Episode 309: Stacy Kratochvil

Practical Insights on AI, Equity, and Education with Stacy Kratochvil

Fonz: 0:30

Hello everybody and welcome to another great episode of my EdTech Life. Thank you so much for joining me on this wonderful day and, wherever it is that you are joining us from around the world, thank you, as always, for making us part of your day. We appreciate all the likes, shares, the follows and all of your support. Thank you, guys, as always from the bottom of my heart, and I am so excited today because today I do have a returning guest. Stacy was on the show on episode 297 when we did an interview with the human intelligence movement. But then I reached out to Stacy because she does some fantastic work and she's sharing a lot of fantastic resources and just her experience and her thoughts on AI in education a lot on LinkedIn. So if you're not following her there, make sure that you do follow her on LinkedIn and, of course, all that info will definitely be posted in the show notes. But I would love to welcome to the show Stacy. Stacy, how are you? It's great to see you again.

Stacy: 1:30

I'm great Thank you for having me back on the show, so fun.

Fonz: 1:33

Oh, definitely, I'm really excited about today's conversation, and as I am for every conversation, but again, just to have you back, you know, we did have an amazing conversation with the human intelligence movement panel and it was just wonderful.

Fonz: 1:49

A lot of information there. And then, you know, slowly I just said you know what? Let me just kind of start bringing in some guests like one-on-ones and so on, Cause sometimes with a whole group we really don't get to share the scope of the work and thought process and so on. So, like I said, I'm probably going to be reaching out to a lot of those ladies too for solo episodes and things of that sort for follow-up. But I'm glad that I was able to get you on the show today and I'm really excited for our audience here of my EdTech Life to get to know you a little more, connect with you and just really hear you out and hear your experiences, your insight and all the great shares. Before we dive into the wonderful conversation, I would just love for you to introduce yourself to our audience and give us a little bit of context about your work in the education space.

Stacy: 2:38

Awesome. So my name is Stacy Kratochvil. There's a weird CH thrown in there but it's silent. I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area in California and this is my 18th year of teaching. I started out teaching PE and dance and have transitioned to dance I'm sorry transitioned out of dance into more of PE and instructional coaching and really diving into the ed tech world. About five years ago Actually, right when COVID hit was like February, before schools closed in March was when I said I would be the instructional technology coordinator and so that kind of was like learned by fire hose, like the whirlwind that came with distance teaching and figuring out all of that. But I loved it. Not that I loved anything about that whole scenario, but the learning I really loved and supporting other teachers was super fun and engaging for me. So I've kind of leaned into that role a little bit more. Fun and engaging for me, so I've kind of leaned into that role a little bit more.

Stacy: 3:48

I ended up the following year going to get an ed tech specialist certificate from the Krause Center for Innovation and that connection with the KCI ended up connecting me with a lot of really awesome people that continue to lead me on these different paths and connect me with so many interesting people to learn from. It's funny, actually. Just last spring I was at a KCI workshop and I was listening to Dr Saba Kidwai, who's also on LinkedIn If you don't follow her, go follow her as well and she just totally inspired me and we connected right away. The next day after her workshop I was like messaging her like wow, that was so impactful. I agreed with everything you were saying. It made me have all these big ideas about what I need to do for my district. And then she was like helping me and got me into her AI boot camp, which was amazing and transformative in itself. And then she led me to LinkedIn.

Stacy: 4:52

I wasn't even on LinkedIn at that point this was just last spring and once I joined on LinkedIn, I started connecting with everybody under the sun that is there talking about everything technology that is like enjoyable for me right now. I got connected with the human intelligence movement, started following you I already was a listener of your podcast, but now I get to see your posts and it's just been such a fun whirlwind. And actually it's funny because at my school site, I'm at a high school. At my school site, I'm at a high school.

Stacy: 5:23

At my school site it was a TOSA position, so teaching part-time, and then I had two release periods to do technology and then it went to one release period to support teachers with their ed tech and this school year it went to zero periods to support teachers and it's all asynchronous, like email tech support, and it's so funny that that has been dwindling at the same time that, like AI conversations are escalating and like my love for ed tech has been growing steadily this entire time. So it's kind of this weird, weird balancing act of like what's gonna happen next? But I have seen AI kind of launch me into more leadership opportunities and trying to find ways to like kind of bring ed tech back into the focus and not just something that like, oh no, all the teachers taught online, they all know what they're doing, they don't need you anymore kind of attitude.

Fonz: 6:20

So yeah, no, that was kind of a whirlwind.

Fonz: 6:26

So, yeah, no, that was kind of a whirlwind. Yes, no, and what a whirlwind it was. And very similar to you in that situation, I had just received my master's in educational technology, in October, actually, I graduated in. Well, I finished my coursework in October and then we had our graduation December 12th and then, of course, a couple of months after that, it was like you're completely online and I was like, all right, let's go, I'm built for this, this is what I've been working for this whole time. But it was very much like you said, that whirlwind, or it was like drinking from the fire hydrant, where it was just like everything was going on at once, but it was an amazing experience.

Fonz: 7:03

Like I said, I definitely not, you know, maybe in that learning aspect, obviously I don't like the circumstances and why we got locked down and of course, there was a lot of stuff that was happening there, but again, you know, it was just everybody flipped the switch and now you're online and let's.

Fonz: 7:18

Tech is now part of your world on the day to day, and so I what I do love is just because of all of that is just where we're headed now.

Fonz: 7:28

And then, obviously, the leaders that stepped up, such as yourself, like you mentioned the experience that you had, and now you know getting to see you on LinkedIn, too as well, and you know amazing posts, amazing experiences and just to be able to learn from one another as we all navigate this space, and so I want to talk to you a little bit about that. You know as well as you know getting in deeper as far as your coaching, too, as well, because, like you mentioned, I'm very curious too, because now you said you know it's mainly asynchronous and just a lot of emails and just how you're managing that. You know, because, I mean, here in my district, it's like really hands on, so I'm just curious about that. So maybe let's start with that. You know how has that been for you now in as far as having to support teachers in that way, as opposed to going in helping them out one on one or a group setting, because this is the first time I hear of like kind of asynchronous coaching hear of like kind of asynchronous coaching.

Stacy: 9:04

Yeah, it isn't really coaching at all. The innovation and the coaching that was happening kind of on its own before isn't something that was necessarily built into the role and maybe it was in part, but because it's all after school hours and we do get a stipend for that work Like we're getting paid but there's no time to do it. So are you really able to go and help teachers during the school day when they're there? And the answer is no. I'm not able to actually go and show anyone how to do anything or even be a thought partner. So, yeah, there isn't any of that happening through this role. I think there are still innovations obviously happening People are working with their departments and PLCs and talking amongst colleagues but there isn't like a structural, systematic way that we're supporting teachers in innovation right now, which I really struggle with with, because those of us that love technology, we love talking about possibilities, we love innovating, we love being in the future and thinking about what could be, and we have a lot of ideas for helping people with that and kind of grappling with AI too. So I think one of the ways that I was kind of dealing with my own frustrations about the lack of like systematic ways to innovate, was thinking about how can I create something additional that is not part of this role, but something else to help people learn about and understand artificial intelligence.

Stacy: 10:32

So actually, this was after my amazing connection with Saba Kidwai, when I had this idea of like, oh, I need to start a fellowship program or some kind of educational experience that teachers can sign up for I know it's not everyone, it's just those that are opting in but you got to start somewhere, right? So I spent the summer kind of dreaming about it and getting my plans kind of loosely put together. Kind of dreaming about it and getting my plans kind of loosely put together. And when we came back to school in August, I pitched it with a colleague who works at the district office he's the director of our technology people and the two of us together said, hey, can we run this fellowship program and pay teachers who sign up to learn about AI for their time doing these workshops that are all going to be asynchronous? So they said yes, which was kind of crazy because I was like this is kind of a lot of money that we were asking for. And they said yes because they still believed in innovating and wanted teachers to have this opportunity, so hit the ground running with that, started building out a basically a six week series of stuff.

Stacy: 11:47

It was like a course, an online course that I built in Canvas I had built out weekly modules was recording videos, demonstrating things and giving people a balanced view of AIs. It was primarily focused on building a critical mindset, getting teachers to think about not only how they might use the tools, but then how they can help their students figure out how to use and not use AI and how it fits into their life as well. So that was like that was my big project. That happened in fall. We had, I think, 50 teachers sign up like right away across our district. We have six high schools in our district and it was just amazing to see like that immediately people were like apply, apply, apply.

Stacy: 12:39

So we ended up seeing some people go through it.

Fonz: 12:41

You know, and that's great and we'll get into a little bit more about that.

Fonz: 12:45

As far as you know the coaching and and I want to know a little bit more about your teacher's reaction, like you know, going into it and then where they're, where they finished during that coursework, because you know now that we're touching on that coaching aspect like myself here in my district I do wear many hats, but also it's have finding time to go and work with teachers and go and talking to them and and explaining and things of that sort, that sort, and walking them through a lot of what is out there too as well, because definitely, with as much as there is, it almost seems like there's a new tool coming out every week.

Fonz: 13:19

Of course, teachers get really excited about those things and which, you know, it's okay that they do because it's just in our nature. You know, especially if you're one of those speedboats that wants to dive in. You know, especially if you're one of those speedboats that wants to dive in. And then your experience with the overall experience that you've had now with the fellowship, and it's going to give me a worksheet what was some of the thought process there from?

Stacy: 13:57

the teachers. I think I saw some really great questions and comments that people put on their initial application and I was like, oh, I really want to make sure that I'm capturing all the things that they want to learn about in the course, so I embedded as much of that in there as possible and so I think people did come out like feeling like they had learned a lot. I think one of the biggest nuggets was when we got to ethical considerations for AI and all of the ethical things that come with it. I think that it isn't something that was really being highlighted and talked about anywhere else, right? Because if you're just a teacher going through teaching every day and you're like hearing about AI, you're thinking about academic integrity, you're thinking about, you know, worrying about students over-relying the tools, but you're not necessarily thinking about, like the other stuff, the bias and you know, the environmental impact or any of those other things Like they're not really top of mind for the day-to-day teacher. That was really enlightening for people and challenging to them to think about. How are you going to teach your students about the ethics of AI?

Stacy: 15:13

And we did get to like the academic integrity piece and like thinking through policies and actually, every week of our fellowship program there were discussion boards.

Stacy: 15:25

So everyone was kind of collaborating and like sharing the things they were thinking about, which was awesome, and so people were sharing like the things they were thinking about, which was awesome. And so people were sharing like different policies they were trying to put together and things they were experimenting with. But then the next question was like how do you involve students in this? How do you get students to be thinking about how they're going to interact with AI in their own personal lives? So it really was challenging people to think beyond, like tomorrow, and like the bigger impacts of AI, and I really loved hearing they were thinking not just about like what's happening right now in the classroom, what they need to prevent or encourage that. They were thinking about how are students going to live with a world full of AI everywhere and just what is the impact of AI in general for all of us. So that is a nice switch to see the conversation go from like small to really big.

Fonz: 16:22

That is great Just to hear about that, especially because, again, many times we can get very wowed by the tool and obviously sometimes we think like, okay, in my content, how can I use this to expedite something or a menial task? Or if I need to create something, what can I use to make it faster, quicker, prettier and things of that sort, just so I can go ahead and just continue with the curriculum. But again, like that transition of going from that to the larger implications, now thinking outside of just the curriculum, but again, like that transition of going from that to the larger implications, now thinking outside of just the classroom. I think that's fantastic, because one of the things that you mentioned that I want to touch on too is the ethical considerations, the environmental impact. A lot of that kind of gets lost in the wayside because it's all about like just the flash, you know, the ribbons, the glitter of the tool. There needs to be that fine balance, you know, for both, and as much as a lot of people are, you know, very cautious or they're all in, you know there needs to be that. At least have that discourse and talking about OK, what's the good, what's the bad? How can we kind of just meet in the middle and obviously making sure that we're using it responsibly.

Fonz: 17:33

And I think that's for me one of the biggest things is just really, with a lot of the tools, it's just the age limit, a lot of the tools, it's just the cost. And her husband and she comes from a 2000 student district. I come from like about a 10,000 school district student school district and for a lot for us it's like we're getting priced out. You know of a lot of these the popular apps Our neighboring school districts may be able to afford it, but we can't.

Fonz: 18:11

Popular apps Our neighboring school districts may be able to afford it, but we can't. And so where does that leave our students? Even within the school district? Some discrepancies from north side, south side and so on. So just trying to balance all of that and making sure that we're able to get equitable access to internet for our students, but also just for tools, and to be able to learn more and be able to experience that a little bit more, has been a little difficult. But I do love the fact that you get to have those conversations also with the data privacy side, which is definitely something huge, and you know that's wonderful, and so is this something that is ongoing, or did you just do kind of like that first cohort and then there'll be another cohort that follow it next year, right?

Stacy: 18:53

yeah, we, we just did the first cohort. It was like October through early December, six weeks splits, all in for six weeks and we're taking a break and I think there are conversations happening about doing another round of this in the spring. I think before we even started in the fall we were talking about doing another round of this in the spring. I think before we even started in the fall we were talking about doing another round in the spring because there were people that decided they were interested after we had closed the applications and things. So, yeah, I hope that we do it again. I've got everything already kind of built out. I know what I'm doing. I might change a few things around in the lineup of the order of things and all that, but it was really remarkable to hear how teachers received the content.

Stacy: 19:38

I'm just thinking back how you were talking about access and students getting into the tools. I think one of the things that I thought right away when I first was learning about ChatGPT and experimenting myself, I was I need to get my kids into these tools right away so that they're experienced and ready for the workforce. And you know, you hear all these scary things like you need to be getting your kids in the tools. The more I learned and the more I, the more I realized that's not necessarily what the students need right now. For me, I think they need to learn what AI is and how it works, and they need to be able to evaluate its output and analyze AI and be really critical of AI. But I don't think they necessarily need to get into the tools right away.

Stacy: 20:26

So if you're at a school that doesn't have access to the tools, that's not a barrier for you to teach your students. You can still get them to understand how AI works and you can still give them AI generated content to evaluate and have them compare this human generated text versus AI generated, or have them looking at AI generated images and talking about bias. And when we're talking about AI bias, we can't not talk about our own bias, right? It's not just out of thin air from technology. It started with humans and it's being perpetuated through the technology. So we don't have to put those conversations on hold just because we don't have access for the students to immediately interact. They can still be learning all of those other prerequisites before they get there and even if they're using tech, you know they may be using AI in the apps on their phones, so it's still super important for us to teach them to understand and evaluate. Yeah.

Fonz: 21:30

And I think, like you said, you hit the nail on the head too as well on that aspect, and then so my question to you is you know, with those tips in place you mentioned, you know helping our students even though they may have access or no access to the tools how is it that, maybe through coaching your teachers, they have possibly given opportunity to students to be able to learn this?

Fonz: 21:54

Because right now I don't know if this is just in Texas, but Texas, from January to about April, late April, what we call is like star testing season. It's like all hands on deck, and that's really that's our focus, 1000%, and so everything else probably falls by the wayside. I was talking yesterday to Amori, and it just seems like, you know, in Texas there's always kind of like that spring lull where nothing happens because it's all state testing and state testing focus, and then everything gets kind of picked up and start talking about it again, maybe in the late fall, but January on it's like hands off. I want to ask you, though, what kind of opportunities have your teachers been able to give the students like as far as discussions are concerned, because I'm sure that there's a lot of coaches out there like very similar to you that are also, you know, like how can I introduce this a little bit more with my teachers and make sure that it starts getting to the students? What are some ideas, or are maybe things that you have done you out?

Stacy: 22:53

For sure. I think focusing on those human intelligence skills is something you could do without AI. Giving students things that challenge their critical thinking, having them debate, having them to just show empathy, reading things that are helping them develop their empathy, or having conversations, collaborating, collaborative projects, creativity those are all things AI is not doing for them. It's not going to replace developing those things that are uniquely human, is going to help them even before they get to using AI for school or for work or anything else. I have ninth grade students and my particular class has not been very ready to interact with AI yet. So I have been trying to do a lot of the creativity, collaboration, all of those things. But I just today was talking to a teacher who went through the AI fellowship program in the fall and she was telling me this story about her senior students in 12th grade who did like a fishbowl talk, where students are, you know, talking in the middle and the outside's observing. She did nothing to lead, but she had given them an article about AI that the students had read. They were leading.

Stacy: 24:16

The entire conversation Went into all the topics about, you know, should there be guardrails? She said. They use all the terminology from the article. Should there be guardrails, you know? Should we be using it in school? Who is responsible for monitoring student use of AI, like they went on, are like ready to just dive in and talk about it, that they will do the conversating, conversating the talking themselves and lead, lead the way. And there doesn't need to be a whole lot of teacher input or even preparation for that. Just give them some resources and they will have their own conversation about what they think about AI and that's super empowering and building their student agency in the class as well. I thought that was just a really awesome example of a student handing, or a teacher handing it over to her students and letting them go through those ethical conversations amongst themselves.

Fonz: 25:22

I absolutely love that, too, because one of the things that I love that I always mentioned is I wish there was more discourse in classrooms, but this I mean just to be able to have a whole class participate. You've got your listening group, you've got your speakers, the research that went into it, the groundwork they put in, and just to be able to have them express themselves and get their ideas out and their thought process. I think that that is fantastic and it was getting my creative juices flowing too and just taking down mental notes, and I know, as I listened to the episode again, I know I'll be writing some of this stuff down. I loved it because it was very low tech empowering students to talk about the or have these conversations, learning where they stand and giving them agency and amplifying their voice. I think that's fantastic, and it goes in with those human intelligence qualities that we do talk about, because those are definitely going to be very important as the tech continues to evolve. You definitely want to be ready with those critical thinking skills to make sure that you don't take any output as gospel and just say, oh, it must be true, because this is the output that I got, and then you're putting it out to whomever it is that you're giving that output to, so things of that sort, and I think that's fantastic. I really love that idea.

Fonz: 26:38

So I'm glad to see how your teachers having this experience, getting the information and making those connections from just not just using the tool and how to use the tool to create something and do it effectively, but to go beyond that and just say, okay, like this is the bigger picture and we're diving in deeper and it goes beyond the tool.

Fonz: 27:01

Now you're going into learning more about this type of technology that is out there and I think that's fantastic and the more aware they are, the better decisions they'll make and, of course, the better uses of this technology that they'll have because they'll know and or have those experiences too. So I want to ask you and maybe this might be a tougher question, I know we talked a little bit about that barrier, you know with the teachers which is really getting them to think outside of just the classroom and going beyond the tool. But and it doesn't have to be this is not just for your district, but this is just asking you overall, with what you've seen, with your involvement, connections on LinkedIn, human intelligence movement and the work you're doing and putting out there, and maybe just also through your experience, what would you say some of the biggest barriers of entry, or what are some of the biggest barriers right now for teachers as far as AI is concerned, you know, in education.

Stacy: 28:01

I think sometimes we think we need to know all the ins and outs of something before we use it, like they think they need to like be shown how to do anyway, or what's different about what this chatbot just told me versus what I already know as a professional? And there is just one little text box that you're typing in, but at the same time, you have to have a plan for what you want to see and you have to ask the right question in order to see something that is actually of value to you. It's super easy, but at the same time, it is something that you should be really intentional about. So I think teachers are kind of hesitant and waiting to like know how to get in and use it the right way, even though there isn't really too many wrong ways other than just maybe clicking a button and getting something that's not very useful.

Stacy: 29:07

But one of the things that was the driving theme for our fellowship program was tying it to equity and anti-racism. Our school district has done a fantastic job of really educating teachers about their selves right. We've done a lot of work about equity and making our classes more humanizing, and I'm very thankful for all of that internal work that I've been able to undergo through other trainings that we've been offered, I knew that that was something that the leaders of our school district really cared about, and with talking about AI and how we can use it to not just reproduce the same old and thinking about doing education better and different, I knew that I had to attach to the dreams of being more anti-racist and more humanizing. The whole fellowship program has revolved around the question how might we use AI to become more humanizing teachers, which is kind of funny to think about. You're using a machine to become more human, but that's just something we should explore.

Stacy: 30:14

It ended up being really awesome to tie the entire program to that driving question. Every week, even though I had a different AI topic about how generative AI, we were talking about student agency and using the tools to redo curriculum or make things more engaging, relevant and meaningful content, and how we can use AI to bring more of our students' interests and all of that to the classroom, intentionally prompting the chatbots to build more moments for equity into the classes that you're teaching. I feel like that's been like equally transformative. Along with getting the like critical lens that I wanted everyone to get, they're also building their equity lens and using AI to become more equitable.

Fonz: 31:23

You know one thing that I love there to become more equitable.

Fonz: 31:25

You know, one thing that I love there, which I thought was fantastic, is the intentionality of being able to connect your fellowship and the coursework that's there, but you're connecting it to the framework that your district is using for curriculum and just really bringing those two worlds together. If it's siloed, you know the fellowship I mean it will be effective. But when you make that connection to your district as a whole, it's very intentional and in line with the mission and vision of the district. I think that that is a fantastic idea and I think for you know, for administrators or anybody else that might be listening to this show, I mean here's a great way to be able to learn the technology, learn and go in deep, but also tie it to the mission and vision of the school district, using some of those outputs and skills that the teachers already have and sprinkling them on to what you know they are already doing great, but as a whole, continuing to grow. I had never thought about that Stacy, and this is fantastic. So thank you for this great share.

Stacy: 32:36

You come in and there's all these pressing initiatives and then no one has room for AI on top of those other initiatives, like it's not that pressing that people are like we're going to stop talking about equity and anti-racism so that we can talk about artificial intelligence. That was not going to happen. But you put them together and people start to realize like we can do more equitable things through our use of AI, intentionally. So showing people how to create custom chatbots and upload all those documents and be able to tell your chatbot like these are the values that I care about. These are the things I'm trying to do in my class.

Stacy: 33:14

What am I missing? What could I still do differently? How can I change my grading practices to be more equitable? Those are conversations that we love having with other teachers and other human beings to like learn from each other, but there's not always somebody right there, but AI is always right there 24 seven, even in your PLC meeting or department meeting. At the same time, pull up your chat bot, load up all your documents, tell it what you're working on and get some ideas or direction or something to help you do more of the things that you're already doing well.

Fonz: 33:52

That is great. I love it. Well, Stacy, it's been wonderful getting to chat with you and just getting to learn more about the fabulous work that you're doing, leaving this conversation right now, like you know, just really inspired and just by what you have shared, because you've shared things I haven't thought about and you know, and even though I read a lot of posts but there's just too much being able to talk to you now the source of these posts and to hear from you it's just amazing the opportunities that there are, you know, and obviously all with, with caution, thoughtful process, but I love just the way that you brought those two worlds together and like this connection between the fellowship, the mission and vision of the district to make it just something that there's a lot of connection there, involvement, there's buy-in and it just falls in line and I think that's fantastic. I'm really loving it and right now I'm just like processing it and just like, wow, this is great.

Stacy: 34:49

I can work from struggling to get AI off the ground. Attach it to what you're already doing. I promise that is the key to getting these conversations started.

Fonz: 34:59

Well, Stacy, I'm going to ask you before we go into the next three questions. You know yourself as a coach and being able to facilitate, you know, these types of courses for your teachers, or just really giving them information. What might be two actionable steps for somebody in your role or a coaching role wanting to implement this? Or talk a little bit more about AI? What might be two tips low barrier to entry to be able to get this information out to teachers.

Stacy: 35:33

All right, attach it to things you're already doing that's number one and then start modeling how you're using it to do more of the good things that you're doing. Right? I think a lot of the time we talk about AI like being magic and sparkles, and then also we talk about reimagining the entire education system. But what are like the small things that you can do to like take baby steps and not leap into a complete transformation of the entire education system? Like show people that there are baby steps, start leading little workshops during lunchtime, or like lead something after school, invite people to see and start showing them where they can make those connections. I think that is like a really good entry point for this.

Fonz: 36:25

That is wonderful. Thank you so much for those great tips. Tip number one definitely, I think that's going to be the best one. Like you said, attach it to something that already is intentional or meaningful within the district and just that way it gets out there. Tip number two, also just baby steps, one step at a time. Keep it simple and streamlined, but keep moving forward. I love it. Well, Stacy, before we wrap up, you know, as always, we've got our last three questions, so hopefully you know we can get some great answers from you. I'm very curious to hear about question number one, what your answer is for that. And, as you know, every superhero has a point, a pain point or a weakness, something that just causes them just to weaken a bit that the villains try to use, and for Superman, kryptonite was something that weakened him. So I want to ask you, in the current state of education, what would you say is your current edu kryptonite?

Stacy: 37:21

Oh man, current edu kryptonite. That's a tough one. I'm feeling so juiced these days. I'm so energized by so many things. Man, I think one of my pain points right now is the lack of balance between hype and skepticism. I think we need to all be right in the middle. We can't be like AI will do everything for us, or like don't touch it with a 10-foot pole, like it's got to be that we see both sides of the spectrum and that we know when AI is helpful and when it's not, what is better left to a human and what is okay to like bring in our machines. I think that's it.

Fonz: 38:11

I love that. That is a great answer. Wonderful answer, All right. Question number two If you could have a billboard with anything on it, what would it be and why?

Stacy: 38:24

It would have to have some truth because I tell you, I live near San Francisco. The last time I was driving through the city it was billboard after billboard of AI hype and like not even true hypness. It was like things that were not even. It was like what was one that I saw.

Stacy: 38:50

It didn't say do this with AI, it was like AI will do this for you, type of messaging. And I was like, no, that is not what we need people to think about AI doing it for them. It needs to be a collaboration with AI that you are doing things together and always centering the human being. So I think if I were to have my own billboard right in the middle of all those with bad messaging, it would have to be some really powerful, balanced message or anti-AI message or some reminder for people to like question what they're seeing, just to kind of counterbalance that narrative that you just go onto an AI tool and it's going to solve all your problems and do things for you, or that it's going to do it better than you. That's not true.

Fonz: 39:36

There you go. I like that so great balance, because you're absolutely right. I know I think I've seen on social media some posts that are out there. I mean, I don't get to see them here in my area, but it'll say something like you know why hire humans, hire like a virtual bot or hire this, and I'm like, oh my gosh, like this is ridiculous, you know. So it's just like you said finding that balance and that human touch. We still need that human touch, that human approach. I love that, all right.

Stacy: 40:06

So here we go, some kind of like very humanizing.

Fonz: 40:08

Don't forget the people there you go. I love that. All right. Last question If you had the opportunity to trade places with one person for a day, who would it be, and why?

Stacy: 40:21

Last time I was on your podcast I said I would trade places with one of my children and I think I definitely would enjoy trading places with my children for a day, just to like have life a little bit easier for a day. But I also would be interested in swapping roles with someone who travels and gets to do exciting things for a day, just because I get to do a lot of fun things at school and for my district and it's really exciting. But I'm not. I'm a mom of three. I'm not traveling, I'm not leaving the area, going anywhere exciting. But I see Saba Kidwai and her sidekick, sophie going to all these other places and it looks really fun and exciting to travel and get to present about AI and talk to educators. So I think it'd be fun for a day to be in their shoes and tag along for the ride.

Fonz: 41:19

I would say you can be Saba, and I don't mind being Sophie.

Fonz: 41:22

They'll be their hype girl yeah we'll trade places with them for a day. I wouldn't mind being Sophie, they'll be there hyped, they're all like, yeah, we'll trade places with them for a day. I wouldn't mind that at all. Well, I mean, Stacy, thank you so much for today. Thank you for this wonderful conversation, just your enthusiasm and just your knowledge and passion for education as a whole, you know, and just being able to help educators navigate this space and it's been two years, there's been a lot of things happening and just to have leaders like you, you know, that are putting out great content on LinkedIn, that are encouraging others, that always have just some wonderful words and just great strategies, I mean I'm just thank you so much again for everything that you put out, you know, because it is very valuable and for us like myself in in this role and for other coaches that are in that role too, just to hear from voices like yours, the human intelligence movement and all our other connections on LinkedIn. It has been a wonderful learning experience and journey. So thank you for all of your shares today I really appreciate it and for all our audience members. Please make sure that you do connect with Stacy. Everything, all the information, will be on the show notes, but definitely follow her on LinkedIn. She puts out some amazing things there as well and just definitely connect her there. She's so great. I'm pretty sure that if you message her, she'll definitely help you out or answer any questions or, if not, lead you to somebody that can help also as well. She definitely has a great network. I can definitely assure you of that.

Fonz: 42:44

So thank you, Stacy, and all our audience members, thank you, as always, for making my EdTech Life part of your day. Please make sure you visit our website at myedtechlife, where you can check out this amazing episode and the other 308 wonderful episodes where, I guarantee you, you will find a little knowledge nugget that you can sprinkle onto what you are already doing. Great. And if you haven't done so yet, please jump over to our YouTube channel, give us a thumbs up and subscribe. We're this close to a thousand subscribers and we definitely want to get to that. That's our mission for 2025. And I think we're about 35 short, so maybe you can be that lucky 35th person that is, our thousand subscriber, which would help out the show immensely. So please make sure that you join us on YouTube as well and follow us on all socials at my ed tech life. So again, friends, thank you as always, from the bottom of my heart, and until next time, don't forget, stay techie. Thank you.