MAKING IT EASIER TO BE A BETTER TEACHER

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting education stories from around the world. Click each link to dive deeper:

• Ever wonder when Math was invented? Science has an answer (finally).

• Is a teacher shortage hitting your district? Here’s why the profession isn’t as sought after as it once was.

• A new report on violence in schools - we’re at a crisis level here.

BRAINY BITS

Why do some students follow the rules, even when I leave the room?

A fresh study from the University of Amsterdam suggests it’s not all about punishment, praise, or consequences. 

Sometimes, it comes down to something much quieter: a deep, almost genetic, internal sense that rules matter - and that others expect us to follow them.

The Study: Why (some) People Follow Rules

In a series of large-scale experiments involving more than 14,000 participants, researchers tested what makes people follow rules in both private (anonymous) and public situations.

More than two-thirds of participants chose to follow the rules - even when told they won’t get in trouble.

Why? 

According to the CRISP framework developed by the study’s authors, it comes down to four main drivers:

The strongest influences weren’t money or threats. They were internal norms and the feeling that others expected you to do the right thing, even if no one was watching.

The Results

Across four experiments, rule-following rates consistently stayed above 65% - even when cheating was the easier, more profitable option.

Adding in social pressure or rewards bumped compliance up to nearly 80%. 

But the most interesting finding? Even in total anonymity, people stuck to the rules out of an internal belief that rules are meant to be followed.

Participants also said they expected others to follow the rules too, revealing just how tightly social expectations and internal beliefs are linked, even when we’re flying solo.

In Your Classroom:

Let’s face it: sometimes it feels like your class won’t behave unless you’re right on top of them. And if you turn your back? Chaos.

But this study says otherwise. It reminds us that the desire to follow rules may be more common than we think, even if it doesn’t always look that way. 

So how can we bring this insight into the classroom?

Strategies

• Start with shared expectations: Students don’t just need rules, they need to see that their peers value them. Make classroom norms a group effort, not a list taped to the wall.

• Normalize invisible integrity: Celebrate quiet rule-following. A student who doesn't cut the line, even when no one’s watching? That’s gold.

• Trust that internal motivation exists: Not every behavior needs a reward or consequence. Sometimes, a well-anchored expectation is enough.

We’re more wired for rule-following than we think. 

As teachers, our job might be less about catching bad behavior and more about nurturing the invisible threads that hold good behavior together.

TECH TOOL

I think a bot wrote this. Again.

You’ve read that paragraph somewhere before - maybe in five other assignments from the same class. 

It’s perfectly polished, oddly generic, and uses the phrase “Throughout history…” three times, and has a very specific type of hyphen everywhere.

Yep. It’s another AI-generated student submission.

The Solution:  Brisk Teaching AI

Brisk is a Chrome extension designed to integrate AI directly into your daily teaching workflow. 

One of its standout features? A built-in AI detection tool that scans student writing for signs of chatbot involvement - right inside Google Docs or your LMS. 

It flags suspicious sections and offers a confidence score, so you can stop second-guessing and start grading with a bit more peace of mind.

And Brisk doesn’t stop there. With the same extension, you can generate differentiated versions of content with a single click (helping your students and your IEP compliance), and even grade assignments using custom rubrics without leaving the tab you're in.

So no more flipping between six tools, trying to decode whether your students or GPT wrote that Shakespeare analysis.

In Your Classroom:

While it shouldn’t always be about catching dishonest work, there is some great classroom value in a free tool like this.

Here’s how you can get started with it this week:

Strategies

• Run a quick AI check on student submissions. Before grading, scan for signs of AI use directly within Google Docs, freeing up your energy for the actual student writing.

• Use it to give fast, standards-aligned feedback. Brisk can auto-generate editable rubric-based comments and scoring, saving you grading time.

• Modify assignments on the fly. With Brisk's in-line tools, you can simplify reading levels or generate alternate versions of content for specific students.

Whether you're drowning in grading or tired of trying to outwit AI-generated essays, Brisk AI helps you reclaim your time and sanity. 

It's not just another tool - it’s a teaching assistant that lives inside your browser.

And let’s be honest: if the bots are here to stay, you might as well have one on your side.

REFERENCES

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

Tech Talk:

BRISK (2025). The Powerful AI Assistant built for every school. Retrieved from https://www.briskteaching.com

Brainy Bits:

Gächter, S., Molleman, L. & Nosenzo, D. Why people follow rules. Nat Hum Behav (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02196-4