This was excellent. I will admit that I feel overall very negative about AI, but I appreciate your reminder to keep an open mind about the truly interesting ways it might be used. And of course, it's so important to feel confidence and joy around what has been going right in the classroom and really lean into those moments of magic with our students!
100 percent on board: 100 percent not bringing it in.
The two latest pieces by Dave Stuart Jr. on his blog have been brilliant and nailed it from me.
Quote 1:
“Students need stored knowledge to:
- Recognize patterns and make connections
- Ask good questions
- Evaluate new information they encounter
- Think efficiently and creatively
Without that internal knowledge base, students are constantly overwhelmed by cognitive load. They're using all their mental energy just to keep track of basic information, leaving nothing left for deeper thinking.”
And he continues to expand on the latest research, “So, guess what kinds of students benefit most from AI? Those who already have strong foundational knowledge.
They can evaluate AI output, ask better questions, and integrate suggestions meaningfully. Students without that foundation just accept whatever the AI produces.”
As to your point that connects to not assigning work for outside of class regardless— your reasons based on your demographic may be for equity reasons, but in my experiences and observations since 2022 (2 different states not just districts)—no one is doing it and it is NOT for equity reasons at all.
Thank you for your thoughtful efforts and sharing your thoughts. 🙏
Oh, there will still be work assigned out of class, especially with my juniors! I just don't want assessments (see: essays) to take place there nearly as much, for a host of reasons.
(I do worry about over-assigning homework as well as misapplying homework—example: assigning lots of homework but not doing anything for students to engage/reflect on what they did in the classroom—but that's an entirely different discussion!)
So much grounded and humane good sense. Loved the way you encourage a thoughtful response to AI, always keeping in mind what you know from what actually happens and works in a classroom, and what you know about your own learning.
Appreciate you putting a marker out there about your current thoughts, feelings, and future intentions with AI.
Ive been thinking a lot about our recent conversation that we had a few weeks ago - lots of reflection, second guessing and uncertainty.
I also must admit that I’m using AI a lot to support my current work - outside of the classroom.
The main value add I’m seeing is that it is helping me get to a finished product (project description, quiz creation, resource guide, etc) using the ideas and visions in my head a lot faster and efficiently than if I was to create these items on my own from scratch.
It also helps me distill and incorporate a disparate and varied amount of information and ideas into a comprehensible finished product.
But I think I’m able to do these things because I’ve put in the work in the past to know what works and what I want to create.
This is not to say there isn’t value in productive struggle and I am concerned about novices using AI as a crutch - outsourcing thinking and opportunities for growth in order to tick a box.
But that may where we as educators need to come in and rethink what we’ve been doing in the classroom - perhaps.
I think the story you shared in this piece about using AI to ‘converse’ may be a good area to explore with students and even help get them to a level of expertise where they can use AI to make the their ideas come to life.
Thanks for the open and honest dialogue and look forward to continuing to explore this topic in the months ahead.
A lot of shared values here! And I can only speak for myself, of course, in acknowledging that when using a tool to get something done faster/more efficiently, my own understanding and confidence with the task (lesson planning, student feedback, etc.) suffers, at least slightly; I also know that it is different to be an adult with background knowledge and skill mastery than it is for a student—but I also know students really struggle with the idea that it is okay for adults to use and not for them. (Something they named specifically in surveys.)
Ultimately, it's about open and honest dialogue now and going forward—and continued responsiveness to what we learn and better understand!
This was excellent. I will admit that I feel overall very negative about AI, but I appreciate your reminder to keep an open mind about the truly interesting ways it might be used. And of course, it's so important to feel confidence and joy around what has been going right in the classroom and really lean into those moments of magic with our students!
100 percent on board: 100 percent not bringing it in.
The two latest pieces by Dave Stuart Jr. on his blog have been brilliant and nailed it from me.
Quote 1:
“Students need stored knowledge to:
- Recognize patterns and make connections
- Ask good questions
- Evaluate new information they encounter
- Think efficiently and creatively
Without that internal knowledge base, students are constantly overwhelmed by cognitive load. They're using all their mental energy just to keep track of basic information, leaving nothing left for deeper thinking.”
And he continues to expand on the latest research, “So, guess what kinds of students benefit most from AI? Those who already have strong foundational knowledge.
They can evaluate AI output, ask better questions, and integrate suggestions meaningfully. Students without that foundation just accept whatever the AI produces.”
https://davestuartjr.com/ai-makes-student-knowledge-more-important-not-less/
As to your point that connects to not assigning work for outside of class regardless— your reasons based on your demographic may be for equity reasons, but in my experiences and observations since 2022 (2 different states not just districts)—no one is doing it and it is NOT for equity reasons at all.
Thank you for your thoughtful efforts and sharing your thoughts. 🙏
Oh, there will still be work assigned out of class, especially with my juniors! I just don't want assessments (see: essays) to take place there nearly as much, for a host of reasons.
(I do worry about over-assigning homework as well as misapplying homework—example: assigning lots of homework but not doing anything for students to engage/reflect on what they did in the classroom—but that's an entirely different discussion!)
Oh that- yes, I wasn’t doing it even before lock down learning. Agree! 😃
So much grounded and humane good sense. Loved the way you encourage a thoughtful response to AI, always keeping in mind what you know from what actually happens and works in a classroom, and what you know about your own learning.
Appreciate you putting a marker out there about your current thoughts, feelings, and future intentions with AI.
Ive been thinking a lot about our recent conversation that we had a few weeks ago - lots of reflection, second guessing and uncertainty.
I also must admit that I’m using AI a lot to support my current work - outside of the classroom.
The main value add I’m seeing is that it is helping me get to a finished product (project description, quiz creation, resource guide, etc) using the ideas and visions in my head a lot faster and efficiently than if I was to create these items on my own from scratch.
It also helps me distill and incorporate a disparate and varied amount of information and ideas into a comprehensible finished product.
But I think I’m able to do these things because I’ve put in the work in the past to know what works and what I want to create.
This is not to say there isn’t value in productive struggle and I am concerned about novices using AI as a crutch - outsourcing thinking and opportunities for growth in order to tick a box.
But that may where we as educators need to come in and rethink what we’ve been doing in the classroom - perhaps.
I think the story you shared in this piece about using AI to ‘converse’ may be a good area to explore with students and even help get them to a level of expertise where they can use AI to make the their ideas come to life.
Thanks for the open and honest dialogue and look forward to continuing to explore this topic in the months ahead.
A lot of shared values here! And I can only speak for myself, of course, in acknowledging that when using a tool to get something done faster/more efficiently, my own understanding and confidence with the task (lesson planning, student feedback, etc.) suffers, at least slightly; I also know that it is different to be an adult with background knowledge and skill mastery than it is for a student—but I also know students really struggle with the idea that it is okay for adults to use and not for them. (Something they named specifically in surveys.)
Ultimately, it's about open and honest dialogue now and going forward—and continued responsiveness to what we learn and better understand!