🫱🏼🫲🏽 Stay connected this summer
We need our time to rest and recharge. But summer can be a great time to connect with others — on our time, on our terms, about the topics we’re interested in.
If you’re looking for a community of educators who love the craft of teaching like you do, the free Ditch That Textbook online community is the place to be.
Throughout the summer, we’ll be sharing our thoughts, plans, ambitions … even new things we’re learning and what we want to try in our classrooms.
The easiest way to access the community is through the mobile app. Download the app for Circle, our online community platform. Then just log in to our community.
Starting today, we’ll be on our summer schedule — one newsletter per week through the months of June and July.
Today’s 💡 Big Idea recaps the school year for Ditch That Textbook with some stats and the content that interested readers like you the most.
(Did you know that readers like you opened these Ditch That Textbook newsletters 5.9 million times during the school year?!?)
Inside:
📺 Free AI literacy webinar TODAY!
👀 DTT Digest: 4 resources worth checking out
👥 Community: The role of AI in marking / grading
👥 Community: Discussions happening in the community now
💡 The Big Idea: The best of Ditch That Textbook ’25-’26
😄 Smile of the day: See you next NEXT December
👋 How we can help
📺 Free AI literacy webinar TODAY!
Join me for a free webinar on my new book!
If you want to prepare students for an AI-integrated future — but still have content to teach and standards to meet in your own class, what can you do?
In this webinar — How to Teach AI Literacy in Any Class (hosted by OTIS), I’ll share practical ideas right out of my new book, AI Literacy in Any Class.
You can join us LIVE — or sign up for a free account to watch a replay afterward (for a limited time).
BONUS: You can earn a state-approved certificate of completion for PD credit!
👀 DTT Digest
4 teaching resources worth checking out today
🎉 Join the Brisk Community — The Club Brisk Cohort 3 is now accepting applications. Whether it’s earning your Brisk certifications, joining Club Brisk, creating resources, leading PDs, or sharing your favorite Brisk hacks online — there’s a way for you to shine.
🚪 Nextdoor Template — This clever Canva template by Dustin Rimmey is a highly engaging, plug-and-play tool perfect for transforming traditional ELA, history, or science assignments into interactive, modern writing challenges.
☀️ Explore The Science of Summer — Get ready for summer by exploring the science behind some of your favorite summer activities. Discover the physics of sailing, the chemistry of campfires, the science of blowing bubbles, the mineral composition of sand, and the forces that allow humans to ride bicycles and roller coasters.
🤖 Jason Reynolds on What AI Is Quietly Stealing From the Next Generation — What opportunities could a generation of students potentially lose when technology does the hard work for them? The celebrated author shares his thoughts on the hidden price of convenience.
👥 FROM THE COMMUNITY 👥
✅ The role of AI in marking / grading
Last night, Michael Harvey wrote an interesting post about the role of AI in marking / grading. (Well, it was last night for me. Since he’s in New Zealand, it was afternoon for him!)
In his post, he shares his experiences with using AI for feedback and marking, writing:
It helps to “reduce repetitive workloads.”
“AI should not replace teacher judgment.”
“We risk reducing learning to what is easiest for a machine to measure.”
It’s so, so good. Read the whole thing — and share your experience with AI and marking / grading / feedback — in the post here.
📢 TOP DISCUSSIONS 📢
👥 Discussions happening in the community now
Jump into these discussions in the free DTT online community!
Want to keep the conversation going throughout the summer? Here are some discussion you can jump into right now in the DTT community …
💡 THE BIG IDEA 💡
🗑️ The best of Ditch That Textbook ’25-’26
Can you believe we are wrapping up another incredible school year?
When I look back at the numbers, I am completely blown away: over the past year, our community opened 92 unique newsletter posts more than 5.9 MILLION times, racking up over 214,000 clicks.
That is a lot of textbook ditching! 🧠⚡
I wanted to find out exactly what resonated most with you in the trenches this year. So, we crunched the data and put together the ultimate Teaching Resources Year in Review.
Whether you need a quick win for next week or want to supercharge your planning over the summer, here are the official GREATEST HITS from this past year:
🧰 Part 1: The Teacher's Ultimate Toolbox
💡 40 Genius Teacher Hacks: This was the year’s absolute most clicked resource! Why? Because it delivers quick, bite-sized efficiency wins that give busy teachers their prep periods back.
🎧 Instant Student Engagement Kits: High-demand templates that got students creating, including our smash-hit "Spotify Wrapped" for Slides and 10 interactive flashcard games.
🗓️ End-of-Year Survival Templates: The ultimate lifesavers for the spring semester, packed with creative Chromebook projects and final project ideas to keep students focused.
🤖 Part 2: The New Frontiers: AI & Community
🧠 Google Gemini 101 for Teachers: Our top-performing AI guide. It didn't just talk about the tech; it helped educators safely navigate the absolute basics of AI in the classroom.
🔍 The NotebookLM Revolution: We saw massive, surging interest in this tool! Teachers went wild for AI-powered research tips and workflow hacks specifically designed to cut down on grading and planning time.
👋 DTT Community Launch: Teaching shouldn't happen on an island. Thousands of you jumped headfirst into our brand-new community to collaborate, share techy ideas, and support each other.
Thank you for being a part of this community and constantly pushing the boundaries of what's possible for your students!
They say you can't survive the end of the school year without a lot of coffee, but honestly? A few good templates and an amazing community of educators make a pretty great recipe, too!
😄 Smile of the day
Well in that case I’ll be back next, next December …
Source: weareteachers.com
👋 How we can help
There are even more ways I can support you in the important work you do in education:
Read one of my six books about meaningful teaching with tech.
Take one of our online courses about practical and popular topics in education.
Bring me to your school, district or event to speak. I love working with educators!
