Google Experiment: Say What You See

Prompting is an important part of using Generative AI.  In order to get the best output for you situation, whether it is written output or an image, you need a good prompt. Using descriptive language and observation are important skills that our students need in order to enhance their writing skills as well.  One way to make this learning fun is to try using the Google Experiment, Say What You See.

Say What You See challenges your descriptive abilities and puts your powers of observation to the test.  It is an interactive game that presents you with AI-generated images and tasks you with crafting accurate and detailed descriptions.  The better your description, the closer you'll get to recreating the original image using AI.  It's a fun and engaging way to learn about the nuances of language and how AI interprets visual information.

Canva in the Classroom

Have you been looking for a fun way to use technology in the classroom? Have you been wondering how you can use Canva with your students?

Canva is a great tool and they offer it free for educators. If you work in one of my local districts, access is available via Clever, for teachers, staff and students.

I recently attended MACUL and came back with a ton of ideas for using Canva in the classroom. Below is a short list of ways to use it in the classroom.  Please reach out if you would like more details about any of the options listed below.

You can use Canva to create:

Teacher / Student Presentations
Group work activities
Interactive Graphic Organizers
Social Media Posts
Google Classroom Headers
Posters

Newsletters 

Flyers
Videos 

Screen Recordings
Whiteboard activities
Comics

storyboards

digital books

magazine covers
YouTube thumbnails

...and so many more options.

Canva Magic Write

Are you experiencing writer's block or struggling to find the right words?

Canva has you covered with Magic Write! This AI-powered teaching assistant lives within the familiar Canva interface. Simply provide Magic Write with a prompt or topic, and it will generate creative teacher content, such as parent emails, lesson plan starters or even newsletter articles. Polish and personalize the suggestions, and watch your writing flow with the help of Magic Write!

Canva Magic Design

Are you stuck staring at a blank canvas?  

Meet Magic Design, a powerful tool within Canva Magic Studio.  Magic Design harnesses the power of AI to turn your ideas into reality in an instant.  Type your idea or vision in a few words, or upload your own media to describe what you envision and Magic Design will generate a collection or custom template just for you – an educational presentation, educational video, classroom poster, Google Classroom Header, worksheet or even lesson plans – in seconds. 

No design experience required – Magic Design helps you create professional-looking content that will grab attention!

Canva Magic Studio

Are you ready to weave AI into your Canva projects? Power up your design toolkit with the top AI-powered design and productivity tools with Canva Magic Studio! This graphic design platform empowers users of all skill levels to create stunning visuals. Canva provides a vast library of templates, images, and fonts, but Magic Studio takes it a step further. Magic Studio uses artificial intelligence to generate unique content, suggest text variations, and remove backgrounds from images – all within the familiar Canva interface.

Did you already know that YCS and LCS have secured an educational account for Canva, accessible through Clever? This account unlocks premium features and content, making it the perfect tool for presentations, reports, and all your creative projects! Click on the icon in Clever to check it out.

Brisk Teaching

Have you been feeling overwhelmed by lesson planning and grading?

Brisk Teaching can be your new teaching companion! This Chrome extension utilizes artificial intelligence to streamline your workflow. Brisk AI integrates seamlessly with Google Workspace, allowing you to create quizzes, interventions, adjust content reading level, and even assess student writing – all without ever leaving your workspace. Breathe a sigh of relief and let Brisk AI help you get back to what matters most: teaching!

Magic Student AI

Are you struggling to help your students navigate the exciting world of AI? Magic Student AI is here to help!

MagicSchool for Students is an educational AI platform educational platform designed to build AI literacy for students. It not only teaches students to use AI responsibly, it also unlocks learning opportunities not possible without generative AI.

It's not magic, but it sure feels like it!

Bloom's Taxonomy Revisited

Almost everyone who has taken a course in education has heard of Bloom's Taxonomy.  It was created  to provide a common language for teachers to discuss learning and assessment methods. Bloom's Taxonomy is an ordering of an individuals' cognitive skills in order to help students and teachers in the classroom.  The levels move from remember being the lowest level to creating being the highest level.  The levels in Bloom's Taxonomy in order from lowest to highest are: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create.

In our new world, with generative AI everywhere, Bloom's Taxonomy has been revisited by Oregon State University, to include information for each level pertaining to AI capabilities and distinctive human skills.  Review the information yourself in the link below.

Bloom's Taxonomy Revisited

A Guide for Elementary Teachers

The last Guide in the ISTE series is Hands-On Project Guides for use in the classroom, A Guide for Elementary Teachers.

You can find this Guide on the ISTE website or by following this link: https://bit.ly/3xRLPGO.

The introduction and the appendices contain a little bit of information about AI and how to use the Guide.  The Guide itself contains 4 different projects that you can use with students in Secondary classes, grades K-5, to help guide their thinking about AI.  

A Guide for Secondary Teachers

As previously mentioned, ISTE offers a series of Hands-On Project Guides for use in the classroom.  This week I want to highlight A Guide for Secondary Teachers.

You can find this Guide on the ISTE website or by following this link: https://bit.ly/44ngeZJ.

The introduction and the appendices contain a little bit of information about AI and how to use the Guide.  The Guide itself contains 4 different projects that you can use with students in Secondary classes, grades 6–12, to help guide their thinking about AI. 

A Guide for Electives Teachers

 ISTE offers a series of Hands-On Project Guides for use in the classroom.  This week I want to highlight A Guide for Elective Teachers.

You can find this Guide on the ISTE website or by following this link: https://adobe.ly/3PJD2Nh.

The introduction and the appendices contain a little bit of information about AI and how to use the Guide.  The Guide itself contains 4 different projects that you can use with students in Electives classes, to help guide their thinking about AI.  

A Guide for Computer Science Teachers

ISTE offers a series of Hands-On Project Guides for use in the classroom.  This week I want to highlight A Guide for Computer Science Teachers.

You can find this Guide on the ISTE website or by following this link: https://adobe.ly/4a8tvHZ.

The introduction and the appendices contain a little bit of information about AI and how to use the Guide.  The Guide itself contains 4 different projects that you can do with students to help guide their thinking about Computer Science and how AI is already or can be used. 

A Guide on Ethics and AI

As I mentioned last week, ISTE offers a series of Hands-On Project Guides for use in the classroom.  This week I want to highlight A Guide on Ethics and AI.

You can find this Guide on the ISTE website or by following this link: https://adobe.ly/49dbpTN.

The introduction and the appendices contain a little bit of information about AI and how to use the Guide.  The Guide itself contains 4 different projects that you can do with students to help guide their thinking about ethics and using AI ethically. 

ISTE AI Guides

Are you interested in learning more about Artificial Intelligence and how you can use it in your classroom?

Although learning about tools are great, learning how to use them in the classroom, both with students and to help us, is essential to appropriate usage.

ISTE  is the leading organization in teaching technology in the classroom.  ISTE stands for International Society for Technology in Education.  They are a nonprofit organization that provides resources, training and support that helps educators use technology to revolutionize learning. Their mission is to empower educators to reimagine and redesign learning through impactful pedagogy and meaningful technology use.

ISTE offers a series of Hands-On Project Guides for use in the classroom.  Each guide contains information about AI and projects to do in the classroom.

I will highlight a different guide each week for the next 5 weeks.  I hope you find them useful and informative.  Next week we will take a look at Ethics and AI.

World Read Aloud Day

World Read Aloud Day is a day dedicated to the art of reading aloud. It is celebrated on the first Wednesday in February.  Multiple vendors and book companies provide a variety of activities to celebrate. Mark your calendars for February 7th, 2024, and get ready for a day full of excitement as we celebrate the joy of reading aloud. 

One of the great companies that will be participating in World Read Aloud Day is Curipod!  They will have a new author every 30 minutes, including a live Q & A session with each author.  Each registered classroom will get a 70-page activity packet from Curipod.  The packet includes amazing interactive, engaging lesson plans and activities, downloadable activity books, coloring pages, turnkey Curipod lessons, Genially activities and so much more!

Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity! Register your classroom now to ensure you and your students don't miss out on the literary adventure of a lifetime. Even if you can't attend, registering to receive the student activity guide is worth it! 

Register with Curipod for WRADLive at https://wradlive.com/.

Formative

Although I usually provide tools or tricks more focused on student use and success, this one is great for teachers.

Formative is a tool that provides teachers with tools to engage, instruct, and assess their students. 

Just a few of the things you can do with Formative include transforming a PDF or Google Doc into an auto-graded quiz,  enhancing reading passages with questions, promoting higher-level thinking with advanced Math tools, and unleashing student creativity with the option of audio and video responses.

Check out Formative for yourself. 

Digital Citizenship Toolkit

In this ever growing digital world that we live in, as educators we need to teacher students about digital citizenship. REMC offers a wonderful resource for doing just this:

DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP TOOLKIT (https://www.remc.org/classroom-resources/digital-citizenship/)

This user-friendly REMC toolkit is a curated portal of resources and tools with ideas for implementation. It will help educators develop both an understanding of digital citizenship and provide ideas for implementing them into classroom curriculum, across all grade levels and content areas.

Promoting STEM Through Literature

REMC has another great resource that I would like to highlight this week:

Promoting STEM Through Literature

Literature can be a great way to get students excited about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).  Educators can use literature to get students actively involved in the design thinking process. 

Each of the title shared on the website has a book card/lesson plan that includes a maker-STEM connection; pre, during, and post questions; and a design challenge that incorporates materials you could check out from your local REMC library.  You can also check out each of the books from your local REMC library.  

This year there will be 3 new books announced at the MACUL conference in Detroit, in March.  

21Things4Students

Last week I wrote about the REMC Association of Michigan.  As I said in that post, they have a wonderful website full of resources!

One of the resources that I would like to highlight is the 21Things4Students.  This site offers FREE activities to help you integrate technology into the middle school classroom curriculum (grades 5-9).  It will provide you with information on how to build knowledge and learn new tech skills for the 21st century. 21Things4Students will also help you teach kids how to be safe and secure online!

Keyboard Shortcuts for Chromebooks

Keyboard shortcuts make my life so much easier.  I love them.  

I found a great article that lists some great keyboard shortcuts for Chromebooks. 

Check out KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS FOR KIDS (https://www.coderkids.com/blog/keyboard-shortcuts-for-kids) from CoderKids.