In this episode, Priten speaks with Brian Tash, an elementary school teacher with nearly 30 years of experience who has witnessed the complete arc of education technology—from Scantrons to Google Classroom to AI. Brian shares how he balances technology integration with preserving fundamental skills like reading stamina and handwriting. The conversation covers his transparent approach to using AI for faster student feedback, why he's concerned about declining empathy and attention spans post-COVID, how he teaches prompt engineering to third and fourth graders, and his hope that educators will become more mindful about why they're using technology rather than just adopting everything new. He argues that personal connection, problem-solving, and collaboration are what students need most—and those can't come from a screen.

Key Takeaways:

• Follow the 80-20 rule with AI. AI gets you 80% of the way—the other 20% is you adding your own elements. This applies to teachers giving feedback and students creating work.
• Transparency builds trust. When students understand why you're using AI for feedback, they embrace it. Brian's study found 90% of students were in favor once they understood the reasoning.
• Technology can't replace human connection. Students need to learn how to talk to each other, problem-solve collaboratively, and develop empathy—skills that don't come from screens.
• Stamina is the real crisis. Post-COVID students struggle to push through hard things. The growth mindset isn't there. Writing a paragraph makes their hands hurt.
• Teach prompting, not just usage. Focus on prompt engineering—how to get what you want from AI. Experiment with students: change the words, add details, see what happens.
• Standards-based grading may help. With clear standards, teachers can focus instruction, use AI to target specific skills, and have more time for the human elements once mastery is achieved.