By Chad Lesausky
chad@sunriseclassroom.ai
X.com: @CLesausky
LinkedIn
Looking for a guest speaker to do an AI talk at your next faculty meeting? I’m your guy!
What up educators, principals, random curriculum people with clipboards? This is your AI intervention. Listen, AI is everywhere now. Your students are using it. Your teachers are scared of it. And you? You're trying to roll it out in your district like it’s a new brand of gluten-free chicken nuggets in the cafeteria. Chill, I got you.
Here’s a 10-step plan to bring AI into your school district intelligently. No robots taking over. No Skynet. Just solid, practical advice from someone who has sat through enough faculty meetings watching eyes roll as the principal announces the district’s newest strategic plan for closing the achievement gap.
1. Ask: "Why Are We Doing This?" Seriously.
You can’t just throw ChatGPT into a lesson plan and yell “Innovation!” Are we trying to save teachers time? Help kids write better essays? Or are we just doing this ‘cause another district did it and their TikTok blew up? Be honest!
2. Train Your Teachers Like You Actually Like Them
Teachers already do everything. They’re grading papers, coaching volleyball, and judging science fair projects, sometimes all in one day. So when you introduce AI, don’t make them figure it out alone. Offer workshops, asynchronous training modules, maybe even snacks. Teachers love snacks. The best workshop snacks I ever had were the focaccia sandwiches they served at an after school teacher induction training, but I digress.
3. Start Tiny. Teeny-Tiny. Like Baby Yoda Tiny.
Don’t go full “AI Everything” on day one. Pilot it in one grade level, one class, or with that one teacher who’s already into AI and commutes to school on an electric bike. Learn. Then scale up.
4. Students Are Already Using AI. Let's Just Admit That
Yeah. That suspiciously perfect essay? That’s ChatGPT. Instead of banning it and pretending we live in 2004, teach kids to use it wisely. Like spellcheck on steroids. With ethics. If your school doesn’t already teach a course in digital literacy then now is a great time to at least train the librarian to incorporate AI literacy in their How-to-Use-the-Library pep talk to students at the beginning of the year.
5. Form A Cool AI Committee (Without Making It Lame)
Bring together a group of teachers, students, parents, and maybe that one dad at the PTA meetings that always wears a Bitcoin t-shirt.
6. Be Real About the Creepy Stuff
AI collects data. AI makes decisions. AI sometimes accidentally writes offensive poems. Talk about it. Address privacy. Set boundaries. Don’t wait until an angry parent goes full Karen in the parent Facebook group.
7. Make It Fair or Don't Bother
Look, if only the rich schools get the good AI tools, then what are we doing? Equity matters. Roll it out in a way that helps all kids, whether they’re in Beverly Hills or Los Banos.
8. Make the AI Fit the Lesson. Not the Other Way Around
AI tools should help enhance your curriculum, not throw it into a blender and hit puree. Let teachers use it in ways that make sense for their students. We’re not trying to replace Mrs. Quintero. Mrs. Quintero rules!
9. Track Actual Learning, Show 'Em the Data
Did the student actually understand the material? Or did AI just make them look like they did? Use real metrics. Feedback from teachers. Student work samples. Also, maybe one emoji-based exit ticket per week, just for fun.
10. Never Forget: Teaching Is Still a Human Thing
AI can support. It can summarize. It can even make a decent lesson outline. But it can’t high-five a kid after they solve a tough math problem. It can’t tell when a student is having a rough day. It can’t be human. And that’s still the most powerful thing in the classroom.
AI in schools = great if you do it right. Start with purpose. Train people. Keep it ethical. Make it human. And don’t let your school board go full Black Mirror on day one. You got this champ! Now let’s get to work.
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