Josh Pullen
@pulljosh.com
I love education & technology. https://www.joshuapullen.com/ Opinions are my own and do not represent those of my employer.
👎 Coding agents
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October 25, 2025 at 8:07 PM
👎 Coding agents
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A blog that slowly morphs into a web forum over many years
October 15, 2025 at 11:29 PM
A blog that slowly morphs into a web forum over many years
I updated to MacOS 26 and absolutely love it. Much more than I thought I would!
September 17, 2025 at 11:06 PM
I updated to MacOS 26 and absolutely love it. Much more than I thought I would!
I am stunned... Based on my back-of-the-napkin math, a whopping 5% of ALL US teachers 🤯 have watched one my Shuffle Buddy videos to the end (full retention)
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/shuffle...
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/shuffle...
Shuffle Buddy Found a BIG Audience
I've been shocked the the reception to Shuffle Buddy. All kinds of school staff have shared their need for a random seating chart generator with rules, and the product-market fit has been off the char...
www.joshuapullen.com
July 31, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I am stunned... Based on my back-of-the-napkin math, a whopping 5% of ALL US teachers 🤯 have watched one my Shuffle Buddy videos to the end (full retention)
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/shuffle...
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/shuffle...
Reposted by Josh Pullen
I don't think icebreakers build community in a classroom nearly as much as authentic opportunities for collaboration early and often to begin the school year.
Students know when it's just a first-week thing, right?
Here's what I prioritize instead: thebrokencopier.substack.com/p/building-a...
Students know when it's just a first-week thing, right?
Here's what I prioritize instead: thebrokencopier.substack.com/p/building-a...
Building a Foundation for Collaboration
classroom strategies that help to begin the school year
thebrokencopier.substack.com
July 30, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I don't think icebreakers build community in a classroom nearly as much as authentic opportunities for collaboration early and often to begin the school year.
Students know when it's just a first-week thing, right?
Here's what I prioritize instead: thebrokencopier.substack.com/p/building-a...
Students know when it's just a first-week thing, right?
Here's what I prioritize instead: thebrokencopier.substack.com/p/building-a...
I just discovered "story tables" from a Knowles fellow and I LOVE them for teaching algebra
storytables.substack.com/p/sowhat-is-...
storytables.substack.com/p/sowhat-is-...
So...what is a Story Table anyway?
Look!
storytables.substack.com
July 23, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I just discovered "story tables" from a Knowles fellow and I LOVE them for teaching algebra
storytables.substack.com/p/sowhat-is-...
storytables.substack.com/p/sowhat-is-...
Reposted by Josh Pullen
Found a really great project made by a math teacher @pulljosh.com called shufflebuddy.com Its a great way to arrange and randomize your class roster into a seating chart. Lovely feature to add rules for restricting A and B from sitting or tagging certain students to a specific spot. #EduSky
Shuffle Buddy
Foster a strong classroom community by frequently shuffling your seating charts–while respecting your students’ individual needs. Randomize seating charts in one click.
shufflebuddy.com
July 21, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Found a really great project made by a math teacher @pulljosh.com called shufflebuddy.com Its a great way to arrange and randomize your class roster into a seating chart. Lovely feature to add rules for restricting A and B from sitting or tagging certain students to a specific spot. #EduSky
I need to stop making Shuffle Buddy better. Getting the word out is working and it's FUN.
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/stop-im...
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/stop-im...
Stop Improving The Product
Josh gets over his fear of sharing and starts marketing Shuffle Buddy, not just toiling away at the product.
www.joshuapullen.com
July 17, 2025 at 11:33 AM
I need to stop making Shuffle Buddy better. Getting the word out is working and it's FUN.
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/stop-im...
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/stop-im...
July 15, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I’d never used the TikTok app in my life, but I just uploaded a video and now I feel famous.
The internet has warped my perception of numbers, but ~3,000 people seeing my thing is CRAZY
www.tiktok.com/t/ZTHg51Y4og...
The internet has warped my perception of numbers, but ~3,000 people seeing my thing is CRAZY
www.tiktok.com/t/ZTHg51Y4og...
July 15, 2025 at 11:08 AM
I’d never used the TikTok app in my life, but I just uploaded a video and now I feel famous.
The internet has warped my perception of numbers, but ~3,000 people seeing my thing is CRAZY
www.tiktok.com/t/ZTHg51Y4og...
The internet has warped my perception of numbers, but ~3,000 people seeing my thing is CRAZY
www.tiktok.com/t/ZTHg51Y4og...
I finally figured out <meta /> tags to add an image to the post when it is shared. I was using <meta name="og:image" ... /> originally instead of the correct form, <meta property="og:image" ... />
It's weird because it's a little difficult to test if your meta tags are correct until you deploy them
It's weird because it's a little difficult to test if your meta tags are correct until you deploy them
I've been collecting strategies that teachers use to randomize their seating charts, and I don't like any of them (except the one I made).
Ways I don't like:
1. Popsicle Sticks
2. Deck of Cards
3. By Hand with Sticky Notes
4. Random Number Generator
www.shufflebuddy.com/blog/five-wa...
Ways I don't like:
1. Popsicle Sticks
2. Deck of Cards
3. By Hand with Sticky Notes
4. Random Number Generator
www.shufflebuddy.com/blog/five-wa...
5 Ways to Randomly Shuffle Student Seats (I invented #5)
Seating charts don't have to be a pain. Here are five great ways to randomly shuffle student seats.
www.shufflebuddy.com
July 14, 2025 at 9:53 PM
I finally figured out <meta /> tags to add an image to the post when it is shared. I was using <meta name="og:image" ... /> originally instead of the correct form, <meta property="og:image" ... />
It's weird because it's a little difficult to test if your meta tags are correct until you deploy them
It's weird because it's a little difficult to test if your meta tags are correct until you deploy them
I've been collecting strategies that teachers use to randomize their seating charts, and I don't like any of them (except the one I made).
Ways I don't like:
1. Popsicle Sticks
2. Deck of Cards
3. By Hand with Sticky Notes
4. Random Number Generator
www.shufflebuddy.com/blog/five-wa...
Ways I don't like:
1. Popsicle Sticks
2. Deck of Cards
3. By Hand with Sticky Notes
4. Random Number Generator
www.shufflebuddy.com/blog/five-wa...
5 Ways to Randomly Shuffle Student Seats (I invented #5)
Seating charts don't have to be a pain. Here are five great ways to randomly shuffle student seats.
www.shufflebuddy.com
July 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I've been collecting strategies that teachers use to randomize their seating charts, and I don't like any of them (except the one I made).
Ways I don't like:
1. Popsicle Sticks
2. Deck of Cards
3. By Hand with Sticky Notes
4. Random Number Generator
www.shufflebuddy.com/blog/five-wa...
Ways I don't like:
1. Popsicle Sticks
2. Deck of Cards
3. By Hand with Sticky Notes
4. Random Number Generator
www.shufflebuddy.com/blog/five-wa...
Next week, I'll be presenting Shuffle Buddy at the Knowles Teacher Initiative summer conference. I'm excited to help more teachers with their seating charts!
www.shufflebuddy.com
www.shufflebuddy.com
July 14, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Next week, I'll be presenting Shuffle Buddy at the Knowles Teacher Initiative summer conference. I'm excited to help more teachers with their seating charts!
www.shufflebuddy.com
www.shufflebuddy.com
It's so easy for personal biases to become systems if you aren't careful. I was testing my name-identification heuristics and look which names it doesn't think are names. (Spoiler: It's the ones with accents.)
July 13, 2025 at 9:33 PM
It's so easy for personal biases to become systems if you aren't careful. I was testing my name-identification heuristics and look which names it doesn't think are names. (Spoiler: It's the ones with accents.)
Reposted by Josh Pullen
Reposted by Josh Pullen
you will of course recognise that they are still having some issues over at the utah teapot factory
July 2, 2025 at 12:55 PM
you will of course recognise that they are still having some issues over at the utah teapot factory
I love this post by Alan Wu about the motivating value of community. It is absolutely true and I want to find/build more communities around my passions
alanwu.xyz/posts/commun...
alanwu.xyz/posts/commun...
A good community can have tremendous influence on one’s motivation. I never appreciated this fact enough so I wanted to write about it here.
alanwu.xyz
June 29, 2025 at 2:41 AM
I love this post by Alan Wu about the motivating value of community. It is absolutely true and I want to find/build more communities around my passions
alanwu.xyz/posts/commun...
alanwu.xyz/posts/commun...
Reposted by Josh Pullen
My fun theory is that having aphantasia (no mental pictures) makes me better at programming.
Kinda like how people who are blind typically have better hearing. I am very well-practiced at thinking in terms of abstract information
Kinda like how people who are blind typically have better hearing. I am very well-practiced at thinking in terms of abstract information
June 29, 2025 at 2:06 AM
My fun theory is that having aphantasia (no mental pictures) makes me better at programming.
Kinda like how people who are blind typically have better hearing. I am very well-practiced at thinking in terms of abstract information
Kinda like how people who are blind typically have better hearing. I am very well-practiced at thinking in terms of abstract information
I actually annoyed myself while writing this because I followed the post’s advice while writing the post and it turned out better than anything else I’ve written.
I want to be smarter than the ideas I can articulate, but I’m not.
I want to be smarter than the ideas I can articulate, but I’m not.
Some ideas don’t gain traction because they are invisible. Dandelion ideas come to life when you give them a name.
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/dandeli...
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/dandeli...
Dandelion Ideas
Some ideas don’t gain traction because they are invisible. Dandelion ideas come to life when you give them a name.
www.joshuapullen.com
June 22, 2025 at 7:15 PM
I actually annoyed myself while writing this because I followed the post’s advice while writing the post and it turned out better than anything else I’ve written.
I want to be smarter than the ideas I can articulate, but I’m not.
I want to be smarter than the ideas I can articulate, but I’m not.
Some ideas don’t gain traction because they are invisible. Dandelion ideas come to life when you give them a name.
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/dandeli...
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/dandeli...
Dandelion Ideas
Some ideas don’t gain traction because they are invisible. Dandelion ideas come to life when you give them a name.
www.joshuapullen.com
June 22, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Some ideas don’t gain traction because they are invisible. Dandelion ideas come to life when you give them a name.
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/dandeli...
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/dandeli...
Why did I include a very prominent photo of myself in the blog design? It's not narcissism. It's a marker against AI slop.
The article exists primarily for the purposes of SEO, but it's also a real article with real advice written by a real person.
The article exists primarily for the purposes of SEO, but it's also a real article with real advice written by a real person.
June 21, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Why did I include a very prominent photo of myself in the blog design? It's not narcissism. It's a marker against AI slop.
The article exists primarily for the purposes of SEO, but it's also a real article with real advice written by a real person.
The article exists primarily for the purposes of SEO, but it's also a real article with real advice written by a real person.
Teachers who use Shuffle Buddy love it, but I need to get the word out more.
To that end, I am creating a blog in the hopes of improving SEO. I started with a post titled "5 Ways to Randomly Shuffle Student Seats."
⬇️ Why do this? ⬇️ 1/6
www.shufflebuddy.com/blog/five-wa...
To that end, I am creating a blog in the hopes of improving SEO. I started with a post titled "5 Ways to Randomly Shuffle Student Seats."
⬇️ Why do this? ⬇️ 1/6
www.shufflebuddy.com/blog/five-wa...
5 Ways to Randomly Shuffle Student Seats (I invented #5)
Seating charts don't have to be a pain. Here are five great ways to randomly shuffle student seats.
www.shufflebuddy.com
June 21, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Teachers who use Shuffle Buddy love it, but I need to get the word out more.
To that end, I am creating a blog in the hopes of improving SEO. I started with a post titled "5 Ways to Randomly Shuffle Student Seats."
⬇️ Why do this? ⬇️ 1/6
www.shufflebuddy.com/blog/five-wa...
To that end, I am creating a blog in the hopes of improving SEO. I started with a post titled "5 Ways to Randomly Shuffle Student Seats."
⬇️ Why do this? ⬇️ 1/6
www.shufflebuddy.com/blog/five-wa...
Get Swole Summer
Thoughts on education and technology.
www.joshuapullen.com
June 20, 2025 at 1:47 PM
I probably spent ~6 hours designing this multi-select dropdown menu, and it still has major issues that need to be fixed.
Programmers know how long it takes to build things that users should take for granted.
Programmers know how long it takes to build things that users should take for granted.
May 31, 2025 at 6:36 PM
I probably spent ~6 hours designing this multi-select dropdown menu, and it still has major issues that need to be fixed.
Programmers know how long it takes to build things that users should take for granted.
Programmers know how long it takes to build things that users should take for granted.
I spent the majority of my teenage years with a ripping engine but no traction. I was talented, full of energy, and ready to build. I poured countless hours into projects. I wrote code, built things, and then... abandoned them.
Now I’ve fixed that. Here’s how.
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/tractio...
Now I’ve fixed that. Here’s how.
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/tractio...
Traction Against The World
Stop spinning your wheels but going nowhere. Traction is the key to forward progress.
www.joshuapullen.com
May 31, 2025 at 3:10 PM
I spent the majority of my teenage years with a ripping engine but no traction. I was talented, full of energy, and ready to build. I poured countless hours into projects. I wrote code, built things, and then... abandoned them.
Now I’ve fixed that. Here’s how.
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/tractio...
Now I’ve fixed that. Here’s how.
www.joshuapullen.com/blog/tractio...