MAKING IT EASIER TO BE A BETTER TEACHER

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

We sat down with The Teacher Experience Podcast last week to dive deeper into the research about class sizes. Click HERE to listen and let us know what you think!

TECH TALK

Your (new) powerful reading assistant

Last week, we featured Sider - and SO many of you asked for a deeper dive into some of the features beyond just comparing AI models.

Sider is back this week but with what it’s truly best at - being a reading assistant for both you and your students.

The Solution: Sider’s Reading Assistance Tool

Sider’s AI-powered reading features help both teachers and students translate, summarize, and rewrite content instantly, making it easier to adjust materials for different classroom needs. 

This tool integrates directly into your browser, so educators and learners can modify reading material without switching between multiple apps.

Here’s why it can be the reading assistant your classroom needs: 

• One-Click Summarization – Quickly condense research papers, articles, or reports into key takeaways and easier language.

• Text Rewriting for Different Levels – Simplify or adjust reading material based on student proficiency - Sider can rewrite passages at the click of a button.

• Translation in Multiple Languages – Break down language barriers by instantly translating documents, worksheets, or parent communications.

How About YOUR Classroom?

Sider’s reading assistant tool transforms how teachers handle reading-heavy tasks, making it easier to adapt and personalize content. 

At the same time, it provides students with independent tools to enhance comprehension and engage with reading materials more effectively.

Strategies

• Reading Accommodations – Paste the text into Sider and choose a simpler or more advanced rewrite to fit the needs of your students.

• Independent Study Support – Instead of relying solely on teachers for explanations, students can use Sider to break down challenging texts on their own, promoting independent learning and stronger critical thinking skills.

Just like we said last week - always ensure that any AI tool complies with your school’s privacy policies before using it.

Sider’s reading tools are free (premium options are available), making it an easy and affordable way for teachers to save hours on lesson prep while ensuring students get content that matches their reading level. 

If you’re interested, click the affiliate link above to get started today.

BRAINY BITS

Is AI making us dumb?

Generative AI (GenAI) promises efficiency for teachers and workers alike - but does it come at the cost of critical thinking? 

A recent study - surprisingly published via Microsoft’s research labs this year -  explores how confidence in AI affects cognitive effort and shifts how we (and our students) engage in problem-solving.

The Study: The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking

Researchers surveyed 319 knowledge workers who use GenAI weekly. Participants shared real-world AI usage examples across three task types: Creation, Information, and Advice. 

The study then analyzed the results to see how GenAI influenced their critical thinking engagement, effort, and decision-making processes.

The Results:

• Most Users Report Thinking Less: 59.29% of participants self-reported engaging in some form of critical thinking while using GenAI, but they also perceived that thinking required less effort compared to working without AI.

• Confidence Can Reduce Effort: The more users trusted GenAI, the less effort they put into critical thinking. Workers who had high confidence in AI’s accuracy often accepted outputs with minimal scrutiny, skipping deeper evaluation.

• Thinking Shifts to Verification: Instead of deep problem-solving, users focused on fact-checking opting for lightly editing, rather than actively constructing knowledge.

• Task Type Matters: When seeking information, users defaulted to trusting AI-generated summaries. For creative tasks, users treated AI as a brainstorming tool instead.

In Your Classroom:

To ensure students stay engaged in critical thinking, here’s what we you can start doing in your classrooms this week:

Strategies

• Teach Verification Skills: Encourage students to fact-check AI-generated content rather than take it at face value.

• Highlight AI’s Limits: Show how overreliance can lead to shallow learning and misinformation - use a creative task in place of a research one to ensure students’ work is their own.

• Use AI as a Tool, Not a Crutch: When AI is being used, make part of the task to justify their use of AI rather than just copy outputs.

The key? AI should enhance thinking, not replace it. 

The study warns that overconfidence in AI can lead to a false sense of accuracy, reducing students’ ability to question and refine ideas. 

If we’re not careful, today’s convenience could lead to tomorrow’s critical thinking deficit—a skill too important to outsource.

The best way forward is balance: AI should be a thinking partner, not a substitute for thought itself - and that goes for every app or edtech we’ve ever featured!

REFERENCES

This week’s issue adapts information from the following sources:

Tech Talk:

Sider. (2025). Your AI Sidekick. Retrieved from https://sider.ai/
Note: The PEN Weekly may receive compensation as an affiliate should you choose to sign up using this link. We are never persuaded by affiliates - we only report on edtech we actually think will be useful to you regardless of affiliate status. To learn more about our selection process and policy, feel free to connect with us by replying to this email.. Thank you for the support!

Brainy Bits:

Lee, H.-P. H., Sarkar, A., Lev Tankelevitch, Drosos, I., Rintel, S., Banks, R., & Wilson, N. (2025, April). The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers. Microsoft Research. Doi: 10.1145/3706598.3713778