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

End-of-Month Meeting Prep - February 2026

Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2026 (AS:DE Meeting, 11am) With: Josh Weiss, Joe Sherman, Reuben Thiessen Format: (1) What did we do? (2) What trends? (3) What stories? (4) What should we change?

1. “What did we do?” (February Activity Review)

Reuben’s February Activity

Week Activity Tags
Week 1 (Feb 1-6) Oman Hackathon delivered — flew to Oman with Josh, ran train-the-trainer workshop at ICTP 2026 [BRIDGE-BUILD] [MULTIPLIER] [CO-CREATE]
  Colombia chatbot tested in schools (Feb 5) — Ana Saavedra’s 4th grade field trip intervention [STUDIO-BUILD] [CO-CREATE]
Week 2 (Feb 8-14) AI+Education Summit (Feb 11) — full day, ANKO Building, co-organized by SAL + HAI [SPARK] [REFRAME]
  Met Dr. Shariffa Al Said + Maryam Alkhzami — AI + special education whitepaper thread (Oman follow-up) [BRIDGE-BUILD] [THOUGHT-PARTNER]
  Flash Lab / Tinkery Toolkit meeting with Gregory Wilson + Josh (Feb 10) [THOUGHT-PARTNER] [CO-CREATE]
  Teaching w/ AI Community Share-out (Feb 10) — CASA paradigm, mirror bots, productive discomfort [SPARK] [REFRAME]
  ABCs bots: multi-perspective feature (up to 5 bots), editing bug fix, prompt refinements for Cathy [STUDIO-BUILD] [CO-CREATE]
  Colombia chatbot: CSV + image exports delivered to Ana [TOOLBOX]
  Josh 1:1 (Feb 12): Three C’s strategic alignment, personal logic model shared, quarterly goals updated [ALIGN]
  Built Personal Logic Model — reflective practice artifact, shared with Josh [ANCHOR]
  Courtney Garza completed training, then registered and delivered Build-a-Bot at TCEA 2026 on her own — documented as scaling proof point [MULTIPLIER] [RIPPLE]
Week 3 (Feb 15-21) Legal 101 Workshop delivered (Feb 18) — Sam McClure facilitated for SAL seed grantees + tEquity + Create+AI [LEVEL-UP] [BRIDGE-BUILD]
  Three C’s strategic proposal completed — seed grant lifecycle framework (SPARK → BUILD → SHARPEN → SCALE) [ANCHOR] [STUDIO-BUILD]
  Market research on 9 comparable orgs (Lastinger, AERDF, ASU, PBLWorks, Challenge Success, etc.) [ADVISE]
  Proposed 5 new seed grantee offerings: Meet the Toolkit, Privacy by Design, IRB Demystified, Prototype to Pilot, User Testing Jam [REFRAME]
  CRAFT meeting (Feb 19): Shane’s community college bot working, protein synthesis lab demo (Unity+OpenAI, RCT May 5) [SOUNDING-BOARD] [ADVISE]
  SU-18 compliance: cleaned all personal projects off work laptop –
Week 4 (Feb 23-28) End-of-month meeting (Feb 24) [ALIGN]
  Stanford x ISTE+ASCD meeting (Feb 25) — Joseph South, Isabelle, Josh, Jessica Garner [BRIDGE-BUILD] [SCALE-MOMENT]
  AI Feedback Tool call with Sarah Williams-Habibi, Rachel Wolf, Kyla (Feb 23) — shared moderator bot approach, API budget guidance [ADVISE] [TOOLBOX]
  Legal 101 follow-up email (Feb 24) [LEVEL-UP]

Key Numbers

  • Workshops/sessions delivered: 2 (Oman Hackathon, Legal 101) + 1 major conference attended (AI+Education Summit)
  • New project threads opened: 3 (Dr. Shariffa special ed whitepaper, Gregory Wilson Tinkery, AI Feedback Tool with Sarah/Rachel/Kyla)
  • Independent facilitator moments: 2 (Courtney Garza at TCEA, Cathy using ABCs bots for oncology faculty training)
  • Legal 101 survey responses: 53
  • Strategic artifacts produced: Seed grant lifecycle framework, market research doc, personal logic model, ISTE strategy doc

1. Scaling proof points are multiplying without us

Courtney Garza completed training, then took the initiative to register and deliver Build-a-Bot at TCEA on her own. Anna-Lena continues in Paris. Cathy is using ABCs bots to train oncology faculty. These are [MULTIPLIER] and [RIPPLE] moments — the work travels without direct involvement.

2. “What’s your model?” is THE question

Josh pushed hard this month for a clear, articulable model. Three pillars emerged: Playbook, Reach, Revenue. The seed grant lifecycle framework (SPARK → BUILD → SHARPEN → SCALE) gives structure. ISTE is the test bed. Need to answer this cleanly for any room.

3. Top-of-funnel positioning is crystallizing

Flash Lab → feeds CSET/PLEX, Challenge Success, youcubed, PACE, ISTE’s own Community of Practice. Legal 101 → feeds OTL, Stanford Startup Law. Every offering we run sends people deeper into the ecosystem. This is the answer to “does it contribute or cannibalize?”

4. Cross-cohort offerings create unexpected value

Legal 101 pulled in seed grantees + tEquity + Create+AI participants — first time many of these people were in the same room. The lifecycle framework supports this: some offerings are inter-cohort (stage-agnostic), some are time-specific (tied to project stage).

5. International demand continues to grow

Oman delivered, Oman special ed thread opened, Colombia testing in schools, Paris ongoing, Australia still exploring. The international signal is strong and consistent.

6. AI Summit insight: “Product vs. Process”

Mehran Sahami’s framing resonated: GenAI can produce a strong product that doesn’t reflect a strong learning process. This tension is exactly what Flash Lab and Build-a-Bot are designed to address — process-first, hands-on exploration.

3. “What stories are emerging?”

Story 1: “The Work Travels” (Scaling Without Us)

Courtney Garza stepped on stage at TCEA 2026 to run Build-a-Bot for Texas educators — she completed the training, then took the initiative to register, submit a session, and deliver it all on her own. Quote: “Here I am, just before stepping on stage at #TCEA2026 to share how educators can build their own AI chatbot!” Meanwhile, Anna-Lena is running Flash Lab in Paris, and Cathy is using ABCs bots to train oncology faculty at Stanford. The pattern: we build tools and train people, then they run it for their own communities.

  • Tags: [MULTIPLIER] [RIPPLE] [SCALE-MOMENT]
  • Airtable story: Yes — this is the strongest proof of the capacity building model working.

Story 2: “From Hackathon to Whitepaper” (Oman Thread)

Delivered the Oman Hackathon → met Dr. Shariffa Al Said → opened a whitepaper thread on AI supporting special education in Oman. One engagement leads to the next. Dr. Fatma’s thank-you: “Your presence, professionalism, and thoughtful contributions added great value.” Oman MOE also sent an official thank-you letter (Feb 21).

  • Tags: [BRIDGE-BUILD] [RIPPLE] [VALUE-VISIBLE]
  • Airtable story: Yes — international partnership with legs.

Story 3: “Legal 101 — Cross-Cohort First”

First workshop to pull seed grantees, tEquity awardees, and Create+AI participants into the same room. 53 survey responses. Sam McClure (Stanford Startup Law) facilitated. Surfaced real concerns: SU-18 implications, entity formation, IP ownership. Demonstrated the lifecycle model — this is a SHARPEN-stage offering that serves any cohort.

  • Tags: [LEVEL-UP] [BRIDGE-BUILD]
  • Airtable story: Yes — proof of concept for cross-cohort offerings.

Story 4: “The Model Takes Shape”

Three C’s framework → seed grant lifecycle → comparable org research → playbook/reach/revenue metrics. In three weeks, went from “we do cool stuff” to a structured model with audience definition, packaging options (bundled vs. a la carte), and a test bed (ISTE). Wednesday’s ISTE meeting is the first real-world test of this framing.

  • Tags: [ANCHOR] [STUDIO-BUILD]
  • Airtable story: Not yet — this is internal strategic work. Worth noting in the meeting.

4. “What should we change?”

Discussion Points

  1. Airtable update needed — February stories need to be entered. Specifically: Oman delivery, Legal 101, Courtney Garza TCEA, Cathy oncology training, AI+Education Summit. Who enters what?

  2. ISTE meeting prep (Wed Feb 25) — Quick alignment: what’s the ask, what’s the offer, what are the boundaries? Strategy doc is ready (prep/2026-02-19-iste-strategy.md). Core answer: train 3 ISTE faculty, non-exclusive, Flash Lab as top-of-funnel.

  3. Capacity building model doc — Reuben owes Josh a first pass before Thursday’s 1:1. Should the team review it at end-of-month or wait for Josh’s feedback?

  4. CRM re-engagement still pending — 5 emails drafted in January, never sent (Oman trip → Summit → Legal 101 → snowboarding). Need to either send them or decide they’re stale.

  5. End-of-month cadence improvement? — Last month’s meeting was the first structured one. This month we have richer data (weekly digests, daily files, project files). Is this format working? What’s missing?

  6. Contact date tracking — Dashboard can show last contact dates for projects. Are we using this? Would it help catch things going cold?

Action Items for Meeting

  • Enter 2-3 stories into Airtable (top candidates: “The Work Travels,” “Oman to Whitepaper,” “Legal 101 Cross-Cohort”)
  • Quick ISTE alignment before Wednesday’s meeting
  • Decide: capacity building model review timing
  • CRM re-engagement: send or archive?
  • Update project statuses in Airtable

Quoted Impact This Month

“Your presence, professionalism, and thoughtful contributions added great value.” — Dr. Fatma Al-Dohani, Oman Ministry of Education (Feb 9)

“Here I am, just before stepping on stage at #TCEA2026 to share how educators can build their own AI chatbot!” — Courtney Garza, Build-a-Bot facilitator (Feb 10)

“I flew back home saying ‘I made a thing!’” — Vanessa Monterosa, NewSchools Venture Fund (Jan 29, re: Flash Lab)

Goal Progress Check (Q1 2026)

Goal Status February Progress
1. Team Communication Architecture On track Legal 101 cross-cohort delivery, lifecycle framework proposed. Airtable needs updating.
2. Strategic Influence in AI+Education Strong Oman delivered, Summit attended, Legal 101 delivered, ISTE meeting Wed. Multiple new connections.
3. Scalable Educator Capacity Strong Courtney at TCEA (independent), lifecycle framework, market research, ISTE strategy ready. CRM re-engagement still pending.
4. Sustainable Leadership Moderate Logic model built, Claude system operational, weekly reviews active. Physical routine still missing.

Prepared: Feb 23, 2026

Source: prep/2026-02-24-end-of-month.md