Things to read this week: happy May

Every decision about a school is one that *someone* cared enough to make.
I am always grateful for those who chose to ensure there are springtime flowers.
I took a second outside of a policy meeting in Millis this week to enjoy this tree,
which also smelled amazing.

I have a load of tabs open of things I'd suggest you read--so many are technology in schools, that I will work to give that its own post here!--so here's a round-up:

• I know I said I'd give tech its own post, but cheers to the student editors of Harvard's paper The Crimson for their editorial opposing Harvard's current AI calls: 
  

  ...writ large, we are skeptical of Harvard’s attempts to integrate AI into educational programming. Though it may seem that incorporating artificial intelligence helps “keep up with the times,” Harvard’s core mission is providing a liberal arts education — a goal that is in no dire need of accommodating every last technological innovation. 

  Technology will come and it will go; until it is abundantly clear that any one tool will advance its mission, Harvard’s job is to emphasize the value of human thought and ensure the highest quality of pedagogy. Doubly so when the risks of AI — to security, the environment, and our brains — abound.
  

  (for what it's worth, this is the policy on AI in the class I teach to college undergraduates: you're here for your own brain to read, analyze, write, and speak. Do it yourself. Period.)

• As an eldest sibling, I laughed at The Economist's clickbait-y title "Why eldest siblings are brainier," but they're discussing actual research which yields two points of interest: the illnesses eldest siblings bring home and share with their baby younger siblings have long term impacts, and that, yes, that less-focused adult attention matters.
  
  

• The New Yorker asks if we should learn in our sleep, as it appears we can. Am I the only one who read this with exhaustion? Thank goodness for this conclusion:
  

  ...there could be many downsides to interfering with an activity as essential and mysterious as sleep. We depend on sleep for restoring the body and mind; it’s believed not only to consolidate important memories but also to discard those that can be forgotten. “Sleep has its own universe, and we should better use that moment for what it’s good for,” Andrillon said.

• If you'd like to (hate-?) read an account of the Silicon Valley's "move fast and break things" plus everyone being convinced that they and their children are all geniuses works when it comes to running a school (some of us can guess), you may enjoy reading the Wall Street Journal's coverage of Tessellations. (that's a gift link)
  
  
• You know I am always down for a school bus story, so I found it interesting both that Philadelphia has ended its contract with Durham (insert <<eyes>>), and that the Scottish World Cup fans coming to Foxboro (they're staying in Providence) are renting school buses to get themselves there. I still await the year that someone writes about the enormous fleet that the Boston Marathon assembles each year on Patriots Day to bring the runners out to Hopkinton.