AI in schools, digital wellness, and trust-first leadership for real classrooms.
Micro-tools that work: phone away, deep breathing, and questions that spark curiosity.
Bill breaks down how districts can lead AI change without getting trapped in slow policy cycles, and how to build a culture where people feel permission to adapt while staying anchored to pillars.
Practical takeaways:
How they approached “learning in the age of AI” with guiding principles and a year of learning.
Why they decided not to create a new AI policy (too slow to be responsive).
Rebuilding the upstream system: merging IT and curriculum so decisions actually work in practice.
The fast reset for overwhelm: deep breathing.
The simplest digital wellness habit: phone in a different room at bedtime.
Connect with Bill at EdTechPartner.com or at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bcoredtechpartner/
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction02:12 Humans First (Empathy + Online Behavior)03:23 Earth: Grounded Moments (Go Upstream)05:51 Blue Light, Sleep, and Explaining the “Why”07:46 Parent Engagement as a Conversation08:49 Rebuild the System: Merge IT + Curriculum10:30 Permission to Innovate (Culture + Modeling)14:02 Principle: Tech Should Make Humans More Human14:19 Systems Should Adapt to People (In Principle)16:40 Continuous Improvement vs Flip-Flopping23:37 Air: Headwinds and Tailwinds (Stress Can Help)24:36 Hot Seat: Resistance, Tech Crashes, Burnout25:19 Fear of Being Replaced by AI (Human Element)26:14 Will Students Accept AI Teachers? (They Want a Human)30:02 Overwhelm vs Evolution (Skills Over Tools)38:55 Water: Ripples of Change (District AI Shift)44:13 Action Steps: Don’t Just Write Policy, Build Use Cases47:46 Why Policy Cycles Were Too Slow for AI48:26 Fire: Spark Curiosity + Digital Wellness Micro Habits55:22 Build Trust (Principle or Preference)58:21 How to Reach Bill (EdTechPartner.com)59:29 Closing Question: Hard Work and Who You Become1:01:11 Identity Goal: Trusted, Respected, Kind
