Superagency by Greg Beato & Reid Hoffman
Recommended by Dave Black
Have you noticed that Satan loves to get us focused on worry—fixated on challenges—while steering our hearts away from the possibilities God places before us? For instance, when the people of Israel were pinned against the Red Sea, they saw only the threat of an Egyptian attack. Yet Moses directed them to the opportunity God had prepared for them: a path through the sea itself.
With the emergence of publicly available artificial intelligence (AI) services, many writers have emphasized the challenges—declines in cognitive thinking and problem-solving, potential job losses and industry disruptions, student cheating on assignments, and more. These are real concerns that deserve thoughtful consideration. However, Reid Hoffman and Greg Beato, in their 2025 book Superagency, also draw our attention to the potential benefits and blessings of AI.
Superagency highlights a wide range of current and emerging AI advantages, such as identifying new drugs and medical treatments, supporting personal mental health, and enhancing creative coding. The authors also illustrate the broader societal gains that could arise as we wisely embrace AI.
We should not ignore the issues with AI and its use. But God has given us many examples in Scripture of how He opens the door to opportunities when challenges arise. Superagency has been helpful in guiding me to consider the many benefits of AI along with the challenges, something that is important for both my work with students and my personal growth.
Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing Our Children from Failed Educational Theories by E. D. Hirsch
Recommended by Tim Thomack
Before the internet, our knowledge was limited by the resources around us. Today, information feels endless, prompting the question: Why learn something when I can look it up? E.D. Hirsch Jr., in Why Knowledge Matters, argues that knowledge isn’t optional—it’s the foundation that makes all skills possible.
Hirsch shows that educational models built on shared, systematic knowledge consistently outperform those that lean heavily on individualized or skills-only approaches. In one study, students’ reading comprehension dramatically improved when they had prior knowledge of a topic. Their vocabulary and structural understanding gave them the tools to make sense of the text—something generic “main idea” lessons couldn’t replicate. Knowledge acts as a scaffold, allowing comprehension skills to actually take hold.
This helps explain why modern trends emphasizing “21st-century skills,” project-based learning, or critical thinking sometimes fall short. At Lutheran High School, we want students to develop those skills—but skills can’t flourish without a base of understanding. The challenge, and the opportunity, is balancing foundational knowledge with student voice, inquiry, and discovery. When these elements strengthen each other, real growth happens.
As a sports fan, I think of rookie quarterbacks entering the NFL. They arrive with incredible physical skill—they can make every throw. Yet they often struggle early on, not because of talent, but because they lack the playbook knowledge, defensive vocabulary, and tactical awareness needed to apply their skills. It’s often described as “drinking through a fire hose.” Their minds, not their bodies, need time to adapt. The same is true in education: students can only apply skills effectively when grounded in a strong knowledge base. Just as a coach paces a quarterback’s learning, teachers carefully pace instruction so skills can be used confidently and well.
Ultimately, Why Knowledge Matters has sharpened my belief that education is not just about teaching students how to learn—it’s about giving them something meaningful to learn. Knowledge opens doors to confidence, understanding, and participation. It isn’t a constraint on creativity; it’s the soil in which deeper thinking grows. This perspective informs how I approach curriculum, teacher development, and the learning experiences we design for our students.
So, why bother learning something you could look up in seconds? Because to reason, strategize, adapt, innovate, or discern—we must first seek knowledge.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
Recommended by Matt Zoeller
The term "mindset" has become an educational buzzword in the last ten years and has really taken on a life of its own. One can use the term now with the assumption that the listener knows what it means. It's almost cliche now to put this word in your syllabus and tell students that you expect them to understand it and embrace it, but I still do because it's still completely relevant; based on my observations, I'm not sure people actually do know what it means.
The premise is that there are two ways or mindsets that people can have in life, and we all have each of them, depending on the circumstances. There is a fixed mindset, which is the belief that your capacity, skills, and knowledge about something can only be as good as your predetermined hardwiring, and you have most likely already learned those limitations. Then there is the growth mindset, which is the belief that anyone can improve at anything. The fixed mindset says things like, "I don't know. I'm not a math person," or even something as innocuous as "Sorry, I'm bad with names," or even "You are so smart!"
The problem with the fixed mindset is that it's a socially acceptable and very subtle permission to give up, do things poorly, and even just miss out on the wonders of avocado because you tried it once 12 years ago and didn't like it. On the face of it, it doesn't seem so bad, but as the book goes deeper into what it means and how it manifests itself, you can see how sneaky and pernicious it really is.
Growth mindset, on the other hand, favors the word "yet." As in, "I'm not good at algebra YET." The difference of course, is that instead of closing yourself off to ever being "good at math" (whatever that means), or "good memory," or standing up for yourself or feeling comfortable at parties. You aren't these things "yet," but they can, in fact, be learned to anyone who understands that they are learnable.
As a Spanish teacher, I often hear "I'm not good at languages" or other similar claims, and even though it bothers me, I enjoy pointing out that English is also a language and they are good at it, so let's think harder about what we're really saying here. Ten times out of ten, it really means, "this is not easy for me therefore, I don't want to do it." A growth mindset is willing to take on things that aren't easy because of the fact that they aren't easy. A growth mindset sees failure as a learning opportunity instead of seeing failure as proof of what they already knew to be true.
It's simple to understand but very complex and tricky when you really think about it in your own life. Reflecting on my own past, I can see now that I missed out on a lot of opportunities because I was afraid to fail or determined to prove something I already believed to be true. I now try to think intentionally with a growth mindset when I talk to my own kids, my students, and to myself.
