First a poem:
Winter’s chill has set in deep,
The Golden Girls are huddled close,
They sit around the fireplace,
And share their stories as they toast.
The Golden Girls are huddled close,
They sit around the fireplace,
And share their stories as they toast.
Dorothy’s wit is sharp as ice,
Blanche’s beauty, pure and bright,
Rose’s tales are full of wonder,
Sophia’s wisdom sets things right.
They laugh and love and reminisce,
On life’s joys and sorrows past,
Their bond is strong, their friendship true,
Their hearts are warm, despite the blast.
The fire crackles and glows,
As they sit and pass the time,
The Golden Girls, forever young,
In winter’s beauty, they shine.
-ChatGPT
Yes, I tried ChatGPT when it exploded on the scene last week. I didn’t do anything particularly clever or insightful. I asked it to write a winter poem about the Golden Girls. Personally, when a new platform or digital tool appears I like to have a little fun with it first to learn how it works. I get that out of my system and then look at it in terms of its impact on education.
Inevitably, someone has the knee-jerk reaction to “block it!” I do believe we need to be cautious about which platforms and companies we provide access to in terms of our district network. Additionally, I believe that inappropriate material should never be allowed on district devices. However, I am not a fan of shutting down a tool simply because we think the worst of our students.
Yes, students sometimes cheat. They will find ways around systems. This is not a new concept. Technology just exposes it more easily, and if the student really developed this particular skill we might not catch them at all. This is not a reason to assume every student is dishonest, lazy, or incapable of self-control when it comes to technology.
What if instead of thinking of all the ways students will misuse a tool, we step back and think of the ways we can guide them to using the tool to enhance their learning?
As I saw some of the more productive ways people were using ChatGPT (writing code or Excel formulas, explaining complex concepts for better understanding, etc.), I thought about how it could help students with both research and writing. I read “The End of High School English” and found what Herman proposed as the questions we should be asking intriguing. I agree. This isn’t about shutting down access because we are afraid of changing how we teach. This should be about taking the opportunity to see how AI can support the evolution of education for students learning in this reality.
If we aren’t focusing on the mechanics of writing or initial ideas that make up the content of the essay, what can we focus on? For starters, students should learn how to critically evaluate what ChatGPT created: How valid is it? Where did ChatGPT get its information? Does the student even have a similar point-of-view? These questions can be accompanied with research where we show students how to find information to verify or negate what ChatGPT wrote. Additionally, we can help students develop their voice since they aren’t tuning out over sentence structure and subject/verb agreement. I also think about the rich classroom discussion based on what students find and compare to ChatGPT.
A team member described ChatGPT this way, “It’s a calculator for English.” I liked that. Using calculators doesn’t mean younger students stop learning basic mathematical concepts. Calculators mean that as students advance, they can use the tool for the basics while we stretch their brains during the application of the concept they are learning.
We should not discount/block/avoid tools like ChatGPT because we are afraid of what they might mean for education. That sets a bad example for learning.
We should give it a try. We should explore all it can do. We should ask how something like ChatGPT could make students better learners, writers, and thinkers.
Today’s tea: Elinor Dashwood (one of my favorite Austen characters) from Adagio’s Fandom Signature Blends.
An Educational Cup of Tea 
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