Elephants, Gorillas, No AI: Thoughts from a day spent at Nebraska Administrator Days

 The Nebraska Council of School Administrators puts on a summer event before school starts called Administrator Days. This year, for the third year in a row, I joined the conference, this time for just one day. I heard a lot about reading, changes to CTE, law, and behavior, but almost nothing about AI. Now, the Nebraska Department of Education and the ESUCC put together one session on the unified approach to Tech, including AI, and did an amazing job. But that was it. I tried to dig through the program and find a significant representation for this thing that is looming over us and disrupting our business as usual. Crickets.

This is the elephant that isn’t in the room, the gorilla that was not invited, and whatever other metaphor you would like to have about ignoring a real problem.

Crickets.

I am of two minds here. Reading is still important, maybe more than ever. Focusing on basic skills and making sure our students are ready to tackle any and all academic work through this medium is important, mission-critical, crucial. Hell, I was trained as a professor of literacy and taught reading to students of all ages with a reading disability. Yes it is VERY important. So maybe, we should talk about it with our leaders. I actually love the focus from the deprtment, that says no matter

But the relative silence about AI. Not just in the room and the program but in the corridor conversations, hit me hard. AI is here; it is changing classrooms, learning, and what our students can and will do with or without permission. Most districts in Nebraska have adopted legal language around AI, warning against unethical use and making AI policy a topic for teacher decisions. In essence, school systems are making it teachers’ problem.

So the positive spin on the lack of conversation around AI is that our schools are not being distracted by this shiny new thing. They need to improve what they are doing for every student at any age. I am all in for focusing on what students need. Another reason can be that we need to wait for this innovation to settle before we do anything about it.

The not-so-positive look is that schools, through their leaders, are sending a message that this enormous change that is sweeping through society and is now available to any student who has access to the internet, is not a big deal. Is this the right message?

My fear is that, by ignoring the reality forming on the ground, administrators are abandoning teachers to figure it out on their own, as the policy itself says. I actually love giving teachers agency, but at the same time you need to give them tools and force the issue. I want every Math teacher to know there is an app that allows students to upload any assignment and get the answer step by step. I want them to think about adjusting the way they do business BEFORE they catch the first student “cheating”. It’s not enough to say every teacher can create policy in her classroom. Give them some tools, quickly, before we have another completely avoidable crisis with discouraged teachers and students who are not spending enough time in the friction of learning.

I hope I am wrong and everything is going to be great; AI is going to be a non-event for education. But since I am right now in Chicago trying to learn further about it- you know where I stand.