Tinsel, Turkeys & Trying New Things: Holiday Special with the Hasslers

We hit “Go Live” to close our longest season yet and lean into a simple truth: growth beats perfect. Holiday crunch time made the choice easy—pivot, try the new thing, and share what’s working for educators and parents who want less noise and more clarity. We review the milestone that mattered most this year—CPD credits for listeners—so your professional learning can count toward recertification while you collect practical strategies you’ll actually use.

Across the season, AI literacy became a defining throughline. We highlight four standout conversations featuring innovators who make AI useful, ethical, and human-centered. From Endless Studios and its free pathway for students to build real portfolios, to teacher- and parent-friendly guidance on boundaries, citations, and transparency, we map a path from curiosity to confident use. You’ll hear about Notebook LM for source-grounded studying that turns dense readings into clear summaries and audio explainers, Canva AI for building interactive learning games in minutes, and InstaLesson for drafting adaptable, standards-aligned lessons that save precious time.

We also talk candidly about moving to video, why showing the unpolished version matters, and how small rituals—at school and at home—keep everyone steady when routines fall apart. Parents get practical advice on setting expectations and modeling ethical AI use, while teachers get permission to start small, iterate, and invite students to use tools responsibly rather than banning them. Innovation, we argue, is about people first and tools second; relationships and good judgment turn new tech into better learning.

Season four launches January 15 with more conversations, more practical resources, and more human stories from the brighter side of education. If this resonated, subscribe, share it with a colleague or parent, and leave a quick review—what tool or mindset will you try next?

Great News! The Brighter Side of Education is now CPD Accredited! 

Sponsored by Dr. Gregg Hassler Jr., DMD
Trusted dental care for healthy smiles and stronger communities—building brighter futures daily.

Head to the show notes to find if this episode is CPD eligible and details on how to claim your CPD certification!

Sponsored by Dr. Gregg Hassler Jr., DMD
Trusted dental care for healthy smiles and stronger communities—building brighter futures daily.

Transcript

Live Holiday Kickoff And Traditions

Dr. Lisa Hassler 0:48

Welcome to the brighter side of education, research, innovation, and resources. I'm your host, Dr. Lisa Hassler, and this is my husband, Dr. Gregg Hassler.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 0:58

Welcome.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 0:59

And this is our first ever live episode. So it's a big deal. I don't I hope it's actually working.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 1:05

Super uncomfortable.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 1:06

It really is.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 1:07

And we're just getting started.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 1:08

Definitely. Yeah. So this is outside both of our comfort zones, which is kind of what we're talking about today, right?

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 1:14

What a better way to try something new.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 1:16

I know in the holidays when everything is already a little upside down and of course pressured. So one of the reasons why we chose to do it is time crunch. So it kind of made sense.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 1:27

But hi everybody. Yes, we are live. And we're doing this in December. And yes, we're already wondering what we were thinking.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 1:34

And so why not go full blast? So we've got some little decor to go with us. Oh, and I've got something.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 1:39

So we're doing it in style?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 1:41

I yeah, and I thought you needed more turkey in your life.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 1:43

No. Did you see this? We've had way too much turkey.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 1:46

It's been all week. We've made like turkey. Come on. I'm gonna be the reindeer then. How will we do that? All right, here we go. So we're doing this in style, not so much the turkey that made Gregg a little bit more comfortable than we needed to. Yes. Okay. And we have some throwbacks. So we've got the ceramic tree. 70s child recognizes that from their childhood. And you've got your sounds of music. You see it? Doo doo doo doo doo doo. There we go. Childhood classic from Craig. Nice little countdown, both instruments. I think we're missing one. Oh very sad.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 2:22

Yes, little advent calendar countdown. Yeah. That uh used for a long time.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 2:26

All the little traditions of our childhood that we bring with us during this holiday season, right? Add to it, remember, kind of adds a little bit to the magic.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 2:34

It does. Before we go any further, let's warm up with a Christmas question.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 2:39

Yeah.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 2:39

Christmas question. What is one childhood gift that you still think about every year?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 2:45

Okay. I I used to have little baby dolls, and there was like a bottle, and it was magical because when you fed the baby, it disappeared. Like the milk disappeared. I don't know how that happened. I still don't know how that works, by the way. But that was very amazing to me. So it reminds me of how simple things can be really, really fascinating to kids. And so sometimes we overthink presents, and sometimes it's just the simplest thing that they remember and love the most. Yeah.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 3:14

I always liked our group gifts, like ping pong tables and and like things like that. Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 3:20

Yeah. Right. The big ones. You you remember the the thing, Mike? Yeah, things that brought us together. Yeah. Well, that's nice. Okay, so what's one of the worst Christmas decorations that we've ever brought into this house? If you had to pick one, what would you say?

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 3:33

I think one of the best things we've ever gotten are blow ups.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 3:36

No, that's the worst one. It's the worst.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 3:37

Why is it the worst?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 3:38

It's the worst because it's like the during the day, all you see is puddles of cloth pooling the dew on the lawn. Then it's kind of like no, but they're so easy.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 3:52

You gotta pick decorations that are easy. Easy decorations are the key. They blow it. It takes 15 minutes to set up. It's great all month. Best thing ever.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 4:04

No, no, I don't think so. Okay.

Season Three Wrap And CPD Credits

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 4:06

So to be serious, why are we here today? Is to review the year. What was the best thing about the brighter side of education?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 4:14

Right. So a lot has happened in this last season. It's definitely the longest season we've had. Usually they begin and end in September. And this year we pulled it so that it would end at the end of the calendar year. And I thought that was a good choice. It made sense.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 4:28

It did. I mean, you had a lot of great guests this year and a lot to offer. There's a lot going on in education, as everybody knows. So there was too much information just to cut it short.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 4:39

Yeah, it really needed a natural break. And I think December is a good natural break because people are spending the time on holidays and the family. And so it gives us all a natural break. And so today is the end of season three. And then we will have a month to regroup and rest and spend time with our families. And we'll be back January 15th for season four. Some of the really great things, though, that happened in season three, I would say is not only was it longer, we had some great, great topics, but also the continuing professional development credits. That was amazing.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 5:14

Yeah. So yeah, that was a big deal this year.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 5:18

Getting accredited, having the podcast um valuable, you know, to so many educators. Not that it wasn't already, but um, I guess just so that you can you can get something more out of it by being able to add to your um recertification.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 5:34

So please, all teachers, we did that for you. Yeah. You guys give a lot of yourselves and your time. We want to make sure that you spread the word, use this tool and tell other teachers to use this podcast to get your free education. Yeah. I mean, get your CPD credits and use this tool to learn more because the AI, the guests that are on here are world-renowned educators and people that are giving free tools to you. And Lisa's doing a great job of getting some of the really some of the most famous people in the world.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 6:07

I mean, you think about Amanda Dalio.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 6:10

I mean, some of these names you guys should be really taking advantage of and spreading to other people.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 6:15

So yeah, I've been very fortunate to to have some great guests that have made some very innovative big moves in education and they've put some resist resources out there that are pretty valuable. A lot of them are free. And uh what I love about it then is not only you're gonna learn it, but then you can um you can use it, and then you can use it not only for yourself or your students, but then for the certification. And so it wouldn't be possible without sponsors like you. So I appreciate it.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 6:41

But it's about helping you guys so pass the word along, use CPD. It's very, very important.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 6:47

Yeah, so that was a big thing. Also, we went to video format this year. This is a big thing. Yes, YouTube for the first time and video, the great unveiling. I came out of my closet.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 6:57

And I think that's the other thing. I think you guys want to see more of Lisa live, and that's one of the other things about this podcast is it's yeah, we're very uncomfortable doing this today. But it's better to do it live once in a while to see the real person behind all of what the content is and not just the edited version of what you guys see.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 7:16

Yeah, nice and polished. I like it polished.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 7:18

It's better this way. I I keep telling her people want to see more of the no, no. They do they do this to see you.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 7:24

So hold on, but I was gonna say the that sheet, so we gotta. It was yes, and then live. This right here. Yes, ripping the band-aid off a live version. So we went to many conferences this past year, education conferences, but at the very beginning of the year, a pod fest. So it's a podcast uh conference, and that is where we finally decided, all right, video is where we need to start going into it. And they said, no, you need to go live. And I thought, I am I cannot do live. And so it's taken me almost a full year to say, all right, we're gonna, we're gonna do live. So we're gonna do it to end with it. How great is that?

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 7:58

And let's be honest, about four minutes before we went live, I almost didn't do this.

unknown 8:03

I know.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 8:03

I literally was like, I'm gonna talk about holiday crunch time. This is it. This is like fitting it in, and uh and I think it's it's gonna be great though.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 8:12

It is okay. You'll be big.

unknown 8:14

I do.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 8:15

All right, so last minute events. There's a lot going on right now. So I think this is when you know that to start getting into that uncomfortable zone and being willing to try new things like we are right now, and and that says a lot with the big current conversation in AI.

Moving To Video And Going Live

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 8:30

Yes, AI. AI is a big thing from the podcast this year. Let's do a little bit about what that was about.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 8:36

Right. And I think that people, everyone is we're all learning it, you know, we're all coming from uh a point of no experience to dabbling to, you know, um, the more the more you do it, the better you are at it. But there's always new stuff coming out. So I think it's it's important to stay up to date. Some of the the best things that I've walked away with throughout um the conversations and through the conferences.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 8:59

And you had four big podcasts this year on AI.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 9:01

Dedicated just to AI, yes. Um, one with Matt Dalio, Dalio, and he he has a platform, Endless Studios, that is about allowing children for free to learn AI skills through gaming, to create. They end up having portfolios, AI portfolios that they can use to actually get jobs with. Um, these are AI literacy skills that he believes are really, really important, offers it for free, and you're using professional software. So Endless Studios, really important. That's a big one. Another one with Mike Todasco. He gave us some great tips and tools for parents and teachers. And one of my favorite was Notebook LM.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 9:39

It's my favorite.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 9:40

If you're not using it, you definitely need to play with it. It's through Google. It is a closed source where you add the sources and then you could do some wonderful things with it, whether it's for testing, and it's good for all ages. So it really is.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 9:53

So if you were trying to learn about a research paper and you see, I get all excited about it. And so, say you're in college or say you're in high school and you just aren't getting this subject of this research paper, you could take the research paper and you're you're just overreading it, and you just, I can't get this, and you let the AI read it, and you love, say, maybe listening to the podcast. It will put it into a podcast form and say, put it into two voices, and those two voices will say a male and female voice, and they'll start talking to each other and completely explain what you don't understand in a five-minute succinct podcast. Yes. And explain the entire research paper or paper to you in five minutes, and it'll be totally clear.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 10:38

It summarizes it, hits the key points, explains it in a way that you understand better. You're just like listening to it when you're walking or you know, driving the car. They also do videos. On any subject. So wild. So that one's a great resource. Students can use it, teachers can use it to create videos, even. I just made one with um information that I used for a presentation two weeks ago at a conference.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 10:59

Great AI tools. I used it great with Mike.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 11:01

There's that one. If you're going to ooh, Canva AI, I found out from this one from Amanda Bicker's staff. Definitely follow her. She is good to date material, very up-to-date um research. She talks about policies, handbooks for parents and schools and teachers, does professional development for teachers, goes around the world. She presented at our conference two weeks ago. So I got to meet her in person, which was awesome. But I did interview her, and she has a company AI for education. So follow her on LinkedIn. She does weekly updates. And this week or this past week was a really kind of eerie one about poise. Christmas is a good one.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 11:36

One that spoke to the kids for an hour, unprompted.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 11:39

Yikes. Okay.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 11:40

So And then the other person you met or saw in Orlando was Jessica. Yes.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 11:45

We were on a board together in Denver, and she has a book, and she did an episode with me on Chat GPT for teachers. And so if you just that one is great because she she calls it like it's her buddy. Her and her and chat GPT are like this.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 12:00

So if you have any questions, teachers, parents about AI and what you should be learning, this podcast should have all the up-to-date information you need. Those four episodes have a lot of good stuff. All these podcasts are only 20, 25 minutes long. They're great. Go back.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 12:15

So yeah. So I would say those episodes I would listen to. And then there is some some tools. We have the notebook LN, great one. Endless studios for the video gaming on the professional uh software.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 12:29

And your favorite.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 12:30

I love Instalesson. This is in a beta form. And it is through Insta-Lesson.com. This one is a great time saver, teacher. So you just type in your standard, what you want, how much time, and you can manipulate it, but it crafts um a very positive lesson plan in minutes. And it's it's pretty, pretty amazing. Definitely try that. One good time saver for December, especially. Uh follow Amanda Baker's Jeff. I would say if you're going to do anything with A, follow her. She is the one to follow. And then she actually had mentioned this to me. Oh, well, not to me personally, but to the conference, and I thought it was amazing. So Canva, Canva AI.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 13:12

Yes.

Why AI Literacy Matters Now

Dr. Lisa Hassler 13:12

Okay, so you can make games, teachers, even pair. Um anybody can make a game, but go into Canva.ai and you can create a game. You just tell it what you want it to do, and it makes this game. And I did it at the conference. It was so fun. I made one about like teachers having to pick up things left over the classroom. It was like picking up things in the class, and then you'd have like obstacles, like bump into a desk. Anyways, it was pretty fun. But you can have it do anything. So skill related, it can be pretty instrumental and then fun for for kids to be able to do collaboratively as well. So I would say that was a good one.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 13:45

And even the Canva rep was amazed, wasn't he?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 13:48

Yes. Yes, he was. So that was fun. And then it it's like it lives on your own website. So it's pretty that was a pretty um outstanding one. So that one was eye-opening. All right, so that one I would definitely walk away with. So those are some good tools and little gems in your pocket. And uh, and now we're stepping outside our comfort zone during the holidays, right? Again. Again outside of the comfort zone again. No, right? We did that. Yes. And so we're gonna do the Christmas. Okay. What's a smell that brings you back to Christmas childhood?

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 14:17

Oh goodness.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 14:18

Is there any smells?

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 14:19

I love gingerbread smells.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 14:22

Okay, gingerbread smells, yes. I think for me it's pine. I just like I just like the smell of pine.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 14:28

That is true.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 14:29

You know? Yes. I always, yeah. That one's a you know the sticky Christmas trees. Yes. You can yeah. So I think that was a good thing. The sap on your hands. Yeah.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 14:37

So you put the Christmas tree up if you don't have it all over your hands. Yeah. It's not real.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 14:41

I know, that's right. We didn't do one this year. Is it Christmas tree? We have a tree. Okay. Uh, all right. So now let's talk more about com stepping out of our comfort zone, especially during the holidays. And that's when routines get disrupted and life feels very full. And so here are my top tips for choosing growth during uh times of of really big turmoil, chaos, time.

unknown 15:06

Yeah.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 15:07

Like how do we Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 15:09

So I would say you have to lining up the priorities, pick what matters most, lean into it, and then pivot to make changes. And and even if those changes are new or uncomfortable, like today, time was uh definitely of the essence right now. And so we decided to pivot, try something new. Yeah, go live. Why not? Why not? We got nothing else going on.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 15:27

It's easy, it's no big deal. You should all try it. Yes, very comforting and calm.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 15:32

Giving yourself permission to to not be perfect at it, that's hard a little bit for me. It's a little bit. And so this uh this is killing it. But but I appreciate that. Yeah, you are and then where you know where things become really complex, I think um just knowing that uh yeah, you don't have to chase perfect, give yourself permission to pivot and also to, you know, not be perfect. It's okay.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 16:04

It is, it is and from a parent perspective, keep the home, you know, keep the home routine steady. If there are schedule changes, tell the kids what's going on. You know, this time of year for them is crazy as it is. So talk openly about schedule changes, make time during the week where everyone has time to just relax and not be so busy. Try to choose simple over showy and maybe try a new family tradition, maybe even something small.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 16:31

Yeah. Do you know what? Um, you didn't I didn't what? You didn't do this, you didn't talk about your AI from a parent perspective. What would you like? I mean, we talked about like you know, the what we did this past year, and I think from a parent's perspective, you know, how is it that all these things that we've talked about, and now we have kids that are grown, so they're in college, they're young adults, and when you have you hear this advice or the AI stuff, you know, how do you feel about that when it comes to advising or you know, parenting children that are older?

Four Standout AI Episodes And Guests

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 17:09

I think parents have to be involved. AI is everywhere. Um, you know, some some it's not going away. It's gonna be something that teachers are gonna have to use and parents are gonna have to use. Some people are using it wisely, some don't. So what we need when it comes to kids. Yeah, for kids, you have to teach them to use it wisely. How parents what parents have to do is give guidance and give boundaries and help the teachers with the support and the amount of time that they're allowed to use it and not.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 17:41

Yeah. And the ethics, a lot of kids are getting excited about oh, ChatGPT can just write my paper for me. And that that's been debated on whether or not, you know, how schools are using AI to detect and plagiarism and stuff like that. But I think, you know, we can just be there for the kids, you know, even if they're older, just to kind of help you still have to guide them.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 17:58

And teach them to use it in the right way. Yeah. I mean, it's it's gonna happen, so use it the right way.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 18:03

Yeah.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 18:03

And so it's like a calculator, you know?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 18:06

I I think so.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 18:07

Or like a five year old.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 18:07

I've heard I've heard that you prefer to use the right way in a lot.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 18:10

And it's helpful. I use it all the time, but just yeah, go from there. Okay.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 18:15

Yeah.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 18:15

That's this. So do you want to wait?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 18:18

No, no. That that thinks and I think that uh that was it. So what are we taking into 2026? So as we're wrapping up, what are we taking forward, right?

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 18:27

Yeah. What are the things that you want to take into the 2026 year?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 18:30

I think that innovation is more to do with people than it is necessarily with tools because the people introduce us to the tools. They're creating the resources with the tools. And so I think that, you know, being aware of the people that are that are doing the innovating is really important to help us keep abreast of the different technology and and the skills that we need to be following. Yeah, so that's a big one. What about for teachers? I think that it's okay to step out of the comfort zone and start trying some of these things and to be not not perfect at it and to understand its limitations, but to also be looking at assignments and lesson plans and things with the children that can help them learn the skills that they need to be successful and and not maybe maybe we have to start changing some of the things and on how we're teaching so that it's having them use it instead of you know closing that door and say you can't use it. I think that that's limiting to kids, and then it makes them just kind of like, don't touch the red button. Yeah, I would always want to.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 19:29

I mean, teachers are going through you guys are going through obviously endless changes, and it's going to be okay. You guys are amazing. Just keep looking forward, right? Pivot, shift just like we are today. Yes. It will be okay, just one step at a time. Stay calm.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 19:46

And I think overall, like the future is exciting. It's new, it's different, but growth happens when you step outside that comfort zone and you try something new.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 19:55

Yeah. Be positive. And uh, and for me, I think the kids will thrive when life is simple and predictable. Keep it that way. Parents, you need information and not surprises. So stay informed, be on top of it, and work to keep getting the information that's out there. Podcasts such as this. And then the world is changing fast, and learning alongside your kids is not just okay, it's essential.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 20:22

So it really is. Yeah.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 20:24

Keep working.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 20:25

Learn, learn with them. It's okay to to not be the expert in this. No one is right now.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 20:29

Yeah, how many times do they bring homework home and you're like, I have no idea. So learn with them, learn how to use the chat GPTs, the Gemini's. The stuff that's out there.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 20:39

Monica. That's a new one.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 20:40

They're all new.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 20:42

Yeah. That one's a good try check Monica out. Okay. All right. Well, thank you for joining us for a our first ever live podcast. And thank you for making season three our longest.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 20:52

Season three was amazing. And so go back and check it all out.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 20:55

Yes. And uh and thank you for walking alongside us as we try new things, even the uncomfortable things.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 21:02

Yep. As season four begins, it will begin January 15th. Don't miss another episode. Share it. Tell everyone about it. We can't wait to share more conversations, more learning, and more practical resources.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 21:15

Yes. So happy holidays from the Hasslers. From the Hasslers.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 21:18

Best cups ever.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 21:19

I know. They're little moorses. They're gonna kiss me.

Dr. Gregg Hassler, Jr. 21:21

Can't drink online. Hello. Don't you watch a bear commercials?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 21:25

If you have a story about what's working in your schools that you'd like to share, you can email me at Lisa at Dr. Lisaarhassler.com or visit my website at www.drlisaarhassler.com and send me a message. If you like this podcast, subscribe and tell a friend. The more people that know, the bigger impact it will have. And if you find value to the content in this podcast, consider becoming a supporter by clicking on the supporter link in the show notes. It is the mission of this podcast to shine light on the good in education so that it spreads, affecting positive change. So let's keep working together to find solutions that focus on our children's success.