Central Tendency Lesson Plan (Week 4 Blog)
This week, I used Magic School AI to create a lesson on central tendency for a 7th-grade math class. The link to view the lesson is listed below:
https://app.magicschool.ai/tools/lesson-plan-generator?share=bbe71b1e-7afb-4c8f-b231-b8004aebd349
The lesson provided a basic design that would be adequate for teaching a class. Although I have an issue with how lackluster the lesson was. Central tendency is one of my favorite math topics/lessons to teach, and I was bored out of my mind reading the lesson plan. There was little creativity in the lesson, and no mention of technology integration. With how kids are nowadays, there has got to be some sort of technology integration, or they will lose interest fast.
Part 2
Regarding rigor, there is little to no. The lesson is focused more on procedural functions. To amend this, I feel that inserting your own questions that require students to analyze, justify, and communicate their thinking would provide the missing 'rigor'.
While the lesson was missing creativity and other elements, I do feel that if you explicitly mention in the lesson description that it should include rigorous elements, creativity, and technology, it would. Which is why I am redoing the prompt, adding the creativity and rigor elements, and got the lesson plan below: Central Tendency Lesson REVISED. After adding the designated verbiage, the tool generated specific sections for rigorous and creative tasks, as well as for technology integration.
Personally, I really like this tool, but for certain aspects over others. I feel it is not the best tool for creating a rigorous and creative lesson plan. Eventually, it will produce a lesson plan that includes those elements, but it might take at least 3 tries. Personally, when I was revising the lesson plan, I had to create a new document 4 times to get those elements listed with the exact same verbiage.
Compared with this week's reading, the original lesson I created had little to do with it. Mainly because my original lesson lacked any hint of creativity. If it had any kind of technology integration or some aspect of creativity, then I would say that it related to this week's reading and how students are able to retain knowledge and learn successfully when tasks are not just procedural, but mine were not.
Part 2
Part 3
This tool will definitely be something I introduce to my students and colleagues this upcoming school year. I mainly love the AI Tutor aspect. I have only explored the lesson plan generator so far, so I am sure the dozens of other generator tools work quite well. I feel that this website allows students to reduce fear of embarrassment and can use the AI chatbot to ask those questions that might seem silly to others.
Lastly, I also feel that AI is a great asset to public education. It gives students the security of having a tool that they can rely on to answer the questions they are too scared to ask. In my classroom, my students are accustomed to AI and know that I utilize it as well. We have done social studies units where students drew images of buildings that could withstand a flood, and I used Canva AI to turn their drawings into real-life images they could use in a presentation. I also utilize other AI tools in my classroom, such as Wayground (used to be Quizzizz) and Blooket. While these tools aren't 100% AI-driven, there are many AI tools on these websites that can help generate quizzes, tests, and practice tests.
At the end of the day, if you use AI, fantastic. If you don't use AI, I urge you to try it. You never know what new ideas, resources, or perspectives it may provide to enhance your teaching
Harli, I completely agree with Magic School's lack of creativity and rigor. AI is helpful, but I believe this is where the human element truly shines. I also like your idea of using AI tutor during independent practice. You are absolutely right, many students don't want to ask (or keep asking) the teacher questions, and it's an alternative to "ask 3 before me" strategies that teachers use to limit questions. -Aleshia Webber
ReplyDeleteHi Harli, I understand what you mean. AI tools can help draft a lesson plan quickly, but they often lack the creativity, or ability to capture student interest that we initially seek. Typically, I have to tweak the instructions or make several changes before the plan truly aligns with my objectives, or my students' needs.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoy using Canva—I honestly use it for everything. However, I’ve never actually used it with my students. Although it allows students to be creative and demonstrate their knowledge in various ways, I worry that they might misuse the tool. I think integrating it more into my classroom assignments will be a project for next year.
Hi Harli, I completely agree with you. My lesson was actually pretty interesting however, it incorporated absolutely no technology even though I had four different ISTE standards included in my request. What I found especially interesting, was in the explanation of how ISTE standards were incorporated, the examples were not digital. I thought that was surprising and a little disappointing. I also use some AI in my classroom but I have learned that you really have to make sure you proof read and only use bits and pieces that work and make sense for your specific classroom. I thought it was interesting how you edited your lesson plan and had it revise parts. I thought that was a smart approach, and honestly, I didn't even. think to do that. Like you said, AI will never replace teachers and it's so important that we use AI tools for a resource and not as a replacement for good teaching. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your argument of both the strengths and limitations of the lesson generator. I had a similar reaction to you in that sometimes the AI generated lessons feel a bit surface level unless you intentionally push the prompt to include depth and creativity. Your point about having to revise multiple times to get the wording just right really stood out, that’s definitely been my experience too. I also liked your perspective on the AI Tutor as more of a support tool than an instructional replacement. The idea that it gives students a low pressure space to ask questions they might otherwise avoid is a really important classroom benefit!
ReplyDeleteAI is 100% a resource and not something to be used without proofreading and adding that creative touch! I really do love the lesson plan generator though, as a starting point. It's great for when you're stuck, or you know your current group of kids just cannot follow through with what you have previously used.
ReplyDeleteUntil recently, I had been reluctant to use AI; however, I have recently discovered how it can add value in many ways. Specifically, your comment in Part 2 about students being embarrassed to ask questions in front of their peers spoke to me because I have personally struggled with this. AI has provided a way for me to ask the questions I have been afraid to ask, and generally gives a pretty solid answer, or at least a starting point. After this week's exercises and seeing how AI can assist with lesson plans, I'm sure I will lean on it even more once I am actually in the classroom teaching.
ReplyDelete