Use it or lose it

The mechanic

Decaying points

Decaying points that require reactivation means points, experience, or progress gradually lose value if they aren’t used or maintained — creating a reason to come back and re-engage.

For example, in a classroom gamification system, a student might earn 100 XP for completing a challenge. If they don’t participate for two weeks, their XP begins to decay. They could then complete a review activity, join a discussion, or finish a challenge to reactivate their points and stop the decay.

The key is that this shouldn’t feel like punishment. The goal is a “use it or lose it” motivation loop that encourages consistent engagement. For students, I’d frame it as stabilizing or reactivating points rather than taking points away — especially if you’re using it in your gamification system.

Want to know what we called this when I first started teaching?

Spiral review.

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Ethical AI

Removing barriers, not lowering bars

Providing accessible content for students with disabilities means designing learning materials so that students with different physical, sensory, cognitive, or learning needs can access, understand, and demonstrate their knowledge — without barriers stacked on top of the challenges they already face.

In practice, that could include:

• Providing text-to-speech or audio versions of readings
• Adding captions and transcripts to videos
• Using clear headings, readable fonts, and strong color contrast
• Providing digital documents that work with screen readers
• Breaking complex directions into smaller, sequential steps
• Offering multiple ways to demonstrate learning — writing, speaking, creating, or demonstrating
• Using AI to simplify or rephrase instructions while maintaining the original learning objective
• Providing translations or vocabulary supports when appropriate
• Allowing students to adjust the pace, format, or amount of information they receive

The important distinction is that accessibility isn’t about lowering expectations. It’s about removing barriers that prevent students from reaching the same learning target. AI can make this much easier by quickly adapting content to different reading levels, formats, languages, and learning needs — provided the teacher reviews the output for accuracy and appropriateness.

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The read

Defines the skills, not the Monday

World Economic Forum — Beyond access: why AI literacy will define the future

The article makes a strong argument that the next digital divide may not be about access to technology, but about the ability to understand, evaluate, and use artificial intelligence effectively. Its strongest point is that AI literacy is much more than knowing how to use an AI tool. Students need to understand how AI works, recognize its limitations and biases, evaluate its outputs, consider ethical implications, and maintain human judgment and agency. The article also appropriately highlights the challenge facing educators, many of whom are being asked to prepare students for an AI-driven world while still developing their own understanding and confidence with the technology.

However, the article spends more time explaining why AI literacy matters than showing what AI literacy actually looks like in a classroom. A lot of times this is easier than giving real-world examples or practical advice. Much of what it identifies as AI literacy — critical thinking, evaluating evidence, recognizing bias, and making ethical decisions — is not entirely new either. AI changes the context in which those skills must be applied. The article also avoids some of the harder questions educators are facing, particularly the tension between teaching students to use AI ethically and policies that often discourage or prohibit its use. A stronger article would provide concrete classroom examples, address assessment and implementation challenges, and explore how AI can extend student thinking without replacing it.

Ultimately, the article provides a solid foundation for the conversation but stops short of the most important question: what should AI literacy actually look like when students walk into a classroom? A framework can define the skills, but teachers need practical ways to develop and assess them. The goal should not simply be to create students who know how to use AI, but students who can use it with purpose while maintaining their ability to question, verify, create, and think for themselves.

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Field notes

No copy and pasting

If you think AI can’t be used to improve writing skills, please send me a DM.

I watched a video where an ELA teacher used AI to create level 4 and 5 writers. She created a chat bot that would critique their work. She uploaded the rubric and the current standards, and gave it very specific rules about how to give feedback. Essentially, she created a way for students to check their work before turning it in.

But first, before they could even use the bot, they had to write their essay. Easily done in a class period where they can have a moment of just pencil and paper.

Once they finish writing it in their journals, they type their work into the chat bot. (Wait. Does this give practice on another skill?) The bot then critiques their writing against the rubric and instructions, offers the grade the work would earn as it stands, 1 to 5, and gives feedback on how to make it better.

Oh. Well. I guess the students can just copy and paste that for the assignment.

Nope. They have to rewrite the essay, with corrections, in their journal. Then they have to re-type it into the chat bot to be reviewed again. Essentially, they do this until they reach a 4 or a 5, depending on time.

In order to get a grade, they have to turn in pictures of their journal pages. Each one. Or the teacher can collect the notebooks to grade. That, plus the ability to compare their work to the entries in her chat bot, gives her students plenty of writing and critical thinking.

No copy and pasting.