EP356 The digital delusion: Is classroom tech hurting how kids learn? (with Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath)

"My toaster has undergone more safety and efficacy testing than any piece of ed tech that's been put in front of our kids in the past 20 years." That's according to Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, a neuroscientist, university professor, and former classroom teacher whose book "The Digital Delusion" has become the center of a national conversation about screens in schools. He's testified before the U.S. Senate, and parents are handing out copies at school board meetings. Jared's argument is that we've spent 15 years and $400 billion building an ed tech industry on a promise that never came through, and that the tools we've handed kids are working against the way human beings actually learn. I came into this conversation agreeing with a lot of his premise and pushing back on some of it, particularly the reliance on standardized test scores as evidence and the assumption that school was working well before devices showed up. Jared took the pushback seriously, and what came out of it is one of the deepest (and certainly lengthiest!) conversations I've had about whether the ed tech promise keeps failing and what teachers can actually do about it. We dig into: Why the work of learning goes against our natural human biology, and what that means for a tool designed to remove friction What "engagement" means at the level of the brain, and why gamified learning keeps kids entertained without teaching them much The only two use cases where the research shows ed tech genuinely works (and why neither are very exciting) The difference between what a tool could do and what kids will actually do with it -Whether school was actually working better before devices, and what we lost that's worth going back for What the digital literacy data says about whether we're actually preparing kids for the workforce How to reintroduce friction in your classroom so tech stops being the default We also get into what teachers can do Monday morning. Jared makes the case for reintroducing friction, eliminating tech as the default rather than banning it outright, what to say to admin and parents when you want to teach differently. Most importantly, Jared makes the case for teacher autonomy and why you need to trust your own expertise about student learning.  This conversation ended in a more hopeful place than I expected, and I hope you'll carve out some blocks of time to go deep with us on this topic. It takes time to tease out the nuance, and that's where the most important takeaways are. LIsten on or read: https://truthforteachers.com/truth-for-teachers-podcast/the-digital-delusion/

A third of your day (apart from work and sleep) is supposed to be yours. So where does it go? In 1817, labor movement activist Robert Owen coined this rallying cry: "Eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep, and eight hours for what we will." But if you've ever tried to make that math work as a teacher, you know the catch. In those "eight hours for what you will," we have to fit commuting, cooking, cleaning, errands, caregiving, homework help, and all the invisible labor of running a life. How do we actually make space for the things that bring us joy? In this episode, I unpack the labor history most of us were never taught, and why I find it a little ironic that I now run a program called the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek. I also talk about the gendered piece of this history that rarely gets named. Women were absolutely part of the labor movement (Frances Perkins literally drafted the Fair Labor Standards Act), but they still ended up with the second shift waiting for them at home. And teachers, who are still overwhelmingly women, are living that reality every single day. I share three practical things I've learned from Katrina Onstad, author of The Weekend Effect, about how to actually reclaim some of that "what you will" time. I also talk about why I refuse to frame rest as a productivity tool, and what I think we owe the workers who fought and died for the protections we now take for granted. This Labor Day, I hope you'll listen to this one somewhere restful. And I hope it gives you permission to protect your time, not because it makes you a better teacher, but because you're a person who deserves a life outside of school. Listen in. Or read the transcription here.

If you scroll social media right now, you'll probably land on a teacher revamping their reading corner like it's a home renovation reveal, then a TikTok Shop haul of classroom must-haves you didn't know you needed nine seconds ago, then someone who built an entire year's curriculum with AI in under a minute. And somewhere underneath all of it is this creeping feeling that you're already behind, and the school year has hardly even started. In this episode, I'm telling a story about a veteran teacher I worked next door to early in my career, and why I think about my mistake in emulating her every time some new pendulum swing happens in education. And, I discuss how a lot of what shapes our thinking about teaching no longer originates from trainings or mentors or our own gut instincts and professional expertise. It's coming from whichever five seconds of video happened to outperform in an algorithm built to sell ads, not to teach well. The truth is that you don't have to teach like the teacher down the hall, and you don't have to teach like an IG influencer. You just have to keep asking the question I had to learn the hard way: is this authentic to my teaching philosophy, or am I performing someone else's idea of what a good teacher looks like? Listen in. Or read the transcription here.  

You make dozens of invisible decisions every class period. Should I squeeze in one more activity or leave time for questions? Do I spend more time on this concept or move on? Is this the best use of our remaining five minutes? You weigh options, estimate time, and reprioritize on the fly, and you do it so automatically that you barely notice anymore.  But here's the problem: your students have no idea any of this is happening. They just see you move seamlessly from one thing to the next. If kids never see how you plan, prioritize, and adjust, how are they supposed to learn to do it themselves? In this episode, I'm talking about how to make your thinking processes visible to students, and why it matters so much. We'll cover how to talk through your weekly overview so kids learn to anticipate where their time and energy should go, how to involve students in prioritizing decisions (like "We have five minutes left, should we do X or Y?"), how to model breaking down projects into manageable steps, why most people are bad at estimating time and what to do about it, and what to say when things go off track and plans need to change. These are teachable skills, but kids won't pick them up through osmosis. They need to see it modeled, and even better, they need to be invited into the process. Listen or read the episode here: https://truthforteachers.com/truth-for-teachers-podcast/think-out-loud-teaching-the-hidden-skills-of-planning-and-prioritizing/

Do your students seem less and less able to sit with anything uncomfortable, whether that's boredom, confusion, frustration, or the feeling of not immediately knowing the answer? The research backs up your anecdotal evidence: distress tolerance in young people is measurably declining. In this episode, I dig into why this is happening and what teachers can actually do about it.  We'll talk about the biology behind why comfort reduces resilience (and why that's not anyone's fault), why our students are more stressed than ever but building less capacity from it, and practical strategies for building distress tolerance in the classroom without being dismissive of real struggles. I also get into how this applies to us as adults, because we're dealing with their own version of this. Listen in to hear: Why distress tolerance is declining in young people, and why it's a predictable biological outcome rather than a character flaw The difference between chronic, overwhelming stress (which breaks people down) and acute, manageable stress (which builds capacity), and why modern life has gotten this equation backwards How stress inoculation works in the classroom, including specific strategies for gradually building students' ability to sit with discomfort The tension teachers feel between "tough it out" and "honor every feeling," and why both extremes fail How to help students distinguish between "I can't" and "I don't want to" Why normalizing the feeling of not knowing might be one of the most powerful things you can do Where teachers can apply this same thinking to their own lives Listen in. Or read the transcription here.

Right now, teachers are getting pulled in two completely opposite directions on tech use, particularly with artificial intelligence. Your admin may want you to use it to plan lessons, save time, stay current. And on one hand, it does save time, and we want to take advantage of the tools we've got, especially if theyre free. But a lot of us also have this nagging feeling that something about it isn't quite right, and we can't always articulate what exactly is bothering us. Is it what it's doing to student thinking? The privacy stuff? The way it's being pushed on us as inevtiable? The environmental cost? Most of us are just absorbing that tension on our own, and trying to keep our heads above water. Instructional decisions about AI are often made as a series of small decisions in isolation, without ever getting the time or space to actually figure out where we stand, what we value, what's best for our specific students in our specific teaching contexts.. You're invited to carve out some time and space for that with me next week.  Stay Human: Finding Your Ethical Stance on AI as an Educator is a two-day virtual training I'm running on July 13th and 14th, built around the questions that actually keep teachers up at night: not which tools to use, but whether to use them at all, and if so how much, and what it means for your students and for our society. REGISTER HERE: https://courses.truthforteachers.com/courses/stay-human Day one is about you as a teacher. We'll map the full spectrum from AI enthusiast to conscientious objector, work through how AI actually functions so you can evaluate it with clear eyes, and get into a six-stance framework for making consistent ethical decisions about your own practice. Rather than a rulebook, you'll have a way of thinking you can apply every time something new comes along and the pressure ramps back up. Day two shifts to your students. We get into what the research actually says about AI and learning, why productive struggle matters and what happens when students shortcut, and what it looks like when AI pushes kids to think harder instead of thinking for them. You'll also walk away with 2 complete student mini-units on AI literacy, yours to use in the fall. By the end of both mornings, you'll have a personal AI philosophy, a classroom policy grounded in your own values, and up to seven hours of PD credit.  We meet 10am to 12:30 Eastern on Monday July 13th and Tuesday July 14th, so we're done by lunch both days with time in between sessions to let the ideas marinate. Recordings are included, so even if something comes up, you won't lose access, and if you're listening to this too late, you can still take advantage of the training. If you're a member of 40 Hour AI, this is included in your membership at no extra cost. If not, the early bird price for stay human is $47 through July 8th, then it goes up to $97.  One more thing: if you're a curriculum director, instructional coach, or administrator and you're thinking your whole staff needs this conversation, I also offer this training in-person and virtually for school and district PD sessions. Just reach out to [email protected] and I'll create a customized package for you. --------- 2 options for joining us on July 13th and 14th: Free for 40 Hour AI members $47 early bird pricing for non-members until July 8th (reg. price is $97) 

Everyone has an opinion about AI in classrooms right now, but very few of those opinions are grounded in what we actually know about how kids learn. In this episode, I sit down with Erin Mote, CEO and founder of InnovateEDU and co-founder of Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School, to cut through the noise and talk about what the evidence actually shows about AI as a learning tool. This isn't a conversation about ChatGPT, cheating, whether to ban devices, or what kids are doing with AI at home on their own time (which are separate topics worthy of their own discussion). We're talking specifically about AI-powered tools designed for classroom use that are being pitched to your district and showing up in your school, and whether they hold up when measured against what we know about how kids learn. In this episode you'll hear Erin share her thoughts on: Why "good enough" consumer tech is not good enough for students, and what to look for in tools that are actually built around learning The difference between sycophantic AI and Socratic AI, and why it matters for student outcomes What the early research is showing about AI as a learning tool, including what's promising and what we still don't know What to ask for and advocate for at the school and district level so these decisions aren't made without you If you've been feeling overwhelmed by the pace of change and unsure what to actually do, this episode will leave you with more clarity, and more confidence in what you already know about how kids learn. Listen in. Or read the transcription here.  

Teaching gives you a lot of opportunities to look back and wish you'd done it differently, and most of us carry those regrets way longer than we need to. In this episode, I'm sharing what I learned from Daniel Pink's book The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward, and how his research applies to the unique kind of regret that teachers carry.  I'll walk you through the four categories of regret most people have, the difference between "if only" and "at least" thinking, and a three-step process for actually processing a regret instead of just ruminating on it at 2 a.m. I'll also share the line from Pink's book that hit me hardest, the one that completely changed how I think about looking back: If you know what you truly regret, you know what you truly value.  Your regrets aren't proof you've failed this year. They're a map of what you care about. If you've been carrying something from this school year and you're not sure what to do with it, this episode is for you. Listen in. Or read the transcription here.  

Food writer Bee Wilson has been in classrooms across the UK, and what she's discovered is startling: many children have completely lost their sensory connection to real food. They know the peach emoji but not the fuzzy feel of actual peach skin. They recognize mint from shampoo but have never smelled a fresh mint leaf. When asked where food comes from, kids used to say "the supermarket." Now they say "mommy's iPad." This slow shift is revealing a new gap in child development that affects how kids observe, describe, and engage with the world around them. In this episode, Bee explains what's lost when children grow up disconnected from real food. And she explains what can happen when you put fresh produce in their hands and simply ask: What do you see? Bee shares how these lessons build scientific observation skills, spark rich oral language, and get even the most reluctant writers eager to put words on paper. Kids speak in vivid similes and metaphors. They notice details they've never noticed before. And, teachers report some of the most meaningful classroom experiences of their careers. Bee is the co-founder of TastEd, a charity offering free sensory food education resources now used in over 1,800 UK schools: tasteeducation.com She's a fascinating guest sharing practical ways any teacher can bring this into their classroom, including a simple lesson you could try tomorrow. Listen in. Or read the transcription here.  

You've been holding it together with caffeine and adrenaline, but your nervous system has been white-knuckling it for ten months and hit a breaking point. It's time for The Reset. This is something brand new I'm offering for the first time: an at-home restorative retreat for teachers happening June 26-28th.  It's intended to be like a real retreat experience, just held somewhere you don't have to pack a bag for and deal with travel expenses. Because The Reset is FREE. Over the weekend of June 26th-28th, I'll guide you through the practices that actually move the needle for teacher burnout. I've created videos for morning stretching and restorative yoga, audio for forest bathing (which is a mindful nature practice you can do anywhere outside), breathwork, and more. There are also nervous system mini-seminars where I explain what's actually happening in your body during a stressful school day, why you feel the way you feel, and how to send the all-clear signal so you can calm down again. And no worries about being tied to a screen: these are designed to be listened to while you're walking, going for a bike ride, gardening, or whatever you like to do!  If you're thinking, "I don't know if I can actually take a real break if I'm at home with all these distractions," I've planned for that. Everything is on-demand and completely optional.  There's no Zoom call you have to show up to, no message forums to keep up with, no schedule to follow. I'll release videos of guided experiences each day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the retreat portal. Pick and choose whatever you'd like to do, in any order you want. You basically get to design your weekend retreat, with my resources there to guide you through activities and spark inspiration. Here's how it works: Sign up for FREE to join The Reset At-Home retreat from June 26-28. All the content releases over that weekend, and is removed on Sunday night at midnight PT. I want you to actually prioritize your own wellbeing: mark your calendar, and carve out time for YOU. If you want to keep all the resources permanently, opt in for the $29 Anytime Access pass. You can take your own retreat whenever it's convenient, and do mini resets during the school year. Additional bonus practices and resources will drop on Monday for those who get the Forever Access Pass. One more thing. If you have a teacher friend who's running on fumes right now, send this this ep, or the link to sign up: https://courses.truthforteachers.com/courses/reset Better yet, plan to do The Reset together! Hang out at your friend's house in your comfiest loungewear, pick some of the activities to experience, have a healthy lunch, maybe even take a nap on the couch before diving back in for a final restorative session before dinner. You can make this at-home retreat anything you want it to be! Join us for The Reset HERE If you'd also like an in-person retreat, I've got two of them happening this summer (June 12-14 in eastern PA, and 24-26 July in the Asheville/Charlotte NC area). And, there's a Labor Day weekend retreat and fall restorative retreat I'm holding for everyone (not specifically teachers, so you can bring a non-teacher friend or partner). ​Get all the details about in-person retreats HERE.