Ep. 14 The Spirit Work (w/ Nationally Recognized Superintendent, Michael Matsuda)

Ep. 14 The Spirit Work (w/ Nationally Recognized Superintendent, Michael Matsuda)

Welcome to another episode of the AI Math Guy podcast! Today, host Jae Kim sits down with educational visionary and personal mentor, Michael Matsuda. After nearly 12 transformative years at the helm of the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD), Michael is officially retired—but his work shaping the future of education is far from over. In this insightful and reflective conversation, Michael shares his hard-earned wisdom on school redesign, empowering teachers, and preparing students for a rapidly changing, AI-driven world. Whether you are an educator, administrator, or just passionate about the future of our youth, this episode is packed with paradigm-shifting ideas. In this episode, we cover: * Life After Leadership: Michael opens up about his retirement, the reality of the “superintendent lifestyle,” and his vital advice to young educators about work-life balance and not marrying your job. * “The Future of Public Education”: Get an inside look at his upcoming book co-authored with educational heavyweights Michael Fullan and Barnett Berry. Learn how AUHSD became a national lighthouse for innovation. * Systemness & Spirit Work: Discover the concepts of “connected autonomy” and why building relational capital (spirit work) is the secret glue to making systemic, innovative changes in large organizations. * Predistribution vs. Redistribution: Michael discusses his latest work with Harvard using big data, the Community School construct, and why federal policy must shift to actually break the factory model of education and build real social capital for students. * Navigating the Age of AI and AGI: As Artificial General Intelligence looms, how do we prepare students for an unpredictable job market? Michael explains why the ultimate safeguard against a dystopian future is doubling down on what makes us uniquely human: empathy, relational skills, and love. (Note: We experienced a minor technical glitch at the very end of the recording that cut off Michael’s final thoughts on civic engagement, but the rest of the conversation is fully intact and full of value!) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theaimathguy.substack.com [https://theaimathguy.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep. 13 The Rise of the AI Teacher-Builder (w/ Megan Hsu, 2x Hackathon Winner)

Are you waiting for tech companies to fix the broken systems in education, or are you ready to build the solutions yourself? In this incredible episode, Jae sits down with Megan Hsu—a Stanford-educated Special Education Program Manager with 15 years of experience—who turned her daily frustrations with outdated school tech into a passion for app development. After feeling the weight of burnout and “doomscrolling,” Megan discovered a renewed sense of purpose in AI. Now, she’s a two-time hackathon winner building life-changing tools for neurodivergent students. Whether you are a teacher feeling overwhelmed by tech policies, an aspiring builder, or just someone looking for a spark of hope in the AI space, this conversation will inspire you to stop talking about the problems and start coding the solutions. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: * The Rise of the “Educator Builder”: Why the best ed-tech solutions must come from the insiders who intimately understand the daily hurdles of the classroom. * Vibe Coding vs. Coding with AI: Jae and Megan unpack what it actually takes to prototype and build a functional app, and why “vibe coding” is evolving into true AI partnership. * Winning Apps with Real Impact: Discover how Megan built an AI Social Stories app to help autistic students navigate daily transitions, and Beast Blend, a creative app born out of a single student’s love for mashing up animals. * Moving Past the “Privacy Panic”: Why obsessing solely over AI’s dangers is holding schools back, and how we can pivot to modeling responsible AI use for students. * The Educator Hackathon Vision: Megan’s pitch for bringing teachers together to learn, build, and solve local educational problems in real-time. Memorable Quote: “The best time to start was yesterday, but the second best time is today... You have to fail to learn. You have to fail to improve.” – Megan Hsu This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theaimathguy.substack.com [https://theaimathguy.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep. 12 AI is the Anthesis of the "Factory Model." (w/ Dr. Beth Fisher)

Are our schools still operating like 19th-century factories? In this episode of the AI Math Guy podcast, host Jae sits down with Dr. Beth Fisher, an educator and administrator with 18 years of experience, to unpack the systemic challenges of the American public school system and how Artificial Intelligence might be the ultimate disruptor. Dr. Fisher shares her unique perspective from the trenches of an independent study charter school, where she oversees academic accountability and intervention. We dive deep into why students need to unlearn the “game of school,” the transition from using AI as a quick productivity hack to a genuine critical thinking partner, and how to make math matter in the real world through multidisciplinary, portfolio-based learning. The episode concludes with a powerful and emotional tribute to a late colleague, reminding us all of the profound, human “why” behind teaching. In This Episode, We Cover: * The History of American Public Schools: How the industrialization era shaped our modern “One Best System” and why age-grade placement restricts true mastery. * AI as the Antithesis of the Factory Model: Why AI is forcing us to shift from prioritizing productivity to prioritizing human creation. * The Gradual Release of AI Responsibility: Why we can’t just assume tech-savvy kids know how to use AI ethically—and the step-by-step process of teaching them to prompt, reflect, and iterate. * Multidisciplinary Math: Moving beyond memorizing rules and plotting abstract points. Discover how Dr. Fisher’s students use math, history, and science to answer big questions like, “Is growth always good?” * The Future of Education Policy: The legislative shifts required to truly integrate AI and empower students. * Making the Impossible, Possible: A touching reflection on grief, the human-in-the-loop, and the life-changing impact of dedicated teachers. About Our Guest Dr. Beth Fisher is a Director of Academic Accountability at a California charter school with 18 years of experience spanning across teaching, administration, and school foundations. She is deeply passionate about equity, access, and utilizing innovative tools like AI to meet students where they are and close learning gaps. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theaimathguy.substack.com [https://theaimathguy.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep. 11 Is College Worthless? (W/ Leeland Zhang, Cofounder)

Welcome to another episode of The AI Math Guys! In this episode, host Jae Kim sits down with Leeland Zhang, the innovative co-founder of Grassroots Academy. Leeland shares his bold journey from studying at UCLA and Northwestern to taking the ultimate leap of faith: dropping out to build a personalized AI learning platform. Together, Jae and Leeland dive deep into the real-world impact of Artificial Intelligence on our educational systems, the evolving job market, and what the classroom of tomorrow will look like. Whether you are an educator, a student, or a founder, this conversation challenges the traditional schooling mindset and explores how technology can bring out the best in human potential. What You Will Learn * The College Dilemma: Why AI advancements and the shifting job market are causing students to rethink the traditional four-year degree. * AI as the Instructor: How Artificial Intelligence is uniquely equipped to handle material-based teaching and grading. * The Evolving Role of Teachers: With AI handling the heavy lifting of instruction, discover how educators can pivot toward relationship-building, mentorship, and project-based learning. * Cultivating Agency: Leeland’s personal advice on finding your purpose, taking ownership of your learning, and building meaningful, real-world projects. * Reimagining the System: A thought-provoking discussion on moving away from standardized testing and toward a more equitable, passion-driven educational model. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theaimathguy.substack.com [https://theaimathguy.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep. 10 "We don't have much time" (w/ Author, Speaker, & Agentic Expert, Kunal Dalal)

In our latest conversation, we sat down with Kunal, a former principal and author who is thinking miles ahead of the current EdTech curve. While most of the world is still figuring out chatbots, Kunal is already architecting the next phase: Agentic AI. He describes our current situation as an “incredible fragile moment.” Just like the “golden hour” after a car accident where the body hasn’t yet molded around the injury, we have a short window to shape AI before it hardens into a system we can no longer change. Here is what you need to know about the shift from Chatbots to Agents, and why being “Present Ready” is more important than being “Future Ready.” The Shift: From Chatbots to Agentic Systems We often use the terms “Agent” and “Agentic” interchangeably, but there is a distinction. * An Agent is a piece of software (powered by an LLM) that performs a specific task. * An Agentic System is an ecosystem where multiple agents work together to complete complex workflows with minimal human intervention. The Paradigm Shift: We are moving from Human-in-the-Loop to Human-building-the-Loop. In a chatbot world, you are the trigger. You prompt the AI, check the output, and refine it. You are the bottleneck. In an Agentic world, you become the Supervisor. You build a team of agents—Kunal suggests a “swarm” of about five—to check each other’s work, debate the best output, and execute tasks autonomously. You step out of the machinery and only step back in to audit the results. The “Swarm” in Schools Imagine a school district that owns its own data rather than locking it away in third-party vendor silos. Kunal described a scenario where district leaders currently spend two weeks analyzing grant data to see if it met standards. With an Agentic Swarm, you could point five agents at your local data server and ask: “Analyze the attendance data for 9th-12th grade and tell me what questions I should be asking.” The swarm could return that analysis in 10 minutes. This isn’t just about efficiency; it is about Data Sovereignty. By moving away from massive, energy-hungry cloud models toward local, purpose-built agent swarms, schools can regain control over their information and reduce their environmental footprint. Parenting the AI Kunal’s most profound insight wasn’t technical; it was philosophical. He warns that big tech companies do not have global human welfare as their primary directive—their goal is profit. If we passively accept the tools they hand us, we repeat the mistakes of the social media era. We must “Parent” AI. Just as we guide a child, we must actively shape how AI develops in our institutions. We cannot afford to be passive consumers. “Obsessing over ‘Future Readiness’ is actually abdicating your responsibility... That means someone else has decided your future for you.” Instead, Kunal calls for leaders to be “Present Ready.” This means engaging with the technology right now, understanding its impact today, and being loud about the boundaries and hopes we have for it. The Return of Joy Why go through the trouble of building these systems? It isn’t just to process emails faster. The ultimate goal of Agentic AI is to automate the digital drudgery that keeps us staring at screens so we can return to the one thing AI cannot do: Human Connection. If we can automate the paperwork, the grant reporting, and the data analysis, we can return to the joy of simply being with young people. That is the promise of this technology—if we are brave enough to shape it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theaimathguy.substack.com [https://theaimathguy.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]