EXPLO Elevate shares good ideas, practices, and wisdom to help
schools and their communities flourish.

Dear Friend,

I was in Seattle at NAIS Thrive and nine days later on a flight to Austin for SXSWedu. Both gatherings were valuable. Both were about education. And yet, it felt like I was visiting different lands.

At NAIS Thrive everyone has something very clearly in common. In some ways, it’s like being at a well-curated dinner party with smart, interesting folks who will instantly find commonalities and plenty to discuss. SXSWedu is something a little different. The person next to you in a session might be a public school superintendent, an edtech founder, a policy wonk, a role play game designer, or someone building learning tools for career connected learning. It's louder, messier, and harder to navigate.

And that's where the value lives – in the friction and the mashup. Thinking about how a session topic or how a person sitting next to you connects to your work or to your life may not be as clear as quickly as it can be at NAIS, but I found immense value in learning from so many chance encounters.

One thing not on the official SXSW schedule that snagged my attention was DoorDash robots zipping along the sidewalks. I was repeatedly thwarted in taking a photo of them as they moved so quickly. But then, one got held up at a traffic light. My colleague, Lindsay, and I jumped in front of it and blocked its moves. I leaned down and ordered, “You are not going anywhere until I take your picture!” Dot, the robot, responded by moving back and forth a bit and then Dot’s white headlights changed shape and color. Yes, I know I was being played by a bucket of electronics and computer code, but it still made me laugh.

Middle School: Time to Reconsider the Program?

One of the themes that runs through SXSWedu is career connected learning. That thread drew us in because of our work in career connected narrative PBL, particularly for middle school students. Though the headline might be “career connected”, in many ways the essence of our work is designing high engagement, real world connected learning environments. Independent and public schools are losing middle school students not only figuratively, but literally. Many schools are grappling with how to remake their programs. I recently joined the new Middle School Advisory Board for the Center for Advanced Professional Network (CAPS). The objective of the MS network is not to prematurely have middle schoolers pick a profession, but instead to help them understand who they are – what are their strengths, what lights them up, and to help them build durable skills. Via EXPLO, we’re in the midst of planning with a number of schools interested in a different kind of learning in their middle schools. It doesn’t require overhauling your entire schedule or hiring additional staff. If you are interested in learning more and discussing running a pilot in 2026-2027, give us a shout.

Vertical Empathy

Gen Z is entering your school and this generation may be less prepared for the in person workplace than any generation before them. But the real challenge isn't fixing them. It's rethinking how your school leads, hires, and connects. Ross explains why vertical empathy may be the missing piece.

The Faculty Deserve to Know: Making the Case for Enterprise Literacy

How many faculty members can explain why a school's finances are under pressure or even that they are? Too many heads shield their faculty from the messy realities of enrollment economics, discount rates, and competitive threats. But that protective instinct may be doing more harm than good. I take a dive into the need to help faculty develop "enterprise literacy" how to build it, and how to deal with those that say “that’s not my job.” 

AI: Teaching + Learning

My copy of Irreplaceable: How AI Changes Everything (and Nothing) in Teaching and Learning finally arrived. I’m not done, but I’ve read enough to strongly recommend it. There has always been an art and a science to teaching and Maya Bialik and Peter Nilsson capture that notion well. I like their description of teaching as “responsive improvisation” akin to jazz. What happens to that dance when you add AI to the mix? Bialik and Nilsson acknowledge that things can go off the rails with AI, but they don’t have to – we have choices. They recommend a mindset shift: don’t approach AI as simply another tool, but treat it more like an assistant, a collaborator, or an agent that works on your behalf. The book is an excellent choice for an all faculty read and substantial discounts are available for bulk order. Reach out to Peter who can put you in touch with the publisher for the discount.

An NAIS Thrive serendipity moment was when I found myself walking to a reception and started chatting with some folks headed to the same destination. Nat Green from Sidwell Friends and Maureen Russo Rodriguez of St. Mark’s School told me about their work together as co-founders of AI Co-Lab. The AI-Co-Lab brings educators from across the globe together monthly to investigate an AI based topic that focuses on teaching and learning. There is a 25 minute introductory zoom meeting that frames the exploration (recorded), then educators spend 45-60 minutes independently exploring the given prompt, and then there is a 60-minute zoom call where in small, facilitated groups participants discuss findings. It's highly practical ongoing PD that helps educators develop agency in working with AI and connects you with educators who are also working their way through using AI.

AI Allowing Us to Reclaim Time to Do Things That Make Us More Human?

Anthropic asked Claude users “the role they want AI to play in their lives, whether it’s already filling it, and what they’re most afraid might go wrong along the way.” Using Anthropic Interviewer, they conducted conversational interviews with 80,508 people across 159 countries and 70 languages.(What a leap beyond the typical survey!) The results are fascinating. Yes, there are real concerns expressed, but the important takeaway is that people want to reclaim their time so that they can be more present for those things that make them more human. And they are already using AI to do that.

Our schedules are filling this spring and summer with strategy work; head and board coaching; leadership and board retreats; scheduling; PD with teachers on narrative PBL; and leading a design studio to reinvent some signature programs. Reach out if you have an idea brewing and wonder how we might help. 

Spring is finally here! Enjoy the longer days and the opportunities they bring.

Moira

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