teacher
All about teachers and the world of teaching; teachers sharing their best and worst interactions with students, best teaching practices, the path to becoming a teacher, and more.
Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson and Teela Robertson, M.C., on Memetic Self-Mapping in Psychotherapy
Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson is a Canadian counselling psychologist and theorist known for “self-mapping” and the memetic self—identity as a network of culturally transmitted ideas (memes), memetic mapping. He has published work on the use of memetic maps to enhance client reflectivity and therapeutic efficacy. Robertson has served as Lead Psychologist at the University of Regina’s Collaborative Centre for Justice and Safety. He authored The Evolved Self: Mapping an Understanding of Who We Are (University of Ottawa Press, 2020) and co-authored Mapping an Understanding: How to Represent the Self in Psychotherapy and Research Visually (Pete’s Press, 2025) with Teela Robertson, for clinicians and researchers.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsenabout a month ago in Education
How to Use ChatGPT to Write Viral Stories
There's a specific feeling you get when a story you've written starts moving through the internet on its own. The notifications multiply. Strangers quote sections back to you. Someone shares it with the exact caption you hoped they would. It's not luck, and it's not magic. It's structure meeting emotion at the right moment. I've written stories that disappeared into silence and stories that reached millions of people. The difference is rarely about writing talent. It's about understanding what makes people stop scrolling, feel something, and decide to share. Now we have ChatGPT, and everyone wants to know if AI can write viral stories. The honest answer is more nuanced than most people want to hear. ChatGPT can help you build the skeleton, but it cannot give your story a heartbeat. Understanding Viral Stories in the Age of Infinite Content A viral story is content that spreads exponentially through shares rather than through paid promotion or algorithmic distribution alone. People choose to send it to friends, post it to their feeds, or discuss it in group chats. The audience becomes the distribution channel. What's changed in recent years is the sheer volume of competition. Every platform is flooded with professionally produced content, AI-generated articles, and millions of people all trying to capture attention. The bar for "good enough to share" has risen dramatically. Viral stories today need to do something that generic content cannot. They need to articulate an experience people have had but couldn't express themselves. They need to challenge assumptions in ways that feel revelatory rather than confrontational. They need to make complex ideas suddenly simple or simple ideas suddenly profound. ChatGPT enters this landscape as a tool that's exceptional at structure and pattern but struggles with the specificity and surprise that makes stories memorable. It knows what viral stories typically look like. It doesn't know what will make your particular story different from the ten thousand similar ones published this week. Why the Desire to Create Viral Stories Has Intensified We're living through an attention economy where visibility directly translates to opportunity. A viral story can launch a career, build an audience, or establish authority in ways that used to take years of traditional credibility-building. For solo creators and small businesses, viral content is often the only realistic path to reach beyond your immediate network. Paid advertising is expensive and increasingly ineffective. Algorithmic reach on social platforms continues to decline. Going viral is one of the few remaining ways to break through without substantial resources. There's also a creative satisfaction to it. Writing something that resonates with thousands or millions of people validates that you understand something true about human experience. It's proof that your perspective matters, that your voice adds something to the conversation. But this pressure creates problems. People chase virality instead of value. They optimize for shares rather than truth. They write for algorithms rather than humans. The result is a landscape full of clickbait, shallow provocations, and manufactured controversy that spreads quickly but means nothing. ChatGPT amplifies both possibilities. It can help you structure genuinely valuable ideas for maximum reach, or it can help you efficiently produce more forgettable content. The tool doesn't have ethics or judgment about which path you choose. What Actually Makes Stories Spread in Human Networks Stories go viral when they help people accomplish social goals. Sharing isn't random. It's functional. People share content that makes them look smart, compassionate, funny, or informed. They share things that express their identity or values. They share stories that give them a reason to connect with someone they care about. This means viral stories need to be useful beyond just being interesting. A story about overcoming anxiety isn't just about anxiety. It's giving someone a way to help a friend who's struggling. A story about career transitions isn't just career advice. It's giving someone permission to make a change they've been afraid to make. The emotional core matters more than the topic. Stories that trigger strong emotions—surprise, validation, righteous anger, hope, recognition—spread faster than stories that merely inform. But the emotion needs to feel earned, not manipulated. Readers can sense when you're pulling emotional levers cynically. Timing and cultural context are invisible factors that determine whether a story catches fire. The same piece published in different weeks can have completely different outcomes. Something about the collective mood, recent events, or ongoing conversations determines whether your story lands as relevant or goes unnoticed. ChatGPT has no sense of timing or cultural moment. It doesn't know what conversations are happening right now or which angles on a topic are fresh versus exhausted. This is purely human judgment territory. How ChatGPT Actually Functions as a Writing Tool ChatGPT is a language prediction model. It generates text based on patterns it learned from enormous amounts of internet content. When you ask it to write a story, it's essentially creating a statistically likely version of what stories on that topic tend to look like. This makes it excellent for structure, format, and flow. It can outline a hero's journey. It can write in different tones and styles. It can generate hooks, transitions, and conclusions that follow proven patterns. For someone who struggles with story architecture, this is genuinely valuable. Where it falls short is specificity and surprise. ChatGPT tends toward the generic because it's drawing from common patterns. Your story about your grandmother's advice will sound similar to a thousand other stories about grandmother's advice unless you actively fight against the AI's tendency toward the expected. The tool also lacks experience and cannot verify truth. It will confidently generate plausible-sounding facts, statistics, and examples that are completely invented. If you're not careful, you'll publish stories containing false information that sounds authoritative because it came from AI. Most importantly, ChatGPT cannot know your actual experiences, observations, or insights. It can help you express ideas you already have, but it cannot give you ideas worth expressing. The raw material has to come from you. Common Misunderstandings About AI and Viral Content The biggest misconception is that ChatGPT can identify what will go viral. People ask it to "write a viral story about X" and expect some formula to emerge. But virality isn't a formula that can be reverse-engineered. It's an emergent property of how humans respond to content in specific contexts. Another mistake is believing AI-generated content can replace human perspective. A story written entirely by ChatGPT will read like every other AI-generated story because they're all drawing from the same training data. The voice will be competent but generic. The insights will be familiar rather than fresh. There's also confusion about efficiency. Yes, ChatGPT can draft content quickly, but if you're publishing that draft without substantial human editing and enhancement, you're publishing mediocre work efficiently. Speed matters less than quality when the internet is already drowning in content. Some people think using AI is cheating or inauthentic. Others think it's the future and resisting it is foolish. Both extremes miss the point. AI is a tool. Whether it helps or hurts depends entirely on how you use it and what you bring to the collaboration. The tool won't make you a better storyteller by itself. It might help you tell stories faster or more efficiently, but the storytelling skill still has to develop in you, not in the AI.
By Muhammad Usmanabout a month ago in Education
Terence A. Townsend on Belonging, Grace, and Online Church: Christian Community in Practice
Terence A. Townsend is a Texas-based ministry leader, certified life and mental health coach, clergy mentor, licensed insurance broker and entrepreneur who blends faith, business strategy, and personal development in his work with WisdomWorx 2.0. With decades of experience as a speaker, author, consultant, and media host, he guides individuals and organizations in leadership, AI integration, financial stewardship, and spiritual growth. Townsend's journey encompasses ministry calling from youth, transformational coaching, and practical tools for entrepreneurs, pastors, and families seeking purpose and resilience. He champions transformative impact through mentorship, strategic simplicity, and faith-anchored action.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsenabout a month ago in Education
Bidding Adieu to M. French
December 31, 2025 Bidding Adieu to Monsieur French: Brief comments to a retiring colleague Martin, as I told you yesterday, I believe it is always better to write out one's thoughts ahead of time to avoid stumbling over one's words. Ever since my first big meeting with the Christian school parents when I couldn't decide whether to say that "I felt as though I'd already met everyone" or "I feel as though I'd already met everyone" and came out with "I feel like I already felt everyone," I knew that prewritten comments were the way to go.
By Mack D. Amesabout a month ago in Education
Driving License Restrictions: Understanding the Rules and How They Affect Your Freedom on the Road. AI-Generated.
Getting a driving license is a significant milestone for many individuals, representing newfound independence and the ability to travel freely. However, while the freedom of the open road is an exciting prospect, it's important to understand that driving comes with responsibilities, especially when it comes to complying with various restrictions that may apply to your driving license. These restrictions are often imposed for safety, medical, legal, or practical reasons, and they vary depending on the country, the individual’s circumstances, and the specific type of license held.
By Sajida Sikandarabout a month ago in Education
Not the Flu, Not a Cold: The Role of Adenoviruses in Respiratory Illnesses. AI-Generated.
Respiratory illnesses are widespread and affect millions of people worldwide each year. While the flu and common colds are the most well-known and common causes of symptoms such as coughing, sore throat, and fever, there are many other viruses that can cause similar symptoms. One such virus, which is less known but just as significant, is the adenovirus. In this article, we take a closer look at adenoviruses, how they differ from the flu and colds, and what you should know about these viruses.
By Sajida Sikandarabout a month ago in Education
Why Do YouTube Channels Get Demonetized?. AI-Generated.
Why Do YouTube Channels Get Demonetized? YouTube has become one of the most popular platforms for content creators to share videos and earn money through ads. However, many creators have experienced the frustration of having their channels or specific videos demonetized. If you're a content creator or someone interested in how YouTube's monetization system works, understanding why channels get demonetized can help you avoid common mistakes and ensure your content stays eligible for revenue.
By Bilal Mohammadiabout a month ago in Education
Redefining Small Business Financing Through Leadership: Evan Samlin at REIL Capital
Introduction - A New Vision for Small Business Funding Small businesses are the backbone of local economies, yet many struggle to access financing when traditional banks turn them away. Recognizing this challenge, Evan Samlin founded REIL Capital in 2017 with a mission rooted in empathy, transparency, and partnership. His leadership has not only shaped a growing alternative lending company but also redefined what small business financing can look like when it is centered on understanding the client rather than just the numbers.
By Evan Samlinabout a month ago in Education
What Makes an Effective Primary School Teacher in Today's Classrooms
Ask ten people what makes a good primary teacher and you will likely get ten different answers. Some will talk about subject knowledge while others will mention classroom management, creativity or patience. While all of these matter, effective primary teaching today goes beyond any single skill. It involves the ability to balance structure and flexibility while meeting the real needs of children in a constantly changing world.
By Shaun Andreabout a month ago in Education
Unlock AI’s Full Potential: How to Make ChatGPT Write Its Own Perfect Prompts
Ever felt stuck in a loop of vague AI responses? You ask ChatGPT for a marketing plan, and it gives you something generic. You request a story, and it feels flat. The secret isn’t just in your prompting skills—it’s in teaching the AI to prompt itself. This is the next-level skill of recursive prompting, where ChatGPT becomes its own coach, iterating its way to excellence.
By Epic Vibesabout a month ago in Education
