This morning, I'm grateful for how my three sections of English composition at our community college this semester are packed with students who want to learn.
Despite the hysteria I sometimes hear from columnists, news commentaries, and some educators, most of my students seem interested in learning how to use AI tools responsibly for learning and writing, as well as how to work and learn well without the tools.
Some of my students assert that "AI is evil" or that "AI has no soul." That's not a terrible way to start the semester, and I find that students who start that way typically end up being some of the wisest users of AI tools.
I'm also grateful for discussions with many colleagues who care about teaching and learning beyond the hype and hysteria. Some are much like my suspicious students and have a strong AI-resistance stance, others are enthusiastic about teaching students to wisely use AI tools, and many are somewhere in between.
Two books I'm grateful for are Robert Alter's The Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age and Alan Jacob's The Pleasures of Reading in a Distracted Age. Following suit, I imagine another book entitled The Pleasures of Teaching and Learning in an AI Age.
So many persons and things to be grateful for...