Daniel Buck, “Youngest Old Man in Ed Reform”

If our schools have strayed from their primary duty of transmitting knowledge to students, it is because the activist leaders of American education have deliberately distorted the role of our teachers. I think this is the best think I've yet written. nationalaffairs.com/publications/d…

This is the way

Any work sent home or completed on a computer will be done by AI and chatbots The only option is hand written, old-fashioned tests and essays now

Classical schools are an "outpost of civilization amidst a society that seems bent on deconstructing everything that made it great in the first place." modernagejournal.com/classical-scho…

“It [was] easier for me, as an administrator, to teach somebody in the nuts and bolts of teaching than to try and deprogram a graduate from a school of education.” @MrDanielBuck of @AEI talks realities of how far gone from the science of teaching colleges of education are. See our entire webinar on the topic here - youtube.com/watch?v=7H2yxo…

@WalkerKortson76 @Jordan_C_Adams I believe that's what social scientists call--and I want to be accurate with my language here--a giant crock o' horse shit

@MrDanielBuck @Jordan_C_Adams oh we’ve done that. But our tech director—who is very pro-AI—has forbade us from using one of the tools to do that. Students claim “I was working on another document” and parents are taking their side.

@WalkerKortson76 @Jordan_C_Adams Type on google doc and check their edit history? If they dump 8 paragraphs of text in one go, clear sign of copy+paste?

@MrDanielBuck @Jordan_C_Adams I’m moving to a first-draft via Bluebook and paper graphic organizers done in class. Then, I might be open to subsequent drafts using technology. But I need to see their initial thinking.

@Frankshoe34 Agreed. Simple, factual, pop quizzes are the way.

@MrDanielBuck Use a no tech, in class, method to assess what work was assigned to be completed outside of class. Do not assess compliance. Assess knowledge gained.

Reject modernity, embrace tradition:

“In the rare instances when public schools are explicit about character formation, I have found that the traits they codify tend to be vague and insipid.” — @MrDanielBuck @ModAgeJournal modernagejournal.com/classical-scho…

Why Teachers Shouldn’t Offload Their Busywork to AI (Opinion) edweek.org/technology/opi…

Some days I despair for the West

"Today, modern barbarians... do not carry swords to attack the physical but instead wield obtuse academic jargon to deconstruct ideals. They topple statues to our heroes and cast all that we believe to be good and true as anachronistic, oppressive, and corrupted."

“AI can obviously digest student work and provide feedback. But if I had chosen not to read all student work in order to ‘streamline my workflow,’ I would have learned far less about my students and their academic strengths and weaknesses.” — @MrDanielBuck edweek.org/technology/opi…

@scarchin “Truly ridiculous and out of touch” Tempted to make that my new X-name-description

@MrDanielBuck Sometimes you can be truly ridiculous and out of touch. This is one of those times.

Sending emails? Planning lessons? Writing questions? Providing feedback? This “thought work” is a foundation of good teaching It’s a mistake to outsource it to AI edweek.org/technology/opi…

“Substantive reflection undergirds a well-written email. It’s why only a few lines can sometimes take us 15 minutes or even a whole afternoon to write. We’re not struggling to tap out letters but to understand the situation and write exactly what we want to say.”

With America's education crisis, I know it's tempting to blame teachers, and teacher quality does vary wildly. However, in most cases, teachers are as much victims of terrible leadership and edufads as students are.

Classical schools and the like are maybe one of the most hopeful developments in the last few decades.

All schools end up shaping children's character. The question is what shape they impart.