I've been wrestling with something more and more lately, and I have a feeling you might be too.

You may use artificial intelligence for your own purposes, and find it useful in lots of scenarios. You might even teach students the value of AI and ethical ways to use it, both now and in their future careers.

All the while, you're skeptical about where this AI stuff is headed, but it feels so embedded in everything that it can't be ignored.

And as you're watching kids and teens pull up ChatGPT the moment writing gets hard, something just isn't doesn't sit right with you.

You can't quite put your finger on why, but you know in your gut that something important is being lost.

I've spent the last few months refining an approach to talk about this with kids in a way that goes beyond, "that's cheating."

Because what exactly is being lost? What are students cheating themselves out of?

Here's what I landed on.

When students write, their brains light up in every direction. The prefrontal cortex makes decisions. The hippocampus encodes memories. Broca's area translates thoughts into language. Multiple regions fire together, creating new neural pathways.

This is literal brain building. Every time a student struggles to find the right word, they're strengthening cognitive pathways they'll use for the rest of their lives.

And when they ask AI to write, those regions of the brain are far less engaged, or not involved at all.

I know my own writing voice, because I've had decades of practice refining my craft before AI was invented. I can tell when AI's suggestions are effective, accurate, and fit my style of communication (and when they don't.)

But our young people are still figuring out who they are. And if AI becomes their default, they might never find their unique voice.

That's the loftier reasoning, I suppose. But equally compelling to me is this:

I want kids to dig into the reasons why this is true, and use that understanding to inform their own approach to artificial intelligence.

So, I created a mini-unit called "Stay Human" to help students understand how (and why) to protect their brain power in an AI world.

There are 3 ready-to-use lessons for gr. 6-12 and higher ed. The mini unit is designed to help students understand three key ideas:

Each lesson includes a slide deck with interactive questions and activities and an independent journal reflection. The mini unit culminates with a choice board so students can demonstrate understanding in whatever format works for them.

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As a subscriber to my email list, you can download this mini unit (valued at $8.99) for FREE through this Wednesday 10/22.

Here's how:

1. Click here and add the product to your cart.
2. Use coupon code STAYHUMAN at checkout for 100% off.

If you'd like to support my work financially, you can add the Ethical Student AI Use Guidelines mini-unit to your cart (it's discounted to $5.99.) Those lessons are a great precursor to the Stay Human unit, as they guide students to understand the how, why, and when of responsible AI use.

My thinking on all of this is still evolving, and I'll have a podcast out in a few weeks that goes in-depth on the topic. But I didn't want to delay putting this resource in your hands.

If you use this with your students, please let me know how it goes. You can reply to this email or send a new one to angela@truthforteachers.com. I would love to hear how your students responded and the impact it has on their thinking (as well as any feedback for how to improve the resource.)

Enjoy!

Angela

Angela Watson Stay connected on social media: ​​​​​​

P.O. Box 175, Bushkill, PA 18324
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