ick off the year with a no-fluff playbook: hook attention in the first five minutes, teach ADHD brains with novelty and challenge, protect teachers from burnout, and jump-start a campus culture that sticks.
Guests: Jheri South, Dr. Marc Isseks, Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson (Dr. PBJ), and “Stand Tall” Steve Bollar.

You’ll learn:
• ADHD-smart triggers that move students from stuck to started
• Why “save the best for first” beats the sleepy “do now”
• Simple, system-level moves to disrupt burnout
• A 7-week connection challenge that lifts school culture

Show notes & transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/s3e8

Back-to-school secrets from Richard Culatta, Brian Kulak, and Jessica Pack! Discover how to prepare AI-ready graduates, build strong school culture from day one, and engage students with creative storytelling — plus urgent AI safety news every educator should hear.

Full show notes & guest links: www.coolcatteacher.com/back2school2025

In this episode:
Kick off your school year with purpose, creativity, and strong connections in this back-to-school special of Cool Cat Teacher Talk. Three inspiring guests share actionable strategies you can use right away:

• Richard Culatta (CEO, ISTE + ASCD) — Preparing AI-ready graduates, rethinking assessment, and balancing human + AI strengths

• Brian Kulak (Principal, Author) — Simple, high-impact ways to build school culture, from name recognition to restorative practices

• Jessica Pack (California Teacher of the Year, Author of Moviemaking in the Classroom) — Creative first-week projects and storytelling ideas that engage every learner

We also open with urgent news from Common Sense Media about AI social companion apps — why they pose an “unacceptable risk” for kids under 18, and how educators can start conversations that protect students.

What You’ll Learn:

• Designing authentic assessment in the AI era

• Practical ways to connect with students from day one

• Why storytelling builds student voice and confidence

• How to talk with students about AI “synthetic relationships”

• Balancing human strengths and AI capabilities in learning

📖 Full show notes, guest bios, and resources: www.coolcatteacher.com/back2school2025

On today's show, we have some back-to-school reminders for teaching reading, a new AI reading tool from Digital Promise with Jean-Claude Brizard, building readers with Jennifer Burns, and teaching grammar playfully with Patty McGee. We will also have a Harvard student from Coventry, England, Zak Adams, who is one of a growing group of volunteers working with Project Access, a nonprofit that supports high-potential, low-opportunity students to help them apply to top universities across the world.

In our opening news we discuss the integration of AI into Canvas, some disturbing new research results about the dire consequences of kids using cell phones under the age of 13, research on cell phone ban opinions and parents, how leading AI models are recommending different salary ranges to people based on their gender and race, Delta Airlines is considering using AI pricing (and we'll all pay different prices for fairs if they do,) an excellent review from Tech and Learning of the paper "Your Brain on ChatGPT" that everyone's talking about, and the rollout of AI agent by ChatGPT and what it means for the future of the Internet.

Show notes, links to news articles and guest bios at: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/reading2025