Back to Prep End-of-Month Meeting Prep - January 2026

End-of-Month Meeting Prep - January 2026

Facilitator: Reuben Meeting Focus: Wrap up 30-day documentation cycle, adjust for February

1. “What did we do?” (Review at a glance)

Reuben’s January Activity (highlight reel)

Project/Partner Activity Potential Tags
ISTE Partnership Multiple meetings with Jessica (Jan 7, 8, 20); Scoped partnership options; ISTE Live 60-min OFF the table; Train-the-trainer emerging as best fit; Fall cohort convening integration possible [BRIDGE-BUILD] [THOUGHT-PARTNER]
Oman Workshop Planning judging criteria, case cards, evaluation forms; Groups will present with roaming mic [CO-CREATE] [STUDIO-BUILD]
Crystal Springs PD Scheduled 4 sessions (Jan 14, Feb 10, Apr 15, May 4); “Creating resources for teaching with AI” [LEVEL-UP] [ANCHOR]
Churchill/Australia (Kelly) AI Flash Lab scoping; Discussed using Flash Lab to help figure out which AI agents users need [SPARK] [THOUGHT-PARTNER]
Comic Maker (with Cathy) Tool testing Jan 22 (success!), Jan 31, Feb 3, Feb 5; Built logging for student resources; 6-digit ID system; Jan 26: pushed style consistency update, simplified dropdown per Cathy’s request [STUDIO-BUILD] [CO-CREATE]
Ana’s Project Chatbot refinement for 4th graders; AI as intervention not assessment; Multi-modal with Gemini [REFRAME] [TOOLBOX]
All-Hands Presentation Team handbook overview on Jan 15 with Josh [VALUE-VISIBLE]
HarmonAI (with Joe) Check-in Jan 21 - HarmonAgent working, targeting user study with 4-5 year olds; extension through June 30, 2026; great quoted feedback from Elizabeth [STUDIO-BUILD] [SOUNDING-BOARD]
Legal 101 Workshop Planning underway with Sam McClure (Stanford Startup Law); meeting Jan 27; targeting February delivery [LEVEL-UP] [BRIDGE-BUILD]
Learning Planet / Paris (Anna-Lena) Two Flash Lab workshops delivered (Nov + Jan); debrief call Jan 28 to gather lessons learned [MULTIPLIER] [RIPPLE]

Joe’s January Activity (from Jan 22 AS:DE)

  • Our Voice project: 9 interviews filmed at elementary school, more coming
  • Ethnic Studies seed grant video editing (b-roll with Vicky)
  • VFT work with Rachel; ThingLink contract renewal discussion
  • Seed grant stories wrap-up with Finn
  • “Getting Down to Facts” request from Julia Perlmutter (researcher interviews in March)
  • Summit coordination: Feb 10 (Create AI pitches), Feb 11 (EdTech Impact Summit)

Key Decisions Made

  • ISTE Live 60-minute session withdrawn (Flash Lab doesn’t work condensed)
  • Train-the-trainer with ISTE faculty (Winston, Beth, Jeremiah) is highest-value path
  • Isabelle is on board as sponsoring voice for ISTE partnership
  • Legal 101 Workshop confirmed for February (Sam McClure partnership)

From Jan 6 Quarterly Analysis (already done!)

Tag Distribution:

  • [CHECK-IN] dominates (24) - relationship-heavy
  • [BRIDGE-BUILD] + [TOOLBOX] = signature move (connecting people to resources)
  • [REFRAME] + [SPARK] = helping people see differently
  • [BREAKTHROUGH] is rare (2) - are we capturing or not happening?
  • [VALUE-VISIBLE] only once - are partners recognizing us and we’re not logging?

By Category:

Category Count Note
Engagement ~37 Relationship-heavy
R&D ~38 Connecting people to resources
Capacity-Building ~5 Underrepresented

January-Specific Patterns

  1. External partnership momentum - ISTE, Churchill/Australia, Learning Planet Institute (Paris) expanding our reach
  2. “Train-the-trainer” emerging - Crystal Springs PD, ISTE faculty training, Kelly in Australia, Anna-Lena at Learning Planet
  3. Technical builds increasing - Comic Maker logging + style updates, Ana’s chatbot refinement, HarmonAI ready for user study
  4. Cross-team work - Cathy (Comic Maker), Victor (skunk works), Isabelle (ISTE sponsorship), Sam McClure (Legal 101)
  5. International expansion - Oman hackathon imminent (Feb 1-6), Paris workshops ongoing, Australia exploring

3. “What stories are emerging or worth watching?”

Strong Candidates for Airtable “Stories” Field

🌟 ISTE Partnership Evolution

Started as “can we do a 60-min session?” → Evolved to deeper integration: train-the-trainer for faculty, fall cohort convening embed, potential long-term partnership

  • Tags: [BRIDGE-BUILD] [REFRAME] [THOUGHT-PARTNER]
  • Watch for: [MULTIPLIER] if ISTE faculty start running their own Flash Labs

🌟 Crystal Springs Multi-Touch Engagement

4-session arc from intro workshop → department chairs → closing conference

  • Tags: [LEVEL-UP] [ANCHOR]
  • Watch for: [SCALE-MOMENT] if they adopt across school

🌟 AI Flash Lab as “Agent Discovery Tool”

Kelly (Australia) surfaced new use case: Flash Lab helps people figure out which AI agents they actually need

  • Tags: [SPARK]
  • Quote to capture: “AI Flash Lab could help figure out which agents you need”

🌟 New Schools Venture Fund Interest

Vanessa Monterosa (from Accelerate EdTech Impact Summit community design session) reached out - interested in potentially using Flash Lab with New Schools portfolio orgs

  • Meeting: Jan 29 with Josh - Reuben leads (Flash Lab is Reuben’s domain)
  • Tags: [BRIDGE-BUILD] [RIPPLE]
  • Watch for: Major [SCALE-MOMENT] if adopted across portfolio

🌟 Comic Maker Research Infrastructure

Building actual logging/tracking into the tool (student ID, resource access, timing)

  • Tags: [STUDIO-BUILD] [CO-CREATE]
  • Watch for: research findings that emerge
  • Jan 22 tech test successful; Jan 26 style consistency update shipped

🌟 HarmonAI Ready for User Study

Seed grant project reaching user study phase after foundational work paid off. HarmonAgent now functional (voice chat, recording, music generation). Targeting repeated interactions with 4-5 year olds this quarter.

  • Tags: [STUDIO-BUILD] [SOUNDING-BOARD]
  • Extension through June 30, 2026
  • [QUOTED IMPACT] from Elizabeth: “The way you have shepherded these projects has been so great. We are so grateful to bounce ideas, ask questions when we get stuck, and have you check in with us. We really appreciate it.”

🌟 Learning Planet Institute Flash Lab (International)

Anna-Lena Neurohr running AI Flash Lab pilots in Paris for participatory research workshops on AI & critical thinking. Two workshops delivered (Nov 2025, Jan 2026). Debrief call Jan 28.

  • Tags: [MULTIPLIER] [RIPPLE]
  • Watch for: Lessons learned that can improve Flash Lab for all facilitators

4. “What should we change?” (Process discussion points)

Questions to Raise with Josh and Joe

  1. Capacity-building tags are low - Are we actually not doing this work, or just not tagging it? Should we look for [LEVEL-UP] and [MULTIPLIER] moments more intentionally?

  2. [CHECK-IN] overuse? - 24 instances. Is this a catch-all? Do some of these deserve different tags?

  3. [VALUE-VISIBLE] capture - Only 1 instance. Elizabeth’s HarmonAI quote is a good example we should be logging. How do we capture these more systematically?

  4. External partnerships scaling - ISTE, Australia, Oman, Learning Planet (Paris), New Schools Venture Fund… Do we have capacity? Who’s backup? Need to discuss February bandwidth with Oman trip (Feb 1-6).

  5. Airtable hygiene - (Reuben’s personal note: I need to get better at keeping this updated. Joe is the model here.)

  6. February timeline clarity - From Jan 22 AS:DE meeting: Legal 101 workshop (Feb), Comms workshop (end Feb/early Mar), Seed Grantee Hang (Mar), Inter-cohort hang (mid-Mar). Need to confirm dates.

Action Items for Meeting

  • Review Airtable entries for January completeness
  • Assign final tags to activities listed above
  • Enter 2-3 stories into Airtable “Stories” field (top candidates: ISTE Partnership, Crystal Springs, New Schools Venture Fund, HarmonAI user study)
  • Discuss February priorities and capacity (Oman trip Feb 1-6 impacts availability)
  • Confirm February event dates: Legal 101, Comms workshop, Seed Grantee Hang
  • Add Elizabeth’s HarmonAI quote to Airtable/quoted-impact

Meeting Notes (Jan 27, 2026)

Stories Cadence - Decided

Cadence Focus
Monthly Story for that month (often not finalized yet)
Quarterly Zoom out for bigger arc
Yearly wrap-up Mini-case study slides

Yearly activity idea: Build a slide per project that’s a mini-case study with timeline (planning → building → wrap-up), showing tags at each stage from Airtable. Visual representation with both story and data. Not a post-mortem - “story-telling” or “mini-case study.” Could produce artifacts for external use.

Capacity Discussion

  • Question raised: How much are we trying to solicit new partners?
  • Answer: Not much - bigger hurdle is we’re not staffed to handle people who already want our help.

Team Stories Framed

Reuben - AI Flash Lab:

  • “Beyond Stanford” framing (from Josh’s All-Hands): “Modeling how others can activate in-house expertise for themselves”
  • ISTE, New Schools, Paris, Australia, Oman as proof points of ripple

Reuben - AI Comic Studio:

  • Getting published, follow-up study, tool updates, new tracking idea (student usage of research/web searches)

Joe:

  • [CO-CREATE] coming up a lot
  • Studio tapped to tell stories of what Accelerator is doing - promote research, share findings, support current research. [AMPLIFY] theme.

Josh:

  • “Finding the right huskies for the right stage of this Iditarod”
  • Scaling is THE focus - Isabelle showing scaling theme in every presentation
  • Internal scaling + external scaling
  • 3 C’s: Capacity Building, Cross-pollination, Critical Boots
  • CreateAI grant: 300 applications received

Tag Discussion Outcomes

  • [BRIDGE-BUILD] getting more play
  • [EQUITY-WIN] and [SYSTEM-SHIFT] underrepresented - would likely come after our involvement is over
  • Contribution vs. Attribution: Should attribute partner efforts first. Some interactions are more contribution, some more attribution. Qualitative storytelling should clarify: were we directly involved or just support?
  • Attribution moments could be tagged as [SCALE-MOMENT]

Ideas Generated

  • Network web visual showing cross-connections between projects
  • Filter Airtable for [RIPPLE], [SCALE-MOMENT] to answer “what is Accelerator Studio doing for scaling?”

Prepared: Jan 21, 2026 Updated: Jan 27, 2026 (post-meeting)

Source: prep/2026-01-29-end-of-month-meeting.md