What do our children need most from us in the unsteady years of middle school? First, says Head of Middle School Andy Reed, they need our availability.

But making ourselves fully and honestly available runs contrary to so many modern patterns of life, from work demands and short schedules to the ever-tempting screen. In fact, Mr. Reed calls it the Mount Everest of Modern Parenting: replacing frenetic patterns with quiet, contemplative patterns for our own mental management, so that we can be available to the boy who needs us at unexpected times.

1:35 Middle school's rough reputation

6:39 A boy in search of his role

9:30 Attention shouldn't be sourced in worry

11:44 How to trust the boy

22:54 A family culture of availability

26:27 Parenting spectrum: from buddy to manager

28:57 The golden mean: accompaniment

31:13 Quiet patterns over frenetic ones

42:28 How to deliver advice

Parenting: Patience or Optimism featuring Andrew Reed

There Is No Manual by Alvaro de Vicente

What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about The Male Brain by Dr. Joseph Lanzilotti

Educating Leaders with Thomas More featuring Dr. Stephen Smith

Parents' Conference at The Heights School (April 25, 2026) – link coming soon

The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist

Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026)

Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026) – link coming soon

Today, we have an increasing store of research to evaluate the claims of educational tech. Where does it assist or upend our goals as a school? Where does it support or bypass our students' intellectual sovereignty? Can it be used constructively?

This week on HeightsCast, writer and educator Andrew Cantarutti shares with us the research on digital tools, and especially AI, in K-12 education. In passionate detail, he also lays out how a school can cultivate the habits of attention by its curriculum, pedagogy, character, and even the physical school building.

3:05 Cantarutti's background

5:27 The lay of the digital land in education

8:38 Attention: a capacity that can grow—and shrink

12:35 A school's mission and the habits of attention

20:08 School schedules, school spaces

23:35 Four cognitive skills for your lesson plans

34:14 The research on AI and education

38:47 Teachers' AI use

43:26 Constructive ways to engage with AI

50:47 Whether you can teach critical thinking

53:26 Promises of AI vs. the goals of education

58:05 Rethinking the structure of class time

The Walled Garden, Andrew Cantarutti's Substack

Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect, Brookings Institute report, January 14, 2026

Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt in Essay Writing, MIT Media Lab, June 10, 2025

Instructional Illusions by Paul Kirschner, Carl Hendrick, and Jim Heal

The Film Students Who Can No Longer Sit Through Films, The Atlantic, January 30, 2026

Alpha School: AI-Driven Education Coming to a School Near You, The New York Times, July 27, 2025

ChatGPT Holds These Truths to be Self-Evident by Mark Grannis

AI and the Take-Home Essay featuring Dr. Matthew Mehan

The Freedom to Form Bonds: Mindfulness and Attention featuring Kevin Majeres

Digital Minimalism: Creating a Philosophy of Personal Technology Use featuring Cal Newport

The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist

Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026)

Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026) – link coming soon

Volume, pitch, pace, tone, inflection: the human voice is our primary teaching instrument. The spoken word has not just a logos and an ethos but an embodied and personal quality—which comes with enormous advantages.

This week, twenty-five-year Heights veteran Tom Steenson shares a valuable reflection on the human voice and how we use it in the classroom. He includes many practical examples of how to engage students, express expectations, correct without disruption, and love your students by using your voice with intention.

3:11 The humanity of voice

5:14 The science of volume and pitch

6:56 Your reading and teaching voice

9:04 Speech as love, not punishment

10:46 Voice for humor and engagement

13:54 All the advantages of spoken word

16:25 A unique, live meeting of minds

20:26 Control without yelling

27:05 Enjoying your students

30:17 Song and poetry in the classroom

33:04 The value of the voice in-person

Teaching the History of Our "Strange New World": The History of Western Thought Course featuring Austin Hatch and Michael Moynihan

The Ritual of Reading in the Classroom featuring Tom Steenson

Classroom Ambience by Joseph Bissex

Classroom Tone and Culture featuring Tom Steenson

The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist

Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026)

Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026) – link coming soon