Al in Lesson Planning and Activity Generation Abilities:

My progress from last week showed me that many of my peers and fellow educators are actually very unaware of the wide range of AI resources focused in education and in all honestly I am as well which just makes me even more eager to actually practice using these and testing their potential to hopefully find some effective uses and tools that I can share with my teaching community and track progressions of considering future developments and expansions of use. This week I’m shifting more into focusing on experimenting with different AI platforms to generate lesson plans and explore different tools or strategies within these to get a better sense of their capabilities, personalization approaches and considerations to make when comparing AI to custom human made plans. This week is a lot of testing to prepare for the final comparison and reflection of AI use and research.

Alpha School Update:

I have also been trying to keep up with Alpha school information and socials to gain more of an understanding of its systems and programs. I wanted to share that in a more recent post Mackenzie Price, a founder of Alpha school makes some strong and intriguing statements with statistics and emphasis on AI’s ability in the school setting to provide personalized education and that teachers or “guides” are still a huge piece of this system, backing up the ideas and beliefs of the educators I talked to last week on how AI might look in future classrooms. Mackenzie highlights the impact that having an accessible one on one AI tool can bring to any students education heightening the overall personalization pieces in this as well. The post also states that, “AI tutoring isn’t here to replace teachers… it’s here to free them”, referring to the expansion of opportunities teachers could have to help support students’ learning and guide them in applying their gained knowledge in other ways.

Your Brain on ChatGPT Study:

I also briefly mentioned a study last week showing students’ abilities to write a paper with vs without AI use revealing a much more effective, authentic, and meaningful approach without its use and reliance so I wanted to share that study here. It is very lengthy but even just skimming some of the main pieces is very insightful into the differences AI use can have on students’ approaches to an assignment and overall motivation. This is just something I’m keeping in mind and looking deeper into as I test and compare. The paper is titled, Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task by, Nataliya Kosmyna, Eugene Hauptmann, Ye Tong Yuan, Jessica Situ, Xian-Hao Liao, Ashly Vivian Beresnitzky, Iris Braunstein, and Pattie Maes. You can access it here, https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872.

My Experience Testing & Using AI Programs for Education:

Tools Tested This Week: Magic School AI, Brisk, Curipod, Khanmigo, Google Gemini for Education + Eduaide, Diffit

1. Magic School AI: I will note this program does ask for some mandatory more personal information to tailor your use like location, role and name. However, it also provides some considerations for use which I thought could be a helpful reminder to many during use.

It is quite overwhelming to navigate as there are so many tools available from creating a hook, jeopardy review game, UDL choice boards to teaching jokes or gift suggestions… There were also a few options for providing student or parent comments and even report card comments which is something I don’t feel is an authentic or ethical use of AI in the classroom personally. I went in and tried testing the tools that seemed the most practical, relevant and useful to my own teaching. Here are snip its, prompts and outputs I received during this process.

Worksheet Prompt: “Please create a worksheet to teach grade 4 science that aligns with the BC curriculum”

Exploring Habitats and Living Things: Grade 4 Science Worksheet

Habitats are places where plants and animals live. Each habitat has its own special features, like water, sunlight, and food, that help living things survive. Some common habitats include forests, oceans, deserts, and wetlands. Living things, such as animals and plants, have unique adaptations that help them live in their specific habitats. For example, a cactus has thick skin to store water in the desert, and a fish has gills to breathe underwater. By learning about habitats, we can better understand how living things depend on each other and their environment.

Fill in the Blank: Fill in the blank with the correct words.

1. A _____________ is a place where an animal or plant lives and gets everything it needs to survive.
2. Animals and plants have special _____________ that help them live in their habitats.
3. A cactus stores _____________ in its thick stem to survive in the desert.
4. Fish use their _____________ to breathe underwater.
5. In a forest habitat, trees provide _____________ for many animals.

Word bank: water, shelter, adaptations, gills, habitat

Multiple Choice Questions: Choose the correct answer from the choices for each question.

1. Which of the following is NOT a habitat? a) Ocean
   b) Forest
   c) Table
   d) Wetland
2. What do animals need to survive in their habitats? a) Food, water, shelter
   b) Toys
   c) Cars
   d) Television
3. Which animal is most likely to live in the ocean? a) Camel
   b) Bear
   c) Fish
   d) Eagle
4. How does a beaver change its habitat? a) By building a dam
   b) By flying high
   c) By burrowing underground
   d) By growing tall
5. Why do birds migrate? a) To find new toys
   b) To find better food and weather
   c) To build houses
   d) To swim

Open-Ended Questions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. Choose a habitat (forest, ocean, desert, or wetland) and describe two living things that live there and how they survive.
   
   
   
   
2. Explain why adaptations are important for living things.
   
   
   
   
3. What can we do to help protect different habitats?
   
   
   
   

ANSWER KEY (Teachers: Always review answer keys for accuracy.)

Fill in the Blank:

1. habitat
2. adaptations
3. water
4. gills
5. shelter

Multiple Choice:

1. c) Table
2. a) Food, water, shelter
3. c) Fish
4. a) By building a dam
5. b) To find better food and weather

Open-Ended Example Responses:

1. Example: In the forest, deer live and eat plants, while owls hunt at night and use their sharp eyes to see in the dark.
2. Example: Adaptations help living things survive by giving them special skills or parts, like thick fur for warmth or long roots to find water.
3. Example: We can protect habitats by not littering, saving water, and planting trees.

Hook: Prompt: “Please make me a hook for teaching math BEDMAS in an engaging and creative way”

Here are three engaging lesson hook ideas for teaching BEDMAS (Brackets, Exponents, Division and Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction) to 4th-grade students:

1. Math Detective Mystery:
   • Setup: Create a short, fun mystery story where students need to solve a case by cracking a secret code. Present the story on a large poster or a digital slide.
   • Execution: Include a series of math problems that involve BEDMAS to reveal each part of the code. For example, the first problem could be “What is 5 + (3 × 2)?” The answer must be found to unlock the next clue in the mystery.
   • Materials Needed: Posters or slides with the mystery story, small envelopes for clues, and math problem cards.
   • Expected Outcome: Students will work collaboratively to solve the problems in the correct order, reinforcing their understanding of BEDMAS as they reveal parts of the code.
2. BEDMAS Relay Race:
   • Setup: Organize a relay race with different stations, each representing a part of the BEDMAS acronym.
   • Execution: At each station, students must solve a math problem that corresponds to the specific operation (e.g., a problem involving brackets at the first station, exponents at the second, etc.). Once they solve it correctly, they can move to the next station.
   • Materials Needed: Station signs, math problem cards, timers, and a small prize for completing the relay.
   • Expected Outcome: This physical activity will not only engage students but also help them understand the order of operations in a fun and competitive way.
3. Create a BEDMAS Comic Strip:
   • Setup: Introduce students to the concept of comic strips, where characters go on adventures solving problems.
   • Execution: Have students create a short comic strip where the main character encounters a series of math problems using BEDMAS. They can illustrate scenarios like “The Amazing Math Wizard” who must solve problems to save the day.
   • Materials Needed: Comic strip templates, colored pencils, and examples of problems that require BEDMAS.
   • Expected Outcome: This creative approach allows students to express their understanding of BEDMAS while using their artistic skills, making the learning experience both enjoyable and memorable.

2. Curipod: This program acts as a more Interactive lesson generator for students. It creates slides with interactive activities built in. It is a little slower at processing requests but it also works to generate test prep and quick writes with the option to use already made materials as guides or layouts. Curipod shares pre prompt lessons as well which may be a little trickier to edit into different contexts. There were many group games within the lesson slides which could be a pro and con. Another note would be that these activities seem more competitive or reward based which could act as positive reinforcers but also as less effective to those who do not enjoy this approach. The slides also often assume students each have access to a computer or device during lessons.

3. KHANMIGO: This Program works most as an AI tutor. It builds personal lessons for students including videos, hands on activities, unit overviews, articles, helpful test prep and even life skill related courses like one I engaged with on internet safety with an entire guide and opportunities in lessons to have interactive conversations with peers through the resource. From the free version I tried out I saw a variety of premade courses that were already laid out in a specific way with lessons followed by testing. From these Im not sure how tailored or personalized they could get if again needing a more specific context. However, the testing format seems like a strong way to ensure effective retaining of information. You can also easily link lessons to google classroom to share with a class.

4. Google Gemini for Education: This program seems more flexible in providing outputs for more specific prompts. I could ask a range of education related questions or for tools like a hook, lesson inspiration, and craft ideas. It seemed to give some well rounded ideas and provided lots of resource connections as well. There is a clear research base to this program.

Prompt: Make me a lesson plan for teaching mitosis aligning with the BC curriculum

Here is a proposed structure for a 60-minute lesson on Cell Division for Growth and Repair.

Cell Division: The Basics of Growth and Repair (Grade 5 Focus)

Component	Detail
Topic	Cell Division: Why Living Things Grow
Time Allotment	60 Minutes
Academic Level	Elementary (Grade 5)
BC Curriculum Connection	Content: Living things have distinguishing characteristics and basic needs (focusing on growth and repair). Competency: Making simple observations and connections to prior knowledge.
Materials	Playdough or construction paper shapes, large poster paper, markers, simple diagrams of a cell.

Export to Sheets

🎯 Learning Objectives (Grade 5 Level)

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Explain that all living things are made of tiny units called cells.
2. Identify growth and repair as the two main jobs of cell division.
3. Model the simple idea that one cell divides to become two identical cells.

📝 Lesson Procedure (Simplified 5E Model)

Phase	Time	Activity & Teaching Notes
1. Engage	10 min	Then and Now: Ask students to share how they have grown since they were in Kindergarten (height, clothes size, shoes). Discuss how a small puppy becomes a big dog. Guiding Question: What do you think is changing inside your body that makes you bigger?
2. Explore	15 min	The Doubling Cell Model: Introduce the term cell as a tiny building block. Use playdough (or paper cutouts) to represent a cell. Students make one large “parent cell,” cut it in half, and roll those two halves into two smaller, equal-sized “daughter cells.” Focus: One becomes two.
3. Explain	15 min	Vocabulary & Analogy: Introduce the terms Cell Division, Growth, and Repair. Use the “Cell Factory” analogy: Cells are like tiny factories that need to copy themselves (divide) to: 1) Make the factory bigger (Growth), or 2) Fix a broken section of the factory floor (Repair).
4. Elaborate	10 min	Repair Scenario: Present a scenario: “You scraped your knee on the pavement.” Students draw a simple before-and-after picture showing the scrape and how new cells have filled in the gap to fix it.
5. Evaluate	10 min	Exit Ticket: The Purpose Statement: Students complete the following sentences: “My body needs to make new cells for two reasons: 1) and 2) .”

Export to Sheets

This plan focuses on the functional concepts appropriate for Grade 5.

To start guiding the students through the Engage phase, what is the most fundamental, simple definition we can give to a cell? Let’s keep it friendly and clear! 🧱

5. Diffit: This program holds a wide selection of ready to use worksheets and activities. However, you do need to pay for more advanced formatting and flexible use including premium exporting and generation. Some tools I tried out were vocabulary, quiz and prompt generation. I found it was easy to modify these within the program to make them align more specifically to meet my needs. There are many helpful outlines to assist in organization and lesson prep. This program also allows for premade outlines or reading to input to base lessons on. I couldn’t get it to write an entire lesson plan using more specific prompts but tried out editing their pre made lessons and resources.

Prompt: “please make me a lesson plan for grade 3 science”

Reflection on Resource use:

From each of these AI programs I tested throughout the week I have noticed some strong similarities and considerations to make when using these. My most notable thought was that in order to get a strong output or lesson plan that’s ready to use or in a comparable format to a human made plan there is a lot of intricacy and specifics that needs to be stated throughout or updated during prompting. This is especially the case in trying to make the plan more personable and relevant to a specific place and group taking into account specific needs or contexts. When generating you also need to have in mind exactly what you want or at least to what guidelines and standards you’re looking for. This can be supported by inputting specific texts or foundational information to base outputs from. Another key thought of mine during testing each of these was that it feels uncomfortable giving these different mysterious platforms more personal information like location, name and role. Even with the privacy and data information being available I was still feeling a bit spectical and unsure about each of these. Another thought was If people are able to input existing resources to act as a foundation to generate does this risk any sort of copy write issues? Do the programs keep those existing plans or texts you input? There was also very little land based or Indigenous perspectives integrated within the output I received. From this I felt that even in guiding prompts there is definitely too much and too little that you can provide the programs. Finally the program Brisk was only available on chrome and windows as a download which was something I was unable to do so I decided to try some different programs instead. A few others I tried to explore also restricted downloading abilities. Next week I will focus purely on lesson generating and comparing these to a realistic human made lesson.