provocative, people-centric. Then ship it. Invite your students, your admin, and your Instagram teacher circle to poke holes. Iterate. Repeat.
If this dive hit home, subscribe to The Eclectic Educator—my Friday dispatch where pedagogy meets punk rock—and forward this post to your PLC before the next calendar-driven time heist. Let’s make SMART stand for something again.
Oh, and you might want to pick up a copy of Read This Before Our Next Meeting, because most PLCs are 45-minute time vampires and this 90-minute read shows you how to turn them into fast, decision-driven sprints.
The Eclectic Educator is a free resource for everyone passionate about education and creativity. If you enjoy the content and want to support the newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps keep the insights and inspiration coming!
Ever wondered what life would feel like if your eyes buffered reality the way old dial-up modems buffered videos? Slow Light, the stop-motion stunner from Warsaw animation duo Kijek/Adamski, answers that question with style. It’s nameless hero sees everything on a seven-year delay—kindergarten birthday candles flare up during his first kiss, a forgotten snowball fight snows over a job interview, and so on. Yesterday isn’t lurking in the background; it’s live-streaming right on top of today.
The filmmakers crank up the disorientation to eleven with hand-cut paper sets awash in neon paint. Every frame feels like a pop-up book crossed with a fever dream. Their mini behind-the-scenes reel on Vimeo is a crash course in low-tech wizardry; it’s a reminder that big ideas don’t need Hollywood budgets, just relentless creativity (and a mountain of X-Acto blades).
Turning Slow Light into Authentic Learning
Below are four ways to let this short brain-bender spark real-world, student-centered work. Mix and match, or allow students to design their path.
Lens
Authentic Task
Real-World Connection
Graduate Profile Tie-In
Physics & Neuroscience
Remix the film’s handmade aesthetic in 3D: scan paper sets into Blender and add interactive hotspots that reveal “past vs. present” layers when clicked.
Partner with a local optometrist or university lab for feedback; publish explainer videos debunking vision myths.
Innovative Problem Solver, Effective Communicator
Media Literacy & Storytelling
Analyze how stop-motion’s frame-by-frame illusion mimics the film’s time-lag theme. Teams storyboard their own short that visualizes a cognitive quirk (e.g., déjà vu, false memories).
Submit films to a youth animation festival or stream them during a community movie night.
Creative Producer, Productive Collaborator
SEL & Psychology
Use the protagonist’s delayed perception as a metaphor: How do past experiences color present choices? Students craft personal “slow light” journals, then design advisory lessons to help younger peers understand trauma and resilience.
Collaborate with school counselors to run peer-led workshops on growth mindset and coping strategies.
Empathetic Citizen, Reflective Learner
Design Thinking & Tech
Remix the film’s handmade aesthetic in 3-D: scan paper sets into Blender, add interactive hotspots that reveal “past vs. present” layers when clicked.
Publish the interactive scene on the class website; invite feedback from professional animators via Zoom.
If your own vision carried a seven-year delay, which past moments would you be doomed (or delighted) to relive—and how might that reshape who you are today?
Let students answer in whatever medium they choose—audio diary, comic strip, data viz—then host a gallery walk to surface common themes of perception, bias, and memory.
Bottom line:Slow Light isn’t just artsy eye candy. In the right hands (read: your classroom), it becomes a launchpad for interdisciplinary inquiry, hands-on making, and soul-searching reflection—all hallmarks of authentic learning that sticks long after the credits roll.
The Eclectic Educator is a free resource for everyone passionate about education and creativity. If you enjoy the content and want to support the newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps keep the insights and inspiration coming!
If you’ve ever found yourself carrying the full weight of your classroom on your shoulders—exhausted, overextended, and wondering if your students are truly engaged—The Shift to Student-Led by Catlin R. Tucker and Katie Novak offers a powerful path forward.
By blending Universal Design for Learning (UDL) with blended learning strategies, this book helps teachers transition from being the center of the classroom to becoming learning designers and facilitators, without sacrificing structure, rigor, or accountability.
Empowers learners to take charge of their education through student-led workflows that build agency, motivation, and metacognition.
Aligns with UDL principles, offering multiple ways for students to access content, express learning, and stay engaged.
Supports teacher sustainability with practical tools that reduce burnout and promote shared responsibility in the classroom.
Includes ready-to-use templates and reflection tools for immediate implementation—in class or in PLCs.
What Are Student-Led Workflows?
Tucker and Novak outline 10 specific shifts that flip the script on traditional classroom practices. A few standout transformations:
From…
To…
Sit-and-get lessons
Inquiry-based discovery
Whole-group discussions
Student-facilitated conversations
Solo assignments
Projects with authentic audiences
Teacher-led feedback
Student self-assessment & reflection
Private practice
Peer-created practice tasks
Each shift includes step-by-step guides, examples, and tools to make it manageable, even in busy classrooms with diverse learners.
🎯 Why This Matters Now (More Than Ever)
Teaching is hard. Teaching after a pandemic, amid ongoing changes and rising needs? Even harder.
This book isn’t just about pedagogy—it’s about reclaiming joy in your practice and building classrooms where students are doing the work of learning. That includes:
Meeting diverse needs without creating 30 different lesson plans.
Building life-ready skills like reflection, goal-setting, and collaboration.
Creating space for student voice, choice, and autonomy.
Who This Book Is Perfect For
👩🏫 K–12 Teachers looking to create more student-driven classrooms 🤝 Instructional Coaches supporting PLCs or teacher growth cycles 🏫 School Leaders designing systems that promote learner agency 🎓 Pre-service Teachers & Faculty studying modern learning design
📚 Downloadable tools embedded in each chapter for immediate use
Ready to Start Small? Here’s How 👣
Pick one workflow to try—maybe feedback or group discussions.
Invite students into the process: What helps them learn? What’s not working?
Use reflection check-ins to adjust and improve.
Celebrate growth—with student artifacts, voice recordings, or video showcases.
Classroom Scenarios That Just Work
Middle School ELA: Students run peer-led literature circles with discussion protocols
High School Science: Learners build digital flashcard decks and quiz each other
Upper Elementary: Students design mini passion projects and present them to families
Final Thoughts: Why This Shift Matters
This isn’t a silver bullet, but it is a breath of fresh air. The Shift to Student-Led gives educators the tools to create meaningful, student-centered learning without burning out. You’ll find yourself doing less of the heavy lifting and more of the inspiring.
And that’s the kind of classroom every student—and teacher—deserves.