Points, not percentages

The mechanic

Points for completing an action

Students are used to getting a percentage grade. Sometimes they even get a certain number correct out of ten. But think about what that percentage already is — in order to pass, a student needs a certain number of points.

A basic system is to turn the percentage into a straight point value. To pass, the student needs 70 points. Per semester, the goal is 140. And so on.

This subtle change stirs the thinking toward a gamification mindset. Students can track their progress in point values and know that once they reach 280 for the whole year, they win. Some students will even figure out that they can reach that minimum in the third nine weeks.

We stop saying “I need this grade to pass” and start working out how to get the points instead.

What if we called these experience points — XP — and when you reach a certain amount, you level up?

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Ethical AI

Using AI with intent and efficiency

Using AI well isn’t about using it more — it’s about using it on purpose. You should have a specific plan written out before you even open any AI. Here’s a clean way to think about it.

Start with intent. Why am I using AI? Be clear about the job:

• Are you saving time?
• Improving quality?
• Generating ideas?
• Automating something repetitive?

If you can’t answer that in one sentence, AI will give you noise instead of value.

Focus on efficiency. How do I use it best? Efficiency comes from how you interact with it. Be specific, never broad.

Weak: “Help me with a lesson”

Strong: “Create a 20-minute intro activity on chemical reactions using real-world examples for 9th graders”

Offload the right tasks. AI is not great as a final decision-maker, or for anything that needs deep context without guidance. Think of AI as a research assistant rather than an answer bank.

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The read

It can be done

How water-free cooling systems are transforming sustainable construction and data center design

Microsoft has plans to make data centers more efficient and to use less water. Based on this article, data centers can be constructed using little to no water, and they are finding other places to put the enormous amount of heat that is produced.

Some questions to consider — and to write your representatives about:

1. Why aren’t all data centers being required to use these water-free cooling systems?
2. Some of these companies are paying upwards of $40,000 an acre for food-producing farmland that is vital to our nation. With that much money involved, why wouldn’t they automatically incorporate these water-free cooling systems? Who benefits from that?
3. Should we trust that rushed construction of data centers will incorporate these water-free cooling systems later?

Feel free to copy and paste these questions into your correspondence with your representatives.

Please be aware: this article only covers water-free cooling systems. It does not address all of the controversy surrounding data centers. It touches on noise pollution, the amount of land being consumed, and other potential dangers. The focus is the water-free cooling systems that seem to be able to be used in any and all data centers.

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Field notes

A box of Cheez-Its

I remember when I first started using my bulletin board like a game board. I told the students they were going to a deserted island, and that they could research one item to take. The premise was that they would be trapped there and would use their standards in tasks for survival.

I must have sold it well. One student showed up the next day so excited that she brought her item. She believed we were really going, and she needed her item above all others.

What was the item, you ask? A box of Cheez-Its.