What if the best way to teach students about AI is to hand them the keys and let them learn to drive?

Mike Taubman has spent two decades at North Star Academy Washington Park High School in Newark, New Jersey, where he now serves as teacher, program director, and AI innovation lead at Uncommon Schools. He joined North Star in 2005 as a founding English teacher, and a sabbatical years later spent auditing Jal Mehta's "deeper learning" class at Harvard reshaped how he thinks about mastery, creativity, and identity in the classroom. That thinking became Summit, the purpose and career exploration course he built for juniors and seniors, and this past spring it grew into an AI literacy pilot with his colleague Scott Kern that landed on the front page of The New York Times and on The Daily podcast.

In this conversation, Mike walks through the framework he built with students: AI as a car, something humans made, something we drive, something that comes with rules of the road. He shares how his students wrote their own AI Declaration of Independence, why he caps AI use at 20 percent of a class period, and why the relationship with a student always comes before the tool.

What you'll learn:

The AI as a car framework: why treating AI as something humans built and drive, not a force to simply accept, changes how students engage with it.

The AI Declaration of Independence: how Mike's students defined their own principles for what AI should and shouldn't do.

The 20/80 rule: why AI should never be more than a fifth of a class period, and what fills the rest of the time.

Relationship before rubric: why knowing a student's name by Friday matters more than any AI feedback tool.

A $20 experiment: Mike's simple suggestion for any educator wondering where to start this summer.

Brett and Rebecca sit with Mike to talk through what it looks like to stay in the driver's seat instead of becoming a passenger to this technology. Tune in, subscribe, and share if you're ready to turn up the volume on what's possible in education.

AI can help school leaders save time. But saved time is only valuable if leaders know where to spend it.

This week on AmpED to 11, Brett is joined by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, founder and dean of the Leverage Leadership Institute and author of Leverage Leadership 3.0. Paul has spent twenty-five years studying the habits, systems, and leadership moves that help schools improve, and his answer keeps returning to the same place: the moments when leaders are directly helping teachers get better.

In this episode, Paul brings a grounded perspective to one of the biggest questions in education right now. If AI can reduce the administrative burden on school leaders, how do we make sure those recovered hours go toward coaching, observation, feedback, and the kind of instructional leadership that actually changes outcomes?

The conversation explores what makes teacher development different from evaluation, why excellent practice needs to be seen before it can be replicated, and why AI tools trained on the average of everything may not be enough for schools trying to become exceptional. It is a thoughtful, practical episode for anyone thinking seriously about AI, leadership, and school improvement. Rebecca is away this week, so there is no AI Tip or News segment.

Listen to the full episode to hear how AI could help leaders refocus on the work that changes schools.

Rebecca hosts solo this week for a timely conversation with David Bowman, cybersecurity director for one of Utah’s largest K-12 districts, a member of the State of Utah Cyber Commission, and chair of the Statewide K-12 Cybersecurity Council. David brings a clear, practical view of what student data privacy really means inside schools, beginning with a classroom exercise where he showed students just how much information about them could be gathered, connected, and exposed. From there, the episode moves into the recent Canvas breach, the third-party analytics tools quietly embedded in EdTech platforms, and the difficult questions district leaders need to ask before trusting vendors with student information.

At the heart of the conversation is David’s argument that the greatest threat to student data is not always the outside hacker. Often, it is the company already inside the district’s ecosystem, collecting more information than schools or families realise. Rebecca and David discuss how districts can create stronger privacy expectations, build data protection into procurement, communicate more clearly with parents, and hold vendors accountable when their practices do not match the responsibility of serving children. David also explains why privacy cannot sit separately from teaching, leadership, or purchasing decisions, and why schools need the confidence to “vote with your data” as well as with their budgets.

Tune in for a grounded, accessible conversation about cybersecurity, student privacy, vendor accountability, and the leadership choices that shape trust in K-12 education.

What are today's superintendents actually facing, and why AI alone won't fix it.

Brett Roer sits down with Amy Dujon, VP of Education Brands at ARC Network, who sees patterns across hundreds of districts. With 27 years in education, from classroom teacher to principal to district leadership, Amy brings a rare vantage point on the unprecedented challenges school leaders are navigating right now.

Key Topics:

• The simultaneous, interconnected crises superintendents are holding (mental health, teacher retention, chronic absenteeism, AI adoption)
• Why leaders aren't lacking ideas about AI, they're lacking time, policy cover, and bandwidth
• The critical shift: using AI to reduce operational friction so humans have more space for connection
• What must stay human: relationship building, mental wellness, and the connections only educators can provide
• How district leaders can adopt AI thoughtfully without replacing the heart of education

If you lead a school, district, or education organization, this conversation reframes the AI debate and offers a clearer path forward.

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What does it mean to prepare students for a world where the tools keep changing? Bill Bass has been wrestling with that question for over two decades. As Innovation Coordinator for Parkway School District, serving 18,000 students across 29 communities, and former president of ISTE, he's seen every wave of edtech come and go. And he's still here, still asking the hard questions.

In this episode of AmpED to 11, Bill joins Brett and Rebecca to talk about the very real tension schools are navigating right now: parents who want AI kept out of classrooms, and students who will step into a world where it's everywhere. He pushes back on the idea that removing technology protects kids, challenges the myth that any of this is neutral, and makes the case for letting students make mistakes with AI while the stakes are still low.

He also gets honest about what edtech gets wrong about schools, how he manages innovation across 29 communities with 29 different opinions, and why digital literacy isn't a destination, it's a moving target.

This is one of the most grounded, clear-eyed conversations we've had on the show. If you work in education or care about where it's heading, this one's for you.

Subscribe to AmpED to 11 for conversations that move education forward.

A student called his school's AI policy "consistently inconsistent", different every period, different every classroom. That phrase is the reason this episode exists.

Brett Roer travels to Briarcliff Manor, NY for a live in-person crossover with Dr. James Kaishian, Superintendent of Briarcliff Manor Schools and host of Superkast. Around the table: English teacher Karen McCarthy, Computer Science teacher Chris Lo, and seniors Ava Wu and Noah Rinke. One conversation. Two shows. One very honest hour.

Brett runs the AI rollercoaster with the students, period by period, rule by rule, then the Spider-Man finger-pointing exercise with everyone in the room. Students point at teachers. Teachers point at the superintendent. The superintendent points in a circle. Nobody points at themselves. That diffusion is the gap.

Karen questions whether she's the right person to lead on this. Chris gave up on AI-generated questions because verifying them took longer than writing his own. Ava asks the question the whole policy debate keeps missing.

Brett's argument: stop downloading template policies. Get two pizzas, sit with your own community, and record the conversation. The wisdom is already in the room.

This episode airs simultaneously on AmpED to 11 and Superkast. Find Dr. Kaishian's show on Spotify and everywhere you listen.

What does it look like when an educator refuses to stop growing?

For Rachelle Dené Poth, it meant going to law school while teaching full-time, not to escape the classroom, but to understand it more deeply. Today she's a Spanish and STEAM teacher, practicing attorney, author of 10 books, and an AI grant coach guiding 12 schools across the country through one of education's most transformative moments.

In this episode of AmpED to 11, Brett and Rebecca sit down with Rachelle to unpack what sustainable, high-impact teaching actually looks like in practice. Rachelle's story challenges the idea that doing more means burning out. Instead, she's built systems, voice-to-text workflows, AI-assisted writing routines, and intentional boundaries, that let her scale her impact without sacrificing her wellbeing.

Together they dig into:

• How law school made Rachelle a sharper, more empathetic classroom teacher
• The productivity systems she swears by that actually hold up under pressure
• Why student voice has to be at the table when schools build AI policy
• Her unconventional writing workflow that turns neighbourhood walks into book chapters
• How she supports schools navigating digital citizenship, digital wellness, and ethical AI

Whether you're a teacher trying to find your footing in an AI-accelerated world, a leader designing policy for your school, or someone who just needs a reminder that unconventional paths often lead somewhere extraordinary, this conversation is for you.

Subscribe to AmpED to 11 for honest, energising conversations about education, technology, and the humans making it all work.

What if school districts stopped buying AI tools and started building them?

In this episode, we talk with Daniel Friedman (Director of Technology, Hicksville Public Schools) and Dr. Patrick Fogarty (Assistant Superintendent, Hewlett Woodmere Public Schools & Founder of NYSAIC) about how educators are moving beyond vendor-dependent solutions to create their own local AI infrastructure.

They discuss:

• Building local LLMs for data privacy and student research
• Creating custom Regents exam generators through practitioner collaboration
• How real AI innovation happens in group chats at 2 AM, not in procurement meetings
• The shift from "What tool should we buy?" to "What can we build ourselves?"
• Why the New York State Artificial Intelligence Consortium matters for equity and access
• Solving hyper-specific district problems through grassroots innovation

Daniel and Patrick met 15 years ago during iPad rollouts and have remained colleagues through every technology transition since. Their work proves that the future of AI in education won't be shaped by EdTech companies, it will be shaped by practitioners solving real problems together.

Subscribe for more conversations about technology, education, and what's actually possible when educators lead the way.

Parents discover their teenagers are using AI in school, but they're learning about it after decisions are already made. Jason B. Allen, National Director of Partnerships at the National Parents Union, isn't interested in fixing a communication gap. He's here to close a partnership gap.

Jason brings 21 years in education as a certified teacher, special educator, and former school and district leader. He knows what happens when schools make tech decisions without families at the table. He also knows what it looks like when they do it right, and it changes everything about how students, teachers, and parents experience innovation together.

In this conversation, we dig into why 70-84% of students are using generative AI while only 16-20% of parents believe they are. We explore the real tension between technology departments and family engagement departments—and why ego, not resources, is often the barrier. Jason shares NPU's vision for technology fairs where parents and students evaluate EdTech tools before purchase, and he walks through the questions every parent should ask their school board about AI right now.

We also play the AI Effect game, a scenario-based exercise that shows how AI can actually support human connection, not replace it. The moment: using AI to prepare for a difficult conversation with a parent. Everyone at the table agreed it works.

What You'll Learn:

• The AI awareness gap - why 70-84% of students are using generative AI while only 16-20% of parents know
• Five questions for your school board - what every parent should ask about AI adoption and student data
• Technology fairs - how open partnership can shift schools from closed decisions to shared vetting
• The department turf war - why ego between tech and family engagement slows everyone down
• "We come when we're called" - what NPU's approach means for school districts ready to listen
• 2 million members strong - how NPU and 1,800+ partners are reshaping education policy

The AI Effect Game: We use a real scenario to show how generative AI can deepen parent conversations instead of replacing them. Listen for the moment the room shifts.

Brett Roer and Rebecca Bultsma guide the conversation, Rebecca as an AI ethics researcher and voice of structural thinking, Brett as the translator between what schools are doing and what families need to understand.

Tune in, subscribe, and share if you're ready to turn up the volume on what's possible in education.

What if the data that matters most isn't grades or test scores, but the messy, beautiful process of how students actually learn?

Erin Mote, CEO of InnovateEDU, joins Brett and Rebecca for a timely conversation on National AI Literacy Day 2026. Erin founded the EdSafe AI Alliance and leads a network of educational partnerships touching thousands of school districts nationwide. Her background spans enterprise architecture, personalized learning platforms, and global education technology initiatives.

This episode tackles one of education's most pressing questions: who owns the learning process data that AI systems are quietly collecting? Erin introduces the "ground lease on the family farm" metaphor—describing how foundational models are capturing the intellectual property of teachers and students to fuel AGI development. The conversation moves from policy to practice, exploring the White House's new AI framework (released the day of recording), EdTech accountability gaps where safety features become paid add-ons, and emerging research on AI bias in grading. Punya Mishra's work at ASU reveals how student dialect and cultural references can lower AI-assigned scores, raising urgent questions about fairness and trust.

What You'll Learn:

1. AI literacy as discernment — Why the Blueprint for AI Literacy focuses on critical thinking grounded in the science of learning and development, not just tool proficiency
2. Learning process data vs. PII — How students think, correct mistakes, and sequence productive struggle—and why this data is foundational for AGI
3. EdTech accountability tensions — The pattern of features pushed open by default while safety becomes a paid upgrade, and what shared responsibility really means
4. AI bias in grading — Research showing how dialectical differences like "y'all" and cultural preferences (rap vs. classical music) affect AI scoring
5. National AI Literacy Day evolution — From its founding three years ago to 140+ supporting organizations in 2026, with statewide events, year-round curriculum, and student town halls

The episode features two rounds of The Rhythm Project's AI Effect game, exploring AI-generated apologies and the ethics of using AI to grade 140 essays, plus Ocean's 11 recommendations from Erin's dream team of education innovators.

Brett and Rebecca bring fresh perspectives from recent work: Brett shares insights from presenting with Utah's Matt Winters on six panels exploring humanity in AI policy, while Rebecca reflects on governance research at Edinburgh Futures Institute as she completes her master's in AI ethics.

Tune in, subscribe, and share if you're ready to turn up the volume on what's possible in education.