Fall into Learning: AI Tool Smashing by Model Schools

Contributions

2024-09-29 04:10:46 UTC

I work with a lot of different teachers in my role, and I know that many are ready to try AI in the classroom. I think Padlet is such an easy first start for many teachers since they have used it themselves in PDs like this. I would love to see more teachers use Padlet with their students, too. A few teachers began using Canva with their students last year, and I think this would be another next step for teachers since they are now feeling comfortable with Canva themselves, and could teach its use to students. The whiteboard function would be a great collaborative experience.

Contributions

2024-10-14 12:31:47 UTC

I am going to share some of the resources that I learned about today with my co-workers. Working with the younger student population makes using some of these resources a bit challenging, but I feel that many can be adapted and used succesfully.

Contributions

2024-11-13 20:44:13 UTC

I have not started to use AI, I have read a lot about it, attending PDs on the subject and figuring out how I will use it. It is something as educators we need to figure out. We do have access to some of the tools, such as Microsoft in my district. I struggle with wanting to create, as for decades as a teacher, that's what we did. I do see where it could be useful, Diffit was one I was intrigued by, however that one is not vetted. I want to be part of the ongoing conversations about the use of it in the educational world. Something that stuck with me, was the initial thoughts on cheating, and that knowing parents have helped kids over the years on assignments. Not every child had parents that helped, just a thought that stuck with me as I read and watched the videos. I am still nervous, but willing to try new things.

Next steps

2024-11-18 02:23:22 UTC

I will continue to explore how to use AI in Canva and Padlet. I can definitely see how even suggested images would improve my materials to students and cut time to allow me to focus on other pressing tasks. I have used Magic School a few times and I appreciate the explanation of how Magic School is a tool to improve and expedite prompt writing for AI. I think I underestimate some of the capabilities of AI because my prompts have been too simplistic. I have used AI to write lesson plans for specific skills and standards and create vocabulary lists. I have been disappointed when asking for Magic School to create a presentation because it just tells me what to include on each slide. I can now see the benefit of exploring different tools that integrate AI such as Padlet.

What's next?

2024-11-19 15:04:22 UTC

In my role, I will continue to investigate these tools and work with the technology department in the district to create a short list of AI tools. Like learning about AI, I think if the list if too long, the teachers may become overwhelmed. If we have a small list of tools along with a description, it may become a little easier for staff members to try out.

We are also starting the process of creating an AI focus group of teachers who are willing to try these apps. In this way, it will be classroom teachers who are piloting the apps and offering their advice to their colleagues about which apps/tools they think works best for approaching certain tasks.

Contributions

2024-11-21 12:37:12 UTC

To make today’s work a success, I’ll bring my dedication to problem-solving, collaboration, and adaptability to the table. Additionally, I’ll use AI tools to enhance productivity and engagement with both students and coworkers. Tools like Diffit help create differentiated learning materials tailored to students’ needs, ensuring inclusivity and effective learning experiences. With Magic School AI, I can streamline administrative tasks, design lesson plans, and offer innovative solutions for classroom challenges. For creative projects, Canva enables me and my students to craft visually compelling presentations and resources quickly. By integrating these AI tools into our work, I aim to foster efficiency, creativity, and collaboration.

M.Mason

Contributions

kn106 — 2024-11-23 20:33:20 UTC

I am a primary teacher and have used Copilot, Padlet and Magic AI. I love all three of these tools. Copilot is easy to use and I use it to help reply to e-mails when I am stuck with my words. I also have used it to help turn parent newsletters into different languages for my ENL students families. I also have used Padlet but mostly during my in service classes like this one. It is an easy tool to use and good for discussions in classes. I do teach 1st and don't know if I will use it in class. It is neat how it can help with vocabulary and how you now can tag people!

Contributions

kn106 — 2024-11-23 20:37:48 UTC

I enjoy using Canva and make slides to introduce vocabulary with our new CKLA program we use in our primary grades. It is easy and the pictures are much better than using in PowerPoint. The kids enjoy these slides we make each day. I want to start using Diffit- however I am not sure if our district has allowed this to be a tool to use. I did create an account and loved making reading passages. It did not go as low as 1st grade but is easily changed from the 2nd grade choice one available. I did like that they make multiple choices, and short answer questions to go with the passages. I did make one to try in my higher level reading group.

K. Heirigs

Contributions

kn106 — 2024-11-23 20:41:58 UTC

I love Copilot and Magic AI. I use Copilot to help create and translate my documents for ENL students into different languages. It is easy to generate and change the language. I also have used Copilot to help with replying to difficult e-mails! To make today's work a success I want to now try to use Copilot to help me turn things into PowerPoints as suggested. I also love Magic AI it is easy to use and has created many reading passages for my classroom this year. However, Diffit looks even better for this. Magic AI does have a spot for report card generator and I plan on using that when I need help this year. One more thing I want to try is the quote of the day in Magic AI! We do question of the day but this may be fun to add to our morning routine.

K Heirigs

Contributions

2024-11-25 16:03:15 UTC

I am beginning to use AI to help plan instructional strategies and engaging activities for my students. I am using CoPilot as one resource in my classroom and am interested in hearing more about other resources can support writing and organization.

I feel it is important to have conversation with my co-workers about how to use these resources in an authentic way in my classroom.

Success

kroundy1 — 2024-12-05 02:15:54 UTC

To ensure success moving forward, I will need to dedicate time- time to explore what AI Tools our district supports, time to "play", and time to share with my colleagues.

I like CoPilot but I love Diffit (not supported in my district). There were several others that looked promising.

Next Steps

afagenbaum — 2024-12-26 17:31:14 UTC

I think this opened my eyes to how many different AI resources are out there. I think AI is a great tool and we need to teach our students how to appropriately use this tool. For next steps, I would like to create lessons that integrate AI into lessons to teach the students how to engage with the tool productively. I also want to continue to research AI tools and play around with using them to create new and engaging lessons. I also will share what I learned with my Team and split up the continued research.

Contributions

2025-01-06 23:06:21 UTC

I will continue to look at the tools and figure out how I can start to incorporate them into my instruction. I currently am learning how to use Canva and enjoy creating many different activities. It's very nice to have a platform where you can be very creative and have it be super kid friendly. It is a great tool that I have started sharing with my team.

We also use Microsoft in my district so I would love to connect with the technology department on how to navigate Copilot and how I can incorporate it into my work and then be able to share it with my team.

My Contributions

ellenpanzer3 — 2025-02-17 01:24:37 UTC

After taking the time to explore all of these AI tools I will bring back the items I was able to generate for an upcoming novel study to my teaching partner. It will save us many hours of preparation and will give us a foundation to add more creative ideas to our lessons to keep the engagement with this text very high!

2025-02-28 15:08:09 UTC

I have been using AI to support my students and enhance learning in my classroom in a variety of ways. AI has helped me with curriculum planning by assisting in the development of structured units, such as my 12-day unit on Ancient Greece and my 20-day unit on Ancient Rome and the Byzantine Empire. These units ensure that my lessons align with sixth-grade social studies standards in New York while keeping students engaged. I have also used AI to create a group project on different types of government, where students research dictatorship, monarchy, theocracy, democracy, and oligarchy. This project fosters collaboration and critical thinking as students explore and compare various systems of government. Additionally, AI has been valuable in differentiating instruction, allowing me to adapt lessons for students at different learning levels. It has helped me generate assessments, quizzes, and reflection prompts, making it easier to check for understanding and provide timely feedback. AI has also played a role in enhancing student research by summarizing information and guiding students in evaluating sources. Furthermore, I have used AI to generate discussion questions and role-playing scenarios that make social studies more interactive and engaging. Overall, AI has been a powerful tool in my classroom, helping me create meaningful learning experiences for my students.

Contributions

2025-04-25 14:17:42 UTC

I am a reading interventionist at a local High School. My students are 13-20 and read between a 2nd to 6th grade level. I have zero resources for them. I have been using CoPilot to create texts that align with a specific phonics skill (or morphology skill). Diffit is amazing and way better than CoPilot. The ability to enter a prompt and create a text is the same the differences are worthwhile. Firstly, Diffit pulls out key vocabulary, has short answer questions, higher-level questions, multiple choice... all immediately created after providing the initial prompt. Super helpful. Additionally, I can just press a button and a printable, student friendly text is created. With CoPliot I have to copy and paste into Word, then format the paper adding in name line, title, adjust spacing. Diffit is super user friendly for reading teachers. I can easily see it as a helpful tool for social studies teachers too. All students can have access the content by simply adjusting the reading level. All students can participate in discussion questions. Teachers would not have to "talk at" the students who cannot read at grade level.

2025-05-14 02:35:39 UTC

I have used AI to help me create activities for my small group instruction which has been helpful. I am interested in exploring Magic School AI because of how it already has templates created for better searches. I do see how AI is useful for both teachers and students. However, in my role as a reading specialist in a primary school, I do not anticipate creating interactive AI activities to use with my students. My focus is with learning the foundational skills of literacy so they can access everything else in the intermediate grades. Learning to read now so they can read to learn later.

My Plan

2025-06-27 15:28:13 UTC

Contributions

2025-08-14 23:49:23 UTC

I plan on supporting my coworkers who want to use AI in their daily lessons. I have become more confident in what resources I like and would be happy to show others how AI can help them. I also want to use it to help students but in a way that they aren't "cheating". They can use AI to support their work but it is important for them to understand limits.

Contributions

christinacardonaburger3 — 2025-08-30 20:43:54 UTC

I plan to continue to explore the different resources. I would love to share with my department colleagues to brainstorm how we can use the AI programs and how we might expose our students to AI.

Contributions

christinacardonaburger3 — 2026-03-08 18:59:02 UTC

This was really helpful to have so many AI tools to evaluate in one place. I have used Padlet with 2nd graders a little. I love that students can respond to a question or prompt in a variety of ways. I have used it as a closing activity for a few lessons. I think I will continue to explore these tools to see if I could create a whole group activity that is interactive with my display board since the majority of my time spent with students doesn't allow for individual devices. I will also work with my department and use one of these tools to help us organize and improve our curriculum.

Contributions

2026-06-15 12:24:20 UTC

I'm going to lean into learning CANVA and all of the options it offers. We've used PowerPoint but Canva has so many options to see student learning and present materials. I will share my Canva knowledge at PLC.

I'm also going to be using Co-Pilot to draft questions and then just tweak them. With all of the new grading demands, both Canva and Co=Pilot will be helpful in the Spanish classroom. The options to show culturally relevant information is endless!

K.DiMarco