The most important lesson from a conversation about AI

Colleagues,

This message was written by Claude.ai based on examples from previous emails and the show summary.

Yesterday I shared the distinction Jerry helped me think through — AI to do it for me versus AI to make it easier. Today, one more idea from that conversation, and then the part that surprised me most.

I keep coming back to a practical use case: alternative licensure teachers. A lot of them are walking into classrooms without ever having learned basic classroom procedures — the kind of thing experienced teachers do without thinking. I could see us using AI to draft a rough first pass at those procedures. Nothing polished. Just enough to give a group of teachers something to react to.

Then hand it off. Let them argue with it, fix it, make it theirs. The AI doesn't make the decision. It just removes the blank page so people can get to the real conversation faster.

But here's what stuck with me most. In an entire conversation about artificial intelligence, the most important takeaway had nothing to do with the technology. It was this: we need to be better listeners.

That tracks with something I believe deeply. Presence — really listening, without rushing to fix or add or perform — is still the most powerful tool any of us have. No AI replaces that. If anything, the more we offload the easy stuff, the more capacity we should have to be present with people.

Catch the full episode with Jerry here.

I’m happy to acknowledge Kaleidoscope Adventures as a sponsor of yesterday’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast! I appreciate their support and encourage you to connect with them if you are thinking about planning a school trip!

Cheers!

​Frederick