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Part 1:
Magic School AI
1. Lesson Planning Assistance: Magic School AI can generate differentiated lesson plans tailored to diverse learner needs, helping teachers quickly design content for students with different abilities.
2. Formative Assessment Creation: It can create quizzes, exit tickets, or reflective questions aligned with curriculum objectives, enabling more frequent and targeted assessments.
Gamma
1. Interactive Presentations: Gamma helps transform static lesson content into interactive, visually engaging presentations, improving student engagement and understanding.
2. Student-Led Learning Projects: Students can use Gamma to present research or projects, encouraging ownership of learning while developing digital communication skills.
Part 2:
The integration of Magic School AI and Gamma into the classroom holds significant potential to transform teaching, learning, and assessment practices. With Magic School AI, I can streamline lesson planning and quickly generate differentiated content, which allows me to better meet individual student needs. Its ability to create instant formative assessments supports more regular, data-informed instruction. Meanwhile, Gamma introduces a creative and engaging platform for delivering content and supporting student-led learning. Using Gamma, students can present their ideas in dynamic ways, promoting deeper engagement and communication skills. These tools not only save time but also enhance pedagogical effectiveness by personalising instruction and encouraging active learning. Looking ahead, I see these technologies supporting a more responsive teaching approach, where assessment drives instruction and students take a more active role in their learning journey. Ultimately, these innovations foster a more inclusive, engaging, and reflective classroom environment.
I agree that AI can be a useful medium for parents to support their children at home through the use of Immersive Reader for example or by using the other programmes which were mentioned. Careful and thoughtful use of AI could enhance parent-teacher communication in relation to children’s learning.
AI has the potential to transform the teaching and learning experience in profound ways, making education more personalised, inclusive, and efficient. Tools like Century offer tailored learning pathways that adapt to each student’s strengths and areas for improvement. By analysing real-time data, Century helps teachers identify knowledge gaps and intervene early, ensuring no student falls behind. In my classroom, this could allow for differentiated instruction, where students work at their own pace while I focus on targeted support.
Immersive Reader, another powerful AI tool, enhances accessibility for students with reading difficulties or language barriers. It can read text aloud, break down syllables, and translate content—benefits that would support EAL students and those with dyslexia.
Azure’s AI services, such as speech-to-text or language understanding tools, can assist in automating tasks like grading or feedback, saving teachers time and increasing instructional quality.
However, challenges include equitable access to technology, data privacy concerns, and the need for teacher training. Ensuring all students have devices and internet access is essential, and educators must be equipped to use these tools effectively. Despite these hurdles, the thoughtful integration of AI can create a more engaging, responsive, and inclusive classroom environment.
I fully agree with James here. AI can most definitely be used to spark creativity and to cut down on workload for teachers. I have only started to use it recently in my practice myself and I look forward to exploring more ways of using it to enhance teaching and learning in my class.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Prior to starting this course I had only used Chat GPT occasionally in my teaching as a tool for planning purposes. However I can now see that there are much more possibilities and opportunities for using AI to make an even more positive impact in the classroom.</p>
Going forward, I think AI will help us to work smarter, not harder in some aspects of teaching. Instead of spending hours trying to create something from scratch, AI can now support us to create interesting and engaging resources through the submission of prompts tailored to our needs as educators. AI will therefore support teachers with their time management. Although it should not be a substitute for effective teaching and learning, when used smartly and efficiently, I believe it can enhance teaching and learning in positive ways.I am looking forward to using AI to help me to create videos and images for certain topics to promote the engagement of the learners in my classroom. I was unaware of the different video and image AI generators before starting this course. These tools will be very beneficial for me going forward.
AI can also help to create original assessment templates for my class in future for summative and formative purposes. AI will also support a more collaborative approach to teaching and learning as we can share our prompt results with fellow teachers.
While I can understand the concerns surrounding the use of AI among young learners especially, I don’t think this is a good enough reason for it to be avoided completely as there are so many ways to use it positively and effectively to enhance teaching and learning experiences for all.
Thank you for sharing this comprehensive list. I hadn’t heard of some of these poems and will definitely be adding them to my list.
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
Considering songs, poems and art which connect us to the Night Sky supports integration between SESE and English, Gaeilge, Visual Arts and Music.
Songs:
Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay
Twinkle Twinkle
Rule the World by Take That
Starlight by Westlife
Starman by David Bowie
Reach for the Stars by S Club 7
If I Build a Home on the Moon by Picture This
Counting Stars by One Republic
Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra
Drops of Jupiter by Train
Starry Starry Night by Don McClean
Galileo (Someone Like You) by Declan O’Rourke
Rocket man by Elton JohnArt:
The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
The Great Comet of 1680 over Rotterdam by Lieve Verschuier
Astronomy
The Meteor of 1680 by Frederick Edwin Church
Starlight Night by Georgia O’Keeffe
Starry Night by Edvard Munch
Nighthawks by Edward Hopper
Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket by James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Northern Lights activity with chalk pastelsPoems:
The Starry Night by Anne Sexton
He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by W.B. Yeats
A Clear Midnight by Walt Whitman
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes by Francis William Bourdillon
The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson
When You Are Old by W.B. YeatsCarton House would be an excellent place to explore biodiversity with the children. I also love the ideas of the bug hotels and bird feeders.
How you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity:
I would start by organising a nature walk around the school grounds or nearby green spaces to observe and identify plant and animal species. I would encourage the children to take notes or to draw pictures of the species they encounter.
To address the impact of light pollution, we would have a discussion about how artificial light at night affects wildlife behaviour and habitats. I would show examples to the children of how excessive light can disrupt the natural behaviours of animals, birds, insects and mammals.
Additionally, the children could complete a project where they create models or dioramas to demonstrate the effects of light pollution on local wildlife to help them visualise the issue and understand its significance. Encouraging the children to actively participate in these activities can help them understand the importance of preserving local ecosystems and the role they can play in protecting biodiversity.
I love the idea of using the questions to encourage an enquiry-based approach. I also think that creating a light map would be an engaging activity for the children. Comparing their area to other areas around the world would be very interesting follow-up activity.
Plan a project for your class to take part in the International Dark Sky Association’s “Rising Star” Awards programme:
Planning a project for the “Rising Star” Awards supports enquiry-based learning and provides many rich opportunities for meaningful integration across the curriculum.1. Introduction to Dark Skies: I would introduce the idea by discussing the importance if dark skies with the children. We would also discuss the impact of light pollution on the environment and wildlife.
2. Light pollution survey: This is an opportunity for integration with the maths curriculum. The children would conduct a light pollution survey around the school area. They will then map out areas with high and low light pollution areas. This activity ties in with maps in the geography curriculum.
3. Community awareness campaign: The children would create posters, presentations or videos to raise awareness about the importance of preserving dark skies and reducing light pollution.
4. Starry Night Event: The class could host a “Starry Night” event at the school where staff, pupils and their families can come together to stargaze and to participate in dark skies related activities.
5. Rising Star Awards application: I would support the children in preparing an application for the “Rising Star” awards programme, ensuring that they highlight their efforts in promoting dark skies and raising awareness about light pollution.
I also would hope to use a moon journal in my class for this activity. I think it will work very well for formative assessment purposes as the children will have an accessible log of their learning.
Plan to observe the Moon:
The best phase of the moon to observe in the morning in school is the waning crescent moon. This is an ideal time because the moon will not be too bright and we will be able to observe features like craters and mountains.
In 2024, the waning crescent moon will be perfect for observations around the 20th October. In 2025, moon observation mornings would be suitable around the 29th September for the waning crescent phase.In my class, the children would keep a moon journal for this activity where they can draw and write about what they see for each observation. They could also add to this at home as a homework activity where they can observe the moon at night time. They could compare and contrast with what we see in the morning in their journals. In the journals, the children could note the shape of the moon, visible features and brightness.
I agree Patrick. There are plenty of opportunities for meaningful integration with the sundial activity. Creating the sundial and using it as a resource will give the children great ownership of their learning.
ESERO 30 Day and Night in the World
I found this activity very interesting and engaging. I think it provides great opportunities for cross-curricular links within the SESE curriculum through the discussion of natural environments in geography and living things in science. There is also a possibility for integration with English genre writing such as explanation or report writing on nocturnal or diurnal animals. I found this lesson engaging as it had visual stimuli, opportunities for discussion and hands-on activities. Each of these aspects contribute to the clear and concise lesson structure. Enquiry based learning is embedded throughout the lesson. This lesson could be adapted or extended depending on the age group and it contains very accessible material. The idea of the orange and making the class dark provides a visual and immersive experience for the children whereby they can explain the concept of day and night in their own words. The hands on activities with the paper add variety and provide opportunities for collaborative and practical learning.
