Did you know that you can use AI for more than just looking up information? I experimented with using Claude AI to generate an interactive math activity out of HTML, where students could input variables to determine the area of triangles, rectangles, and circles.
Claude generated code and suggestions in just a few seconds! The model offered students a visual aid, clear instructions to help them calculate the area, and a chance to solve the problem with feedback.
The next step was finding a platform to run my interactive program. There are a variety of tools out there; however, I found Codepen to be the easiest tool to use. Check out my interactive activity and test it out yourself!
Want to see how I did it? Check out my video below:
Throughout the years, I have habitually displayed small mementos and pictures on a bookshelf in my office or classroom. I inherited this practice from my late father, who used his decorative flair to proudly display objects and pictures that told a story, shared a memory, and painted a portrait of his life.
The artifacts in my display continue to inspire the retelling of old stories and memories of past trips, experiences, and adventures. A makeshift nameplate, carved from an old stick by my grandfather during a childhood camping trip, serves as the gateway to my kingdom of memories. Inside are the remnants of my former athletic career, reminders of childhood heroes, tacky souvenirs, and pictures of past days.
As I glance across my display, I notice a tiny, dollhouse-sized replica of a toolbox. I have to chuckle at the thought of displaying such an ordinary item, considering its everyday presence in most households and garages. This miniature toolbox brings to mind another, with an unusual story, that once sat alone on the sideline of a football field, empty and filled only with the crisp autumn air.
In the fall of 1996, I was a sophomore on a talented but underachieving varsity football team. If victories were won solely on the passion and heart of our coaches, we would have been undefeated. Our head coach, Mike Vertucci, was a positive force who went to great lengths to inspire and motivate us, even though our team often failed to meet the potential he saw within us.
One week, our team faced an underwhelming opponent known better for their 33-game losing streak and even featured on ESPN. Like any good coach, Coach V appeared to be ramping up his efforts to prevent his team from falling into complacency. Despite his best efforts, our overconfident team brushed aside our coach's words.
Our personalities and teenage egos sometimes prevented us from appreciating the value and sacrifices our coaches made for our benefit. We didn't see their countless hours away from their families, breaking down film and preparing game plans. We took the time they spent with us for granted, not realizing it meant trading a chair at the dinner table or reading a bedtime story. Our arrogance reached a crescendo when a teammate got into an altercation with a coach, and eventually, our team was kicked off the practice field.
The night of the big game finally came, but you could sense something abnormal would happen. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, and despite our subpar efforts, the team known for its 33-game losing streak was victorious on our home field. My teammates and I were stunned. However, our loss created a chain of events I still remember.
The parents in my community had a reputation for being highly invested in their children's athletic success by any means possible. We had several Division 1 athletes on our team, which created a certain intensity to coax us out of our slump immediately. With the intensity of an act of Congress, resources were pooled together to hire a sports psychologist to talk to our team the following week.
My teammates and I stumbled begrudgingly into a classroom the night of the event, unsure of what to expect. We were introduced to a sports psychologist, who greeted us with pleasantries and orchestrated a series of motivational soundbites and visualization exercises.
We were unsure what to expect when he placed a plastic toolbox on the desk in front of him. Some of my teammates shot sarcastic smirks and glances among each other, questioning the man in front of us's sanity. Sensing our growing skepticism, he continued unfettered and opened the toolbox to reveal… completely empty contents.
For several minutes, he explained the purpose of his Walmart purchase. This gift to our team was meant to serve as a receptacle for our fears, mistakes, and poor attitudes hindering our success. Whenever we encountered one of these obstacles, we were instructed to walk over to the toolbox, visualize grabbing the adverse event or emotion, and throw it inside, slamming it shut.
As silly as the culmination of all these events may seem, it left a profound impression on my teammates and I. As our coaches began to incorporate the toolbox and visualization exercises into our daily routine, we understood the connection between a focused mind and success. Success is not the absence of fear but the courage to overcome it.
To most, a toolbox is just a container, but to those who look deeper, it tells a rich history through its dents, rust marks, and scratches, each representing a lesson learned. In its simplicity, a toolbox holds the keys to growth, resilience, and new beginnings. It's not about how we got the nicks and dents, but how we surrendered our mistakes, learned from them, and moved forward.
Although I have made more mistakes than I can remember, I have always remembered the message of the empty toolbox and the promise of a new beginning. It's realizing that mistakes are an inherent part of life, offering opportunities for growth and valuable lessons when we learn from them, make things right, and move on.
The more I use artificial intelligence the more I am finding ways to save time and improve accessibility. I recently came across a cool way of using Chat GPT to to extract written text from Post-it notes, whiteboards, and chart paper. This is a game-changer for digitizing text or summarizing notes. Check out two ideas for making this happen!
You can extract text from any image with written text. Take a picture of a Post-it note filled with ideas, chart paper from your last faculty meeting, or written notes from a whiteboard or smartboard. Then ask ChatGPT to “Convert to Text.” Your text will be instantly converted into a digital format, allowing you to import it into Google Docs or Word.
Need extra support with note-taking? Take a picture of lecture notes from a whiteboard, Smartboard, chart paper, or notebook. Then ask ChatGPT to “summarize the written text.” ChatGPT will instantly produce a summary that saves time and provides additional support for students who struggle with note-taking.
As the features of ChatGPT continue to advance, we can find new ways to make simple tasks even easier, such as organizing ideas, summarizing notes, and digitizing brainstorming sessions. Want to see this in action? Check out my video below for more information.
Music is a universal language we can combine with formative assessment to engage students and determine their knowledge. Artificial intelligence is making it possible for students to demonstrate their understanding through creative ways like generating songs.
Suno is a tool that allows you to provide a prompt and generate a song for yourself. You can also write your own original lyrics, add the type of music you want, watch it, and create a song. The tool has a free version and a paid version. The free version allows you to generate up to 10 songs daily, which is a good deal.
According to Suno's terms of use, you must be at least 13 years old to use the tool. If you have students under 13, you could collaborate as a class to generate a song about what was learned that day. Then, give students the opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills to see if the information was correct or incorrect or what lyrics should be changed.
Want to check out my song about UDL? Click here!
Music has the power to engage students on a whole different level. This tool could be a great resource to help students connect with learning and exercise their creative side. Want to see how it works? Check out my video below.
Unpacking academic standards is a helpful practice to ensure students have the clarity they need to succeed. It also helps us better prepare...
