🍌 With the release of hyper-realistic AI media tools like Nano Banana Pro (released today) and OpenAI’s recently released SORA video app, the line between authentic and AI-generated content is getting thinner by the minute. Images and videos that once required teams of experts can now be created in seconds — by anyone, including students.

The challenge for educators isn’t teaching students how to use these ever-evolving tools — it’s helping them navigate a world where the media they consume is being shaped, altered, or fully generated by AI, whether they realize it or not.

👉 This is where aiEDU’s newest resource — AI Snapshots: Evaluating AI Outputs — comes in. These “plug and play” slides are designed for quick, meaningful discussions about the media students encounter every day. And most importantly: no AI or computer-science experience is required. These snapshots aren’t technical lessons — they’re conversation starters about the ethical and societal implications…

We're just a week out from Thanksgiving! 🦃🥧 Check out this fun Pie Preference Pictograph activity from Data Science Learning Progressions. This activity, designed for grades K-5, walks learners through the data collection and analysis process in a fun, hands-on, relevant way.

Try this activity before or after the holiday, or change up the theme based on your students' interests!

Artificial intelligence is quickly reshaping Career and Technical Education, and this recent Education Week piece offers a useful look at how CTE teachers are blending AI into hands-on learning:https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/classroom-view-how-ai-is-influencing-teacher-approaches-to-career-and-technical-ed/2025/11

One of the educators highlighted in the article is Leah Ferguson, a local CTE Graphic Design & Digital Media teacher at The Dalles High School. Leah’s inclusion is a proud moment for our region - her classroom is featured as an example of how CTE teachers are helping students use AI creatively and responsibly. Her students treat AI as an early-stage design partner, while the real creative and technical work still happens through thoughtful human skill.

Practical Ways CTE Teachers Can Use AI Today

Use AI for early drafts and ideation.

• Generate quick sketches, concepts, or outlines.

• Have students critique the AI outputs, then build their own versions.

OpenAI released ChatGPT for Teachers today, and it’s a big deal for K–12 educators that love using ChatGPT. This new, free (for now) workspace is built specifically for teachers and designed to fit real classroom needs — with FERPA-aligned protections at the core.

🍎 5 of the top benefits 🍎

1️⃣ FERPA-Aligned Data Protections Teacher content isn’t used to train models, and the workspace is designed to help protect student information. Huge win for educators and schools worried about privacy and compliance.

2️⃣ Personalized for Your Classroom You can set grade level, subjects, curriculum style, and teaching preferences — and ChatGPT adapts its responses to match your context.

3️⃣ Built-In Integrations (Google Drive, Microsoft 365, Canva) Easily pull in your files, generate lesson materials, and even build slide decks directly inside the tool.

4️⃣ Create & Share Custom GPTs Teachers can build specialized bots (rubric builders, warm-up generators, lab report helpers) and share them with colleagues or…

Full STE(A)M Ahead! This Saturday, November 8th is National STE(A)M Day!

Thank you to all of the incredible teachers, STEM professionals, and families committed to encouraging children to explore, create, experiment, and be problem-solvers every day. 🧬🔬🚀🔎🐛🛠️

Where might STE(A)M take your students next?

A growing number of Gen Z students are questioning the traditional “college-for-all” pathway — and for good reason. The CNBC feature “Gen Z Ditching College for Blue-Collar Careers” explores how young people are redefining success, rediscovering the value of skilled trades, and demanding education that feels relevant and purposeful.

For secondary educators and CTE teachers, this cultural shift offers a moment to help students connect what they learn today with who they hope to become tomorrow.

🔍 Key Takeaways for Educators

1. Relevance beats rhetoric. Students aren’t rejecting education—they’re rejecting irrelevance. Bring learning to life with local examples, industry projects, and short “Pop-In” visits from professionals who use the very skills you teach.

2. College now means many things. The video highlights apprenticeships, technical programs, and credentials that open doors to high-wage, high-demand careers. Help students see all their options—community college, on-the-job training, or four-year degrees—as valid pathways.

It’s always a joy to bring hands-on STEM experiences into classrooms! Recently, I had the opportunity to lead a STEM + literacy integrated activity with a class of bright, creative third graders.

After reading "21 Elephants and Still Standing" by April Jones Prince, students explored what makes a bridge strong, then applied the engineering design process to create their own bridges using simple materials. The challenge: build a bridge that could hold 21 pennies.

Their designs showed so much imagination, problem-solving, and perseverance. See them hard at work! 💪

👀Stay tuned to see these Storybook STEM lessons published to our website. Want me to come and visit your class? Send me an email at cfelderman@cgesd.k12.or.us and let's schedule something!

October 27 – November 1

Media Literacy Week is here — and it’s the perfect time to help students strengthen one of the most important skills they’ll ever learn: how to think critically about the information they see, hear, and share every day.

Whether you have five minutes or fifty, there are easy ways to get involved!

🔹 Start Small: Use a “Daily Do Now” Slide

If you’re looking for a quick, no-prep way to participate, check out the News Literacy Project’s “Daily Do Now” slides — short, discussion-ready prompts you can drop into ELA, advisory, SOAR, or any class.

Each slide poses a question or example that sparks reflection and conversation around how we know what’s real, who created a message, and why it was made. 👉 Explore the Do Now Slides

Fall is a great time to connect students with place-based and phenomena-based learning. BirdCast’s Live Migration Maps use radar data and machine learning to track bird movements across North America in real time. 🐦‍⬛

This tool gives students the chance to:

• Observe migration patterns as they happen

• Analyze how weather and geography influence movement

• Practice reading and interpreting data visualizations

  
  

It’s an accessible entry point for introducing data literacy and systems thinking in the context of a seasonal phenomenon. Even younger students can make simple observations, such as noticing when and where migration is most active. Older students can dig deeper into trends and relationships.