iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

To say that "the power of AI can change learning" without disclaimers is to ignore the neuroscience of learning, grading culture, and wider context of our modern educational system. 7/7

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

route to that goal, regardless of whether or not I learn along the way. If we ever want to see AI be used productively in classrooms, we have a lot of work to do first in the realm of shifting the grading culture and cultural expectations of education. 6/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

If the goal truly was learning, pushing AI into school MIGHT (big emphasis there) be possible as a way to support student learning. However, if my goal is to accumulate the most points (as opposed to achieve high levels of learning), then our very efficient brain will see AI as the fastest... 5/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

to claim that AI can support student learning ignores the reality of the high-stakes grading culture present in most American schools. Points and grades, which (arguably) were intended to be measures of a goal (learning), have now become the goal in our educational system. 4/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

expertise to be able to critically analyze the AI's outputs. Someone who needs to begin learning a skill does not have the ability to do that, and thus, will naturally slide into cognitive outsourcing because they can't be an active agent. More importantly... 3/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

For context, cognitive outsourcing is simply letting an AI do all the thinking for you, and cognitive offloading is using AI to support your own active thinking processes. For starters, cognitive offloading is only effective and possible when you have enough... 2/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I really wish more of the people pushing AI into schools understood the difference between cognitive outsourcing versus cognitive offloading, and more importantly, how our current grading culture makes it nearly impossible for a student to choose the former when the latter's an option. 1/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I assumed (hoped) that would be the case, but it was a surprise when I watched a student do it today.

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

For those who don't know... Chromebooks just have this feature built in. Right click. Search with Google lens. Answer. No thinking needed. 🙄

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Nearly ten years later, this is still one of my favorite images I've ever made to demonstrate a concept.

A picture of a prairie dog reaching for a sign that says goal, but a rope tied to a pole that says conflict is holding them back.

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Today I learned my middle schoolers are pretty well versed in the lyrics of “Don’t Stop Believing.” I learned that when an instrumental acoustic version of it came on in the playlist I was using to help us focus for a reading diagnostic. You can imagine how that went.

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Today I asked my first period to help me put chairs down and someone asked, "Do we get PBIS points for this?" Which is exactly why I hate PBIS points. As grades are to learning, PBIS points are to behavior. Short term facade of benefits with more concerning long-term consequences.

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Reposted by Tyler Rablin

Monte Syrie @montesyrie.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

“Is this for a grade?” “It’s for learning.” My latest response to the age-old question. And the play goes on, my friends. The play goes on.

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Adolfo Neto @adolfoneto.elixiremfoco.com · 30/08/2026

Why young people hate AI even more?

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I know I've been out of the game for a bit, but the ability to do voice, video, and screencast feedback (in addition to the comment bank where you can link resources) is a game-changer. Love it!

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Sometimes it's great to have positive feedback from a teacher, but I can't understate the power of that same feedback coming from peers. The best part is that no one really even realizes what's happening, but everyone can feel it. 3/3

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

So, I get to sit in a room of students complimenting each other while thinking critically about what makes good writing. Every student – every, single student, including the ones in my inclusion classes – gets to here the good in their writing communicated by their peers. 2/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Today we are doing one of my favorite group activities. Last night I read through the students' writing and highlighted my favorite sentence in each one. Today, students are sharing their highlighted sentences while their peers guess what I saw in them that was good. 1/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I think grades can deter so much creativity (and also, boo to the teacher that responded that way).

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I guess, if nothing else, this is my encouragement to you to experiment. Instead of carrots and sticks, see what happens when you wield hope and self-efficacy. How can you make sure students are more focused on a successful outcome than a negative one? 6/6

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

When students responded with a "Yes," I didn't have that tinge of guilt that sometimes sits on my chest when a student struggles on an assignment and gets a low score. I didn't feel any sense of hypocrisy in what I was saying versus what I was doing, and I think kids could sense it, too. 5/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

All accountability isn't a bad thing, but I think we get so afraid of what happens if we loosen the grading reins that we end up holding on too tightly. When I told students they would get full credit for an attempt, I could follow it up with, "Are mistakes a good thing?" 4/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

When a teacher wields grades like a sword, students care more about what the teacher expects than what they can produce. Do what the teacher wants, or else. Don't make a mistake, or else. Don't take a risk, or else. It feels unsafe and unsure. When students feel safe, it changes things. 3/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

It was the exact opposite. Most kids wrote well beyond the amount I expected, and I was constantly being asked for help in how to spell something, what a paragraph was missing, etc. I think there is an element of psychological safety that we don't discuss enough with grading. 2/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

For those who view the threat of low grades as a motivator: Today for our writing diagnostic, I told students, "If you give it your best effort, you'll get full credit." 8th graders. I figured some would try to toe the line of what was "enough." I figured it would be sloppy work. 1/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I love making up random things in the classroom that end up working. Today’s was “fist bump or thumbs down.” While students were writing, this was my check-in. A fist bump meant they were doing fine. A thumbs down meant they wanted me to sit with them and help. Lots of celebrations and support.

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Saturday hyperfixation turned into making an entire website print store for my photography. ADHD is lovely sometimes. tyler-rablin-photography.square.site

tyler-rablin-photography.square.site

Home | Tyler Rablin Photo

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Adam Grant @adamgrant.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

AI struggles to make creative leaps. Large language models are trained on data from the past. Original thinking involves recognizing novel patterns in the future. Machines converge; minds diverge. Long live human ingenuity.

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Things I learned about middle school today: 1) Bald jokes work super well. 2) Be wary of making too many bald jokes or you will have to agree to bedazzling your bald head if a certain number of students get 4.0s.

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

To be honest, really didn't expect to have remembered to take attendance every period of my first week teaching middle school, but here we are.

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

There is a very different version of me that encourages students to write drafts, revise, get feedback, proofread, and then publish… …and then the version of me that hammers out a 1600-word blog post in 30 minutes that I don’t even glance at again before hitting publish and walking away. Oops.

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Also, yes, I am realizing how old I sound in this as I type it, but seriously. I could make the most engaging activities and get kids excited for that period, but I've found that true engagement strategies are the ones that have the kids showing up the next day feeling cared about and seen. 2/2

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

My favorite "engagement strategies": 1. Sitting with a struggling student and asking if they're doing okay. 2. Showing a student where they are being successful. 3. Giving a positive note to a student to let them know I see them. When did engagement get translated into flashy fun? 1/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

There are obviously more neutral answers in there, and there are also some positive ones about grades (that still carry certain beliefs about how motivation works and the purpose of school), but truly, I can't reconcile with a school that touts SEL stuff and then hammers the importance of grades.

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Don't use as a tool of [intimidation] rather as a tool to show you how to help students and who needs it." "on why we let a letter decide if we are doing bad or good" "Grades make us focus on points instead of actually learning." 10/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"one thing I would tell teachers about grade is some students don't care and others do care sometimes giving one student a good grade once in a while could give that student hope that they can do better" "That grades don't always have to go down if you do bad on just one assignment." 9/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

3. What is one thing you wish you could tell teachers about grades? "that a grade doesn't define me as a person" "That the grade doesn't mean that I'm dumb but it means that their teaching isn't effective." (love a spicy response) "about how i did good" 8/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"they make me feel scared that one bad grade and it goes to a D or an I" "they make me feel like i need to work on my grades more" (notice what is emphasized here - the measure has become the goal). My favorite: "Useless because we don't really need them" 7/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Grades make me feel anxious because since I am an honor roll student and I have to keep checking my grades because I'm scared one grade might drop so it makes me be scared sometimes that I get a bad grade on one test. It would drop down my Gpa." "Bad because it shows how bad i am at school" 6/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

2. How do grades make you feel? "Horrible" "depressed because I stress a lot about them" "Bad grades make me feel sad :( , good grades make me feel happy :) ." 5/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"no bc i feel like thats why we use ai bc school is like you need good grades and not if you are learning" And my personal favorite: "no becasue they suck" "no because they're just here to tell you that you need to do better" 4/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Yes because it makes me want to try and get that A to impress my parents and be proud of myself." (Sounds great, but the mental health aspect, ooph.) "No, they dont help me becuase they just show me what i got at the end they didnt show me where i messed up or where i need to grow or work on." 3/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

1. Do grades help you learn? "No, they usually stress me out a lot because most of the time my mom isn't happy with bad grades at all." "Honestly grades don't really help me learn because during tests I'm always worried that if I get just one or two wrong it would drop down my grade." 2/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Every year that I'm teaching, I give my students a survey about grades. I ask... 1. Do grades help you learn? Why or why not? 2. How do grades make you feel? 3. What is one thing you wish you could tell teachers about grades? Brace yourself for the responses ⬇️ 1/

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Good call. Document has been created!

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

A few years ago I developed what is still my favorite and most effective assessment design yet. It incorporates my work with learning progressions with some concepts in cognitive load and research around formative assessment. Now, my goal is to use it better. www.tylerrablin.com/blog/one-ass...

tylerrablin.com

One Assessment, an Ongoing Experience — Tyler Rablin Consulting

I want to clarify a few things as I begin: 1) It is the second day of school and my brain is a combination of spaghetti, mashed potatoes, and weird middle school slang that doesn’t make sense to me. ...

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

No, but now I feel an obligation to learn.

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Tyler Rablin @mrrablin.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Being told by middle schoolers that you “seem like the type of person who knows how to juggle” really raises a lot of questions. What another goofy day. They also pulled off a focused station rotation on day two, so I will take the wins where I can.

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