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EdTech
Two Open Text Fields, A Thousand Clues: What Students Tell Us About Themselves
Dataset: Instructron Student Learning Profiles | Fall 2025 (Aug-Nov 2025) | Aggregate data across classrooms from teachers who had students complete profiles | Grades 4-8 | All subjects Anonymization: Aggregate data; paraphrased student language; randomized IDs What we didn't do: No training on student work; profiles are opt-in and teacher-assigned; responses reflect student self-perception, not performance metrics The Open Field In the final step of their learning profiles, students see tw
Small Wins, Big Persistence: What 88 Messages Taught Us About Scaffolding
Privacy: We paraphrase learner messages, use randomized IDs, and never train on student work. What you'll learn: Why students give up, and how to stop it. The science of small wins, self-efficacy, and scaffolding—plus 4 classroom-ready strategies. The podcast above covers the same material. Choose your preferred format: watch on YouTube or continue reading below. The Scene It's 12:37 PM on a Monday when a student types these words into their writing activity: "i dont get the prompt". They'
Two months since launch!
We shipped the following this month to keep classes flowing: 💛 Superboard, your projector’s new best friend 🧩 Widgets for any classroom scenario 📋 Community templates to start fast 🔊 Read aloud everywhere 📈 Student data updates in real time Here's a highlight reel, made with our newest feature, Superboard
Instructron Unstructured: Episode 6
Your Projector Can Do THIS?! The New Classroom Hack Ever have a lesson derailed by a meme? Us too. It’s episode six (…maybe seven? Meme math is real), and we’re talking about how teachers like us are keeping pace with ever-shifting trends, TikTok audios, and the attention span of a room full of students. Spoiler: you need more than just good intentions (and definitely more than just a stack of boring lesson slides). Teaching in the Age of Meme Chaos You can’t say “six” in class without five
Instructron Unstructured: Episode 5
AI Test Generator How-To + A Sneak Peek at Superboard: Smarter Classrooms Start Here If there’s one thing teaching guarantees, it’s unpredictability - and not just from students. (Wait for the bug story.) In this week’s episode, we dig into what it really looks like to innovate your classroom routines, build student independence, and use the newest AI-powered tools, even while chaos is happening all around you. Real Routines (& Real Surprises!) Back-to-school season is in full swing. Between
Supporting All Families’ Comfort Levels with AI in the Classroom
We understand that conversations around artificial intelligence in education are becoming more common, and we know that some families prefer their children not engage directly with AI-powered tools. At Instructron, our goal has always been to provide resources that support teachers and enhance student learning, and that includes respecting the choices families make. If a family chooses for their student not to use the AI portions of Instructron, we can honor that request while still giving the
Instructron Unstructured: Episode 4
From Diagnostic Data to Daily Routines and AI Guardrails Back-to-school is officially real: two weeks in, and those first nine days have felt like a marathon. Nothing says "welcome back" like hours of diagnostic testing: grueling reading and math screens, 32 new personalities, routines to build from scratch - and worse, that endless feeling of “How do I reach every student?” As Joe puts it: "Nothing says welcome back to school like hours upon end of test questions that purposely get to the bo
Instructron Unstructured: Episode 3
First Week Recap & New 4 New Features (3 Are Free!) Four days into the new school year, it already feels like a marathon. Thirty-two new faces. New personalities. Endless procedures to model. "It's just a lot of talking, and I’m ready for real routines again!” But through the chaos, we get to build a brand new classroom community - and this year, we’re doing it with Instructron working alongside us. What’s New This Week and Already Making a Difference Timer: No More Juggling Tabs Teacher
Instructron Unstructured: Episode 2
Back-to-School & The Writing Center Deep Dive Summer’s Over—Back to the Classroom! * After nine glorious weeks of summer break, we (Joe & Quyen) are back in the classroom and gearing up for the new school year. * Teaching means starting fresh every year: new students, new personalities, and new chances to do things better. The Challenge: Writing Feedback Overload * Last year, we tried "mystery writing" and were excited to see students writing more than ever. * But with 32 students, gra
Instructron Unstructured: Episode 1
We’re excited to share the very first episode of our new “Instructron Unstructured” video series! True to its name, this behind-the-scenes conversation is relaxed and off-the-cuff as we celebrate the launch of our platform, Instructron. We'll post every full video, along with a summary such as this one. Meet the Team & Big Launch Day! Who are we? * Two full-time teachers (Joe and Quyen) who never set out to build a tech startup, plus a super-patient brother Khoa - the tech wizard who act
AI in the Classroom: A Rebuttal to the Doubters
There's no denying that artificial intelligence prompts strong reactions, especially in education. Concerns about privacy, depersonalization, and unintended consequences are real. But at Instructron, we designed our AI tools explicitly for classrooms, anchored in trust, transparency, and teacher empowerment. Here’s our response to the most common criticisms. 1. “AI invades student privacy.” The truth: Instructron was built to minimize the data we collect. We don’t ask for student names, email
Why Instructron Takes a Different Approach to AI and Assessment
Let’s get one thing straight: grading essays is time-consuming. Like, "why do I do this to myself every Sunday night?" time-consuming. So it would be easy for us to build an AI that reads student writing and spits out a score. But that’s not what Instructron is about. We believe student writing deserves more than a number. Here's why we don't auto-grade essays and what we do instead. Writing Is a Process, Not a Product Instructron is built on the idea that writing should be coached, not judg
AI in the Classroom Made Us Nervous Too
If your first reaction to hearing “AI in education” is hesitation or even a hard no… we get it. We were skeptical too. Before Instructron existed, we were just two classroom teachers, Quyen and Joe, watching ChatGPT explode into education. Students were using it. Admins were asking about it. And honestly, it made us nervous. Could this actually help us? Would it take away our voice? Would our students rely on it too much? We didn’t want to reject AI altogether, but we also didn’t trust the tool
Real Talk: What AI Can’t Do in the Classroom (And Why That’s Okay)
Let’s get one thing straight: we love AI. Obviously. We built Instructron because we believe it can make teachers’ lives easier and students’ learning stronger. But even we know it has limits. And that’s actually the whole point. AI isn’t a teacher. It doesn’t read the room. It doesn’t pick up on the weird vibe after lunch. It doesn’t notice when a usually chatty student suddenly goes quiet. And it definitely doesn’t understand the full picture behind a kid’s behavior, effort, or growth. What
Why Instructron Isn't Just Another MagicSchool Clone
As of June 2025, there are more AI tools for educators than ever before, and that’s a good thing. MagicSchool continues to be one of the most well-known platforms, offering a broad library of AI tools for teachers, and more recently, expanding into student-facing supports as well. But here’s where Instructron stands apart: While others are just now building tools for students, Instructron was built for students from day one. We didn’t add student features later. We designed around them first.
AI Tools in Education: What’s Worth Your Time in 2025?
If you're a teacher, you’ve probably seen the explosion of AI tools being marketed to schools. Tools for grading, lesson planning, test prep, and more. And while some are genuinely helpful, others feel like they were built by people who’ve never stepped foot in a classroom. So which ones are actually worth looking at this year? We reviewed the most-used AI platforms in schools right now and broke them down by what they do for you (and your students). Whether you’re trying to save time, improve