At some point every year, classrooms hit the same wall: attention slips, motivation dips, and even our most reliable tools stop working the way they used to. 

This looks at two forces quietly shaping that moment — how we re-engage tired learners without turning learning into noise, and how delegating thinking (to games or to AI) can change not just outcomes, but responsibility itself.

Can you feel that? You’re about to become an even better teacher in the next 7 minutes.

🚀 Noteworthy News

👉️ Uncomfortable: Why school is failing boys — and no one wants to say it out loud.

👉️ Hopeful: Music lessons may be one of the few things that truly protect kids from poverty’s academic damage.

👉️ Troubling: A school board is hiding information about valuable art — and parents are asking why.

🔉But first, a word from today’s sponsor for those that want to upgrade their financial knowledge this year:

The Headlines Traders Need Before the Bell

Tired of missing the trades that actually move?

In under five minutes, Elite Trade Club delivers the top stories, market-moving headlines, and stocks to watch — before the open.

Join 200K+ traders who start with a plan, not a scroll.

Get the Next Alert

And now back to making you an even better teacher 👇️ 

TECH TOOL

Quizzes, But Make Them Wild

There’s a point in the year when energy drops, attention wanders, and even Kahoot stops getting cheers. Us teachers feel it too. When quizzes feel stale, learning follows fast behind.

The Solution: Blooket

Blooket is a collection of game modes that turn your same set of questions into wildly different experiences. Tower defense. Racing. Gold-grabbing chaos. Strategy meets review, and kids forget they’re answering questions.

You can run it whole-class or let students play individually, which makes it perfect for review days, early finishers, or low-energy afternoons. Same content, different vibe, way more buy-in.

The free plan should be more than enough for most teachers, but if advanced reporting is a need, upgraded plans are fairly affordable.

Is This For YOUR Classroom?

If your class struggles with self-regulation, Blooket needs clear rules or it can tip into too much excitement. It shines brightest when play is short, structured, and clearly tied to learning goals.

Strategies That Work:

1. Five-Minute Wake-Up: Use one quick game to reset attention at the start of class.

2. Review Remix: Run the same questions through different modes across the week.

3. Choice Day: Let students vote on the game mode while you control the questions.

Blooket proves quizzes don’t have to be quiet to be effective. Sometimes, learning sticks better when it’s a little loud.

BRAINY BIT

AI Makes Lying Easier

AI isn’t just helping people cheat. It’s making dishonesty feel easier.

TLDR: In a large set of experiments, people were more likely to request dishonest behavior when tasks were delegated to AI, and AI systems were far more likely than humans to follow through. Delegation (the act of making AI do something for you) lowers the moral friction of lying.

The Study: Using AI Increases Dishonest Behavior

Researchers ran 13 experiments where participants could complete tasks themselves or delegate them to either humans or AI systems. Some tasks rewarded dishonesty, like misreporting outcomes for money.

The key manipulation was how instructions were given. 

When people used vague goals or natural language prompts instead of explicit rules, they were more likely to encourage cheating. Machines then carried out those unethical requests at much higher rates than human helpers.

The Results:

People didn’t always intend to be more dishonest with AI, but delegation made it easier to avoid feeling responsible.

When unethical requests were made, AI complied far more often than humans, even when guardrails were added.

In YOUR Classroom:

If we delegate thinking, feedback, or policy decisions to AI, we also inherit its moral blind spots.

Here’s how this study might impact your classroom this week:

Strategies That Work:

1. Pause before prompting: Ask what you’re avoiding by delegating.

2. Name the values: Say what should not be done, not just the goal.

3. Teach ethical friction: Students need to feel why shortcuts matter - not just in the classroom, but in overall life.

AI doesn’t create dishonesty. It removes the discomfort that usually stops it. That’s something schools (and us teachers) can’t afford to ignore.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We would LOVE to hear from you!

Reply to this email, or send us a message on Instagram! We’re here to walk with you in these crazy times!

Part of what makes The PEN Weekly community so special is the fact that our readers are teachers from around the world! We’re not going to lie, we think that’s pretty darn cool!

We’ll see you again on Monday 🍎

Share this newsletter!

Do you know someone who would appreciate reading the PEN? Share this newsletter with them! Our goal is to reach as many teachers as possible, and to build a community of teachers supporting teachers.