BLM RI AAI

10/15/2026

Some people create the storm, then cry about the rain. 🎭🥀
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10/05/2026

Schools play an incredibly important role in shaping children, but they shouldn't be the first place a child learns basic manners and respect.

Teachers can reinforce kindness, courtesy, responsibility, and respect for others. They can set expectations, model good behavior, and hold students accountable when those expectations aren't met.

But the foundation has to start at home.

Saying "please" and "thank you." Listening when someone else is speaking. Respecting adults and other children. Understanding that "no" sometimes means no. Accepting correction without treating it as an attack.

These are lessons that make it easier for children to succeed not only in school, but throughout life.

The strongest classrooms exist when parents and teachers reinforce the same basic expectations, not when teachers are expected to introduce them from scratch.

Because when basic manners and respect arrive at school with the child, teachers can spend far more time doing what they entered the profession to do: teach.

10/05/2026

🚨 EVERYBODY IS FIGHTING FOR THE STUDENT DISRUPTING THE CLASS. WHO IS FIGHTING FOR THE OTHER 29?

Let's stop pretending those other children aren't losing something, too.

What about the little girl sitting in the front row?

She came to class on time.

Brought her supplies.

Opened her notebook.

Started her assignment.

Raised her hand because she needed help.

And she's STILL sitting there waiting.

Why?

Because her teacher is across the room dealing with a student who has decided nobody is getting through this lesson today.

He's arguing.

Refusing directions.

Interrupting.

Getting out of his seat.

The teacher redirects him.

He starts again.

She redirects him AGAIN.

And now 20 minutes of instructional time are GONE.

Meanwhile, that little girl's hand?

SHE PUT IT DOWN.

She stopped waiting.

She stopped asking.

And eventually, she just sat there.

THAT IS THE CHILD I WANT SOMEBODY TO TALK ABOUT.

Because we will hold an entire meeting about the student disrupting instruction.

We'll discuss his needs.

His interventions.

His behavior plan.

His accommodations.

His progress.

And those conversations matter. Children who struggle deserve appropriate support.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN WHO KEEP LOSING THEIR EDUCATION WHILE WE FIGURE IT OUT?

Where is THEIR plan?

Who's tracking how many lessons THEY missed?

Who's documenting how many times THEY couldn't get help?

Who's calling THEIR parents to explain why another class period disappeared?

👀

Because the student who quietly follows directions doesn't necessarily get another chance to learn what was supposed to be taught that day.

The child who was excited about the science experiment doesn't get that time back.

The child who needed extra help might go home STILL confused.

And the teacher?

She's now behind on the lesson, behind on the curriculum, and somehow STILL responsible for making sure everybody meets the standard.

BUT WHEN WAS SHE SUPPOSED TO TEACH IT?

Here's what I need people to understand.

This is not about abandoning children who need additional support.

It's about refusing to pretend that the needs of one child erase the needs of everybody else.

The student struggling with behavior deserves help.

THE OTHER 29 DESERVE AN EDUCATION.

Both things can be true.

And a teacher should not have to spend an entire class period choosing which children get her attention and which children have to wait.

Because the quietest students aren't necessarily the ones doing fine.

Sometimes they're the ones who have learned that raising their hands won't matter until somebody else stops disrupting the lesson.

And THAT should bother every single adult responsible for what happens inside a school.

Signed,

Elle

Former teacher. Current Corporate Learning Manager and Teacher Transition Coach who believes the children quietly losing their learning time deserve just as much attention as the children taking it away.

10/05/2026

If I have to compete for you, choose them.

10/05/2026

For centuries, one of the simplest ways to find out whether someone actually understood something was to sit across from them and ask them to explain it.

Now, as AI makes it increasingly easy to produce polished essays and completed assignments, that old method is making a comeback.

A growing number of college professors are bringing back oral exams and one-on-one “oral defenses” as a way to see whether students actually understand the work they submit. At Cornell, for example, students in one biomedical engineering course must defend their written problem sets through a 20-minute conversation with an instructor. At the University of Pennsylvania, professors are also pairing written work with oral examinations. (The Washington Post)

The reason is straightforward. An AI system can produce a convincing answer, but a student still has to understand that answer when a professor starts asking follow-up questions.

Why did you choose that approach? What does this line of code do? Can you explain this argument another way? What would happen if one of the assumptions changed?

Those questions require students to think in real time rather than simply submit a finished document.

Some educators are even using AI to conduct the oral exams themselves. At NYU Stern, one professor developed a voice-based AI examiner that asks students questions about their projects and follows up based on their answers. The goal is to make oral assessment practical even when instructors have large numbers of students. (The Washington Post)

The shift isn’t necessarily about trying to eliminate AI from education altogether. Many educators recognize that students will use AI in college and eventually in their careers. The bigger question is whether students are using it as a tool while still developing the ability to think, solve problems, communicate and understand their own work.

And oral exams aren’t a perfect solution. They can take considerable time, create anxiety for students, and don’t work equally well for every course or class size. Research and teaching guides describe them as one possible part of a broader assessment strategy rather than a complete answer to AI-related problems. (Worcester State University)

Still, there is something interesting about the return of such an old-fashioned method.

10/03/2026