Hey, all! Happy May! My district wrapped the 24-25 school year with a half-day yesterday, and I’m SUPER excited to have a bit of downtime (a BIT since I’m teaching three classes this summer online!) to rest, relax, and recharge!
Over the last few months, I feel like AI has taken the world of education EVEN MORE by storm, if that’s even possible. I’ve been eyeball-deep in AI tools – testing, sharing, and presenting them to teachers all over the country!
As I research and share AI tools for teachers, I’m asking these questions:
1. How is this tool going to help me as a teacher?
2. Is this tool easy to use?
3. Will this tool be an asset or a distraction to me as a teacher?
Here’s how a few of my favorite tools stack up to my questions:
DIFFIT
1. Diffit creates leveled texts, questions, vocabulary lists, summaries, and TONS of resources that I can use with my students. These resources are easily accessible via Google Drive, making editing, revising, and sharing what Diffit creates INCREDIBLY EASY.
2. Yes! I simply log in with my Google account, choose a function (create a reading, revise/level a reading, create questions from a YouTube video, or create an activity from a list of vocabulary words). It’s extremely user friendly and takes seconds to learn.
3. Diffit is a HUGE asset to me as a teacher! One of the hurdles I face as a Social Studies teacher who primarily teaches American Government and NOT one of the more popular American History, World History, etc., courses is finding relevant and appropriate texts for my students to read. I mean, the idea of curling up with the Federalist Papers makes me quite happy – however, I don’t know that my high school students would QUITE appreciate the glorious writings of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay the way I do 😉
BRISK
1. Confession time! The first time I looked at Brisk, I dismissed it as “eh, not a fan.” BOY WAS I WRONG! Brisk is going to save me LOTS of time as a teacher! This little extension works on Slides, Docs, and YouTube videos, and allows teachers to create presentations, questions, worksheets, PODCASTS, and so much more. I am so excited to use this to prepare for the 25-26 school year! (On another note – that seems super weird to say!)
2. Oh my goodness, YES. Just add the Chrome extension and it’s ready to use on Slides, Docs, or YouTube!
3. Definitely an asset! Brisk offers tons of fantastic options for creating resources for students AND providing effective feedback on student work. It’s a win-win!
I’ve barely scratched the surface of awesome AI tools I’ve been testing, sharing with my colleagues, and demonstrating in my workshops and webinars with teachers from all over the country.
It’s important to remember that no matter how cool, shiny, or trendy the AI tools that we use are becoming, WE are the experts on what our students need!
I hope you’re having a great May and that summer is JUST around the corner for you!
Thanks for reading 🙂
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