Leveraging AI for High Attention and Commitment
In 1936 Dale Carnegie wrote a book called How to Win Friends and Influence People. It went on to sell over 30 million copies. It still sells today and is probably one of the best books on how to improve your social skills.
In the book, he shares a quote that resonated with me so much, it was an epiphany in the middle of my student-teaching experience:
“I am very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that for some strange reason, fish prefer worms. So when I went fishing, I didn’t think about what I wanted. I thought about what they wanted. I didn’t bait the hook with strawberries and cream. Rather, I dangled a worm or grasshopper in front of the fish.”
Do you bait your students with strawberries and cream? Do you focus on what interests you when you teach? Or do you understand that our learners want something else?
This simple mental exercise changed the way I taught forever.
I asked myself before every lesson, in every unit: What are the strawberries and cream vs the worms?
There were plenty of times I could connect the two, but leading the learning from a place of empathy always had more impact than what I had to “cover” in the lesson.
Find out what engages your students (you can do this from conversations, interactions, surveys, and so much more) and use it! Maybe it is something to do with technology, maybe it is a connection to something in pop culture—but whatever it is, use it to boost the learning experience. Great teachers find new ways every year of delivering content that would otherwise be stale.
It’s About the Learners
When we think of “engagement” I always go back to Schlechty’s work and research.
Engagement = High Attention and High Commitment
Hight attention without commitment is strategic compliance. And compliance can only get you so far in the learning process.
It took me a while to realize that as a teacher, I was spending most of the classroom time on strawberries and cream, and not enough time casting worms.
Numerous education studies have highlighted the critical importance of relevance in learning, demonstrating its positive impact on student motivation, engagement, and academic outcomes.
Research consistently shows that increasing the relevance of course content and assignments leads to improved student motivation and engagement. Assor et al. (2002) and Canning and Harackiewicz (2015) found that connecting learning content to students' daily lives is more effective than providing arbitrary rationales for future importance.
Studies have found that enhancing the relevance of our content is associated with:
· Greater perceived course relevance
· Increased motivation for class participation
· Improved perceptions of learning
· Higher levels of course satisfaction
· Enhanced academic achievement and performance
Hulleman et al. (2010) and Rosenzweig et al. (2020) demonstrated that when students can identify subject material/content as relevant, they are more likely to find assignments meaningful, increasing motivation, engagement, and achievements.
Recent research in 2022 has identified a "relevance gap" in education. A study by YouScience found that many students struggle to find meaning or career direction from their education, with around 66 percent of students not engaged with school.
This is nothing new. The importance of relevance in education has deep roots, with influential thinkers like Maria Montessori and John Dewey emphasizing the need to connect education to students' capacities, interests, and experiences as early as 1897.
When I focused on meaningful and relevant opportunities for learning, everything changed for the learners. And as a teacher, when the kids are excited, invested, and committed to the learning process–everything changes for us, too.
Using AI to Engage With Attention, And Commitment
If we are going to use Artificial Intelligence to save teachers, school leaders, and others time—we should also focus on ways to use it for engagement purposes. Below are five ways I’ve shared with staff in workshops all around the country that focus on high attention and high commitment when using AI with a purpose.
1: Content and Substance
Many times my kids come home talking about a story or meaningful experience that their teacher has told them or provided in class. These stories and experiences are simply shared in a way that builds the relationship and also makes my kid see the teacher as more human.
When we share experiences it activates key parts of our brain that want us to listen and engage -- and allows us to be empathetic or connect our own life experiences to what has been shared.
AI can help teachers create more meaningful and relevant content by:
Generating personalized learning materials tailored to individual student interests and backgrounds
Analyzing current events and trends to incorporate timely, real-world examples into lessons
Curating diverse, culturally responsive content that resonates with students' experiences
Favorite AI Application: Magic School —> Make It Relevant Tool.
Navigate to MagicSchool’s “Make It Relevant” tool, add some details about your content, lesson, and students— then get ideas to bring this content to life in meaningful and relevant ways.
Better yet, tie it into something that is meaningful to you as an educator, and we’ve got seriously attention and commitment.
2: Authentic Connections
In each class they've had multiple opportunities to interact out in the community or in a way that connects to our local community. Whether writing, producing a play/skit or presentation for the community---even interacting with the natural habitats of the community.
These experiences of going beyond the classroom (and traditional curriculum) spark interest and connection. They also give the teacher and students lots of talking points to refer back to, laugh about, and build on for the future.
My son loved putting on a show during the Wax Museum for all the younger and older students (and parents) who came out to ask him questions.
My daughter enjoyed going to a community college to present on her group's project for a national event.
These are just two of the many experiences where their teachers found new audiences for the kids to create for and share their learning with in meaningful ways. Instant engagement!
AI can connect learning to real-world applications by:
Generating case studies and scenarios based on current events or local issues
Creating simulations of real-world problem-solving situations
Suggesting community partnerships or expert connections related to course content
Favorite AI Application: Perplexity.ai Real-Time Search.
If you have ever used ChatGPT or MagicSchool and been happy with the ideas, but not sure where to go next due to lack of linked sources and follow up resources—then Perplexity is for you. It’s the best combo between a Google Search and ChatGPT search, where you can get information on local events, community connections, and real-world scenarios that connect to your content and class.
3: Talking About Transfer
Transfer. I don't think my kids have ever heard that word used in a classroom. However, they have heard many times WHY they are learning something and HOW they can use this knowledge, understanding, and skill in their future.
Talking with kids about their current learning experiences and why they matter in the near and distant future is a huge piece of the engagement puzzle. These teachers do a masterful job of sharing how their learning will transfer.
AI can generate realistic, personalized scenarios that challenge students to apply their learning in diverse contexts:
Create virtual environments where students solve problems using course concepts
Adapt scenarios based on individual student interests and career goals
Provide immediate feedback on decision-making and problem-solving approaches
Favorite AI Application: SchoolAI Spaces/Sidekick
Want your students to use AI, but worried they are only going to use it to find answers, instead of learning? Enter School AI. SchoolAI spaces are teacher created chatbots that are designed for your learning purpose and task. You’ll provide the context, the guardrails (“Keep students on task”, “Do NOT do the work for them”), and the AI will create a back and forth conversation that can have students solve problems, go through specific tasks, take assessments, and transfer their learning to unique challenges.
4: Allowing Real Agency
There is no secret formula to student engagement, however, I’ve consistently seen agency at the top of the list. It may be more correlation, than causation, but when students own the learning—engagement is most likely present.
Think of the best learning experiences you ever went through as a student. Did you have any choice or ownership? Was it a challenge you felt compelled to take on? Maybe a connection to something meaningful?
Now think of the best teaching experiences you’ve ever led. I bet those same features of student agency were present at some point, because it also gets us excited about the learning happening.
AI can enhance student agency by:
Generating multiple options for assignments or projects that meet learning objectives
Creating personalized "learning menus" with various paths to mastery
Suggesting relevant resources based on individual student interests and goals
Favorite AI Application: Your Favorite AI VoiceMode (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok, MagicSchool, SchoolAI etc)
Hear me out. When we get students talking to AI and using it for multiple purposes, wonderful things can happen. It becomes a creative planning partner, instead of something kids use to cheat. If you are working with younger learners, the SchoolAI custom space you create can be used in voice mode, and tailored to your purposes, where the whole chat is visible to the teacher.
5: Meaningful Feedback
It's not all roses in learning. Plenty of times my kids have dropped the ball on something, made a mistake, or tried and struggled with something in these classes.
They kind of feedback you receive from teachers in these moments matter. Kids are always wondering if you believe they can achieve, and if you are going to be there to help them on that journey. When we make it a priority to share that a) we do believe and b) we are right here holding them to a high standard and helping them reach it--then powerful learning happens.
AI can help celebrate student growth and achievements by:
Generating personalized progress reports highlighting growth and accomplishments
Creating digital badges or certificates for skill master
Suggesting specific, actionable feedback based on student work analysis
Favorite AI Application: Curipod
I’ve used Curipod for so many different uses cases. To take my boring presentation and make it an interactive class activity. To check for understanding at the beginning or end of class. To create game-based situations around our content for the lesson or unit. But, my favorite way to use it is for student feedback. Built into Curipod is AI Feedback question types where you can upload the question and criteria (rubric etc) for students to receive immediate, actionable, and specific feedback based on their response. I can see all these responses as well, and share out with the class. It is awesome.
Final Thoughts
What do all of these ideas and use-cases have in common: Using AI for a purpose beyond saving time.
We have to shift our thinking towards a broader definition of AI use in the classroom. Does this mean we use AI and tech for everything? Of course not.
There will be plenty of learning experiences that should not include technology or AI. Believe me, I love cardboard and duct tape for creative learning over just about anything else.
However, this is the world we are living in. AI is all around us and being used by companies, organizations, institutions, and individuals at an increasing rate. Let’s make sure we use it for purposes of engagement and empowerment when we have the opportunity, instead of seeing it as only a time-saving technology.
More attention. More commitment. Better engagement.