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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant

@emilycherkin.bsky.social
100 followers 18 following 177 posts

Author, speaker, teacher, consultant, mother, rabble-rouser. for more: thescreentimeconsultant.com

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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This can't be what technology in education looks like. Please share widely and send me your screenshots. Here is What a Child Got When He Searched “Egyptian Queen” on his School Laptop. firstfish.substack.com/p/here-is-wh...
firstfish.substack.com
Here is What a Child Got When He Searched “Egyptian Queen” on his School Laptop.
Your child has more than likely experienced this too. I want to see screenshots.
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Reposted by Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant
Beth Day @thebethocracy.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Here's the full email:
Email from SPS reads:
Dear SPS Families, 

Seattle Public Schools is updating how technology is used in kindergarten through second-grade classrooms beginning Jan. 4, 2027. 

As part of this shift, SPS will move away from the current 1:1 iPad model, in which each kindergarten through second-grade student is assigned their own individual iPad for usage at school or home, and transition to a classroom-based approach to technology access in grades K-2. iPads will remain available at school, and teachers will use them intentionally when technology supports instruction, accessibility, assessment, or other approved learning activities. 

Students in kindergarten through second grade will have limited daily technology use, generally ranging from 0 to 30 minutes as part of a balanced instructional day. This does not mean students will be required to use technology every day. Some days may include no iPad use when the learning goal is better supported through direct instruction, reading, writing, discussion, manipulatives, movement, or hands-on exploration. 

Technology will continue to be one of many tools teachers use to support student learning. Our focus is to ensure technology complements, rather than replaces, the hands-on, social, language-rich, and interpersonal experiences that are especially important during the early elementary years. 

District-adopted curriculum and instructional resources include technology components, and students will continue to engage with those tools when they are part of classroom learning. Teachers will use technology intentionally and in developmentally appropriate ways alongside direct instruction and other classroom experiences. Email continues:

What is changing? 

Beginning January 4, 2027, K-2 students will no longer be assigned an individual iPad through the 1:1 device model. Instead, iPads will be shared and managed as classroom resources. 

How much technology will students use? 

Daily technology use will generally range from 0 to 30 minutes. The amount of time may vary based on the lesson and student needs, and technology will not be required every day. 

Will students still use iPads? 

Yes. iPads will remain available in classrooms for approved learning activities, assessments, accessibility supports, and other situations in which technology meaningfully supports instruction. 

What will learning look like without individual devices? 

Students will continue to learn through teacher-led instruction, reading, writing, discussion, small-group work, hands-on activities, manipulatives, movement, creative projects, and exploration. Technology will be used when it adds value to these experiences. 

What about district-adopted curriculum? 

Students will continue to use the technology components included in district-adopted curriculum and instructional resources when those tools are part of classroom learning. 3rd part of email:

What about students who need technology for accessibility or other supports? 

Technology will remain available when needed for accessibility, assessment, approved instructional activities, or other student supports. Additional implementation guidance will be shared as details are finalized. 

This change reflects our continued focus on providing developmentally appropriate learning experiences for our youngest students while ensuring technology remains available when it meaningfully supports learning. Additional details and family resources will be shared before the change takes effect. 

If you have any questions, please contact Seattle Public Schools using Let’s Talk.

Thank you for your continued support of our students and schools. 

Sincerely, 

Michael Starosky 
Assistant Superintendent of Academics 
Seattle Public Schools 

Carlos Del Valle 
Assistant Superintendent Tech Optimization 
Seattle Public Schools
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Sorry, SPS. This isnt good enough. More word salad without substance. K-2 program may have a new name, but 5 and 6 year olds will still be able to access AI products and YouTube.
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A Chromebook isn’t a computer. It’s an internet browser. Declining the internet for children at school is (or should be) a no-brainer. firstfish.substack.com/p/were-not-a...
firstfish.substack.com
We’re Not Asking Permission to Refuse the Chromebook. We’re Refusing It.
Many parents restrict their child’s access to the internet when they are young, only to find when their child gets to school, they are handed access to the internet on school-issued devices
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Advocating for pencils and paper in schools has led to death threats. That is not ok. firstfish.substack.com/p/were-getti...
firstfish.substack.com
We’re Getting Death Threats for Resisting EdTech. This Can’t Be Okay.
My message to the FCC about the the need to reevaluate federal eRate funds as part of resisting an industry-wide assault on children, education, and humanity itself
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Nothing is more indicative that things are amiss in school today than an empty bookshelf in a high school English classroom. firstfish.substack.com/p/the-empty-...
firstfish.substack.com
The Empty Bookcase
From the Diaries of a Substitute Teacher
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Reposted by Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant
Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
via www.naesp.org/blog/naesp-s...
naesp.org
NAESP Screen Time Survey of School Leaders - NAESP
NAESP survey results reveal fascinating insights into some of the fastest evolving and most polarizing issues in education today.
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Pause AI in BC Schools @aicaution.ca · 10/09/2026
The data from this OECD PISA report is damning. "students who do not use AI outperform those who do, ... equivalent to being around one year of schooling ahead of their peers." www.oecd.org/en/publicati...
Graph showing students who never use AI scoring 505 on a "draft texts for writing assignments" task. As students use AI more, the score goes down, until students who use it daily score 480.
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
In the inside of every one of my books that I sign, I write “Books don’t have algorithms.”
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
School leader steps up to say we wont use student images on social media anymore firstfish.substack.com/p/its-time-t...
firstfish.substack.com
It’s Time to Pull the Plug on School Social Media - I’ll Go First.
A school leader’s call to cease using student imagines on school social media accounts
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Not what we meant when we said more paper and pencil in school. This is what a Kindergarten parent sent me:
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
NTIA listening session— we need your voice! firstfish.substack.com/p/parents-te...
firstfish.substack.com
Parents, Teachers, Experts Needed to Share Your Thoughts on EdTech!
Share your experiences with screen-based technology in K-12 schools and help shape future legislation (and a story about a puppy if you read to the bottom)
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Today’s webinar had over 300 registrations and 14 pages worth of submitted questions. Here is a link to the recording and a list of resources! @andyliddell.bsky.social firstfish.substack.com/p/new-webina...
firstfish.substack.com
Webinar Recording: "EdTech and the Law"
A Conversation with Andy Liddell, EdTech Law Center, and Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I was invited to share my thoughts about today’s settlement: www.thefp.com/p/meta-socia...
thefp.com
Meta’s Social Media Settlement Is Not Enough
Meta just agreed to make sweeping changes to protect young people online. But the settlement leaves its fundamentally harmful business model intact, writes Emily Cherkin.
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Reposted by Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant
Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
There is no "teaching AI ethically," there is only teaching ethics -- something that becomes ever harder in a society and economy that rewards cheating.
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Only Way to Stop Students From Cheating (Gift Article)
Blue-book exams are fine, but we need to address the issue at its root.
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Benjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Headline from story from April 2023 wherein Bill Gates predicted AI tutors would be teaching kids to read within 18 months, or October 2024. (It is presently August 2026 and this remains a complete pipe-dream fantasy.)

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/22/bill-gates-ai-chatbots-will-teach-kids-how-to-read-within-18-months.html
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
firstfish.substack.com/p/a-school-d...
firstfish.substack.com
A School District Admits Their Science Chatbot Doesn’t Have an Updated Privacy Policy.
They’re Asking Parents to Consent Anyway.
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
This is bad. Even defenders of EdTech should find this appalling. firstfish.substack.com/p/a-school-d...
firstfish.substack.com
A School District Admits Their Science Chatbot Doesn’t Have an Updated Privacy Policy.
They’re Asking Parents to Consent Anyway.
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Andy Liddell @andyliddell.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Who’s to say it isn’t? As a longtime organizer around issues of edtech accountability, I assure you that my fellow movement leaders have a nuanced understanding of the problem. But because my compadres are almost all moms and women, they’re often assumed to be unsophisticated moral panickers.
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Preparing for a workshop on teaching critical thinking in STEM in light of current, let's say pressures, and decided I should start my talk with a slides that lays out the values that form my premises:
Slide header: Premises/values: Cards on the table

Bullet points: 
* I care more about students’ learning than about the “accuracy” of grades or the prestige associated with a specific degree
* I want to work collaboratively with my students, rather than policing them
* I don’t want to spend any time reading, much less providing feedback on, something nobody wrote
* Science is a human, communal process; there is no knowing without knowers; and our work cannot be autocompleted
* Deep thinking and human connection are always more important than polish, speed, or “productivity”
* Research agendas should not be set by & for industry
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Next week! Join me and @andyliddell.bsky.social for this important conversation about EdTech and the law! firstfish.substack.com/p/new-webina...
firstfish.substack.com
*New* Webinar: "EdTech and the Law"
Join us for a live Q/A webinar with Emily Cherkin and Andrew Liddell of EdTech Law Center
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
New and important guest essay up today! firstfish.substack.com/p/beyond-ire...
firstfish.substack.com
Beyond iReady: A future of human-centered assessment, teaching, and learning
Guest post by Annie Karabell, PhD
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Nice coverage of our efforts to push back the tech in Seattle Public Schiols. www.seattletimes.com/education-la...
seattletimes.com
These students have gone tech-free in Seattle schools
Despite district policy, parents and students are finding ways around the ubiquitous technology in classrooms.
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
We should not be forced to choose between our child’s right to an education and their right to privacy, yet here we are. The letter I sent to my district: firstfish.substack.com/p/an-impossi...
firstfish.substack.com
An Impossible Choice: When Schools Make Families Choose Education or Safety
Most students are now required to use 1:1 internet-connected devices for school, in spite of well-documented risks. Here's what I asked of my own district.
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
www.linkedin.com/posts/emily-...
linkedin.com
Always a pleasure to talk with Nicki Petrossi about EdTech! | Emily Cherkin
Always a pleasure to talk with Nicki Petrossi about EdTech!
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Benjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Hey everyone, in case you needed more evidence that Alpha School is full of shit, here’s @ddmeyer.bsky.social with the empirical receipts: students in their NON selective charter school ended with proficiency rates FAR BELOW state averages. danmeyer.substack.com/p/does-alpha...
danmeyer.substack.com
Does the Alpha School Model Work for Regular Kids?
Here is some new evidence.
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Denise Champney and I are back with PART 2 for our Beware the EdTech Industry Rebrand: Extreme Makeover Edition— this time, featuring ISTE. Read it and weep. Actually, read it and act. That’s more productive. open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
Beware the EdTech Industry Rebrand: Part 2
Extreme Makeover: EdTech Edition (ft. ISTE)
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Not (A.) I. @aerialeverything.cryptoanarchy.network · 08/08/2026
"I asked a contact who is the president of a billion-dollar tech enterprise, what would you teach your sons? He said he wouldn’t teach his children to use AI, because it will prepare them for nothing. He would teach them the humanities." www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...
theguardian.com
‘I hate what AI is doing to the minds and happiness of the young’: Katherine Rundell on the view from the classroom
Education is at a crossroads, argues the author and academic. Should we embrace new technology in the name of efficiency, or is it time to fight back?
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Charles Logan @charleswlogan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I’m reminded of Audrey Watters’ argument that we need to view school shooting technologies as educational technologies. "What happens if we refuse to talk about these as 'ed-tech', if we refuse to address the practices of surveillance and control as well as products of surveillance and control?”
hackeducation.com
School Shooting Simulation Software (and the Problem with How People Define 'Ed-Tech')
Last week, The New York Times wrote about a new simulation program, funded by the Department of Homeland Security, that aims to teach teachers how to respond to an active shooter on school grounds ...
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Reposted by Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 28/07/2026
The centrality of discernment to productive AI usage is obvious, and that's why I find the insistence that AI can be used as a teaching assistant (or worse, a *teacher*) so baffling. By definition, a student *isn't* an expert on the subject they're studying. 44/
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
My colleague and I have noticed some recent changes in how EdTech companies market their products (but no changes to the product itself, of course) in response to the growing resistance. We’re calling it out for what it is— an Extreme Makeover: EdTech Edition! open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
Beware the EdTech Industry Rebrand
Extreme Makeover: EdTech Edition
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Please join me on Thursday, August 6 at 5 pm PST/8 pm EST for an information-packed webinar to help you feel informed, empowered, and ready to resist the EdTech onslaught as we jump back into a new school year. open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
Am "i-Ready" for Back-to-School?
Join Emily for a Webinar about School-Based Screentime!
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Reposted by Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant
Benjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
"America wins the AI era by diffusing it into the workflows of factories, hospitals, farms, classrooms, and main street businesses." -- Jensen Huang The hell it does.
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
My IP is being co-opted by the EdTech industry. I am fighting back. open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
Snake Oil in a Medicine Bottle is Still Snake Oil
EdTech companies are trying to co-opt "tech-intentional"-- I'm fighting back
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Emanuel Maiberg @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
companies are sourcing millions of printed books for AI labs that scan them for training data, then destroy them. printed books are more valuable because they're free of AI slop, and AI labs know destroying them is an "optics problem." www.404media.co/ai-companies...
404media.co
AI Companies Are Buying Tons of Old Books Because They're Free of AI Slop
ISBNdb, a company that sources printed books for AI companies to turn into training data, tells clients “the optics problem is real.”
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
How do you use it responsibly? That's easy, you DON'T. That is not the advice from UW-IT though: >>
How do I use Purple responsibly?
Responsible use of Purple means staying within these important boundaries:

Refer to the Generative AI Guidelines from UW-IT.
Respect security controls and access only authorized data.
Use Purple only within the UW's approved infrastructure.
Do not try to bypass safety guardrails or “jailbreak” the model. Just as you wouldn’t try to bypass UW NetID authentication or any other UW security controls.
Be aware of hallucination, bias, knowledge-cutoffs, and other limitations inherent in all LLMs and generative AI applications.
The rule of thumb is: when in doubt, ask!
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Julie Carpenter, PhD @jgcarpenter.com · 16/07/2026
As a robotics researcher, learning scientist, and author who has followed Realbotix for years, I'm compelled to do a Bluesky thread on this whole pivot that Realbotix is now trying, turning from humanoid sex robots to classroom "education" robots. Buckle up. nysfocus.com/2026/07/14/n... 🧵
nysfocus.com
Rural NY School To Launch Humanoid Robot Teacher
Plans to deploy a "lifelike" robot and avatar teaching assistant at Salamanca High School have sparked debate over the role of technology in schools.
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
There is only one thing schools should know before implementing AI into classrooms: open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
The One Simple Thing Schools Need to Do When it Comes to Implementing AI into Classroom
An important answer to one of my most-asked questions
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Reposted by Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant
Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
“We will be piloting a coordinated approach to classroom and examination policies for the core 1L curriculum during the 2026–2027 academic year. Across all 1L sections, we will prohibit the use of electronic devices such as laptops, tablets, and phones in the classroom...[with] limited exceptions.“
law.uchicago.edu
Rethinking Legal Education in the AI Era | University of Chicago Law School
OverviewArtificial Intelligence is already impacting higher education and the legal profession, and the pace of change appears only to be accelerating. It is thus critical for us to use this moment to...
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
The inimitable UK actress and reformer Sophie Winkleman has kindly shared with our audience her written remarks from the recent ARC Conference in London. Last year’s speech went viral, hitting over 2 million views. This year’s speech is no less brilliant. open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
The Best Preparation for a Digital Future is an Analogue Education
Written Transcript of the Speech by UK Actress and Campaigner, Sophie Winkleman, at the ARC Conference in London
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Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 08/07/2026
absolutely insane story, and yeah, just looking at this chart... with the exception of maybe two people, this entire class was cheating like motherfuckers
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Children don’t need technology; technology companies need children. My testimony to Kentucky state legislators. open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
Protecting Children Protects Democracy
Children Do Not Need Technology; Technology Companies Need Children- My Testimony Before the Kentucky Senate
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
substack.com/@emilycherki...
substack.com
Emily Cherkin (@emilycherkin)
My friend and fellow First Fish, Laura Derrindinger of Vermont, does not mince her words. Putting profits before people isn’t “new” news; but the American Academy of Pediatrics directing parents to ...
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Fighting the onslaught of EdTech isn’t just about protecting children; it’s about protecting democracy, too. It’s a republic, if we can keep it. open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
Our Republic, If We Can Keep It
The fight against EdTech is a fight for the Future of Democracy
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
AI in Ed is not a foregone conclusion. Teatimony by Dr. Kelly Clancy in NYC. open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
AI in Education is Not a Foregone Conclusion. Stop Acting Like it Is.
Passionate testimony by Dr. Kelly Clancy, founder of the Parents for AI Caution in Educational Spaces (PACES), advocating for a moratorium on AI in New York City Public School
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
When Gemini’s school-sanctioned chatbot went from math help to dating advice in a single question. Ick. open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
"It Sounds Like Your Mind is on a Different Kind of Angle..."
How a learning chatbot pivoted from math help to dating advice in a single question and a whole lot of other reasons to question Google Gemini's "Guided Learning" AI platform for education
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Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 22/06/2026
Does the Superintendent know that SPS is using AI to grade student work?! Either way that question is answered is not good for him, the district, or our kids.
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The Bulletin @thebulletinsea.org · 17/06/2026
A Lincoln HS student explains how SPS no longer assigning whole books in middle school and moving instruction to laptops has huge, damaging ripple effects on student learning into high school and beyond:
seattletimes.com
Students need more books, not fewer
Students are rarely required to read full books anymore, leaving them unprepared for the future, Student Voices contributor Alice Prokop writes.
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Signs of change when parents decline the 1:1s! Also; Bring back poster board! open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
Three Signs Things Are Changing Around EdTech
A guest essay by a parent who has opted her 6th grader out of the 1:1 Chromebooks-- and the ripple effects that are occurring in the classroom
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Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant @emilycherkin.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
A reminder that while we won’t win every battle, we’re winning the bigger fight. Keep swimming, friends! open.substack.com/pub/firstfis...
open.substack.com
Keep swimming, friends. This is hard. But it's working.
Losing one battle doesn't mean we aren't winning the war. Stay strong.
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