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Hi Karin,
Your lesson plan on animal classification is fantastic! The mix of hands-on activities with AI tools seems like a great way to engage students. I especially like the idea of using Scratch for decision trees—it’s a wonderful way to connect coding with science.
One thought: perhaps you could use AI to generate random animal traits, adding some unpredictability and fun to the classification process. Another idea is to have students create a short presentation or video explaining their classifications, using tools like Canva or Microsoft Copilot to add a creative twist.
You’ve done a wonderful job of making the lesson both educational and engaging!
Part A-
Class Level: 4th Class
Curriculum Area: English – Writing
Learning Outcomes:
• 6: Students write for different purposes and audiences using a variety of genres.
• 7: Students use a process approach to writing (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing).
• 10: Students reflect on and monitor their own writing, using teacher and peer feedback to improve it.
Time: 1 hour
Learning Objectives:
Pupils will describe characters using appropriate vocabulary.
Pupils will use AI tools to support idea generation and reading fluency.
Pupils will work in pairs to develop and share creative writing ideas.
Pupils will engage in active learning through writing, discussion, and digital exploration.Resources Needed:
Tablets/laptops
Access to Eduaide.ai (teacher-led)
Immersive Reader (via Word or OneNote)
Character planning worksheets
Vocabulary banks (for differentiation)Introduction (10 mins): Activate prior learning by discussing familiar characters from books.
Brainstorm what makes a character interesting.
Share learning intentions and success criteria.Development (15 mins – guided): Teacher models using Eduaide.ai to generate a basic character.
Whole-class discussion on how to personalise and improve the AI’s suggestions.
Highlight use of descriptive language and creativity.Independent Work & Pair Work (20 mins): Pupils create their own characters using a planning sheet.
Immersive Reader supports pupils who need reading assistance.
Pupils then share their characters in pairs, offering feedback or ideas.Conclusion (10 mins): Volunteers share characters with the class.
Discuss how AI helped or inspired ideas.
Teacher uses formative assessment through observation and questioning to evaluate learning.Part B-
This lesson helped me see how AI tools can support creativity, literacy, and inclusion in a practical way. The pupils were genuinely excited by the Eduaide.ai demo — they engaged critically with the AI’s character ideas and were quick to suggest improvements, which led to great discussions about vocabulary and detail. Using Immersive Reader gave extra support to those who normally struggle with reading instructions, helping them stay on task and participate more fully. The pair work was also valuable, as pupils were able to give peer feedback and build confidence in sharing their ideas. I found that the structured approach — starting with whole-class modelling, then moving to independent and collaborative tasks — gave pupils the scaffolding they needed to succeed. Formative assessment through observation and questioning allowed me to see who needed more support, and to plan next steps. I see real potential in using AI like this for narrative writing, and I’d like to explore tools such as Socratic for project-based work in SESE. That said, ethical use, data protection, and teacher control will continue to be key considerations.
Deirdre, your idea for using Teachable Machine in the ‘feelings’ module is brilliant! I often see in school how tricky it is for children to read emotions as they are so different from person to person. Using AI to categorise expressions would perfectly highlight this nuance. The AI’s ‘mistakes’ become powerful teaching moments, showing that human emotions are complex, far beyond what an algorithm can grasp. This comparison of human and machine learning is so interesting, pushing them to think critically about empathy and the unique qualities we bring that AI can’t replicate. It’s a fantastic blend of digital literacy and social-emotional learning.
Go raibh maith agat for this insightful module! It’s given me loads to think about for my 4th class in our Gaelscoil.
I’m really keen to bring AI into the classroom next year, especially after exploring the Teachable Machine. I’d kick things off by asking the children how they think computers learn, then introduce Teachable Machine as a fun, hands-on way to show them. We could train it to recognise simple things, like whether someone is holding a leabhar (book) or a peann (pen), or even different facial expressions for our mothúcháin (feelings) as part of SESE.
The beauty of this tool is how clearly it demonstrates that AI learns from what we give it. We’d experiment with good and bad examples, quickly seeing how the ‘machine’ can make mistakes if the information isn’t varied or fair. This opens up brilliant chats about bias and why it’s so important for AI to learn from all sorts of data. We’d definitely cover internet safety and data protection beforehand, perhaps using objects instead of faces if needed. It’s a fantastic way to demystify AI and spark their critical thinking.Hi Elaine, I really enjoyed reading your examples for your first-class pupils. It’s great to see how you’re using a mix of tools you already know and some new ones. As a fourth-class teacher, it’s really helpful for me to see how these things work for the younger classes in my school.
I particularly liked your idea of using Magic School to follow up on a YouTube video. It’s a clever way to get a complete lesson—questions, a quiz, and a drawing activity—all from one resource. That’s a great approach I’ll be trying for some of our SESE topics, too. And your point about using the drawing activities for assessment is a fantastic way to check in on their learning. Thanks for sharing that!
Part 1:
As a teacher in a Gaelscoil, a couple of the tools really jumped out at me for my own classroom.
Diffit for Teachers looks brilliant for SESE lessons. It’s a lifesaver for differentiating content. I can take a topic, like the famine, and quickly create a few different reading versions to suit all the abilities in my class. Best of all, I can ask it to translate the text into Irish, which saves me a huge amount of time and makes sure everyone has access to the same information, no matter their level of Irish.
Copilot Image Creator is another one I’m excited to try. When we’re doing creative writing, I could get the children to write a detailed prompt ‘as Gaeilge’ and then watch the AI create an image from it. It would be a fun, hands-on way for them to see how important it is to be specific with their words. We could even do it as a class, writing the prompt together and then discussing why certain details were included or left out of the final picture.
Part 2: The potential for AI in the classroom, especially in a Gaelscoil, feels huge and like it’s just getting started. Tools like Diffit and Copilot will give me back so much time, allowing me to focus more on what the children actually need. The ability to quickly adapt and translate resources is just invaluable for me. It means I can offer a richer, more varied learning experience across the whole curriculum. And the instant feedback from something like Microsoft Reading Coach is a real game-changer. The detailed data will let me pinpoint learning gaps with so much more accuracy. I think the future of teaching will involve us guiding pupils on how to use these tools properly, helping them become more independent and critical learners themselves, with AI as their assistant.Hey John,
I really enjoyed reading your post — it sounds like you got a lot from the module. I felt the same about the lesson planning tools like Gemini and ChatGPT. I’ve just started using Eduaide and it’s already making life a bit easier when it comes to planning for different ability levels in one class. Totally agree with you on Immersive Reader too. It seems like such a simple tool, but I think it could make a real difference for kids who find reading tough. I’m hoping to try it out properly next term. And yes — that video from China was pretty unsettling. It definitely made me think twice about how we approach AI in schools. There’s so much potential, but we really need to keep the human side of things front and centre. Appreciate your thoughtful take on all of it.
Doing this module has really changed the way I think about how AI can support teaching, especially at primary level. With a 4th class group, I can see real potential in using AI to save time and make lessons more engaging and tailored to different learning needs.
I’ve started exploring Eduaide.ai, which is very helpful for generating lesson ideas and adapting activities for mixed abilities — a big help when you’re juggling lots of levels in the same classroom. I also see how tools like Khanmigo or Socratic could support students’ learning at home in a more guided way, giving them a boost with things like project work or tricky maths problems. While I wouldn’t use them unsupervised, I think there’s room to explore their use in small groups or stations.
For literacy, Immersive Reader really stood out. I’d like to try it with some of my pupils who struggle with reading confidence — it seems like a simple but powerful way to support them.
Of course, there are challenges too. Cost is one issue, and we’d need clear school guidance on data protection and keeping student work authentic. But overall, if used thoughtfully, I believe AI can be a practical support in the classroom — not to replace good teaching, but to help us do it even better.
Hi Maria,
Thank you for sharing your experience; it’s really great to learn how you’re already using AI to decrease your workload. Your comment about streamlining administrative activities such as emails and presentations struck a chord with me; it’s exactly those time-consuming tasks that I’d like to delegate to free up my time for more creative classroom work.
I completely agree that assessment is the next big frontier. The idea of employing AI to help provide personalized feedback or identify learning trends sounds really intriguing, since it provides a means to make our feedback more targeted and beneficial for youngsters. It’s exhilarating to consider the possibilities!
Reading through the course materials and rules has made me reflect about the remarkable juggling act we all perform as primary school teachers. Between ongoing planning, resource creation, report completion, and parent communication, it might feel like there isn’t enough time to breathe, let alone be the genuinely innovative and inspiring educators we aspire to be.
I’m beginning to see AI as a potential aid in freeing up some of that valuable time, rather than a replacement for our unique personal touch. I’m not looking for it to write my lessons from scratch, but imagine having a tool that could quickly adapt a reading passage for different levels in my class, or whip up a visual mind map for a tricky concept in minutes. For me, that’s not about cutting corners; it’s about reclaiming my own energy and creativity, so I can focus on what truly matters: connecting with the children, giving them individual attention, and bringing those imaginative projects to life that really spark their curiosity.
I’m particularly excited about its potential when it comes to assessment. The thought of being able to generate a tailored rubric for a project, or even get a head start on some personalised feedback for a child’s writing, feels like a real game-changer. It’s not about handing over the grading, but about using a tool to make my feedback more precise and timely, which ultimately helps the children learn and grow. I truly believe AI can be a powerful assistant, allowing me to be more present and more effective every single day in the classroom.
