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Just looking at your Senior Infant lesson plan reminded me of my own teaching practice a number of years ago. Every night I would work into the early hours, preparing detailed lesson plans for the following day. By the time I had them finished, I was often so exhausted that it was difficult to bring the same energy and focus into the actual lesson delivery. It strikes me now how different that experience could have been if AI tools had been available at the time.
With AI, lesson plans can be generated in a matter of minutes, giving teachers a strong framework to adapt and personalise rather than starting from scratch. This would have saved countless hours and reduced the stress that many student and newly qualified teachers feel when they are trying to balance planning with teaching. I really believe that the availability of AI tools will make life much easier for our new teachers, allowing them to focus more on their pupils and less on paperwork.
As a teaching principal, I am constantly aware of the challenge of balancing classroom teaching with administrative responsibilities. This makes me very conscious of how I spend my preparation time. Integrating AI into my teaching practice has the potential to save time while also enriching learning for my 5th and 6th class pupils. One very practical use I see is using Microsoft Copilot to generate end-of-lesson or end-of-topic quizzes. This allows me to quickly create relevant, curriculum-aligned questions that check for understanding and highlight areas where pupils may need more support.
Before this module, I had only ever used Kahoot, which the children really enjoyed. However, I had not heard of Quizizz, and I now see how powerful it can be for engagement and formative assessment. Quizizz is highly interactive, gives immediate feedback, and allows pupils to compete or work at their own pace. What used to take me an hour or two to design in Kahoot can now be generated in minutes, even while I’m eating my cornflakes at breakfast! I believe the combination of AI tools like Copilot with platforms such as Quizizz will not only save me valuable time but also provide my pupils with a more engaging and effective learning experience.
—————————–Lesson Plan – Introduction to AI Concepts (5th Class)
Theme: Exploring Artificial Intelligence through Everyday Examples and Robo Garden Playground
Class Level: 5th Class (approx. age 10–11)
Duration: 60 minutes
Resources:Teacher laptop and projector/whiteboard
School Chromebooks (one per pair)
Robo Garden Playground app
Visual aids (AI examples: voice assistants, YouTube recommendations, self-driving cars)
Printed step-by-step guides for support
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, pupils will be able to:
Describe what Artificial Intelligence (AI) means in simple terms.
Identify examples of AI in their daily lives.
Explore basic AI-related problem-solving using Robo Garden Playground.
Work collaboratively to complete a simple AI coding challenge.
Lesson Structure
1. Introduction (10 minutes)
Ask: “Who has heard of Artificial Intelligence?” Collect ideas.
Show simple examples: voice assistants, online recommendations, traffic lights that adapt.
Explain: “AI means teaching computers to learn from patterns, a bit like how we learn.”
2. Whole-Class Demonstration (10 minutes)
Open Robo Garden Playground on the board.
Show how to drag-and-drop blocks to guide the character to complete a task.
Emphasise the puzzle-solving nature and link to maths problem-solving strategies.
3. Guided Practice (25 minutes)
Pupils work in pairs on Chromebooks.
Complete the first challenge together, then try the next levels.
Teacher circulates, providing support.
Differentiation:
Extra visual guides and step-by-step scaffolding for the pupil with learning difficulties.
Encourage peer support and pair collaboration to include quieter pupils.
4. Reflection & Discussion (10 minutes)
Invite pupils to share what they found easy/challenging.
Ask: “How was solving this puzzle similar to solving a maths problem?”
Summarise: AI is about problem solving, learning patterns, and using technology to help us.
5. Plenary / Exit Ticket (5 minutes)
Quick-fire: “Name one example of AI we see in everyday life.”
Pupils write or say one way AI could be useful in the future.
Assessment
Observation of participation and collaboration.
Pupil responses in reflection and exit ticket.
Ability to complete simple Robo Garden challenge.
I agree! It’s such a great fit with the new maths curriculum, especially the focus on problem solving. I think the children will love the puzzle aspect, and it should be a really popular addition to the classroom.
One of the tools I would like to try with my class is Robo Garden Playground. Before introducing it, I would begin with a short explanation of Artificial Intelligence, using simple examples such as voice assistants or online recommendations. I would explain that AI is when computers can recognise patterns and learn from them. I anticipate that this introduction will spark curiosity and give pupils a sense that AI is already part of their daily lives.
I hope to build on this curiosity by introducing Robo Garden Playground, which allows children to explore coding, sequencing, and problem-solving through fun, game-like challenges. The application is designed to gradually increase in complexity, which makes it well suited for 5th and 6th class pupils. I would model the first activity on the board, showing how pupils can drag and drop blocks to complete simple coding tasks that “teach” a character to act intelligently.
Working in pairs on their Chromebooks, pupils can support one another and share strategies. For the pupil with learning difficulties, I would provide visual guides, step-by-step scaffolding, and regular teacher check-ins. I hope that the playful design of Robo Garden, combined with collaborative learning, will help all pupils feel confident, supported, and included as they begin to explore the world of AI
Gamma does sound great – a game-changer for me I think, not just with classroom presentations but also presentation to parents, school assemblies, staff meetings etc. I look forward to using it.
Gamma and Twee are two AI tools that I feel could greatly support my teaching, learning, and assessment. From the module video, it looks like Gamma can create engaging, visual presentations and lesson content quickly, allowing me to save time on creating resources while maintaining a high standard of delivery. Twee can generate differentiated comprehension questions, vocabulary activities, and grammar tasks based on any text I input, making it ideal for literacy and content-based subjects. Both tools support formative assessment by helping me tailor materials to student levels and track understanding through interactive tasks. Overall, they streamline planning and improve lesson quality and student engagement. I am excited to try these out in September!
AI tools have the potential to significantly enhance future teaching, learning, and assessment. One exciting application I learned about is in descriptive writing, where tools like Co-Pilot Image Creator can generate vivid, custom images based on student prompts. I plan to use this in creative writing where the children can print a scene from their won story, bringing it to life. This can inspire creativity and help pupils visualise settings, characters, or events—particularly useful for reluctant writers or those with additional learning needs.
Another tool I find promising is Magic School, which offers a wide range of teacher supports. For example, its Maths Story Word Problems generator can create differentiated problems linked to classroom topics, saving time and improving relevance. The Social Story generator is also helpful for supporting pupils with SEN or those struggling with routines and emotional regulation. AI tools like these can help personalise learning, offer meaningful differentiation, and streamline teacher workload—especially in planning and resource creation. However, careful oversight is important to ensure tools are used ethically and effectively. Overall, I believe AI can support more inclusive, engaging, and efficient classroom practice.
Khan Academy does look very interesting for sure – I am considering piloting it in my own school this year. Would I be right in thinking it would be more suited to single stream classrooms though?
I agree that the AI being used in schools in China is concerning, monitoring how often a child yawns is a step too far in my opinion.
One of my biggest challenges is delivering effective maths lessons in a multigrade classroom (5th & 6th classes). With pupils at different class levels and abilities, providing appropriate differentiation can be very demanding. I believe AI-powered Intelligent Tutoring Systems have the potential to transform this experience.
AI tools like Century AI can adapt tasks to individual students’ levels, offering personalised support and instant feedback. This allows pupils to work at their own pace while I focus on small-group teaching or targeted interventions.
Minecraft Education also offers exciting opportunities—its maths-based challenges and spatial reasoning activities promote problem-solving and can engage learners in a more interactive way.
The potential benefits include increased student independence, better use of class time, and more effective differentiation. However, challenges include access to devices, consistent internet, and the time needed to become confident using the tools effectively.
Overall, I believe AI, used thoughtfully, can be a powerful support in complex multigrade settings.
I agree that corrections, especially at senior level, can be very time-consuming. However, I believe that using AI in other aspects of the school day has real potential to reduce our overall workload and give us back valuable time to focus on important tasks like marking and feedback. That said, I do wonder how much time we will need to invest initially to get up to speed with the technology.
As a teaching principal, I find that I spend a significant amount of time on both short-term and long-term planning. AI has the potential to greatly speed up this process by generating curriculum-aligned schemes of work, lesson ideas, and differentiated materials. This would allow me to shift my focus away from paperwork and spend more time on meaningful lesson planning and pupil engagement.
In the classroom, AI can support personalised learning by adapting content to suit individual student needs, promoting self-paced progression. Assessment can also become more efficient, with AI tools providing instant feedback, identifying learning gaps, and helping teachers target interventions effectively.
A potential use I see in my own classroom involves a student with a significant learning difficulty who currently cannot participate in written project work. Using speech-to-text AI, the student would be able to record their ideas verbally and have them transcribed. This would allow them to take part in project-based activities alongside their peers, helping to level the playing field.
Careful and ethical use of AI will ensure it supports all learners effectively.