AI in the Classroom — Many Ideas for Uses!

Hi everyone, this is Nicole Pagtakhan ! I was playing with a few different ideas for what I wanted to post about, and I found a few interesting uses for some of these websites, plus I wanted to share some things I noticed while using some of the different AI. I mainly used ChatGPT because it was the easiest one to use, with a sprinkle of Lexica Aperture and DALL·E for images.

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SEL Lesson: Taking Care of Yourself by Chatgpt

Here is an SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) lesson plan for 2nd grade students about taking care of themselves and their emotions:

Objective: Students will understand the importance of self-care and learn strategies for managing their emotions.

Materials:

• Chart paper and markers
• Copies of a simple self-care activities list (such as taking deep breaths, going for a walk, listening to music, etc.)
• A stuffed animal or toy for each student

Introduction (10 minutes):

1. Start by asking students what they do when they are feeling upset, happy, or overwhelmed.
2. Write their responses on chart paper, grouping them into categories (e.g. physical activities, talking to someone, etc.).
3. Explain to students that taking care of themselves and managing their emotions is important for their well-being.

Direct Instruction (15 minutes):

1. Pass out the self-care activities list to each student.
2. Have students work in small groups to identify the activities that would help them when they are feeling upset or overwhelmed.
3. Have each group share one or two of their chosen activities with the class.
4. Explain to students that it is okay to take breaks and engage in self-care activities whenever they need to.

Guided Practice (15 minutes):

1. Give each student a stuffed animal or toy.
2. Have students pretend that their stuffed animal is feeling upset.
3. Ask students to use one of the self-care activities they learned to help their stuffed animal feel better.
4. Encourage students to share what they did with the class.
5. Repeat the activity with different emotions (e.g. happy, overwhelmed).

Conclusion (10 minutes):

1. Recap the importance of self-care and managing emotions.
2. Remind students that it is okay to take breaks and engage in self-care activities whenever they need to.
3. Encourage students to practice the self-care activities they learned in class.
4. Have students reflect on the activity by writing or drawing about what they learned.

Evaluation: Observe students during the lesson and listen to their responses during the discussions. Collect their written reflections to gauge their understanding and comprehension of the lesson.

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Telling Time by chat gpt

I’m helping 2nd graders learn to read an analog clock, and a common mistake I’ve seen is that students are reading the wrong hands to point out time. Here are the prompts I put into ChatGPT, and the answers that I received which could be helpful for my students.

Prompt: “How can I help 2nd grade students learn which hand on an analog clock is for hours and which hand is for minutes?”

ChatGPT:

Here are a few strategies to help 2nd grade students learn which hand on an analog clock is for hours and which hand is for minutes:

1. Use analog clocks to practice telling time. Encourage students to point to the hour hand and minute hand and name them.
2. Use mnemonic devices to help students remember which hand is which. For example, you can teach them that the “long hand” is for minutes and the “short hand” is for hours.
3. Use visual aids like pictures or diagrams to help students understand the concept. Draw a simple clock face and label the hands, then have students practice matching the hands to the correct labels.
4. Play games like “What time is it?” to reinforce the concept. Have students take turns holding up a clock with hands set to a specific time, and have the other students guess what time it is based on the position of the hands.
5. Make it interactive by allowing students to create their own clocks or even construct a large analog clock in the classroom.

By using a combination of these strategies, you can help 2nd grade students understand which hand on an analog clock is for hours and which hand is for minutes.

Prompt: “What other mnemonic tricks can I use?”

ChatGPT:

Here are a few additional mnemonic devices to help 2nd grade students remember which hand on an analog clock is for hours and which hand is for minutes:

1. “High Five” – The hour hand is for hours, and you give someone a “high five” with your hand, so it should be shorter.
2. “Hugs and Kisses” – The hour hand is for hours, and you give someone a hug or a kiss with your hand, so it should be shorter.
3. “Hey, Big Hand!” – The minute hand is for minutes and it’s the “big hand” that’s pointing to the minutes, hence “Hey, Big Hand!”
4. “Mr. Long Arms” – The minute hand is for minutes and it’s the “Mr. Long Arms” that reaches for all the minutes on the clock.
5. “Two Hands Together” – The hour and minute hand both meet together at the 12 o’clock mark, so use the phrase “Two hands together” to remember that the hour hand is shorter.

These mnemonics can be fun and memorable for 2nd grade students, helping them remember the difference between the hour and minute hand on an analog clock.

(I wasn’t satisfied with the mnemonics it gave me, so I went to Perplexity AI and asked for more just in case. )

Prompt: “What are mnemonics that can help 2nd graders know on an analog clock which hand is for hours and which hand is for minutes?”

Perplexity AI:

One mnemonic that can help 2nd graders know on an analog clock which hand is for hours and which hand is for minutes is “The Short Hand Shows the Hours” or “The Hour Hand Touches the Tip of the Large Numbers”^[3][4][5] . This mnemonic emphasizes that the hour hand is shorter than the minute hand^[1][2], and that it points directly at a number to indicate the hour^[2]. The minute hand, meanwhile, is longer and moves between numbers to indicate minutes^[1].

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Reflections from using AI

• Phrasing matters a lot — I wanted to compare the inputs of “cute cat” versus “kawaii neko” in Lexica Aperture, and these are the results I got.

• For the SEL lesson, I feel like the lesson is usable, personally I would change a lot of things but this is a good place to start. This would be good for teachers who don’t have a specialty in SEL or are just learning about SEL.
• Definitely use for mnemonics! I have a hard time coming up with creative ways to reinforce these ideas but for sure these will be helpful! In class I was trying to ask the AI to make songs too but it didn’t work out as nicely.
• If you look up “AI art” on the image websites, you either get something kind of cool (my featured image!) or something cursed and cryptid-esque.

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Image Credits

Image created with Lexica Aperture with prompt: “kawaii neko”

Image created with Lexica Aperture with prompt: “cute cat”

Image created with DALL·E with the prompt: “AI art”

-Nicole Pagtakhan