Tag: Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence, K-12

What Do Students Think About AI?

Terri Eichholz

Since I’m no longer in the classroom, I don’t get the valuable daily perspective of young students about education topics that impact them, such as AI (Artificial Intelligence). When I do get the opportunity to ask students of different ages about how the subject of AI is being handled at their schools, most of them tell me that it’s either being banned or largely ignored. So, I was curious to see a video made by some students at a Code Ninjas location in College Station run by David Hendrawirawan. The students participated in a camp in which the teacher, Julia Weiss, helped them to learn more about Artificial Intelligence.

As these astute young people have concluded, there are some troubling ethical issues surrounding AI, but there are also some very exciting uses that can dramatically improve people’s lives. I would argue that it’s imperative for us to face the reality that AI will be ubiquitous in a short matter of time and that we will be doing our students a huge disservice by ignoring its potential impact.

In a recent presentation that I gave about AI, I included this quote:

We cannot stop AI. What we can do is teach our children what it is and how to use it ethically to solve problems. The good news is that there are lots of resources to help you do this that I’ve been collecting here, including a new page from Code.org specifically for teachers. And, there are some tools that can improve your life as educators right now by saving you time, such as Curipod. While we need to be wary of privacy and safety with AI, as with any technology tool, banning its use completely from schools is definitely not the answer.

3-12, Creative Thinking, Teaching Tools

“Hex-Blocks of Respect”: Creating a Social Contract using Hexagonal Thinking

Terri Eichholz

If you’ve been in education for any length of time, you’ve probably created, at one time or another, some sort of social contract, classroom constitution, classroom compact, etc…

I dread them.

The activity always felt repetitive, unoriginal, and seemed to involve a lot of wasted to time to arrive at a product that looked virtually the same every year. In addition, I felt the pain of my poor secondary students, who had to do it in every single teacher’s classroom at the beginning of the year — probably not the most interesting way to launch a new learning adventure.

However, there are some benefits to the social contract, of course. And many schools require them to be posted in the classroom, a signed reminder to the students of their agreement to contribute to a positive learning environment. It’s not a terrible idea, just inherently boring if you have to do it with each and every teacher throughout your entire school career.

I’m about to present my “Harnessing Hexagons” workshops next week for Northside (yay, NISD, can’t wait to see you!) and I was playing around with new, meaningful ways to use hexagonal thinking. I noticed there are currently a lot of visits to my page, “Getting to Know You Hexagons,” and it hit me that maybe there was a way to use hexagonal thinking to create these social contracts, too. (Note: I’m not suggesting you do both of these activities on the first day, because that would be a bit redundant — something we are actually trying to avoid.)

Since I’ve been playing around with Chat GPT a lot, I decided to see what it thought about this idea. Here was the lesson it generated with my first prompt:

Title: Co-designing our Classroom Social Contract using Hexagonal Thinking Objective: Students will engage in the process of hexagonal thinking to collaboratively design a classroom social contract, embodying the values and behaviors they believe will create a respectful, engaging, and effective learning environment. Materials:

  1. Hexagonal cut-outs or sticky notes
  2. Markers
  3. Large poster paper/board for arranging hexagons
  4. Timer

Warm-Up (5 minutes): Begin by sharing the purpose of the social contract. Briefly discuss what a social contract is and why it’s important for a classroom environment. Ask students to think about their ideal classroom environment and the values and behaviors that would contribute to it.

Introduction to Hexagonal Thinking (10 minutes): Introduce Hexagonal Thinking as a strategy that visually represents connections between ideas or concepts. Explain that each hexagon will represent one word or phrase – a value or behavior they want to see in the classroom. Show an example of hexagonal thinking and how the connecting sides of the hexagon represent a relationship between the ideas.

Brainstorming (10 minutes): Hand out hexagonal cut-outs or sticky notes and markers to each student. Ask each student to write down one or more words or short phrases that represent values, behaviors, or norms they think should be part of the classroom social contract. Each word or phrase goes on a separate hexagon.

Hexagonal Thinking Activity (10 minutes): After they’ve written down their ideas, bring the students together around the poster paper/board. Invite students to place their hexagons on the board and explain why they chose those particular words or phrases, and how they connect to other ideas already on the board. Encourage them to actively rearrange and connect the hexagons as the discussion progresses.

Review and Reflect (5 minutes): Once all the hexagons are on the board and connected, take a step back and look at the web of ideas that the class has created. Invite students to reflect on the ideas on the board. Is there consensus? Are there surprising connections? Does this represent the kind of classroom environment they want? End the lesson by informing students that in the next class, you will collectively turn these ideas into a formal classroom social contract. The hexagonal thinking board will stay up as a reminder of the agreed values and behaviors. Note: Keep the pace brisk, transitions quick, and discussions focused to keep within the time limit. Adjustments might be needed depending on your students’ familiarity with these concepts and activities.

To be honest, this is not a ground-breaking lesson plan. I definitely could have generated this myself.

So I thought I would ask Chat GPT to spice it up a bit. I learned (from Nicole Leffer on TikTok) about an interesting sentence that you can add to your prompts in order to give an idea of the creativity level you’re looking for. “The temperature setting is …” Complete the sentence with a number from 0-1.9. Supposedly, 1.9 is asking for the most out-0f-the-box answer. I gave it a whirl. Here is the response:

Title: “Social Contract Design with Hexagonal Galaxy Creation” Objective: In this wild and space-themed adventure, students will employ hexagonal thinking to collaboratively fabricate a “Classroom Social Contract Galaxy”, symbolizing the values and behaviors that will power our starship classroom through the educational cosmos.

Materials:

  1. Hexagonal “Star” cut-outs or sticky notes
  2. “Cosmic” markers
  3. Large black poster paper/board for arranging the galaxy (stars)
  4. An epic space-themed playlist
  5. Star-shaped stickers

Pre-Launch Briefing (5 minutes): Begin by introducing the mission – to travel together through the vast cosmos of learning, and to successfully reach our destination, we need to establish our starship’s commandments (social contract). Briefly discuss the importance of these commandments for our exciting educational journey.

Hexagonal Galaxy Introduction (5 minutes): Reveal that each star (hexagonal cut-out) represents a cosmic law – a value or behavior they wish to establish in our spaceship. Show a prototype of a galaxy made from stars and how connecting sides signifies the gravitational pull between these cosmic laws.

Star Creation (10 minutes): Distribute star cut-outs and cosmic markers to each student. Ask each astronaut to etch one or more cosmic laws they believe should guide our voyage.

Galaxy Formation (15 minutes): Commence the galaxy formation by gathering the astronauts around the dark expanse of the poster board. One by one, students place their stars on the board, explaining why they chose those specific laws and how they relate to other stars in our galaxy. Encourage them to actively shift and connect stars as the cosmic discussions continue, and play an epic space-themed soundtrack to enhance the experience.

Reflection and Space Dance (5 minutes): Once all the stars have found their place in the cosmos, take a moment to admire the newly formed galaxy. Offer star-shaped stickers to students to place on the hexagons they resonate most with. Host a short “space dance” to celebrate the co-created galaxy. Conclude the class by saying, “This is our Classroom Galaxy, each star a beacon guiding our learning journey. Remember its constellation, for it is our shared responsibility to navigate the educational cosmos in harmony.” Note: Emphasize the importance of staying on-task and focused during the galaxy formation, ensuring all astronauts have their say in shaping the commandments of our shared journey. The space-themed elements should enhance the experience, not detract from the objective. Adjustments might be needed depending on your students’ familiarity with these concepts and activities.

Okay. So this might have been a bit too out-of-the-box. I kind of of like the theme idea, but A.) Hexagons look nothing like stars and B.) A SPACE DANCE?!!!! Ha! Try having middle school kids do that, especially on the first day of school.

So, last try. I ratcheted down my temperature setting to 1.0. We still got a theme, but it seemed more realistic. Not sure about the hard-hat idea, but that could work with some of the primary grades. (Also, I think the final notes, Chat GPT keeps giving me are hilarious — like I don’t know that I need to keep kids “focused and efficiently moving.”)

Title: “Classroom Constitution: Hexagonal Building Blocks of Respect”

Objective: Students will activate their inner architects and participate in an interactive construction project using hexagonal blocks, also known as the “Hex-Blocks of Respect.” These blocks symbolize various behaviors and values, which will contribute to our Classroom Constitution.

Materials:

  1. Hexagonal cardstock cut-outs or sticky notes, referred to as “Hex-Blocks”
  2. Markers
  3. A large display board or wall space for arranging the Hex-Blocks
  4. Timer
  5. Construction hats (for fun, if available)

Laying the Foundation (5 minutes):Begin with the rationale behind the Classroom Constitution. Explain how each “Hex-Block” represents a value or behavior essential for building a positive and productive learning environment. Encourage students to consider the values and behaviors they think are necessary for their classroom community.

Architects’ Training (5 minutes):Introduce Hexagonal Thinking as the blueprint of our Classroom Constitution. Explain that each Hex-Block represents a behavior or value. Show an example of a structure made of Hex-Blocks, explaining how connecting sides symbolize a relationship between the values or behaviors.

Construction Phase (15 minutes):Distribute Hex-Blocks and markers to students. Ask each student to inscribe a behavior or value they think should be included in the Classroom Constitution.

Building the Constitution (10 minutes):Now, gather the student-architects around the display board or wall. One by one, they’ll place their Hex-Blocks onto the board, explaining why they selected those values or behaviors and how they connect to others. Encourage students to actively rearrange and connect blocks as more blocks are added and more connections are formed.

Final Review (5 minutes):Once all blocks are in place, step back and reflect on the newly constructed Classroom Constitution. Discuss the interconnectedness of the values and behaviors. Does the Classroom Constitution reflect the kind of learning environment students want?

Conclude by informing students that they’ve laid the foundation for a supportive, respectful, and collaborative classroom community. The structure will remain visible throughout the year as a reminder of the constitution they co-created.

Note: It’s crucial to keep the class focused and efficiently moving through each phase of the lesson to stay within the allotted time frame. Depending on your students’ familiarity with the concepts and activities, adjustments might be needed.

I think I could actually use this one with a couple of tweaks. What about you?

If you are new to hexagonal thinking, I have a ton of previous posts on it. It’s, frankly, my favorite way to encourage group discussions. There are many, many ways to make your hexagons that I relate in my “Harnessing Hexagons” presentation, but one quick way is to use the HookED Solo Generator from Pam Hook (Queen of Hexagonal Thinking).

So, to sum up:

  • Try using hexagonal thinking to create your classroom compact.
  • Try using Chat GPT to help you think of lesson ideas (along with the temperature setting prompt).
  • Consider inviting me to present “Harnessing Hexagons” to your staff (terrieichholz@engagetheirminds.com).
  • And make sure you “keep the class focused and efficiently moving through each phase of the lesson” — because you probably prefer complete chaos in your classroom but, for some strange reason Chat GPT doesn’t advise that approach:)
3-5, 6-12, Art, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Math

AI Text to Image Mandalas

Terri Eichholz

I was listening to a podcast this week in which Steven Soderbergh, the famous director, stated, “I am not interesting; I am interested.” This is absolutely how I feel about myself. In fact, I responded, “Curious” to a recent Twitter post asking, “What’s Your Word?” I could spend all day learning new things, and I get really excited when any of those things happens to be something I think might be of interest to you.

On an AI thread in Twitter the other day, someone shared a bunch of images they created with Midjourney, an AI tool. The artwork involved something called, “knolling photography“, which reminded me of natural mandalas. As some of you may know, I used to do a unit on mathematical masterpieces with my 4th graders that included mandalas, and we used many methods to create some. You can see one of my posts about this here. I thought I would jump down this rabbit hole to see if I could create any decent mandalas with some free AI tools at my fingertips (Midjourney is not one of them), and I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Since Canva is free to all teachers, I started with its “Text to Image” tool, and asked it to make a mandala of quilled flowers. Here is the result:

I also asked for one made with seashells.

Then I asked it to change the style to “watercolor” for another flower mandala. Here was the response:

Even though Canva is free for educators, there are some of you who don’t use it, so I decided to test out another AI chat tool, Bing, in case you wanted a different option. (By the way, if you have the Adobe Creative Suite subscription, you can also try Firefly to do this.)

When my students created mandalas, we worked a lot on symbolism and the meaning of colors, so I started by trying to ask Bing to create a mandala of sports equipment (because that’s invariably what some of my students do). That did not go well. The images were extremely abstract and not recognizable. I finally settled on one where I was able to request a specific type of mandala (spiral dot), the colors red, blue, and green, and a photo of a soccer ball in the middle.

Bing allows you to upload photos, but I didn’t have any success in it making mandalas out of the couple of photos that I tried in the limited time I experimented.

What would students learn from this activity? As I mentioned before, our previous mandala lessons included symbolism and the meaning of colors. We also learned about different types of symmetry and the history of mandalas in many cultures. Creating mandalas themselves helped them to delve more into their own values and creativity. And trying to make them with AI tools will not only bring up philosophical and ethical discussion, but also help them to refine their critical thinking skills to improve their “prompt engineering.”

As Steven Soderbergh also states in that podcast episode when asked about AI, that it’s an iterative tool, but, “It hasn’t experienced anything.” He quotes a Pixar motto, “Be wrong as fast as you can… Just get to the end. If this helps people get to the end of something, fine.” Maybe this is one more option you can give students to get to the vision they have for their mathematical masterpiece — or to create a new vision even better than they imagined.

3-12, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Philosophy, Teaching Tools, Writing

Once Upon a Picture

Terri Eichholz

If you are looking for a site that will pique your students’ imaginations and spark some creativity (especially for writing), you should consider Once Upon a Picture.

Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter know that I usually include a “Tik Tok Teacher Hack” in each issue. I know that there are various opinions about Tik Tok out there, but I honestly find a lot of wonderful resources for teaching on Tik Tok, and this is one of them. @jessicam.reid is a Tik Tokker who often talks about AI creation sites for teachers, but she thought this resource was so great that she did a short video about it.

The images on Once Upon a Picture are curated by a teacher in the UK named Sam as a passion project. They are digital photos, animations, and illustrations that are magical, surrealistic, and undeniably thought-provoking. According to Sam, each artist has given permission for the images to be shared.

Because Sam is a teacher, there are also questions that are listed on the page for each individual picture — questions that can be used to prod your students to dig deeper and imagine the stories behind each image. Here is one example.

There is also a challenge book that you can download for free as well as a Reading Comprehension handbook and some samples of student writing (all under “More” in the main menu.) In addition, Sam has created different collections of images such as “The Thinking Collection” meant to provoke philosophical discussions and “The Inference Collection” of images selected from Sam’s own work in the primary classroom.

If you want to try your hand at creating your own unusual images, Canva has a Text-to-Image AI tool that is kind of fun to try. I’ve had varying results. The image I am including below was downloaded from Adobe’s Beta Firefly program, (which is part of my paid subscription to Adobe). Note that Adobe is trying to be responsible by watermarking its AI created images.

I would have definitely used Once Upon a Picture in my GT classroom or any class in which I taught writing or wanted to encourage deep discussions. I hope you’ll find it useful, too!

Canva Choice Board made with Bingo Card app
3-12, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Teaching Tools

Make a Canva Bingo Card/Choice Board

Terri Eichholz

Canva for Education has many bingo card templates, but did you know that it also has a Bingo generator app? This means you can not only make Bingo cards, but also even create choice boards that look engaging. I’ll go through the steps that I used to make a choice board in a few minutes.

Get Your Words

What do you want to put on your Bingo Card? Maybe it’s vocabulary or famous people for a bingo game, or maybe it’s tasks for a choice card. Maybe you don’t know. If you don’t already have a list, you can open a Canva Doc and use the Magic Write feature to generate some ideas. (There will also be a limited amount of pre-formatted lists in the Bingo Generator app.) I went ahead and gave Magic Write the following prompt, “9 tasks for 3rd graders to do to demonstrate their understanding of metamorphosis. Each task should be 4 words or less. You will want the prompt to specify the number of words if it’s generating tasks or the sentences will be too long for the generator to fit properly in each cell.

Get Your Template

Once you have the words/short phrases you want on the card listed, highlight and copy them. Then, it’s time to find your Bingo Card template. Do a search on Canva’s home page for “Bingo Card” and choose the one that looks close enough to what you’d like in design and number of cells. Open the template. Delete anything that’s already in the cells, and design your card. If you think you are going to want multiple cards that have the cells randomly rearranged, make that many duplicates of your card when it’s design is ready.

Find the App and Paste in Your List

Since I have been using the app, it appears in my left menu as “Bingo Cards.” I can click on it, and the generator menu that you see above appears. However, you may have to locate the app the first time by clicking on “Apps” in the menu and searching for it. Note that if “Bingo Cards” does not appear in your search, you may be using a design in which that app doesn’t work. For example, you can’t find it when you are making a Doc.

Paste your list in where it prompts you to “Enter some words.” Then select the grid size and number of cards you would like to generate as well as the font. I turned off gridlines because I already have a pretty template and don’t want the lines.

Create Bingo Cards

When you hit the purple button, cards will be generated on the side as you can see below. These are actually transparent images that you can drag over to your template, resize, and fit them as you like.

The generator went a bit wonky with the font sizes, I’m guessing because I went with phrases of different lengths instead of single words. I’m okay with that because it still save me a ton of time, the words are legible, and the template makes it less stark.

Conclusion

Once you do this process one or two times, it gets even faster. You can probably even have older students make their own Bingo Cards or Choice Boards, and they will enjoy the magic. Let me know if you think of any other ways to utilize this Canva App! Check out this post if you want to learn more about how I combined AI with Canva to make differentiated Choice Menus.

K-12, Teaching Tools

Would You Rather AI Generator from Auto Classmate

Terri Eichholz

The “Would You Rather” AI Generator from Auto Classmate was first brought to my attention in a newsletter from the fabulous Donna Lasher over at Big Ideas For Little Scholars. (You should seriously sign up for her newsletter. I learn new things in every edition!)

What is Auto Classmate?

Auto Classmate is one of the millions of sites that have popped up recently in order to leverage the power of AI. However, it is one of the few that has the sole mission of serving educators. “We strive to provide innovative and ethical resources to transform the future of education and–ultimately–the world.”

To that end, the site currently has three AI tools with more on their way. The tools are: Would Rather Question Generator, Activation and Engagement Activity Generator, and Lesson Plan and Activity Forecast Tool. Feeling a bit of spring-time fever, I decided to go with testing out the Would You Rather Questions for a bit of fun. I may feature the other tools on later blog posts.

Would You Rather Wear a Garbage Bag or Pick Up Trash?

The Would You Rather AI Tool is very easy to use. No sign up or registration is required. Just choose the grade level, type in a topic, and decide the tone you want for your questions. I went with 5th grade, Earth Day, and (of course) Absurd and Hilarious.

screenshot from Auto Classmate’s Would You Rather Tool

It took less than 30 seconds for the generator to give me these suggestions which I could then copy and paste, download as a PDF, or add more details to refine the questions:

Why Do This?

The bottom of the response page in this Auto Classmate Tool offers suggestions for using these for warm-ups, as part of an assessment, or as brain breaks. That’s why I love the options for choosing the level of seriousness and the grade levels. If you’d like an idea of how I’ve used Would You Rather questions in math (kind of a combination of the serious and the absurd), check out this post.

More Resources

I’ve written about a few other AI tools specifically designed for teachers such as Curipod and Conker AI. I’ve also written about how I’ve used Chat GPT for differentiation ideas. To find these articles and a plethora of links to sites that will help you teach your students about Artificial Intelligence, you can visit my Wakelet collection here. I’ll be adding this one to it as well as to my “Fun Stuff” Wakelet for those of you in the midst of standardized testing who just want some brain breaks.