Birds of a Feather
Fall 2023 Vol. 1
You might have recently noticed the new icon added to your NISD Portal - Gemini! What is Gemini? Gemini is a versatile AI assistant designed to support you with a range of tasks, from drafting emails and summarizing articles to boosting your productivity.
Take Gemini for a test drive. Launch it from your portal and follow these simple steps to get started:
- Click Sign In.
- In the Terms & Privacy message, click Use Gemini.
- Click Continue.
- In the Enter a Prompt for Gemini field, start with one of these prompts:
- Copy and paste an email and ask Gemini to rewrite your text to make it clearer.
- Enter a learning objective and ask Gemini to offer ways to modify activities or to provide scaffolds for varying levels.
- Tweak your prompt to include specific TEKS or student interest.
- Ask Gemini to help you translate a short message or passage. It might not be 100% perfect, but now you have a starting point.
- Need help building an assessment? Ask Gemini to help you create a 5 question assessment based on a particular learning objective/TEKS.
Want to chat about AI and how you can use it as a thought partner/personal assistant? Let's schedule a time to chat!
Curious about using AI in the classroom with your students? According to NISD guidelines and the Terms of Service for many AI platforms, AI use in elementary classrooms has not been approved yet. Currently, only NISD high school students are permitted to use AI tools like in the classroom setting.
However, elementary students can still explore AI through the text-to-image tools available in Canva and Adobe Express. Let's talk about how you can utilize text-to-image tools to enhance instruction in your classroom.
Utilizing student groups can assist with assigning differentiated activities to ensure every students receives the right level of support and rigor.
To create a student group:
- Open up your Class Settings (wrench in the upper-right hand corner).
- Select Manage Student Groups.
- In the text box, name your student group and select Add Student Group.
- Customize the Group Icon for easy identification.
- Select the Students you want to add to the group and click the Green Checkmark to save your changes.
- To assign an activity to a group, tap Edit Students and Groups in the Assign Activity window and check the Student Group you want to assign the activity to.
- Tap the blue Save button when done.
Now, you are ready to quickly assign the right assignment to a group of students in just a few clicks.
