The Creative Classroom with John Spencer Podcast
1) Using AI to Spark Deeper Learning
AI represents both a dream and a warning for education. On one hand, it offers personalized feedback, instant support, and creative possibilities that can make learning more dynamic than ever. On the ...Show More
2) Empowering Students to Self-Select the Scaffolds
When I was a new teacher, I had a goal of differentiating instruction for every student. I would provide additional directions, project sheets, tutorials, and small group instruction for any student w...Show More
3) Students Need to Explore the Nature of AI
In 2014, Microsoft launched a hugely successful AI bot named Xiaoice in China. With over forty million conversations, users often described feeling as though they were interacting with a real human. M...Show More
4) Rethinking How We Use AI for Writing
We keep talking about AI in schools like it is either a miracle or a menace, and that either-or mindset steers us into two dead ends. One path hands the wheel to the tool and mistakes novelty for real...Show More
5) The Surprising Element for Empowering Your Students in Collaboration
Collaboration is one of the most powerful forces in learning. Yet it can also be one of the hardest things to cultivate. Too often, students struggle to share ideas, listen to one another, or take cre...Show More
6) 10 Creative Risks to Take With Your Students This Year
As the year begins, we are all thinking about the idea of building a classroom community. Although I am no longer at the K-12 level, I am reminded of the power of community as I think about the cohort...Show More
7) How Deeper Learning Can Address Summer Learning Loss
Every year, we hear news reports about the “summer slide,” or the summer learning loss. Students arrive to school behind where they left off in May or June. This is a real challenge. But t...Show More
8) Back to School in the Age of AI
Throughout this summer, I’ve had the opportunity to lead professional development on ethical AI integration throughout the United States. In some cases, it’s been a keynote and customized ...Show More
9) The Slow Work of Great Teaching – Why Speed Can’t Be the Only Metric for Student Success
When I was a student, I thought I was a top tier reader. My teacher didn’t do numbers for our reading groups. She chose large cats. But I knew that it was better to be a Lion than an Ocelot. I k...Show More
10) Deeper Learning is a Better Path Forward
Teaching has always been challenging, but right now it feels heavier. In this piece, I share a conversation with Mike, a fifth-grade teacher who’s feeling the weight of tech distractions, AI-written e...Show More