Trips Beyond the Classroom

🌍 Open House for Peace & Understanding – Guest Speaker Session

I’m excited to share our next Open House guest session with Muhammad Ali on Thursday, May 7 at 5 PM CET.

Muhammad Ali is a regenerative educator, community developer, and holistic scholar whose work explores the Hero’s Journey as a path of growth, courage, purpose, and transformation.

In this session, students will explore:

what the Hero’s Journey means in real life
how challenge can shape identity and purpose
how to recognize their own strengths or “superpowers”
how those strengths can be used in service of something bigger

The session will also include a short reflection exercise where students imagine their true self, identify their strengths, and begin thinking about their own mission in the world.

Open House is designed as a live discussion space where students do more than listen. They reflect, ask questions, and connect meaningful ideas to their own lives.

Thursday, May 7 – 5 PM CET
Join here: learncompass.org/

Please share with thoughtful teens, parents, and educators who may know a student who would enjoy this kind of conversation.

I've been writing for a year about what gets lost when AI does the thinking for students.
Then I stopped writing and built something.
AICLearning is a dynamic worksheet — one that actually listens. Students open a link, work through guided questions that adapt to their answers, and the teacher sees real thinking in real time.
The first module is live. Free. No login needed. Built for curious students and the teachers who want to see them actually think.
Try it → learncompass.org/aiclearning
(Tag a teacher who needs to see this.)

Happy Easter, friends 🐣🌸

This season has always felt like renewal to me — new starts, things coming back to life. This year I'm right in the middle of that feeling.

For the past year I've been learning about the creative side of AI — vibe coding, building agents — and two things are almost ready to share. One is Gratifu, a student motivation platform nearly at testing phase. The other is a brand new AI concierge for LearnCompass — a warm two-minute conversation that figures out who you are and points you in the right direction.

I built it from scratch. It's version one and I know it shows. But that's exactly why I need your help.

Try it — learncompass.org/start — and then just write what comes to mind. Honestly. Did it get you right? Did something surprise you? If enough people share their reactions, I'll post what I discover.

Wishing you a peaceful and joyful Easter 💛

👉 https://www.learncompass.org/start

I made two AI engines this year.

One helps leaders find the right ways to motivate their teams. The other helps learners navigate education. They work. Mostly. Still improving.

But building them taught me something I didn't expect: the most important skill wasn't coding. It was abductive reasoning. Making a call before you have all the answers. Moving toward the best explanation you have, then adjusting.

That is the skill AI needs from us most. And the one education is at risk of leaving behind.

https://medium.com//ai-in-education-abductive-reasoning-and-filling-the-gap-e21fc7beec4b

"I can't help myself, I'm a born button pusher." — Ringo Starr, 1968
Nearly 60 years later, anyone who has ever worked with computers knows exactly what he meant.
You press the button. You see what happens. You learn.
My new essay is about abductive reasoning and AI in education. It started, like most things I write, by pressing a button and paying attention to what came next.

https://medium.com//ai-in-education-abductive-reasoning-and-filling-the-gap-e21fc7beec4b

I recently worked with a school that felt stuck: well-meaning AI guidance, but no shared way to judge real decisions. We led an advisory-led curriculum review that paired practical frameworks with staff-led judgment exercises — not another one-off training. Within three months the leadership team reported clearer policy language, faster routine decisions, and fewer ad-hoc exemptions. Teachers could explain why a choice was made, not just what to do.

If you lead a school or organisation, advisory support that builds frameworks and judgment can turn uncertainty into consistent practice. Learn Compass programs — Everything Begins with Teaching, Academic Life Coaching, Gratifu and our Open House — help translate those shifts into classroom and governance routines. Read more: https://wix.to/uHxKzLL

Would you like a short briefing that maps this approach to your context? Tell me one challenge you’re facing and I’ll reply with a practical next step.

When AI recommendations clash with human values, leaders need compact, practical reasoning models they can use now. I offer three I use in advisory work with schools and programmes like Learn Compass’s Everything Begins with Teaching, Academic Life Coaching, Gratifu and our Open House sessions. 1) Tradeoff mapping — make costs and values visible so decisions aren’t hidden in algorithmic opacity. 2) Layered verification — combine quick checks with deeper human review where values matter most. 3) Narrative testing — imagine short, realistic stories of how a decision affects learners over time. Each model is terse, evidence-led and designed for immediate classroom or governance use. If you’d like a short workshop or templates to apply these in your setting, visit https://wix.to/JnPgTgE and get in touch.

AI in schools is not just another tool; it is an occasion to teach judgment. I believe the most important response to AI is not more automation, but clearer, higher‑order decision-making: when to trust a model, how to weigh sources, and how to act on uncertain information. Cross‑cultural learning and resilience research show students who practice this form of judgment develop transferable skills and clearer educational pathways — outcomes that lift both learners and institutions. At Learn Compass we don’t sell quick fixes. We advise leaders who want strategy and frameworks: from Everything Begins with Teaching to Academic Life Coaching, Gratifu and our Open House, we help turn belief into structured practice. If you lead a school or organisation and want to build lasting clarity around AI and learning, let’s talk. https://wix.to/SrQBqzS

Clarity in writing is not stylistic—it's ethical. When schools adopt AI, precise language shapes who is protected, who is accountable and what learning looks like in practice. I help leaders turn vague commitments into enforceable policy: for example, changing “students may use AI tools” to “students may use AI tools only with explicit teacher permission and logged purpose” moves a policy from permissive risk to accountable practice. Learn Compass offers deeply thoughtful support—drawing on Everything Begins with Teaching, Academic Life Coaching, Gratifu and our Open House—to turn strategy into classroom reality. Read more: https://wix.to/9eCUPcp

As educators and parents, we’re seeing AI change classroom rhythms, cognitive load and decision-making. I believe thoughtful adoption can strengthen — not weaken — student resilience when combined with deliberate practice in critical thinking. At Learn Compass we focus on practical responses: teaching students how to evaluate AI outputs, structuring tasks to protect deep work, and coaching young people to recover from setbacks rather than avoid difficulty. Our programmes — Everything Begins with Teaching, Academic Life Coaching, Gratifu and the Open House — turn those principles into classroom-ready practice that builds long-term judgement and cross-cultural leadership. Visit https://wix.to/IrJhYi4 to explore how schools can integrate these approaches. How is your school approaching AI in learning? 😊📚

As a former school leader, I’ve seen AI’s promise and its limits. I offer a concise, evidence-rooted framework to help you decide when to trust algorithmic tools—and when to prioritise human judgement. Use three quick checkpoints: learning outcomes, equity, and long-term judgement. These help you move from experiment to responsible practice without losing sight of what matters most. Learn Compass supports ethical AI integration through advisory work and practical programmes—Everything Begins with Teaching, Academic Life Coaching, Gratifu, and our Open House—to help teams turn belief into action. Read more: https://wix.to/aGWgkvb