On A.I. and responsibility

LOL

I am not sure what happened, but this post's content disappeared. I was really happy with how it had turned out, so you will have to take my word for that, haha

I wanted to go into a bit more depth on the whole A.I. in my classroom discussion. I know for a lot of teachers myself included, A.I. and how it might negatively impact the ELA classroom is really on our minds. That said, more and more lately, as I have explored A.I. and its uses beyond just writing out a whole essay in seconds, I have started to see the opportunities that it brings to the classroom and the ways in which it can reduce my workload so I can focus more on what matters.

After a meeting, the other day, I really needed to figure out what this could look like in my classroom if I were to loosen the reigns a bit. I posted to Twitter and there were a LOT of opinions. I shared this image

 We had a conversation as a class and it was really interesting how kids responded to the idea of trying out A.I. in a way that was not trying to sneak it on their phones when I wasn't looking. Many kids shared that they don't use things like ChatGPT because it is complicated and you have to take time if you want to get a good answer. I have found this as well. Like most tools, they are only as good as the user.

After our initial conversation, we discussed trust and the need to discuss how we use A.I. in our writing. I also talked to the kids about writing conferences. I am also hoping to get those going at a more consistent and purposeful structure. The goal is to discuss their choices, let them share their best moves, and ask them to explain things I notice. In the explanation, I think we will see where the A.I. use really shows up.

I used to be really scared about the ever growing influence of A.I. Now I am cautiously optimistic that maybe it isn't the end of the world. I am going to give the chicken little routine a rest and just try to enjoy learning alongside my students.

Just as a quick point for my teacher friends who wonder what it can really do, I played around with this for a PD session and thought I would share. It is kind of cool and reduces hours of work.