A visual companion to the LinkedIn article: Read Here
Getting to know our class is the foundation setter for how we understand the strengths and interests of our students from the very beginning, as well as their communication preferences, emotional frequencies, and a host of useful pedagogical details.
Understanding each student's unique profile
Mapping shared themes across the group
These three windows can be soft prompts for revealing the strengths and interests of our students. Then, you can tailor curriculum outcomes in relation to these capacities.
A thing I could talk about for hours
A thing I want to get better at
A kind of problem I like solving (or challenge I look forward to)
Interest-based learning can spark imagination and focus. Enter a student's interest and your class topic, and this tool will generate ten ideas for connecting them.
In the first month of school, there is an opportunity to understand the broad constellation of the class and some of the shared themes and preferences that may exist across it. The following is an approach to learn about your class in a way that AI can then help you further reflect and focus on.
Describe a place you feel calm, etc.
Students share freely
Find shared themes & patterns
Universal design aligned with needs
"Find the shared themes, interests, emotional textures, and communication preferences emerging across this class. Do not make assumptions about individuals. Only describe group-level patterns and possibilities for connection."
The goal: Build executive functioning scaffolds into lessons from the beginning AND give students tools to support their own needs as they arise.
The way this Executive Functioning Task Analysis tool works is simple - you can either type a description of your planned classroom academic task, or upload a task as a document, and then choose the age of the students in your classroom. Then, the tool will readily provide you with the executive functioning skills required and suggested scaffolds to be designed into the lesson.
How it works:
Type or upload a classroom task + student age
Summary, EF skills required, challenge areas, suggested scaffolds
Floating Thoughts is a new tool I have created to give students the ability to quickly chunk the components of a task as they're working on it, and then colour code and rearrange those chunks, into a sequence that works well for them.
How it works:
✓ Task Initiation
✓ Planning
✓ Time Management
✓ Metacognition
✓ Persistence
✓ Flexibility
The philosophy: Embracing AI's creative possibilities while maintaining awareness of cultural, developmental, and ethical challenges through human-centered approaches.
A pixel art Atari 2600 inspired video game where you ride a bike around different locations and collect gold icons
Tools: ChatGPT Codex
Context: Created while riding bikes around the city
Play the GameA walking game set in the park across from home, exploring local history
Tools: Tiled (freeware), paid artist assets, manual coding, Claude Code for HTML deployment
Learning: Game engine operation, coding, GitHub deployment
Play the GameAn invented language created during an exploration of Glenrock Reserve
Process: Recorded words → Claude Code → Simple website for remembering translations
Purpose: Cultural imagination and environmental connection
Explore Moogani🎬 Movie Making
📖 Storytelling
🥽 Augmented Reality
🌱 Gardening Tools
🎮 Interactive Play
🎵 Live Music Performance
Getting to know students - individually and as a class constellation - sets the stage for everything else
Build executive functioning supports into lessons AND give students their own tools
AI opens unprecedented creative potentials when approached with human-centered ethics
Use insights to create learning environments that work for diverse needs from the start
Keep exploring, sharing, and refining approaches throughout the year
Share projects, feedback, questions, and ideas with each other