Today we’re heading back to 1781, to a log tavern on the Great Wagon Road, halfway between Staunton and Lexington. It’s the story of a Virginia militiaman named David Steele, who was cut down at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and left for dead. He survived. And he came home with the strangest war medal you’ll ever hear about. A French general wrote about it. A British officer called it a lie. A future king of France came to see it with his own eyes. And today, it’s sitting in a box in Charlottesville. Let’s go find out why.

As AI makes digital manipulation more convincing, keeping kids safe online is becoming about much more than teaching them what not to click. In this conversation, Nidhi Srivastava, founder of DigiArmorX, shares the experience with her son that led her to rethink digital safety education. We explore the growing sophistication of scams and manipulation, including AI-generated voices and deepfakes, and why cybersecurity, AI literacy, digital citizenship, and resilience can't be treated as separate skills. Nidhi also explains how DigiArmorX gives students opportunities to encounter realistic digital scenarios, make decisions, and learn from the consequences—not simply memorize rules or take quizzes.

What actually makes learning happen? And in a world where AI can increasingly do the hard work for us, which parts of that work should students still do themselves? The episode was recorded for Education Talk Radio on the Be Podcast Network, and we're excited to share it with you. Host David Cicero spoke with John Hattie, the renowned researcher behind Visible Learning. They discuss why struggle matters, why students need more than one strategy for learning, and why schools may spend too much time thinking about teaching and not enough helping students understand the learning process itself. The conversation also turns to AI—not simply whether schools should use it, but when students should use it, when they shouldn’t, and what happens when technology begins doing the thinking that produces learning in the first place. Listen and subscribe to Education Talk Radio: https://edutalk.transistor.fm

We tend to think about math, literacy, language, and executive functioning as separate areas of development. But the research shows they’re much more connected than we might think. Early math skills are associated with later academic outcomes, and developing those skills draws heavily on language, vocabulary, and executive functioning. And supporting early math doesn’t have to mean formal instruction. A lot of it happens through play, conversation, books, games, and everyday routines. That’s why in episode 269 of De Facto Leaders, I talk with Clarence Ames, an early childhood development researcher and curriculum designer specializing in early math and executive function, about what the research tells us about how young children develop math skills, and what adults can do to support them. Clarence Ames has worked in Education Research, Implementation, and Policy for 15 years. He has a Master of Science in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences from Utah State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from Central Washington University. He is passionate about helping people develop the skills they need to become independent and self-sufficient, and his life goal is to empower students and teachers to create a system of education in which the only limitations on breadth or depth of learning are one’s own desire, passion, and motivation.  In this episode, we discuss: ✅ What research shows about the relationship between early math, literacy, vocabulary, and executive functioning. ✅ Why early math skills are associated with later academic and life outcomes. ✅ How play, books, games, and everyday routines can build math concepts without formal instruction. ✅What the research says about educational apps and screen-based learning, and why adult interaction makes a difference. ✅How parents can support early math development even if they have their own math anxiety. In this episode, I mention the Task Execution and Planning Protocol, which gives school clinicians an intervention strategy that takes students from “demand avoidance” and prompt dependence to independence during daily academic and functional tasks.  You can learn more about the Task Execution and Planning Protocol here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/taskexecution   In this episode, I mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day.  You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

In this episode, Eric Makelky continues his conversation with Christine Braun, Chief Creative Officer at Cresconova Labs, digging deeper into how families can apply the Labs framework at home. Christine shares practical, low-cost ways to teach concepts like geometry and systems thinking through kids' existing interests—from tessellation patterns in fashion, sports jerseys, and Lego architecture to a "moss safari" microorganism project using nothing more than a microscope and backyard moss. She emphasizes teaching kids to ask open-ended questions, always verify AI-generated information, and keep an engineering notebook to document their learning journey and build a portfolio.