Ways librarians are leading the AI Literacy Conversation
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
Release Date: 01/20/2025
Will AI change the future of the Super Bowl?
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
How is artificial intelligence being used in the NFL today? In this solo episode of Shifting Schools, Tricia Friedman explores how AI is already shaping professional football, with a special focus on Super Bowl Sunday. Rather than speculation, this episode looks at concrete, current examples of how AI is influencing advertising, predictions, player safety, and fan experience. This episode is designed as a conversation resource for educators, families, and anyone gathering around the Super Bowl, offering five clear lenses for discussing AI’s role in sports and society. What role does AI play...
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How Puzzles Build Confidence, Community, and Curiosity
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
What do puzzles teach us about being human. In this episode, Tricia talks with Allison Kane, Head of Puzzle Innovation at Highlights, about why puzzling matters far beyond entertainment. From Hidden Pictures and Wordle to classroom design and family learning, this conversation explores how puzzles build confidence, perseverance, and joyful learning across ages. Learn more: Allison shares her origin story as a lifelong puzzler, explains the idea of the satisfaction of the solve, and offers practical advice for educators and families who want to integrate puzzles into learning spaces....
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What to Do When Teachers Are at Very Different Places With AI
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
How do you move forward with AI in schools when staff confidence is all over the place? Jeff Utecht and Tricia Friedman address one of the most persistent leadership challenges in AI literacy implementation. Within the same faculty, some educators are experimenting confidently with tools and workflows while others feel intimidated, skeptical, or frustrated by rapid change. Jeff and Tricia frame the issue through a mindset-first lens and introduce practical leadership moves grounded in BAKE: balance, adaptability, knowledge sharing, and empathy. The conversation begins with a simple leadership...
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What Skills Matter Most for AI Literacy?
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
AI literacy in the classroom looks like students practicing judgment, sense-making, and self-awareness while working alongside AI, not replacing thinking with tools. It emphasizes mindset before mechanics. In this episode of Shifting Schools, Jeff Utecht and Tricia Friedman frame AI literacy through the BAKE Mindset: Balance – Knowing when AI helps and when it doesn’t Adaptability – Updating learning practices as tools change Knowledge Sharing – Making thinking visible and collective Empathy – Designing learning with student experience in mind How Does AI Change...
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The Mindset Shift You Need for AI Literacy in 2026
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
In this episode of Shifting Schools, hosts Jeff Utecht and Tricia Friedman discuss their personal experiences over the holidays, leading into a broader conversation about the importance of mindset in education, particularly in relation to AI literacy. They introduce the as a tool for educators to navigate AI discussions, emphasizing the need for adaptability, empathy, and open communication. The conversation highlights the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in educational settings, encouraging educators to embrace change and foster a culture of experimentation and learning. ...
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How do we help students be more critical of health advice?
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
In this episode, host Tricia Friedman sits down with Dr. Michael Greger, bestselling author and founder of NutritionFacts.org, to explore why non-commercial, evidence-based health guidance matters more than ever. They discuss lifestyle medicine, plant-based nutrition, scientific integrity, cannabis research, and how small, testable behavior changes can dramatically improve long-term health. What This Conversation Is Really About Health advice is everywhere — but trustworthy guidance is not. This conversation slows things down and examines how to make informed choices in a noisy,...
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Why Millions of Students Are Creating Together: Inside Crayola Creativity Week
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
What does it look like when creativity becomes a global learning movement—not an add-on, but a connector across every subject? In this episode of Shifting Schools, Tricia Friedman is joined by Cheri Sterman to explore Crayola Creativity Week, a free, cross-curricular program designed to help educators spark collaboration, confidence, and creative thinking in classrooms around the world. Together, they unpack how Creativity Week connects creativity to every subject and career, why celebrity partners—from the Property Brothers to NASA astronauts—volunteer their time to inspire students,...
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Holiday Gifting for Teachers: Tools for Wellness, Creativity, and Reflection
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
This special Shifting Schools holiday episode isn’t about trendy gadgets or generic gift lists. Instead, Jeff Utecht and Tricia Friedman share seven thoughtfully chosen gifts for educators—each matched to a specific kind of person and a specific kind of need. Some gifts are playful. Some are reflective. Some are deeply practical. All of them offer a meaningful boost during a season when educators are often running on empty. This episode asks a practical question: “What might actually support someone through their days?” Whether you’re shopping for a colleague, a school leader, a...
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What Makes a Family? Scott & Mark Hoying on Representation, Creativity, and Love
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
You know Pentatonix – the multi-platinum selling acapella group is the number one most listened to musical acct of the holiday season. Co-founder and Grammy winner Scott Hoying is currently starring in Season 34 of Dancing with the Stars. Scott Hoying and his husband Mark are now also authors of an innovative picture book which features text that doubles as lyrics to . FA LA LA FAMILY celebrates the spirit of Christmas with a look at nontraditional families. The reviews are loving their new book: "A fun and festive dive into...
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Why Interdisciplinary Learning Fuels Creativity: A Conversation with Alan Gratz
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
In this episode of Shifting Schools, bestselling author Alan Gratz joins Tricia Friedman to explore the craft of storytelling, the role of creativity in education, and why curiosity is the engine behind both great writing and great learning. Gratz shares how baseball has quietly shaped the structure of many of his novels, how he approaches character development with authenticity, and why understanding a character’s background is essential for emotional truth. The conversation also digs into the need for interdisciplinary learning in today’s classrooms and the value of teacher...
info_outlineLibraries can be a space for community building and idea exchange. During this new era of AI–what is already happening in the library?
That's what we explore this week with three different perspectives on the way the Librarian is a critical voice on all things AI.
Ready to meet our guests?
Zakir Hossain is a Teacher-Librarian and independent researcher. He’s passionate about academic integrity and artificial intelligence literacy development. Born and raised in Bangladesh, Zakir has lived and worked in Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Zakir can be reached via @DuZakir on X and zakir.reseachtl@gmail.com
Danny Glasner has been a technology coach, learning support, and for the past seven years, a library/media specialist otherwise known as a teacher-librarian. He has worked in schools for the past 21 years in Toronto, Istanbul, Hanoi, Zhuhai, Beijing, Phuket (as the whole school librarian for UWC Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City, and now Tirana, Albania. The library brings many of Danny’s passions together; love of reading, critical and creative thinking, artificial intelligence, technology in general, diversity, justice, belonging, sustainability, mindfulness, and global citizenship. The library Is a safe space where the entire learning community is made to feel welcome and seen. Danny utilizes his network to bring people together, to help students connect ideas, and to amplify their actions by broadening their audience. His passion for connecting people and ideas inspired him to co-found inTLlead.org, an international grassroots teacher-librarian leadership group, and #inTLchat, a hashtag and chat that connects librarians all over the world. He is the founding coordinator of 21st Century Library Connection Miniconference and the library strand for 21CLHK Main Conference held in Hong Kong, February 12-15 2025.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-glasner-99a833268/
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14262254/
https://www.instagram.com/dannyglasner/
https://medium.com/@dannyglasner
Heeru Bhojwani is a dedicated librarian with over 25 years of experience, blending her expertise in literacy, research, and digital innovation. Beginning her journey in primary schools with a focus on literacy, she later advanced to secondary education, promoting research skills, student voice, and choice. Heeru is the co-founder of the Liferarian Association, where she coaches librarians, building their skill sets and supporting underserved communities by helping fund library initiatives. She established the National Jarul Book Award to honor excellence in children’s literature and has published three multilingual anthologies representing over 10 languages. Heeru has presented at NESA, ISTE, and collaborated with KSIPD, running workshops that inspire librarians.
Liferarian.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heeru-bhojwani-76975011
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