[Maria O’Mahony]

I really like your idea, Barbara, about using the Educational Song Generator in Magic School – it could be beneficial in many areas of the curriculum. I think my Senior Infants next year would love it.

[Maria O’Mahony]

Part 1:
This course has been very informative and has given me lots of ideas of how I could implement the use of AI in my future teaching. I will definitely use ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini for image creation. I will use this in different ways – sometimes to create a picture of UFLI decodable passages for my Senior Infant class to colour in. I will also use it in other English lessons on descriptive writing, where the children will come up with descriptive text that I will write into AI for it to create pictures of.

I would like to try using a platform like Century AI to help gather assessment data on my class if my school were interested in signing up to a subscription. I will also use AI tools to create quizzes and other assessments next year.

I really liked Reading Coach and the immersive reader in Word and I hope to use them next year for my class to practise their reading.

Part 2:
I asked ChatGPT to create a lesson plan for me on 2D shapes for Senior Infants. I asked it to include the shapes circle, square, rectangle and triangle and to align it to the Senior Infant curriculum in Ireland.

Senior Infants Maths – 2D Shapes
Strand: Shape and Space
Strand Unit: Shape
Duration: 35 minutes
Shapes: Circle, square, triangle, rectangle
Learning Intention
We are learning to recognise, name and describe 2D shapes.
Success Criteria
Children can:
• name a circle, square, triangle and rectangle
• count the sides and corners
• identify straight and curved sides
• describe how shapes are the same/different
Curriculum Link – Primary Mathematics Curriculum
Stage 1: Children explore and recognise the properties of 2D shapes, including number of sides, corners and straight/curved sides, and recognise shapes in different sizes and orientations.

1. Shape Detectives – 5 mins
Show the four shapes.
Ask:
• “What shape is this?”
• “How many sides?”
• “How many corners?”
• “Are the sides straight or curved?”
Introduce side and corner.
Shape Sides Corners
Circle 0 straight 0
Triangle 3 3
Square 4 4
Rectangle 4 4

2. Shape Detective Game – 7 mins
Give children four shape cards.
Call out clues:
“Find the shape with 3 sides.”
“Find the shape with 0 corners.”
“Find a shape with 4 sides.”
Discuss when there are two possible answers:
“Which shapes have 4 sides and 4 corners?”
Introduce the difference between square and rectangle.

3. Shape Corners – 5 mins
Place large shapes around the room.
Call out:
“Find the shape with 3 corners!”
“Find the shape with 4 sides!”
“Find the shape with no corners!”
Children move to the correct shape.

4. Make the Shapes – 8 mins
Use lolly sticks, playdough or pipe cleaners.
Children make:
• a triangle
• a square
• a rectangle
• a shape with no corners
Ask them to count the sides and corners they have made.

5. Shape Hunt – 5 mins
Children find shapes around the classroom.
Examples:
• clock → circle
• window → rectangle
• tile → square
• sign → triangle
Discuss:
“Do all rectangles look the same?”
“Can a shape be turned and still be the same shape?”

Plenary – 5 mins
Play Mystery Shape.
Give clues:
“I have 4 corners.”
“I have 4 straight sides.”
“Two sides are long and two are short.”
Children guess rectangle.
Finish with:
“I know it is a ___ because it has ___ sides and ___ corners.”
Assessment
Observe whether children can:
• name the four shapes
• count sides/corners
• identify straight/curved sides
• describe a shape using its properties.

[Maria O’Mahony]

I really like your idea of linking up with an older class to do peer tutoring in Scratch Ciara. The older children would love to share their skills with the younger ones and it would mean sessions could be a lot more productive as children wouldn’t be waiting a long time for help from the teacher.

[Maria O’Mahony]

I think I would like to try using Scratch Jr with my class of Senior Infants this year. The class have used Beebots a few times last year where they were introduced to coding and how to move their Beebot. Some of the children created mazes for their Beebots to move through.

I think Scratch Jr could be a good way to develop the children’s knowledge of coding in a fun and engaging way. I would start off with very simple activities, with the children working on iPads in pairs. The goal would be that the children can move their character. I would then introduce the idea of bugs and code that does not work and encourage them to ‘debug’ or correct the code.

After the children have lots of practise moving characters and creating backgrounds, I would ask them to create a simple story in Scratch. This would help to develop their oral language and problem solving skills as they work in pairs to create their story. Children who are able could add text/speech bubbles if they wanted to.

[Maria O’Mahony]

I agree Ciara with UFLI’s passages being difficult for some readers. Diffit’s decodable reader generator will be a great resource to help with reading differentiation next year!

[Maria O’Mahony]

Part 1: I thought Copilot Image Creator seems like a great tool for working on descriptive writing and adjectives with kids. As I teach senior infants, they wouldn’t be able to type the descriptions themselves but it is something that could be worked on orally and then typed into Copilot by an adult.

Reading Coach seems like another great resource for children to practise their reading. I think they would love being involved in creating the stories they are reading and getting instant feedback, and that the feedback isn’t always coming from a teacher.

Part 2:
This module has shown me really practical ways that AI can be used to have a positive impact on future teaching, learning and assessment. Some of the resources are brilliant for working on academics. Other resources like Magic School’s social story maker would be useful for supporting the development of social skills of children with additional needs.

I think one of the biggest benefits of these AI tools is their ability to individualise teaching, learning and assessment to meet the diverse needs in classrooms today. Children will feel a lot more supported in their learning, without creating a much bigger workload for the teacher.

[Maria O’Mahony]

Anthony, I think that is a great idea to incorporate iPads into stations rather than using them whole-class. We have the same problem in my school that we have a limited number of devices for the school. Using them in that way would mean that multiple classes in a stream could be have access to the devices at the same time then as each class would only need a smaller number of them. It could also help teachers to share ideas of different AI tools with other teachers and reduce planning time.

[Maria O’Mahony]

I agree with Caroline and Tracey that quizzes could be a really useful way of assessing children. It could definitely be more fun for children than more traditional assessments, while also collecting important assessment data for the teacher.

[Maria O’Mahony]

I found Module 2 very informative on various AI tools that could be used in education. I thought the Immersive Reader seems like a great resource and so easy to use being built into Word. I thought the syllable splits could really help early readers or readers experiencing difficulty. I liked how parts of speech like nouns and verbs can be highlighted and this could be a useful support in grammar lessons.

I thought Century AI also seemed like a great tool to help individualise learning and assess progress. I think it would also be very useful for school leaders as it provides clear data on the progress of a particular pupil, class or year group.

One of the challenges that we would face in my school is the access to technology. We have one iPad trolley for 18 classes meaning each class has one 45 minute slot per week with children working on iPads in pairs. If these technologies continue to demonstrate educational benefits, it may be worth considering further investment in additional devices. A further potential challenge for me is that I teach in a junior school and the children would need help logging in and navigating their device.

[Maria O’Mahony]

I thought Module 1 was very informative on the various ways AI can be used to enhance teaching and learning. I had used ChatGPT a bit before, but Gemini and Copilot were new to me.

I think AI can be very useful to teachers and be a time saver in preparing worksheets, activities, quizzes, etc. I think it will really help to make learning content more fun and interesting for the children, without the teacher having to spend a lot of time on it. Some of the image generation tools in ChatGPT and Copilot could be useful for me in my Senior Infant classroom to create images to accompany Ufli decodable passages as some of the children get tired of drawing their own pictures. It could also be used to create differentiated assessments for many different subjects.

I think it is important that staff familiarise themselves with the Ethical Guidelines on the use of AI and be aware of the risks involved. It is also important not to be over reliant on the use of AI and to recognise its limitations and to always proof read any AI generated content.

[Author]

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