The Questions Students Are Asking About AI: and the Mindsets that help Answer Them — Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators

Tricia and Jeff talk about what AI literacy actually looks like in K-12 — past the policy memos, past the vendor pitches, past the "ban it or adopt it" debate that keeps stalling schools out.

They were very excited to receive questions from a student, and they used those as the structure for this conversation.

The conversation uses the Shifting Schools BAKE framework as a loose map: Balance, Adaptability, Knowledge-sharing, Empathy. A mindset-first approach for leaders who want to think clearly instead of react fast.

What Jeff and Tricia get into:

How to explain AI to a 10-year-old without overcomplicating it (and why metaphors help)
Where kids still need to struggle on their own — and why productive friction is identity-forming work
The first habits to teach when a child gets AI access: check it, don't trust it; notice when your thinking shuts down
Whether AI can actually make education more inclusive, and what has to be in place before it does
The mistakes schools and parents are making right now: banning instead of teaching, adopting without training, treating AI like an IT rollout instead of a relationship shift

Check out the free one-pager:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17ny-mD1QY450NdG5J4gVZzZE01qyFfOM/view?usp=sharing