Week 4- AI for Educators

This was my first experience using AI to assist in creating lesson plans, and it has been a fascinating learning process. I began by identifying a relevant standard that I’ve been focusing on throughout February, along with another standard that will be the focus of my final project later in the school year. With these objectives in mind, I tasked the AI with developing a lesson plan that would engage students through research, inquiry, and technology integration.

At first, I kept my request fairly basic because I wasn’t entirely sure what the AI was capable of. My initial approach was cautious, as I didn't want to overwhelm the system with too many requirements. However, as I continued to explore the tool, I discovered that the more specific and detailed your instructions, the better and more tailored the lesson plan becomes. It was interesting to see how adaptable the AI could be when I provided more complex criteria, and this made me realize that with the right input, it could generate fairly comprehensive outlines.

However, is the AI-generated lesson plan rigorous? I would have to honestly say no. While it provides a good framework, the plans often lack the depth and challenge required for a truly rigorous lesson. That being said, I believe AI tools like this are excellent starting points, particularly for generating ideas or creating mini-lessons or substitute plans. The AI tends to use broad language, like the word "discuss," without providing detailed talking points or structured guidance. I recognize that this could be due to my own limited experience with the tool, and I’m still learning how to better utilize it to get more targeted results. One of the great advantages of AI is that it allows for adaptation; once I identified weak areas in the lesson plan, I was able to ask the AI to expand on those aspects, adding more specificity where needed. 

In addition to lesson planning, one of the most useful tools I explored was the rubric generator offered by MagicSchool. Creating rubrics has always been a challenging aspect of teaching for me. I strive to ensure that my rubrics are clear and transparent, so both students and parents understand my grading criteria. A well-defined rubric helps maintain alignment between my expectations and student outcomes, making the evaluation process more transparent. With the help of MagicSchool’s rubric generator, I was able to produce several rubrics for upcoming writing assignments. I was impressed by how easy it was to specify the focus areas, point expectations, and grade-level standards. The tool even allows you to align rubrics with education standards, which saves time and ensures that the assessments are relevant to the curriculum.

I plan to continue using these rubrics moving forward, as they’ve proven to be a helpful resource. I also anticipate turning to MagicSchool for future assignments, particularly for tools like rubrics. However, I’m mindful of the potential drawbacks. While AI can be useful, there’s a risk of relying on it too much. If teachers depend on these tools too heavily, it could reduce creativity and the quality of instruction. These tools should support, not replace, a teacher’s skills and creativity.

Going forward, I plan to share these resources with my team during our next PLC meeting. It will also be an opportunity to present these tools to our administrators, who often attend PLCs. I think it’s important for teachers to stay informed about emerging technologies that can support teaching practices, and this is one area where AI shows great potential.

That said, using AI tools does require time and patience, especially in the beginning. There is a learning curve, and it takes time to understand how to input requests in a way that creates the desired results. For example, while AI-generated lesson plans can provide a decent outline, it still takes considerable effort to fine-tune them to meet my exact needs. As teachers, we understand our classroom dynamics and can design lesson plans with clear goals and timing—something AI may find difficult to replicate without precise guidance.

MagicSchool Lesson Plan: https://app.magicschool.ai/tools/lesson-plan-generator?share=cc7fe87c-2d04-4380-a699-b415ef5a139f