AI is Spreading at MCS, for the Better

MIDDLEBURGH - The world of AI is spreading to all subjects at Middleburgh Central School.

At the November school board meeting, district math and special education teachers spoke about how the new technology is helping them in the classroom and Superintendent Mark Place detailed the highlights of the professional development meeting last month that centered around AI.

Seventh and eighth grade Jessica Schoenecker told school board members that AI has made a big difference in the classroom.

AI, she said, has helped teachers write weekly quizzes, "do nows," weekly reviews, and tests, as well as scan assessments, and other tasks. It saves a lot of time, she noted.,

Elementary school math teacher Terry Burton said he used to write the "do now" by hand but now uses AI.

After "a lot of input," he was able to use AI to create 160 different do-nows in minutes, he said. Teachers are "finding ways to make the workload easier," he told board members.

AI, he added, is a learning process. "It will be slow progress to see what it's capable of."

A big help has been with helping teachers and students get ready for this year's fourth grade state assessment by developing similar questions, Mr. Burton said.

Elementary Special Education, Bri Slater said AI has helped teachers personalize learning and also saves time.  "It takes time to get going, but then it goes quickly."

AI, she added, helps with revealing texts for different students.

AI is a tool that many teachers are still deciding how to use, she told school board members.

Secondary school special education teacher Josh Bornt said that with AI, teachers are "not teaching less, but teaching smarter."

Using AI, teachers are better able to create lessons for each student on that student's reading level. It is "more targeted" teaching, Mr. Bornt said.

AI, he added, helps you "create real world world problems to answer the student question, 'Where will I use this?'"

Superintendent Place said the main subject of the November 10 professional development day was the use of AI.

To show how easy it is to utilize AI, he used prompts and information to create a presentation for the board.

The presentation included a "call to action," an invitation to participate, "engage, be curious, and experiment," a weekly AI Minute that goes to all staff, and a pathway to policy.

Officials will get more feedback and discuss a policy with board members in December. A policy is expected to be adopted in the spring. Two surveys are going out soon.

The big question is, "When do we allow students to use AI?," Mr. Place said.