🎓 A Student AI Tutor That Teaches…Not Cheats
⏰ TL;DR
🧩 Resource of the Week - Daily Student Reflection Journal
🛠️ Tech Tip - How to Learn Anything!
💎 Gem/GPT of the Week - Student Interest Personal Tutor ➡️ Gemini // Opal // ChatGPT
😁 Just for Funzies - Giving My Favorite Player His Rookie Card
🎓 HONOR ROLL - AI Websites & Apps to Make Life Easier
👋 REAL TALK
So… I recently got the chance to give one of my favorite NBA players their rookie card.
Yes, I realize how that sounds.
I’m a 40-year-old dude out here fanboying over a 26-year-old hooper from Milwaukee. That’s how sports works, please don’t judge. 😂
We talked a bit, I gave him some sports cards, and he even mentioned that he’s seen some of the videos my son and I made for my sports card channel.
Just a cool, human moment for us. No big life lesson. No keynote-worthy takeaway.
But then it reminded me of something important.
I love speaking.
I love learning.
I loveeeeee helping teachers.
I also kinda love NBA basketball.
And here’s the thing, we all have interests that might not be directly connected to our job.
Likewise, students might not always be super passionate about what we’re trying to teach them (spoiler alert 😂).
Here’s the cool thing…we can use that stuff to help them learn what we’re trying to teach them.
Humans learn better when new information connects to something they already know/care about.
It boosts engagement
It improves memory
It helps learning stick long-term
The problem?
Differentiating learning based on every student’s personal interests is powerful…and wildly unrealistic with the time we actually have.
That’s where AI can help (for good, not evil) 😅
Imagine a student learning about the War of 1812 and saying:
Can you explain this using NBA players I like?
Suddenly:
Key figures become “team leaders”
Alliances feel like trades
Strategies feel like playoff matchups
Back when I first started teaching, students were obsessed with that “quality questionable” show Jersey Shore.
So yes, I ABSOLUTELY incorporated Snooki and The Situation in math word problems just to get a little more buy-in.
And today?
We can do SO much more.
So don’t aim for perfect.
Try stuff.
Fail a little.
Laugh about it.
And keep moving forward, and I recommend trying to help students by connecting learning to the things they already love.
Never Stop Learning!
📥 THE DROP
🧩 Free Resource of the Week - Daily Student Reflection Journal
This part of the year is perfect for experimenting with tools you might want to use all year next year.
This reflection journal helps students:
Build metacognition (thinking about their thinking)
Make learning more personal and meaningful
Develop consistency without pressure
Practice self-awareness and ownership
Use it as:
A bell ringer
A Friday reflection
A soft landing at the end of class
Low lift. High payoff.
👉 Grab it for free here: Daily Student Reflection Journal
🛠️ Tech Tip
📚 3 Prompts to Help Students Connect Learning to What They Love
If you want to try what I talked about in Real Talk, here are a few lil copy-paste-ready prompts you can try with your students!
1️⃣ “Explain this concept using something I care about.”
Explain [topic] using examples from [sports, video games, music, shows, hobbies].
2️⃣ “Teach this back to me…but make it relatable.”
Pretend I’m brand new to this topic. Teach it using metaphors from [student interest]. Here’s what I’m trying to learn: (Then just copy/paste the info you want them to learn)
3️⃣ “Quiz me using my interests.”
Ask me 5 questions about [topic] and connect each question to [interest]. For anything I get wrong, please relate it to that topic I like to fill in any gaps in the learning!
That’s it!
Simple. Clear. Immediately copy/pastable!
🎥 Watch my video: How to Learn Anything!
💎 Gem/GPT of the Week
Student Interest Personal Tutor ➡️ Gemini // Opal // ChatGPT
I built a student-facing GPT called the Student Interest Personal Tutor to just do all that stuff I’ve been talking about (if you want it)!
Here’s how this lil Gem/GPT works…
Students tell it:
Their grade level
What they’re learning (they can paste notes, slides, or directions)
What they’re learning for (test, project, or just understanding)
What they’re into (sports, anime, music, farming, cars, gaming, whatevs)
From there, the GPT adapts everything:
Language level
Pacing
Examples
Explanations
IMPORTANT: It doesn’t just do the work for them.
It teaches.
Students can choose between:
Study Guide Mode – clean, structured, bite-sized explanations, vocab, common mistakes, and practice, or
Tutor Mode – one question at a time, with hints, retries, coaching, and confidence-building along the way
If a student misses something, it doesn’t shame ‘em or jump straight to the answer, it re-teaches using their interests and helps them actually get it before moving on!
Yo Tyler, what if they’re crushing it and getting everything right?
The GPT tells them how awesome they’re doing and gives them the option to level up or keep cruising with what they’re doing!
The goal of this tool is about understanding, not just getting the answers.
We talking confidence, not copying. 😂
AND helping students realize they can learn hard things when it’s explained in a way that makes sense to them!
That’s the goal, fam!
👉 Student Interest Personal Tutor ➡️ Gemini // Opal // ChatGPT
(it’s free btw 😂)
🔐 THE VAULT
Weekly highlighted tips, trainings, & resources just for the Honor Roll VIPs! 👩🏫 Admin ➡️ get full access for your ENTIRE school!
🥋 AI Websites & Apps to Make Life Easier
In this lil training, I walk through:
Practical AI tools you can actually use
Websites that save real timeeeeeee ⏰
Workflows that reduce your mental load (frfr)
Short, actionable, and classroom-tested.
👉 Watch the training
👉 Grab the curriculum companion
(Included with your Honor Roll membership 🙌)
You or your school not in the Honor Roll yet?
Get access here and grow with 50+ trainings, slide decks, and every course I have!!
✈️ Places I’ll Be
Come hang with me if you’re nearby and/or want an excuse for a road trip! 😁
2.13.2026 - Newport Schools
3.2.2026 - SE Arkansas ESC
3.5.2026 - NCTIES 2026 - Raleigh, NC
6.1.2026 - Royse City ISD
6.9.2026 Regional Office of Education #4
6.16.2026 InnovateEDU Tech Conference
6.23.2026 SE Missouri State University
7.31.2026 Fentress County Schools
8.7.2026 Pottsville Schools
8.19.2026 Trenton R-IX
If you want me to speak/train at your school and/or conference, hit me up! 🙌
💌 Never Stop Learning!
