Today's Lesson Brought to You by...ChatGPT
I asked it to write a lesson, and here are the results.
But first…a REMINDER!
More details are available in last week’s newsletter; click here to read it!
Now, on to today’s post.
I have been a bit reluctant and slow to jump on the ChatGPT wagon. I have seen and heard about its ability to create lesson plans for teachers, though, so my curiosity got the best of me this week and I gave it a test drive.
I went to the site and requested this:
Create an end-of-the-year lesson for an 8th grade English class
Below is what ChatGPT came up with, without any edits from me.
Title: Reflecting on our Growth as Readers and Writers
Objective: To reflect on our growth as readers and writers throughout the year and identify areas for continued improvement.
Materials:
Copies of students' reading and writing portfolios
Writing prompts for reflection
Large sheets of paper and markers for group discussion
Projector and screen for class discussion
Procedure:
Begin the class by distributing students' reading and writing portfolios. Ask students to take a few minutes to review their portfolios and reflect on their growth as readers and writers throughout the year.
Next, ask students to choose a writing prompt for reflection from the options provided. Writing prompts might include:
Describe how your reading habits have changed over the course of the year.
Identify a piece of writing that you are particularly proud of and explain why.
Discuss an area of writing that you would like to continue working on in the future.
Give students 20-30 minutes to write their reflections.
Once everyone has finished writing, divide the class into small groups of 4-5 students. Have each group discuss their reflections and identify common themes and areas for improvement.
Bring the class back together for a group discussion. Using a projector and screen, display the themes and areas for improvement identified by each group. Discuss as a class how these themes and areas connect to the larger goals of the course.
Finally, have students individually set goals for continued growth as readers and writers. These goals might include reading more diverse texts, writing more regularly, or working on a specific writing skill.
Assessment: Assessment for this lesson will be based on students' written reflections, their participation in group discussions, and their individual goal-setting. Teachers may also evaluate students' reading and writing portfolios to assess their growth over the course of the year.
This lesson provides a structured opportunity for students to reflect on their growth as readers and writers and set goals for continued improvement. It encourages collaboration and discussion among students, and provides an opportunity for teachers to evaluate student progress over the course of the year.
Honestly, I’m impressed at how much detail it provided. I’d want to jazz this up a little, but it’s not a bad jumping off point! I know there are a lot of fears about how something like ChatGPT can change things and give students access to a resource they might use to plagiarize, but it’s also beneficial for us to evaluate what it can do for educators in a positive way.
In the comments below, I’d love to know:
Would you ever consider using ChatGPT to help with lesson planning? Why or why not?
What hot takes do you have on ChatGPT?
Well...I didn't think about asking it that. I've used it to write depth and complexity questions based off of J. Taylor's icons, and I've asked it to write answers to class questions and copied and pasted those answers into ZeroGPT to see if ZeroGPT would catch the AI generated response. (It did not. Apparently, the more sophisticated the query, the harder it is for Zero GPT to catch.) I've used it to generate parent emails, including one about the dangers or concerns teachers may have about the use of ChatGPT.
And yes, I would use it to write a lesson plan--not all of the time--but there are moments when I need sub plans or I just need to conserve time and I'm overwhelmed with ideas or I'm stuck trying to figure out the best way to structure a lesson. This is great for adults who're able to go back and adjust and edit and personalize...not too much for students who are less inclined to do the same.
How do you teach responsible use? When will the first novel written by ChatGPT hit the shelves of Barnes and Noble?