BORN CURIOUS
VT No 291 - Kids Want to Learn
Hello Everyone,
Hope your week has been amazing! I've packed this newsletter with learning opportunities and news about MY latest book. What do YOU Like? This is more than a book, it’s a question that starts a journey. And for some readers, it might just change everything.
Here’s Betty’s Review
Another triumph! Full of mischief & magic!
Clever, cheeky & brilliantly written!
Betty Wiggles Arts & Entertainment Editor the Annelida Chronicle
I have also been trialling The Monkey Did It! in schools the kids love it and I have had some great comments here’s one from Gerry Docherty
The Monkey Did It! “This was just what I needed to brighten my day… I laughed and laughed and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of The MONKEY Did It! This will be a smash hit with the children, who as you say, just get it.”
Enough of the chat, check out the Amazing Tools & Absolutely Splendid ideas I have to share with you today, in the spirit of
EASIER, MORE PRODUCTIVE
& A WHOLE LOT MORE FUN!
PS
Virtual Teacher is.......... FREE FOREVER
Here's What's on the MENU Today
What do YOU Like? - My New book with lesson plans.
Assessment Starts With a Lie - The whole assessment system rests on this false assumption: That kids don’t want to learn.
SAL Khan - speaks at Johns Hopkins University's 2025 Commencement
Whisk AI - FREE plan so you can try out AI image generations and animation.
CHECK THESE OUT LIST : Make sure you do!
VT YouTube: AMAZING Stories Series
Let's create a ripple effect of learning, sharing, and growing together.
Pass any good ideas on to colleagues, and encourage them to subscribe to VirtualTeacher for more.
What Do You Like? is a playful celebration of all the curious, quirky, and wonderfully specific things that capture kids’ attention, whether it’s space, steam trains or antique lawn mowers, with a Monkey that does everything. It’s a book for every child who gets totally absorbed in something and every adult who’s ever wondered where those fascinations might lead.
With vibrant visuals and a voice full of joy, this read-aloud favourite puts children’s passions centre stage, showing how interest leads to learning, purpose, creativity, problem-solving and the future.
Blending human storytelling with AI-generated art, What Do You Like? is more than a book, it’s a launchpad for conversations about identity, resilience and the freedom to be unapologetically unique.
Why it stands out:
· Celebrates unusual interests as fuel for future skills
· Encourages kids to be curious, bold and true to themselves
· Introduces a fresh storytelling style: human + AI collaboration
· Inspires joyful discussions about learning, purpose and possibility
Real interests. Real imagination. Real potential.
📚Read the What do YOU Like! pdf book 🌐 Explore the full AMAZING Stories Series
Big things often begin with small curiosities. What Do You Like? every deep interest, no matter how odd, might just be the beginning of something amazing.
The video will be coming soon - Subscribe to the VT YouTube Channel for FREE and be the first to see it - and please leave a comment I love to hear what you think.
Springboard for Kids
Engage every learner by letting them write what they love. This hands-on Lesson Plan blends literacy, visual arts and AI to foster agency, creativity and deep thinking.
EN2-1A, EN2-2A, EN2-3B, EN2-10C, EN3-2A, EN3-5B, EN3-7C, EN3-9E, VAS2.1, VAS2.2, VAS2.4, VAS3.1, VAS3.2, VAS3.4, ST2-2DP-T, ST2-11DI-T, ST2-12DI-T, ST3-2DP-T, ST3-11DI-T, ST3-12DI-T
Assessment Starts With a Lie
The whole assessment system rests on this false assumption:
That kids don’t want to learn.
And that they need stars, stickers, awards, certificates and threats to stay motivated.
But students do want to learn.They are naturally, intrinsically, persistently curious.
They’re born curious. We just keep getting in the way.
So why are we still assessing like it’s 1980? Still using tests just for assessment?
Why not
Let the kids take the test again. And again. Until they master the content.
*Bloom’s Mastery Learning Model.Provide them with an AI that teaches as it assesses.
Want to know how well you're teaching?
Watch how many times the kids want to try again, until they reach mastery.
That’s your data. That’s your impact.
The real crime?
We STOP the learning to test the learning.
What if we didn’t pause?
Assessment should teach, not rank. And reports?
Who are they for? Certainly not the student. Not with 300-character limits.
Not when you’re banned from saying “amazing” or “brilliant” or “splendid” in case it gets misinterpreted.
We’re told to write in careful generalities. Why?
To avoid complaints? To avoid liability? To comply?
But that’s not why I write reports.
I write them to speak to the student. To encourage, inspire & guide. To let them know that I see them and that they matter.
And if we’re honest, most of the so-called “best practices” around assessment
are bureaucratic fossils, more about control than learning.
Yes, even the much-touted Rosenshine principles.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gH6rqM35
It’s time to stop assessing to sort students. And start assessing to support them.
With AI, assessment doesn’t have to be a score, it can be a conversation. One that guides, explains, and supports learning all the way to mastery.
Where do you stand?
Benjamin Bloom – Mastery Learning
Bloom's mastery learning model supports the idea of allowing students multiple opportunities to achieve mastery, aligning with my advocacy for repeated assessments until understanding is achieved.
SAL Khan
SAL Khan speaks at Johns Hopkins University's 2025 Commencement
Whether this singularity (AI & Biotech) leads us toward dystopia or utopia is not a coin toss, it depends on what you choose to do with it.
These tools, like fire or knives, are morally neutral.
It’s human intent that determines whether they are used for good or ill.
AI for GOOD or EVIL
Sal is urging the audience to take responsibility for shaping the future of AI and not treat its impact as inevitable or random.
You are living in a science fiction epic unfolding in real time… and you have the pen.
This is the message we need kids to embrace, we need stories about this, discussions about this, here's a good place to start:-
The Monkey Did It!
First and foremost, fun and entertaining and also a quiet nudge toward agency, creativity and the power of choosing your own path.
WHISK it Up
Amazingly generous Free plan so you can try out AI image generations and animation. Does require login so suitable for teacher demo
Whisk AI Free Use (Experimental Access):
Images: Typically, users can generate a few dozen per day before limits kick in.
Videos: Usually fewer than images — around 5 to 10 short video clips per day.
You may see rate limiting (e.g., “Too many generations today”) if you exceed your daily quota.
Create your image then animate it in the same place. Fabulous for kids prompts. Download the video and edit in iMovie or similar program.
Image Prompts for Trains
A fantastical, make-believe world of trains, featuring colourful maglev trains, classic steam trains, and modern electric trains, all moving gracefully through a vivid, imaginative landscape. The scene is an extreme wide shot with a clear foreground (grassy plain or platform) and multiple trains visible in the mid ground and far distance, moving laterally across the scene (not toward the viewer). Trains are sleek, photorealistic and brightly coloured , reds, blues, silvers, and yellows. Background includes sweeping vistas with distant mountains or futuristic cityscape. Lighting is bright daylight with crisp shadows, enhancing hyper-real detail and vibrant colours. Style: photorealistic, cinematic, ultra-high resolution.
Video Prompt from Train Image
Cinematic wide shot of a colourful, photorealistic futuristic train world. Multiple trains move laterally across the screen at different speeds. Maglev trains glide by at incredible speed, sleek and silent, creating motion blur. Steam trains chug slowly with puffs of smoke, showing steady movement and visible steam trails. Electric trains move at moderate speed, smoothly gliding on tracks. Trains are brightly coloured red, yellow, silver, blue, with reflections from the bright daylight. Foreground is clear, grassy terrain, midground and background filled with moving trains on multiple layers of elevated and ground tracks. Floating futuristic city visible in the far background. Realistic lighting, vivid colours, cinematic movement.
You can do smaller prompts or extend to encourage greater descriptive texts.
CHECK THESE OUT LIST
Curiosity Page - Check out the Virtual Teacher Curiosity Page. The only cure for Boredom is Curiosity, there is no cure for curiosity!
Whisk AI A must try for generating AI images and Video. FREE to try.
The Fisher-Price See ’n Say could start debating your toddler. Toymaker Mattel announced a partnership yesterday with OpenAI to use AI technology in its toys, whether you agree with it or not, AI is in the mix.
Art styles for Ai prompts Check out the different art styles here and use them in your AI image generation prompts. Great for learning about Art Styles.
VT YOUTUBE
Check out the latest Videos:
AMAZING Stories playlist
HUMAN AI Collaboration Books subscribe so you don’t miss the “What do YOU Like?” video when it’s released. Leave a comment I would love to know what you think.
THANKS FOR READING
I love to hear from you. Leave a comment or just say hi by sending an email to cathy@virtualteacher.com.au If you’re having fun, your students will too.
This Newsletter is not free, despite the misleading advertising above.
The Fee is now due. Each week you must help one colleague on the Internet who has less knowledge than you. HELP THAT PERSON even if you have to visit their classroom or do a little research and get back to them. Trust me, this will help a lot of people get their computer classrooms running better. OK I'm trusting you!!!
The opinions expressed here are purely those of the editor, Cathy Brown. All other small print clauses apply. Such as: Use at your own risk. Nothing in life is guaranteed.
If it doesn't work for you, me send an email and I'll try to figure it out.
Editor: Cathy Brown cathy@virtualteacher.com.au
Before you go I have a question for you:
Would you be interested in learning more about AI and how to integrate into your teaching? Would you like more information about inservice and training?
No need to decide just yet, just email me if you'd like to start the ball rolling. cathy@virtualteacher.com.au or check out the VT AI Consultancy Page.