Derek Bruff

@derekbruff.bsky.social

3231 Followers 354 Following

Educator, author, consultant. Associate director at the University of Virginia Center for Teaching Excellence. Co-author of The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching. Host of the Intentional Teaching podcast. Birder.

Black-throated Blue Warbler
eBird listing for the Itombwe Nightjar, with a prominent "no photos available" message where a photo of the bird would typically be displayed
Eastern Bluebird, looking very blue
Louisiana Waterthrush
The goal is to make Al feel less like a mystery and more like a tool you actually want to use. ? How often do you use Al tools (like ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, or Grok)? A: Multiple times daily B: A few times a week (I've tried some things) C: Rarely (tried it once, was interesting) D: Never (but I want to learn!)
National Parks pass with (this is very weird) presidents Washington and Trump
Anna's humming birds. Everyone gets a food from the birdfeeder.
Purpose Seeking human instead of programmed and programmable ends Autonomy Preserving freedom from algorithmic control and for responsible action Strengthening and preserving human social interactions and connections Relationships Agency Augmenting and not annihilating human creativity and responsibility Development Cultivating complex skills that enable us to grow in virtue Imagination Imagining possibilities beyond past patterns and predictive models Goods Contributing to, improving, and sustaining the common good Merit Doing things worth doing and creating things with enduring value
Cover of Deconstruct This Business Calculus Journal, a spiral bound workbook (which lays flat) about the size of a paperback novel
From February 25, 2026: Meet Einstein. The personal tutor every student deserves. Einstein connects to your Canvas, knows your strengths and weaknesses, and guides you step by step throughout your entire educational journey.
White-throated Sparrow
Tom was always a right-of-center guy. Wealthy, in tech, but never particularly partisan: "I was never a card-carrying anything." 9/11 changed that. The smoke had hardly cleared before, he felt, the mainstream talking heads were suggesting that the US had essentially asked for it. Then, language changed. You weren't supposed to say the word "terrorist" anymore.
White-throated Sparrow
Pied-billed Grebe