Hi everyone,
As a Special Education Teacher (SET) working with a 3rd Class literacy support group, my experience with M365 Copilot has been a real eye-opener.
For my classroom resource, I used Copilot to create a set of differentiated reading passages and graphic organisers centered on the topic of Local Irish Wildlife & Habitats.
Copilot allowed me to take one core text and rapidly adapt it into three distinct reading levels, complete with targeted vocabulary lists suited to my pupils’ individual targets.
AI can significantly support teaching by taking over the labour -intensive administrative side of differentiation.
A major benefit I’ve found is the sheer speed with which it generates tailored scaffolds and visual prompts for learning support.
However, a notable limitation is that Copilot occasionally uses phrasing that isn’t native to our curriculum context or oversimplifies key concepts, so thorough teacher editing remains essential.
To ensure my pupils remain the ones doing the thinking, I avoid using AI to generate simple fill-in-the-blank worksheets. Instead, I ask Copilot to generate “think-aloud” guiding questions and graphic organisers.
The AI provides the framework, but the pupils must still extract evidence from the text, make inferences, and explain their reasoning.
Looking at our broader school needs, M365 Copilot could be a game-changer for School Self-Evaluation (SSE). It can synthesize qualitative data—such as pupil voice surveys on reading confidence or teacher observations—and identify emerging trends to help us refine our SEN targets and inclusive practices.
Looking forward to reading your thoughts!