Education Question Roulette #3: What universal skills do you want your students to learn?

This was quite a weighty question, particularly for a Saturday morning but one that was incredibly rewarding to answer. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that teachers are only teaching content knowledge. A lot of non-educators assume that ELA teachers are simply teaching about Shakespeare and Dickens or that math teachers are just teaching about quadratic equations and the Pythagorean theorem.

In reality teachers are not just teaching content knowledge but the higher level thinking skills behind that content. This includes critical thinking, drawing inferences, evaluating evidence and using it to support conclusions, and applying specific content-related skills and content to solving real world questions and problems. When reframing education away from teaching classical content and towards these universal, transferrable skills, you can truly see how dynamic and worthwhile an investment PK-12 education really is.

Check out my video where I answer this question in depth. Extended Video

Here is a very quick, one minute answer to this question. One Minute Video

These videos are meant to serve as my feelings on this topic in greater detail.

Submitted April 4, 2026 at 09:18AM by Adorable_Pudding_413 https://ift.tt/zQ5LyCv

I’m a college admissions counselor. I’ve changed my mind about students using ChatGPT

As a college admissions counselor, I have edited hundreds of essays. This is the first year my students asked whether they should use artificial intelligence to write them. I warned them not to. I told them it would flatten their voices, that there would be no metaphors, dialogue, sensory details — the things that make an essay feel alive. But few listened to my advice. 

During one session, a student had her mom run her supplemental essay for her application to Cornell University through ChatGPT. When I read it, I had to admit that it was better than the version I had worked on with the student. It had, I confess, a stronger metaphor and ending. Another student asked me if I could tell that their essay was AI-generated. I couldn’t. 

With acceptencre rates falling at many U.S. colleges thanks to an increase in applications, students feel pressure to apply to more schools, and AI programs help them do that faster. ChatGPT, for instance, is being used increasingly to help construct essays. Rather than fight against it, I reluctantly provided feedback on the AI-enhanced drafts, trying to ensure that my students were turning abstract ideas into concrete ones. Following the maxim “show, don’t tell,” some essays needed a paragraph rewritten. Others benefited from minor adjustments, like removing cliches. 

When early application results came in, my students using AI-generated essays got into their top choices: Georgia Tech, University of Michigan, University of Virginia and other schools. One even earned a Coca-Cola Scholarship, a prestigious $20,000 award with a less than 1% acceptance rate. With each acceptance, I had to admit I’d been wrong about using AI. 

Submitted April 3, 2026 at 07:33AM by Cool-Present7260 https://ift.tt/pK2vnOW

What are like any short term career courses that are good to take ?

I want to get better job because I’ve already worked at fast food and retail store. I’m also 29 which makes me feel like it’s too late to enroll in college. But like I don’t want to get in those trade jobs that are physically demanding. I was hoping to get like white collar or office type sorta job. Since majority of those jobs are done on a computer

Submitted April 3, 2026 at 03:40AM by Jpoolman25 https://ift.tt/uQr10BD

Would going to boarding school benefit me?

So here is some personal context, I'm a 15 year old going into my sophomore year in august. I live across the country but am constantly flying to another state to pursue the sport I am in. I'm currently doing my GCSEs online (i shifted to online school in september because i get horrible migraine attacks and used to have horrible anxiety about going to school because of the people there) and then do my A Levels and eventually go to the UK for university. It's very likely i'm going to end up going to boarding school within the next 2 years anyways but theres a lot of things not wanting to move, (my family in another state, friends, boyfriend who i will have to dump, etc, etc.) But i need this move to grow in my sport.

Now if anyones been to boarding school in highschool what was it like? did you enjoy? what are some things i should be careful about and after hearing a little about me will it benefit me?

Submitted April 3, 2026 at 02:12AM by fayewestlock-2480 https://ift.tt/2NpjhPs

Should we take TC from 2nd std college (Akash tie-up) and switch to correspondence? (70k fees waste?)

Hi All,

My nephew is studying 2nd standard. We enrolled him in Akash Institute(JEE), which is tied up with some college XYZ. Recently, we found out the classes are useless — they only cover English, Hindi, and Computer subjects. We're paying ₹70k college fees for this.

Questions:

1. Can we take TC from this college and switch her to correspondence 2nd PU? (he's already doing PCM at Akash Institute)
2. Is there a better alternative than wasting ₹70k on useless classes?

Please guide us on the best path forward.

Thanks!

Submitted April 2, 2026 at 05:18AM by gattu1992 https://ift.tt/91Pez7Q

AI DETECTION

Help, what (free) websites are good for AI detection and such?

Submitted April 2, 2026 at 01:28AM by LowkeyJournalist6 https://ift.tt/8TorUsl

Do people always judge Ivy League graduates positively?

Or not always

Submitted April 2, 2026 at 12:30AM by Ashamed_Serve_719 https://ift.tt/qSWLkix