Educating Students & Moving Forward with AI

Recently, our district made the decision to allow high school students access to NotebookLM. In an effort to help make sure that we’re being thoughtful and deliberate, we took this opportunity to have a reminder conversation with students on appropriate use cases as well as important reminders when working with AI. We wanted to remind students what the point of school is — it’s to learn. At times, learning should and needs to be done without the assistance of AI and in other instances it could supplement the work that the student is doing. Ultimately, we, the librarian Jessie Gilcreast and I, want to make sure that all students and teachers have a clear understanding of the expectations. Over the span of four days, we spoke with each graduating class in the theater for a 30 minute presentation. This presentation was broken up into three sections.

Section 1: NotebookLM introduction — highlighting what the tool is and how it could be used. Depending on the grade level depended on what we highlighted from the notebook. For juniors and seniors, we talked about how a notebook to help students prepare and study for some high stakes assessments coming up in the coming months. For seniors, highlighted how this tool just might be helpful for some of their college classes in the near future. For underclassmen highlighted what the experience would look like if a teacher shared a notebook in their Google Classroom for students to access.

Section 2: What is the purpose of school?– reminding students about this very idea and how sometimes it is important to persevere and other times, completely ok to reference a tool like AI.

Section 3: Important reminders when using AI — reminding students things to be aware of, even outside of education. Let’s face it, genAI is a business and students need to be aware of their privacy. Just because you can use it doesn’t mean you should always use it.

The Presentation

Below is the presentation that was presented to the students. We hope that this will help inspire you to have important conversations with your students as well. We understand that having just one conversation is not enough, but it is a start.

BHS Student Conversation – GenAI 2026 by Craig Sheil

Elements of the Presentation

Below, you will find some of the items that we wanted to specifically highlight from the presentation. What is important to know is that this presentation is a second presentation that students have heard relating to AI. For grades 10-12, we spoke with them two years ago. For the 9th grade class, they heard from us at the start of their high school career.

Using AI Visual

We informed students that common language has been created to help both teachers and students understand when AI might be able to be used on assignments or tasks. The AI committee (comprised of teachers, librarian, digital learning specialists, Deans of STEM and Humanities, and assistant superintendent) tweaked a scale that Pinkerton Academy, in Derry, NH, created a couple years ago. We came up with simple phrases so that if an assignment might allow the opportunity for AI to be used, a teacher can clearly indicate by it’s name. For instance, a teacher could say, “For this assignment, students are able to be in the Feedback level.” An image of our poster can be found below. The default for assignments will be ‘All Human’ unless otherwise stated by the teacher. We are thinking that this visual will be available in classrooms.

New York Times Challenge

Recently, I came across a New York Times challenge that asked students to submit entries on what it is like learning in the day and age of AI and there’s great submissions of visuals, videos, poems and writings. I took this opportunity to highlight a visual and a video from two different student submissions.

The visual, titled “Replaced by our own creations”, highlights the frustration and fear that some teachers have. The visual highlights how a teacher is asking questions to students in the class and the three students are called ChatGPT, Gemini, and Deep Seek. I bring up the point to students that teachers really want to make sure that students are thinking and want to get their thoughts and ideas. They don’t want to be asking questions to a chatbot in class. Reminding students that there is a time and place for when AI can be used. Sometimes, teachers really need to assess just their own thinking and knowledge.

The video, titled “In Progress” highlights how a student is struggling to get their work done. There is constant ‘noise’ coming from both sides of the student, trying to get them to just get the work done with the assistance of AI. This noise also says that they are smarter than their teachers and can help them get a good grade. The student does eventually power through without the use of AI and ignores the noise coming from both direction. To see the visual and the video, click through the presentation or reference in the New York Times challenge.

When we spoke with three student focus groups a couple of months ago, we did hear from some students say that sometimes they feel pressure to use AI even when they are not supposed to on an assignment because they know that everyone else is using it. The thought is that those students will get a better grade so to get the same grade, they should just use AI. We also hear that for some students they just decide to use it because it will save time and they can move on with something else. Don’t get me wrong, in the focus groups they also highlight how they use AI to act as a tutor as well as other appropriate ways. I remind students that what the video is highlighting is no different from what we heard in the focus groups…and that it is ok to to be challenged from time to time in school. We don’t need to be perfect, and in fact by not being perfect, we are learning.

Recently, I started to follow an individual by the name of Paul Matthews on LinkedIn. He shared a post about “if I only had thirty minutes to speak with students, this is what I would say”. I really appreciated some language and talking points as he referenced. I already knew the content in what he was sharing, as we have shared similar stuff prior. I just liked how he said them – it is always great to get a different perspective.

The Toothpick Activity

I don’t remember where I originally was introduced to this activity, but it was a webinar back when AI had started to come out. What really speaks to me about this activity is that it can be tailored in many different ways. Our staff have been through this activity in a previous staff meeting, and now students had the opportunity.

Students are told that they have one minute to come up with as many different ways to use a toothpick. The goal is to have the most. After that minute, students are then given 1.5 minutes to work with the person next to them and continue to build on their list, keeping in mind that the goal is to have the most number of ways. At the end, we ask students to raise their hands to see who had the most.

We then say to the students ‘what was the purpose of the activity?’. Well the purpose was for them to showcase their brainstorming and thinking skills. So in this example, we wanted students to use their own thinking by thinking alone, then collaborate with another individual and work together on each others’ thoughts…not AI thinking. We provide the ‘Using AI’ visual so they can see where that task would be on the list. This particular example models the All Human category.

Then, we gave students two other examples. For instance: If the purpose was for students to give a 30 second pitch as to why their use case is the most unique one, then we would be assessing their communication skills. Can they convince us? In this case, they could be in the exploration row of the ‘Using AI’ visual. We aren’t assessing if they came up with the toothpick idea. Instead, we are assessing on if they can communicate their idea in a way that convinces us.

Again, we are trying remind students that there is a time a place when it comes to AI use and it all relates to what the teacher is assessing for a particular task. Students should never just assume, but verify the expectations. Students need to keep in mind that teachers are wanting the best for their students and that they need to trust their teachers.

NotebookLM

I am interested to see how NotebookLM will be used by both teachers and students. To help educate teachers, I created examples of notebooks over the past couple months related to actual curriculum that they might be teaching and shared in a Google Classroom that they are students in. Outside of curriculum, I created two notebooks, one relating to our student handbook that is probably 90 pages long. Thinking, what a great opportunity to provide that information in a different format to allow students to ask questions or test their knowledge with flashcards on facts or rules that they should know about. That could be a great advisory activity at the beginning of the school year.

I also created a notebook on the college application process that students at Bedford are asked to walk-through, for those who are choosing to go to college. I took all of the important files and information that’s on the counseling website and put that into a notebook. Perhaps this could be helpful where students could ask questions.

Teachers could create a notebook and share that notebook with the other staff in their PLC to support their own curriculum.

Recently, I heard an example of a friend helping their daughter be successful in driver’s ed. They uploaded resources and important information into a notebook so that the daughter could quiz herself.

In order to continue to be thoughtful and deliberate, a NotebookLM resource page has been created for students (also made one for our staff). Students can find videos highlighted different features of the NotebookLM in 90 seconds or less.

Hope this helps others in tackling the world that we currently find ourselves in. We don’t have all the answers, but we are trying to do our best. Will be sure to share more as we continue to help students and teachers navigate learning during the era of AI. There is a lot more work that both Jessie Gilcreast and I still have to do. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. You know where to find me.

And that’s my Spiel…

Google Classroom Consistency

Our district, grades 3-12, decided to give a fresh look to Google Classroom. This year our district is working towards streamlining how homework and tasks for students are reported. This came from a district homework committee, that was put together over a year ago, analyzing how and what teachers are reporting as work needing to be accomplished. The committee discovered that there was absolutely no consistency. It was determined that from this committee, all teachers, especially grades 5 – 12, would report homework through Google Classroom.

Many students and teachers were unaware of the fact that Google Classroom helps organize the learner automatically for them whether it’s using the calendar mode to view assignments or the to-do list mode to see what has been completed or not completed. In the to-do list, there is also a missing column letting students know exactly what they are missing from all of their classes. Students also are able to see what assignments has to be done right on the main page of Google classroom in the classroom tiles or from the chrome device itself by clicking on the date and seeing right away what assignments are due very soon without even needing to be on the Google Classroom page in chrome.

One big change for this year is asking teachers to report work that students need to complete in Google classroom whether it is a digital assignment or not. This was something really new, especially at the high school level, as a teacher may not necessarily have assigned non-digital work through Google classroom because there wasn’t something to turn in online. As a result, we’ve had conversations with students about how they need to honestly use the “Mark as Done” button when it is something that isn’t physically being turned in. We also took this opportunity to remind students to create files right from the assignment itself if a teacher isn’t pushing an actual template to the students. By encouraging them to create the file right inside the assignment, not only will Google Classroom name the file for them, it will also keep the file organized. On the teacher’s side, this also allows the teacher to see student work right away and not have to wait until the assignment is physically turned in to see how and what the student is doing throughout the writing or creating process.

We’ve also taken the opportunity to send invites to guardians letting them know they have the opportunity to receive Google classroom guardian summaries weekly, or daily. These summaries let the guardian know what their child has or has not been completing as well as upcoming assignments that they have in their classes. Not only is this a great tool,  it’s automatically doing the work for the teacher of communicating to parents, if they want that communication. We took this opportunity to let teachers know what access parents/guardians would have now that parents/guardians can click on a link in the Guardian Summaries email and get ‘view only’ access to the classworks page of the Google Classroom.

In order to make this all work, we had to thoughtfully think about how we were going to educate all parties involved. We’ve had to educate administrators and what things would look like. We’ve given reminders to teachers who utilize Google classroom on a day-to-day basis…things that they should consider or maybe new techniques or approaches to use this year. We’ve reminded students five ways in which they can be notified what tasks or homework assignments they have to complete and determine which approach works best for them and their learning styles. Lastly, we’ve educated the community of what guardian summaries are all about, what they have access to and not have access to, and provided resources on our district tech website to help guide guardians and or students. The Digital Learning Specialist Team has curated resources on our district technology site to help parents/guardians and students. Click HERE to view. On the teacher side, we have provided resources in our in house google classroom that provides many best practices and how to’s with Google Classroom.

We still have a lot of work to do, but I am very proud of the work everyone has accomplished thus far.

And that is my Spiel…

Part 2: GenAI & Coding Interactive Activities (Comparison of Tools)

Last month, I wrote a blog post, “Gen AI & Coding Interactive Activities“. I gave three different examples of things that I was trying with Gemini to code for me. Then it dawned on me this week that Canva Code now allows users to copy html code from a prompt in Canva. When Canva Code first came out, this was not available. Now that it is, users are able to copy the code and then provide the interactive activity on a platform other than Canva, such as Google Sites. (One thing that I do like about Canva Code is the ability to hit the use in a design button and choose between what type of file it should live in, within Canva. You can choose Canva website, presentation, doc or whiteboard. However there are times where I think that being able to copy the code and place it on a different platform can be beneficial).

What I decided to do was to take two of the prompts from the previous blog post, the FDR timeline and the Family Feud activity, and put them into Canva Code. I then copied the code for each of them and embedded the interactive activity on the google site that already had Google Gemini’s version of the activity. You can view the sample timeline HERE and the Family Feud activity HERE.

This can be a great learning opportunity for students and teachers. As long as the prompt is exactly the same (I can’t promise mine is 100% the same but it is really close), it could be a great opportunity for students to learn that not all LLM’s are treated or designed the same. I also think it speaks to how working with one model might be good for one reason, but maybe realize not as good for a different reason. Just some food for thought.

For instance, I like how Canva AI interpreted the timeline in a vertical format, rather than how Gemini built it horizontally. I found it interesting that Canva AI used emojis with its timeline whereas Gemini did not. When you look at the Family Feud activity, they are both designed differently with different colors as well as with the organization of work flow of awarding points. Those are just a couple of examples of how even though the prompts are the same (or almost exactly the same), the LLM interpreted the result differently.

This then connects with the idea of if humans are going to work with genAI, they really need to be able to think critically with the tool. Humans need to be thinking about the output. The thinking needs to go beyond is the information right. Humans need to think about, was this information expected, is it organized correctly, is it telling the right story, etc. Critically thinking is important.

And that is my Spiel…

Gen AI & Coding Interactive Activities

This past summer, I had the opportunity to attend a Google Symposium in Chicago. Over the span of the three days, we had an opportunity to learn about what Google is working on, provide some feedback on some future projects, get inspired from one another, and continue to grow our professional learning network. One component that really resonated with me was the capabilities of Google Gemini. While I knew that I could ask Gemini to help assist with many different tasks, one thing that I hadn’t explored was how Gemini can help code an idea or an activity. 

A lightbulb moment happened for me when Andy Caffrey highlighted how he used Gemini to code an interactive activity that we participate in. We walked through the steps that I’m about to walk through with you as to how you can take your idea and ask Gemini to assist in making that idea turn into a reality. Gemini will write some code, you have the ability to preview the activity to see if what was coded is what you were expecting, and then you copy that code and paste in a Google Site. Light bulb moment for me. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve explored around with different ideas, techniques and activities and I hope these ideas will inspire you to think about what you could possibly have Gemini help you out. (Keep in mind that while I am highlighting how Gemini can code, you can do similar tasks in Canva using Canva AI to code interactive activities.)

To view all three examples on a Google Site, click HERE

Coding a Timeline

There is a classroom in the high school that has a big timeline of the content that students are learning in their class. It spans from wall to wall. I got to thinking that perhaps we can turn that information into an interactive timeline. I asked Gemini to create an interactive timeline about Franklin D Roosevelt, and the accomplishments that he helped institute from his presidency. Below is an example prompt that I put into Gemini. You can see that I wanted this to be a timeline beyond just students scrolling and seeing different components of FDR. I asked Gemini to design it so that if they actually selected a particular highlight in that timeline they would actually be prompted to answer some questions. I wanted immediate feedback when answer questions as well as providing a food for thought question for them to think about.

“Code for me an interactive timeline that 10th grade high school students can interact with in relation to Franklin D. Roosevelt. The timeline should highlight major accomplishments on behalf of Franklin D. Rossevelt. major events relating to his personal life should be blue, major events relating to things he helped pass as president of the united states should be red and major events relating to public service should be green. Once a student select a major event, a fact should be provided as well as a follow up question for the students to think about.” – prompt with Google Gemini – September 24, 2025

To view the example on a Google Site, click HERE

Self Checker Activity – Interactive Charts

The next activity – Latin teachers wanting to be able to have student self check their work. With the help of uploading a PDF file of a chart, we were able to ask Gemini to create an activity where the moment the student starts entering in answers, the timer starts ticking and students are able to self check their work. This can be an alternative to a Kahoot!, Gimkit, or Blooket game. The idea down the road would be for this latin teacher to have a google site that contains all of these self checkers for students for each of the chapters in the class. A one stop shop. Below is a sample prompt that was put into Gemini.

“Code interactive tables on verb to be chart using the information provided in the pdf document. You will ask students to complete the table on verb to be under the present-am/is/are, imperfect-was/were, future-will be, perfect-was/werehas/have been and pluperfect-had been columns. Students will enter the information into the table cells. If they get it right, fill in the box green. Provide a count down timer from 10 minutes once they start. Provide a ‘show answers’ button to show answers as well as a reset game button to reset the game” – prompt with Google Gemini – September 12, 2025

To view the example on a Google Site, click HERE

‘Family Feud’ – Fun Advisory Activity

A third example pertains to a fun advisory game that advisors can play with their advisees. Our principal sent out a form that I put together asking staff to answer three questions. The three questions were:

What is one question you hear students ask you every day?

What is one thing that gets you through the day?

What’s the first thing you look forward to on summer vacation?

From those results, I asked Gemini to create a Family Feud style game. The idea is to then have advisories play the game to either compete against their own peers in advisory or against another advisory – but the topic is about their own teachers and their responses. Below is a sample prompt that was put into Gemini

“code a family feud game where 53 BHS staff members were surveyed with the top 6 answers on the board. there are three rounds of questions. The first question is “According to BHS staff members, name an essential item that gets them through the school day” The top six answers with the number of staff who said that answer are: Coffee – 19; Water – 9; Laptop – 4; Snacks – 3; Colleagues – 3; Music – 2. The second question for round two is “According to BHS staff members, name something that staff look forward to doing on the very first day of summer vacation” The top six answers are: Sleeping in – 25; Coffee – 6; beach – 3; Going for a walk – 2; gardening – 2; hiking – 2. The third question for round three is “Name a question that BHS staff hear from their students almost every single day”. The top six answers are: Is this graded? – 15; What time is it? – 6; What are we doing today? – 4; Can I go to the bathroom? – 3; Do you have a charger? – 3; Can we leave early today? when a student types in a response, if they have an answer, the answer reveals behind its spot with the number associated with it. If an answer is wrong, put a red x. Student is only allowed 3 red x’s before the other team gets to steal. if the team gets three strikes, allow one more guess to see if the other team gets an answer so that they can steal the points. Then provide a button to indicate which team should get the points. Then allow a reveal remaining button to show so see the remaining answers that were not figured out. Then allow users to go to the next question.” – prompt with Google Gemini – September 25, 2025

To view the example on a Google Site, click HERE

Three completely different examples…three completely different purposes, but I like how I’m able to take an idea that a teacher or myself might have and try and make it become reality with the assistance of Gemini. 

Workflow

In terms of workflow, these are the steps that you would use to help make something become a reality 

  • Come up with an idea 
  • Open up Gemini and put in your prompt – make sure you have selected Canvas under the tool menu. Remember to be as specific as possible to help ensure that you will get a product that you’re looking. Don’t be surprised if you have to continue the conversation and go through several different versions. 
  • Preview your coded activity that Gemini has provided you.
  • Copy the html code from the share button on the top right corner
  • Go to Google sites – as an editor, go to the top right corner and select the embed button, and paste your code
  • Once you are happy with your page on your site, don’t forget to publish or republish your website for others to view.

What ideas have you asked Gemini? What will you ask Gemini to do for you? If you have any questions feel free to reach out.

And that is my Spiel…

Goodbye 3 Inch Binders

This year I’m hitting a 15th year anniversary of being in the same role at the same school. Prior to this position, I taught high school mathematics for eight years. I actually taught almost every high school math course that there could be offered. When I made the transition to be becoming a Digital Learning Specialist, I saved every 3 inch binder full of materials, notes, and assessments for each class.

After 10 years, I slowly got rid of a few of those binders, but still managed to keep ten 3 inch binders. These binders consisted of two of my favorite courses, Algebra II Honors and Calculus. Algebra II Honors was that class that I just loved to teach. I love the content in it. I kept Calculus for a couple reasons – I appreciated the challenge that it gave me and in many instances, I had to spend hours upon hours upon hours, relearning calculus myself. I worked through and solved all of the problems that I was assigning my students. You just can’t wing it when teaching Calculus. As a result of this, the thought of just getting rid of that content due to the amount of hours I spent was very hard for me. Plus, there was always this idea in the back of my mind that well what if I do go back into the math classroom?

Seeing as though I’ve now hit year 15 of not teaching math, I think I can safely say I’m probably not gonna go back to the math classroom. But seeing these binders also made me think about how things have drastically changed over that time span. Everything that was done was done by paper and pencil/pen. Yes there was technology but it was not as easily accessible, especially in the world of mathematics. 15 years ago, not every teacher had their own laptop given to them. I can remember many of days where I was physically cutting paper and pasting those individually cut out problems and pasting them onto a sheet of paper to create an activity to be photocopied. All those hand written worksheets and activities that students received from me as well. That is mostly a thing in the past!

I also got to thinking that these binders are a physical representation of the hard work I spent into designing and running curriculum. Nowadays, all of that content is just hidden inside of our Google Drive in many different folders (or for some, not folders at all). I can only imagine how many folders that actually exist inside of my drive with the amount of files in each of those sub folders. Having things digitally just makes it a bit harder for us to actually visualize and understand the amount of work and dedication that’s been put into the curriculum that we teach each and every year. Seeing something physical makes it a lot easier to see the hard work and dedication.

I really did hate getting rid of these binders, but I have come to realize that

  • the curriculum in the binders would not be taught the same way that it was taught 15 years ago
  • I haven’t looked at it in 15 years and probably won’t ever again
  • these physical binders are no different then the digital folders I created 13 years ago that I have not looked at

Yes it was hard to throw away, but also a sense of peace as well. I know that this is not a normal type of post that I share on my blog, but felt it was important to reflect.

And that is my spiel…