AI in Action for Educators

Standards are what students should know — but translating them into instruction, assessment, planning, and communication is often where the real work is. NotebookLM can help you turn standards from a static document into actionable teaching insights.

You don’t need to try all of these at once — even one use can save time and clarify your thinking.

Standards guide what students are expected to learn, but turning those standards into clear instruction, meaningful assessments, useful feedback, and understandable language for families takes significant time and mental energy.

This lesson matters because NotebookLM helps reduce that cognitive load.

By working with standards inside NotebookLM, teachers can:

• Clarify what a standard is truly asking students to know or do

• Check alignment between standards and assessments with confidence

• Plan instruction more intentionally

• Use consistent, standards-aligned language for feedback and communication

Importantly, NotebookLM does not replace professional judgment. It acts as a thinking partner — helping teachers make sense of dense standards documents more efficiently and with greater clarity. When standards feel clearer, teaching feels more focused, feedback feels more precise, and communication with students and families becomes more transparent.

This lesson shows how AI can support the work teachers already do — not add to it.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use NotebookLM to work more effectively with academic standards by:

• Clarifying what standards are really asking students to know and do

• Checking how assessments align with specific standards

• Identifying skills, prerequisites, and areas that may need more instructional time

• Using standards to support clearer feedback and grading

• Translating standards into plain language for students and families

• Seeing how standards connect across grade levels or subject areas

You’ll also see practical examples and ready-to-use prompts that show how NotebookLM can turn standards from a static document into a useful planning and reflection tool.

No advanced technical skills required — just documents you already use and questions you already ask.

This is a huge time-saver and helps ensure assessments accurately reflect expectations.

Try this:
Upload your standards and a quiz or test, then ask:
• “Which standards does each question align with?”
• “Are any standards not represented on this assessment?”
• “Which questions address higher-level thinking?”
This builds confidence that your assessments are purposeful.

Standards tell what to teach — NotebookLM helps clarify what that looks like instructionally.

Try this:
Upload standards + your unit outline and ask:
• “Based on these standards, what skills should students demonstrate?”
• “Which standards might need more instructional time?”
• “What prerequisite skills are assumed?”

Bonus: Built into NotebookLM are some great teacher tools - such as a Flashcard creator and a Mindmap builder. These are easy to create and you can share them with students through a link or your Google Classroom or Seesaw!

Teachers often say, “I think I know what this means…”

NotebookLM can make that explicit.

Questions to ask:
• “Explain this standard in plain language.”
• “What would meeting this standard look like in student work?”
• “What common misunderstandings might students have?”

Bonus: When you upload a lesson into NotebookLM, it can help identify the standards being addressed and even suggest additional standards-aligned lesson ideas.

Great for PLCs and collaborative planning.

Upload standards from multiple grade levels or subjects and ask:
• “How does this standard build from the previous grade?”
• “What should students already know?”
• “How does this connect to related standards in another subject?”

Makes standards-based grading clearer and more communicative.

Ask:
• “Based on these standards, what does ‘proficient’ look like?”
• “What language could I use for feedback aligned to this standard?”
• “How might I describe growth toward this standard?”

This is an often-overlooked but powerful use.

Ask:
• “How would I explain this standard to a parent in plain language?”
• “How could I explain this learning goal to students?”

Clear communication builds transparency and trust.

• “Explain this standard in plain language.”
• “What skills are students expected to demonstrate?”
• “What would meeting this standard look like in student work?”
• “Which assessment questions align with this standard?”
• “Are any standards missing from this assessment?”
• “How does this standard build from the previous grade level?”
• “How could I explain this standard to families?”

Here are the main Minnesota state resources teachers can access:

📎 Official Minnesota Academic Standards Pages

• Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards (MDE Standards page):
🔗 https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/stds/index.htm

• Minnesota Academic Standards Portal (all standards in one place):
🔗 https://standards.education.mn.gov/sds/mnsds/index.htm

These include the official academic standards documents (ELA, math, science, social studies, arts, PE, and links for early learning).

🧩 What NotebookLM Does Best 🧩

• Helps you make sense of long or complex documents

• Answers questions only using what you upload

• Acts like a thinking partner, not a decision-maker

🪜 How to Use NotebookLM (Simple Workflow) 🪜

Step 1: Upload a document

• Standards

• Unit outlines

• Assessments

• Articles, agendas, or PD materials

Step 2: Ask natural questions
Try the questions you already think, such as:

• “What does this really mean?”

• “What skills are implied here?”

• “What should students already know?”

• “Are we missing anything?”

Step 3: Use the response to refine your thinking

• Adjust instruction

• Revise assessments

• Clarify feedback

• Improve communication

That’s it. You don’t need to “master” it to benefit from it.

🛑 What NotebookLM Is Not 🛑

• ❌ A grading tool

• ❌ A curriculum writer

• ❌ A replacement for professional judgment

It supports your decisions — it doesn’t make them.

So far, we’ve focused on how AI can support teacher thinking—planning, sense-making, alignment, and clarity.

In the next lesson, we’ll shift the focus to student thinking.

Lesson 17 introduces Snorkl, an AI-supported tool that allows students to explain their thinking out loud while they work. Instead of just seeing an answer, teachers gain insight into how students arrived there.

We’ll explore how tools like Snorkl can:

• Reveal student reasoning and misconceptions

• Support formative assessment

• Reduce guessing about what students understand

• Provide more meaningful instructional feedback

This lesson isn’t about more tech—it’s about better visibility into learning.

To help me make these lessons most useful (and to use my time wisely), I’d love your input:

How do you prefer to receive these AI lessons?

☐ Short written newsletters like this

☐ Short video walkthroughs

☐ A combination of both

You don’t need to reply unless you’d like to—this is just helpful feedback.

And finally, if you would like a short video or Google Meet walkthrough of anything we cover, please let me know. I’m happy to create videos or meet virtually with you when you'd like help.

How To Use NotebookLM For Beginners In 2024

(NotebookLM Tutorial)

You can view all of the AI in Action for Educators lessons on our district website through this link: https://www.parkrapids.k12.mn.us/departments/technology-homepage/ai