Week 4 Assignment

 Part 1:

I asked the lesson plan generator tool to come up with a lesson plan designed for professional development for elementary teachers who have completed Unit 1 in LETRS that allows them to put their learning into action in their classrooms. This is a very large part of my job, and while it is not a standard, my state did pass legislation requiring teachers to be trained in the science of reading. The website reads “Beginning July 1, 2024, each district and charter school must provide teachers and instructional support staff with responsibility for teaching reading with training on evidence-based reading instruction that is approved by the Department of Education”. So essentially the teachers are my students. 🙂

The lesson plan was actually too rigorous. I gave the parameter that this will be done in a 90-minute session, and the assessment alone for teachers would take about that long. I did also ask the lesson plan to give teachers usable products or processes for their instruction, and some of what the lesson plan suggested did not fit that criteria.

I would definitely recommend adding in variables to the lesson, like differentiation factors, time allowed, number and type of assessments, to make the lesson plan better accommodate the users needs. I did have to put in a few queries before I got results closer to what I was looking for, so knowing how to search might be useful, too.

https://app.magicschool.ai/tools/lesson-plan-generator?share=944c96b6-dc0f-48b3-871f-d2bef6b8aa45

Part 2:

I used the professional development planner and asked for the same information as in the lesson plan generator, just to compare. This tool plans PD for teachers around specific topics, such as high school English teachers on writing essays with descriptive adjectives. I did find this tool extremely useful. This one gave me a better fit for the the 90-minute time frame, and gave me more real-world applications for adult learning. I would definitely use this with my teachers for professional development sessions.

https://app.magicschool.ai/tools/pd-planner?share=16793674-79c3-473b-97e5-bc248f8a720f 

Part 3: 

I would potentially use Magic School as a tool with my teachers. My concern is that teachers will find this tool as an “easy” solution to what to teach, instead of teaching the curriculum the district has in place. If teachers go the route of using AI to plan their lessons, then the continuity (or scope and sequence) from grade to grade is lost and students will be missing out on essential instruction. However, if parameters are set up so that teachers know the district curriculum must be followed, and that AI can enhance or tweak lessons, then I would be on board. I do think Magic School could be beneficial as teachers learn to implement science of reading practices into their instruction. It gives them additional applications and information as a scaffold while teachers make the journey into SoR (science of reading).

I have used AI on a limited basis during my time as a teacher. I use it as a tool to gather ideas or organize ideas. I have not used it to create lesson plans, assessments, etc., but I would like to explore more with Magic School tools like creating decodable texts (this is part of my state’s new ELA standards being rolled out in fall of 2025), or scaffolding texts for a variety of reading levels.

Reference:

https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/READ/dev/