Tech & Learning Magazine

10/10/2025

Creating a female-focused program in your school district is a great first step. At the recent LeadHERship Network Conference in Washington, D.C., Dr. Kristin N. Brown, Superintendent of Schools for Lake Dallas ISD, shared several modern mentoring methods beyond the traditional one-on-one relationship:

Peer Circles: These are small, diverse groups of 4-6 individuals who meet regularly to share goals, problem-solve, and reflect. Facilitation rotates among the members to maintain a balanced power dynamic. An example includes four female principals and two district directors who meet monthly as an "Aspiring Superintendents Circle" to support one another's career paths.

Reverse Mentoring: This approach involves early-career educators mentoring senior leaders on topics such as technology, generational trends, and evolving school culture. A first-year STEM teacher could mentor a veteran assistant superintendent on using AI tools for personalized learning, for instance. (Read more here.)

Group or Flash Mentoring: These are short, one-time sessions during which an expert leads a focused conversation on a specific skill or topic. Examples include a "Leadership Lunch & Learn" hosted by a "Teacher of the Year," or "Conference Speed Learning Tables" in which female curriculum directors rotate to share expertise.

Micro-Mentoring: These are highly targeted, short sessions lasting 15-30 minutes, designed for immediate questions or skill sharpening, similar to "office hours." This could be a female superintendent offering virtual slots for aspiring principals to discuss district budgeting or a librarian hosting quick sessions on new learning-management features.

10/10/2025

Share stories of Indigenous history and culture.
https://www.techlearning.com/news/best-free-indigenous-peoples-day-lessons-and-activities?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhfacebook&utm_content=null

Explore the top free lessons and activities for teaching about Indigenous history and culture

10/10/2025

Struggly is a gamified online math supplement that encourages student persistence, creativity, and strategy in solving digital math puzzles.

Struggly's educational math games challenge students to explore and ponder math topics

09/10/2025

ICYMI--
For Awareness Month, Jay James, the Security Operations Center (SOC) Director at Auburn University, and Corey Lee, Security Chief and Technology Officer at Microsoft, both share tips for ways in which classroom educators, administrators, and students can help limit the threat posed by malicious QR codes.

Avoiding Malicious QR Codes: Slow Down

Lee says one important step to avoiding unintentionally opening a malicious link through a QR code is just taking a moment to examine the source of the QR code.

“It sounds cliché, but really slowing down to speed up is one consideration,” he says, adding that he knows it's challenging with everything that is going on for educators during the day, but it’s important to remember. “We think most QR codes are scanned and clicked because things are just so fast-paced.”

More advice here: https://tech-learning.visitlink.me/k_8YbH

09/10/2025

Some good advice from longtime principal Mike Gaskell about better communicating as a school leader:

Start By Being Transparent Yourself

Yes, having faculty trust and wanting them to follow us matters big-ly! It matters so much that without it, schools become dysfunctional and, as I say frequently, kids lose in schools where there are unmotivated, undedicated, and unsupported adults surrounding them.

If trust matters then, how do we gain it? First, it is not in being “nice” and avoiding conflict. In fact, it is often the reverse. Yet the critical way to approach feedback messaging is how we deliver it to those who need to hear the way in which we can both support and advise them in their workplace development.

We begin making incremental achievements in this area by allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. “Blasphemy!” you say. “I have to be strong, and come across as confident, and definitive.” True . . . but everyone knows leaders are fallible, and more respect comes from acknowledging this and moving on rather than hiding it and making attempts to cover up mistakes.

Leaders who deny, shift, and avoid are quickly spotted, and then the whispers behind their back gain momentum.

Confront the truth, show others that you have the courage to be wrong, be transparent, and as important, move on.

09/10/2025

At the recent LeadHERship Network Conference in Washington, D.C., Dr. Kristin N. Brown, Superintendent of Schools for Lake Dallas ISD, highlighted some statistics that shows mentorship programs have a powerful impact on supporting women in their leadership career pathway

As the number of female leaders continue to decline in education, it is crucial to support career pathways for women. Mentorships are a great start.

08/10/2025

Special Webinar Event: Join us to explore how math plus motivation adds up to lasting achievement for every student. Wednesday, October 22nd, 2 pm Eastern

Achievement in math doesn't happen without motivation—and the most successful districts know how to combine the two. In this webinar, district administrators and a Prodigy Lead…

08/10/2025

ICYMI--
Author and educator Erik Ofgang tested several AI humanizers to see how his students might be using these to fool him into grading AI-generated work.

Humanizers are AI tools meant to change AI text and make it sound more human. These can be used by students in attempts to pass off AI writing as their own.

08/10/2025

Text Blaze is a digital tool that uses text snippets as a way to improve productivity to help save teachers on admin task time.

Text Blaze is a time-saving tool designed to make teaching more efficient

07/10/2025

ICYMI--
The trick is being able to save money on getting an affordable option, while still having enough processing power to use it across different tasks. Here's how to do that:
https://tech-learning.visitlink.me/f0QlI8

The most affordable desktop computers for teachers to use across subjects

07/10/2025

On The Plus Side: Has Allowed For Differentiation

AI provided teachers in the Suffern Central School District with the ability to differentiate texts depending on the students' grade level or individual ability. This included instructions for a science class that were tough to grasp conceptually or a reading that needed to be simplified for certain teachers, says Lisa Weber, who just retired as the district’s assistant superintendent for instruction. AI was also helpful in translating texts into various languages to better accommodate different students.

“The ability to change text so quickly so that kids could understand the content was a total game-changer,” Weber says. “For many teachers, some variation of that was really the first place that they entered the AI world. They're like, ‘Oh my gosh, I've been trying to do this for years and I've spent so much time collating materials and finding things, and now, literally, AI can do it in seconds.'”

07/10/2025

California is poised to become the first state to require warning labels on social media platforms

Conversations With Kevin Hogan: One State’s Attempt at Youth Mental Health Protection