For this blog post, I created a lesson plan that addresses the following standards; Next Generation Science Standard 3-5-ETS1-1 and ISTE 1.6.a Choose Platforms or Tools. The lesson plans that I have created using this website in the past have been great. However, today it feels like the website missed its mark. The lesson plan starts off with a good “hook”, however in the “independent practice” portion of the lesson, it talks about students “creating their own simple design following the guidelines given.” I am not quite sure what the students are creating here as the AI tool didn’t give any guidelines.
The lesson created aligned with the standards that I provided; however, the lesson was a bit vague and definitely needed to be “beefed up.” Additionally, the assessment created was very vague and did not give criteria for success.
To improve this lesson, I would need to go over to the “Group Work Generator” to create a project for the students. I would need to add more detail to the lesson plan about what simple design the students are creating and I would need to add success criteria to the assessment portion.
In my opinion, this tool is a useful starting point for rigorous lesson planning. The point of MagicSchool isn’t to do the work for you but to give teachers the starting block. From there, teachers are supposed to add their own flair and “bulk up” the lesson plan. MagicSchool gives us the outline and teachers are supposed to fill in the outline. To compare it to building a house, MagicSchool gives us the walls, teachers decorate and add the furniture.
Part 2:
For this activity, I chose the “Vocabulary List Generator.” This is a tool that I have not had a chance to use yet on MagicSchool. This tool lets you pick a grade, the number of vocabulary terms you get (5, 7, 10, etc.), and asks for a standard or topic to address. For this list, I put 5th grade, 10 terms, and “STEM Engineering Design Process.” Some of the words I got were words that I had already thought of but some were words that I hadn’t considered before/had forgotten about. This tool could be useful if you need a list of words and don’t want to spend a long time thinking about which words. Now, I am wondering if you put the title of a novel/chapter book into the topic section if it would give words used in the book that students should know. I will test this idea another time. To use this list, I would print the words off and do a card sort with the terms and definitions.
Part 3:
Overall, I really like MagicSchool. This is a resource that I would use as a teacher and with colleagues. I think MagicSchool has a lot of good tools and can be used in a lot of different ways. A challenge I could see teachers having is that they think MagicSchool is supposed to do it all for them, when it is actually just supposed to be a jumping off point. In a PD that I have had on it, they have recommended using an 80 / 20 rule. MagicSchool does 80% of the work but then the teacher has to do the last 20% (proofreading, tweaking, adding/removing, etc.). There are so many benefits to MagicSchool. I think it will save teachers a lot of time and energy. So often teachers get burned out or stuck in a rut. MagicSchool can give teachers new ideas and help by saving our most precious resource, time.
I have not used any other AI tools in the classroom, however, I have seen a new AI software at a conference I recently attended that is meant to teach reading that looks fascinating. The students pick the topic and difficulty, the AI generates the story, and the student reads aloud. Next, the AI listens to the student and then generates a list of words the student needs to work on and asks comprehension questions. This software was just debuted 2 weeks ago so it is not yet ready for mass consumption but I think it will be amazing if we give it some time.
MagicSchool is a relatively new tool. As it is a new tool, there are bound to be quirks that need to be ironed out. However, I think if we give it time to grow and improve, MagicSchool will turn out to be a very useful tool for teachers.
Chloe,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see that you have enjoyed this tool in the past. Unfortunately, this was my first experience with it, and it provided nothing more than a skeletal framework which would need a lot of meat to be a viable lesson plan. I suppose that if I were new to the classroom or in a bind to assemble something quickly, it could be of use, but I was underwhelmed by what it produced. The rule felt more like 20/80. The vocabulary list generator seems like a neat tool I may need to try before my free trial expires. Otherwise, I doubt I would pay to use it. I tried the rubric generator, and I was more well pleased with it than the lesson plan, but again, it really was not anything profound enough to deserve my pennies.
Chloe,
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this tool before this assignment. Where did you hear of this tool originally? Have you attended a training on how to use the tool in the past? I would love to learn more about how to use it ethically and effectively.
I like the idea of using the vocabulary terms tool to help create a fun Kahoot! for days emergency sub plans. My students love playing Kahoot!, especially because they love the candy prizes for anyone who gets on the podium. I will definitely check that tool out.
Thank you for the helpful review.
Tarah