This week, I hit 1.2 miles on my daily walk. Now, before you marathon runners start rolling your eyes, let me remind you: for me, this was a victory. When I first started, even a half-mile felt like climbing Mount Everest with cinder blocks strapped to my legs. But little by little, step by step, I’ve pushed forward. And this week, the tracker on my wrist celebrated right along with me: 1.2 miles.
The number itself isn’t earth-shattering. But the progress behind it? That’s worth noticing.
As I thought about this milestone, I realized it has a lot in common with another journey I’ve been walking: the road of AI in education.
Small Steps Add Up
When I first started trying AI tools, it felt overwhelming. New acronyms, endless headlines, plenty of hype, and just as many fears. Much like that first walk, I wondered, Can I even do this? Will I keep up?
But the truth is, no one runs a marathon on day one. You don’t have to be an AI expert overnight. You take a small step such as asking an AI tool to draft a lesson outline, exploring what happens if you give it different prompts, or maybe just reading an article about ethics in AI. Each step feels small, but added together, they become a path.
Progress Isn’t Always Flashy
Hitting 1.2 miles wasn’t Instagram-worthy. Nobody’s lining up to give me a medal. But that doesn’t make it any less meaningful.
In schools, progress with AI can feel the same. Teachers might try out a tool once, not be thrilled with the results, and feel like they’ve failed. Or a district might host a single training session and wonder why everyone isn’t suddenly fluent in AI. The reality is that progress in education, especially with something as big as artificial intelligence, rarely looks flashy. It’s slow. It’s steady. It’s often messy. But that’s what makes it real.
The Power of Consistency
Walking every day, even when I don’t feel like it, builds stamina. I may not see dramatic results after one walk, but over time, the distance I can cover grows.
Consistency matters in AI, too. If teachers only engage with AI once or twice a year, they won’t see growth. But if we chip away at it regularly, exploring, reflecting, and practicing, we start to notice the difference. We become stronger, more confident, more prepared. The key is showing up, even when the excitement has faded.
Celebrate the Milestones
It’s easy to brush off 1.2 miles as “not much.” But celebrating that moment helps me keep going. It reminds me that I’m moving forward.
In the same way, we should celebrate milestones in our AI journey. A teacher who experiments with using AI to differentiate a lesson. A student who asks a thoughtful question about bias in a chatbot. A district that drafts its first AI policy. None of these are “the finish line” but they are milestones worth noticing. They show us that we’re not standing still.
The Long View
Here’s the thing: I’m not walking just to rack up miles. I’m walking because I want to build a healthier, stronger future for myself.
AI is the same. We’re not learning it just to say we’ve learned it. The point isn’t to chase every shiny tool or to show off our “mileage” in professional development hours. The point is to build healthier, stronger schools for our students. To create spaces where technology is used responsibly, ethically, and equitably. To shape a future that’s worth walking toward.
Moving Forward Together
What makes walking easier for me is knowing that I’m not alone. Sometimes I walk with a family member, either on the phone or in person. Sometimes I share my progress with someone who cheers me on. That encouragement matters.
In education, none of us should be walking the AI journey alone either. We need colleagues to swap ideas with, mentors to guide us, and communities to remind us we’re moving in the right direction, even if our pace feels slow.
Final Reflection
So this week, I’m celebrating my 1.2 miles. It’s not the end of the journey, it’s a beginning. And I’m reminding myself that steady, small steps are what get us to bigger goals.
AI in education is no different. We don’t have to sprint. We don’t have to have it all figured out. What matters is that we keep walking forward, one step, one mile, one milestone at a time.
Because in the end, the distance we cover isn’t just about us. It’s about the future we’re helping to shape, for ourselves, for our colleagues, and most importantly, for our students.
Paula Johnson Tech 
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