Maximizing Time with AI: Crafting Real-Time Resources for Learner Success

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 10. School Improvement, 4. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, 6. Professional Capacity of School Personnel, 7. Professional Community for Teachers and Staff, Professional Standards For Educational Leaders

Time, a Precious Resource

The most precious resource we can have in education is time. If you are in education and reading this, you are likely in agreement with the statement above. Amidst the whirlwind of busy school days, it’s a genuine privilege to collaborate with school leaders to carve out moments for teachers to connect, converse about student progress, and equip them with practical strategies they can apply immediately. The quote from the book Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess continues to resonate, “You are the lead learner in your classroom. You can’t ask your students to be risk-takers and lead learners if you are not modeling it yourself.” You can revisit my previous post Making the Most of Professional Learning: 4 Key Insights to learn more about ways to capitalize on learning with colleagues.

Keeping Learning Relevant

That said, when preparing for a professional learning experience, I keep in my mind that time is of the essence. I ask myself, what high-leverage practices can I share with educators to implement tomorrow that can have an immediate impact on student learning? This approach ensures that every moment we invest in professional learning contributes meaningfully to the growth and success of both educators and their students.

In the upcoming weeks, my focus will continue to be on collaborating with teachers to delve into curriculum analysis, examining student writing samples, and harnessing assessment tools that empower them to tailor their instructional approaches to the unique needs of each student. With technology at our fingertips and the world of education constantly changing, as lead learners, it is our professional obligation to stay on the cutting edge of finding new and better ways to make learning better for ourselves and our students. Phil Collins once wisely stated, “In learning, you will teach, and in teaching, you will learn.” Preparing for the future demands relentless learning, the courage to unlearn what no longer serves us, and the commitment to relearning for the present.

In the spirit of keeping the resource of time as my guiding principle, I am going to keep this week’s post concise by sharing a few high leverage moves that can have an immediate impact on the time you can save when crafting on the spot personalized resources that keep students’ needs at the forefront. 

Utilizing Artificial Intelligence for High-Leverage Moves

When analyzing student writing, the teachers and I noticed that they needed support in a few areas in the writing process. So what did I do? I turned my device around, opened up ChatGPT and showed teachers how to create resources that will strengthen students’ writing while also saving them time. In a matter of minutes, we instantly created accessible resources for the teaching of writing.

  1. Generating meaningful ideas for student writing:

Based on your students’ interests, your state’s learning standards, and writing assessment tools, ask ChatGPT or Google Bard to provide you with prompts to get your students started. The more specific you are with your prompt engineering, the better results you will get. 

Here is the prompt we used to generate the list that follows:

Create a list of prompts for 5th- grade students that include interests such as Disney World, football, art, and hanging out with friends. The prompt should encourage the students to write a narrative story that will hook the reader. The prompts should remind the students to include include elaboration, figurative language such as simile/metaphor, foreshadowing, and tie the ending of the story back to the beginning.

HERE is a list of prompts that were generated by ChatGPT.

  1. Enhancing the lead, ending, elaboration, and craft in student writing by including dialogue, action, setting, and figurative language.

Immerse students in a variety of writing that serve as models/mentors to enhance their own writing. Ask ChatGPT to provide a variety of mentor texts. Have students analyze and study the mentor texts against a writing checklist and discuss the writing pieces strengths and opportunities to elevate it as a whole class, in small groups or partnerships. HERE are writing assessment tools to use. Modeling this first for students will show them the expectation and language to use when collaborating with peers.

Here is the prompt we used to generate the mentor texts that follow:

Provide me with two different 5th-grade mentor texts that include strong leads that have dialogue, action, and setting. The writing should include a simile, flash back, and foreshadowing. The topic should be going to Disney World for the first time. Make this no more than 3 paragraphs and create an ending that ties back to the beginning.

HERE are the mentor texts that were created. You will also see some texts that have unimportant details. Provide students with those too. They can discuss why those added details are not important for the piece of writing. The prompt I used to create those texts was: Add unimportant details to these two mentor texts so that students can discuss why those details do not strengthen or add value to the writing.

**Find more ideas from a previous post HERE for leveraging AI in professional learning experiences. **

Moving Forward

The most impactful learning moments can happen right in real time. As a leader of learning, you have the responsibility to have a tool box of tricks that can help teachers move their own practices and their students’ learning forward. They are not always preplanned, canned resources, but are resources that respond to the needs of each student. Continue to show teachers what is possible by using technology to not only save time, but create resources that would have taken more time finding in the past. It is time to continue empowering yourself and your colleagues to save time while showing students what is possible.

Let’s Recap Actionable Ideas to Implement Tomorrow to improve student writing with tools from Artificial Intelligence:  

1. Utilize ChatGPT or Google Bard to generate mentor texts, tailor-made for your students’ interests, strengths, and opportunities for growth by the appropriate level.

2. Encourage students to analyze these narratives for elements like dialogue, action, setting, foreshadowing, transitional phrases, and figurative language.

3. Have students identify these elements in the provided mentor texts and apply them to their own writing.

4. Use ChatGPT or Google Bard to generate additional prompts or examples based on your students’ work, making the teaching of writing more efficient and engaging.

5. Encourage peer review and discussions based on these mentor texts to enhance students’ writing skills further.