Professional Development Reflection

    The professional development course I chose was the AI 101 for Educators course, and it was

an online course that you could access anytime. The approximate time to complete the course

was 2 hours, which I completed over the span of 2 days. The course is marketed as an essential

guide to AI for educators and is meant to help educators implement AI into their practice ethically

and effectively to support student learning. The instructor, Amanda Bickerstaff, is the founder

and CEO of AI for Education and she was a biology teacher and worked in EDTech for 20 years.

The focus of the course was on ChatGPT and the ways it can benefit your teaching practice in a

variety of ways  and help students engage with the lessons and material. 

This course was valuable to me in many ways that gave me a deeper understanding of AI. The course modules included; Introduction to prompt engineering, strategies for using CHatGPT in your practice, the ethical implications of AI in the classroom and introducing AI and ChatGPT to your students. In the introduction module we were given the backstory of AI and all the different ways it is currently used. We were also introduced to terminology related to AI, to help us navigate it more efficiently, which I think will be very helpful for my students as well. When setting up our own account on ChatGPT the course also navigated us to check the privacy settings to ensure safety for myself and students. The course walked us through how to make rubrics, create unit plans and lessons,compose messages and emails,  engage our students with AI and navigate the extensive prompt library they have created (which I found very helpful to narrow down and be more precise with what I wanted). Overall the modules were very informative and useful for my everyday practice as an educator. 

One thing that I learned in this course that will inform my practice is the importance of generating prompts that will best meet my objectives and goals. There were several lessons in the second module to help us generate the perfect prompts. First off you must be willing to revise your prompts to meet your specific needs, so it might take a few attempts at engineering the perfect prompt for what you want. For example you can start with a prompt like the following and then add modifications to suit your needs: 

Generate a lesson plan for [grade/subject] on [topic] that covers [standard(s)] lasts [desired duration of time] and includes reading materials, a video, and a way for students to demonstrate their learning

The 7 strategies they mention in their prompt framework are to set the scene, specify details, select keywords, simplify language, structure with bullets, set priorities and share feedback. These strategies are very useful in narrowing down what the outcome of your original prompt will be and I have found they have saved me plenty of time when creating lessons, as I am able to narrow my focus and create a product suitable to my needs in minutes rather than hours!

Here is an example of a prompt I used, the modifications I made to the prompt and the final unit plan and rubric that was created, which I will be using after Spring Break in my English class. 

Unit Plan:

Week

Day

Activities

Materials

Week 1

1

Introduction to Plays

- Short one-act play ("The Tell-Tale Heart")



Discussion



2

Literary Elements in Plays




Group Activity



3

Discussion and Review

- Video excerpt from a play

Week 2

4

Traditional vs. Modern Plays

- Traditional play ("Antigone")



Lecture

- Modern play ("Death of a Salesman")


5

Group Discussions and Presentations



6

Guest Speaker or Video

- Documentary or interview on playwriting

Week 3

7

Scene Analysis

- Various scenes from plays



Group Activity



8

Scene Performances



9

Culminating Activity

- Reflection essay prompts


Rubrics:

Criteria

Emerging

Developing

Proficient

Extending

Participation in Class Discussions

Rarely participates in discussions or contributes minimally.

Participates in discussions but may need prompting; contributes moderately.

Actively participates in discussions, sharing ideas and listening to others.

Consistently contributes insightful ideas and engages in meaningful dialogue.

Analysis Assignments

Struggles to identify and analyze literary elements in assigned plays.

Demonstrates basic understanding of literary elements but may lack depth in analysis.

Effectively identifies and analyzes literary elements, providing adequate support from the text.

Analyzes literary elements with depth and insight, offering nuanced interpretations.

Scene Performance and Analysis

Scene performance lacks preparation and understanding of literary elements. Analysis of the scene is minimal or inaccurate.

Scene performance is somewhat prepared but may lack coherence or depth. Analysis of scenes demonstrates basic understanding of literary elements.

Scene performance is well-prepared and effectively conveys themes and emotions. Analysis of the scene demonstrates clear understanding of literary elements and thematic significance.

Scene performance is highly polished and compelling, effectively conveying themes and emotions. Analysis of scenes demonstrates sophisticated understanding of literary elements and thematic significance.

Reflection Essay

Reflection lacks depth and insight, or does not address key learning experiences.

Reflection demonstrates some understanding of learning experiences but lacks depth.

Reflection shows clear understanding of learning experiences and insights gained.

Reflection demonstrates profound understanding of learning experiences, offering insightful reflections and connections.



Some other ways this course can help me in my professional practice are grading and assessing student work and generating feedback for them based on their individual learning needs and styles. It can also be used to compose emails and send classroom messages. We have parent teacher conferences coming up in April so I prompted Chat GPT to compose and email for me using the following prompt (I added a few modifications as it had the wrong day of the week next to the original date: 

Email: 

Subject: Reminder: Parent-Teacher Conferences on Apr. 17th, 2024

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope this email finds you well. We are excited to remind you about our upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences scheduled for Saturday, April 17th, 2024. The conferences will take place via Zoom from 1:30pm to 7:00pm.

This is an excellent opportunity for us to discuss your child's progress and any questions or concerns you may have regarding their academic journey. We highly value your involvement in your child's education and appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with you in their development.

To ensure that we can accommodate everyone's schedules effectively, we kindly ask you to book your conference sessions using the Parent-Teacher Conference Scheduler by Friday, April 15th, 2024. This will allow us to arrange the conference timetable efficiently and ensure that each family receives adequate time for discussion.

Please note the following instructions for booking your sessions:

  • Visit the Parent-Teacher Conference Scheduler.

  • Select your preferred time slot(s) for the conference.

  • Confirm your booking(s) to secure your session(s).

We look forward to meeting with you and discussing your child's achievements and progress. If you encounter any difficulties with booking your sessions or have any questions regarding the conference, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in your child's education. We are excited to engage in meaningful conversations about your child's growth and success.

Best regards,

[Your Name]

[Your Position]

[School Name]



In the classroom you can use ChatGPT for interactive storytelling, cultural exploration and personalized learning based on students interests. After completing the modules on engaging students with AI, here are tips and strategies I recommend and have been using my own classroom:

  • Be Transparent: let students know it is being used in the classroom and ensure that they know how to use it effectively. Talk about the benefits and limitations.

  • Set Clear Guidelines: Student should explicitly know how and when they can use AI in an assignment and it should be reflected in the instructions and rubrics

  • Create Policies: This can be school wide policies or classroom policies. Ensure they are in student friendly language and the students help you create them. 

  • Monitor use: continue to monitor and guide students through the use of ChatGPT to make sure it is ethical and responsible. 

    • Use age appropriate language and start small

    • Use interactive and engaging lessons

    • Teach them to be critical thinkers (spot inaccuracies, fact checking etc)


Overall this course was very informative and even though I had already been using ChatGPT in my daily practice, I think it elevated my understanding of the benefits and variety of uses of AI. a General rule of thumb is that ChatGPT is used as a thinking tool to build on or organize the thoughts and products you have in mind.  I would recommend this course to any educator who is just beginning their AI journey or as a refresher for those of us who have already stuck our foot into the AI waters!



Resources

https://aiforeducation.mykajabi.com/products/an-essential-guide-to-ai-for-educators

https://www.aiforeducation.io/prompt-library

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