artificial-intelligence – Moler's Musings

Rethinking the Questions We Ask – “Answers Will Vary”

A kid once turned in an answer to question 3 that just said: “Answers will vary.” It was clearly Googled and lifted from a teacher Weebly page of TCI answer keys.

I looked at it, shook my head, and said, “If you’re going to cheat, at least cheat correctly.” Then I realized the question I asked didn’t require them to think – it just needed Google… or now, from AI.

We’re in a world where students can Google or AI their way through any worksheet. So instead of harder questions, or. ore questions, we need better ones. Questions that actually require students to think, reflect, and decide.

Here’s how I’ve started reworking my questions:

Old Question	Better Version
What caused the American Revolution?	If you were a colonist, which British action would’ve pushed you to rebel—and why?
What did the Great Compromise do?	Which Constitutional compromise matters most today? Defend your choice.
What is Manifest Destiny?	Would you have supported Manifest Destiny in the 1840s? Explain your POV.
What were working conditions like?	Create a pro-factory ad. Then explain what you left out—and why.
What’s federalism?	Draw a symbol of federalism. Explain how it shows two governments sharing power.

These shifts help because AI can explain the facts, but it can’t choose for the student. When students have to justify, reflect, or take a position, it brings their voice into the work. AI might help them brainstorm, but it can’t replace their thinking.

Add Simple Reflection

Asking better questions helps, but building in quick metacognition takes it further. Here are 3 go-to prompts I use:

“What was the hardest part of this task—and how did you deal with it?”
“What part of your answer are you most confident in?”
“What changed your thinking today?”

Nothing over the top, just 1–2 sentences. We do it after Sketch & Tell-o, Thick Slides, Number Mania, or a writing task. It keeps the focus on how they thought, not just what they said.

Focus on the Process

During our Industrialization unit, I gave students a fake, rosy paragraph about factory life. Instead of writing something new, I had them revise it using evidence from our Number Mania activity (factory rules, fines, wages, etc.). The magic happened in the follow up: “What did you change—and why?”

That’s where I got real thinking. Students weren’t just reporting facts.
They were spotting spin, making decisions, and defending edits. That’s process.

Final Thought

If a chatbot can do the assignment better than your students, it’s time to change the assignment. Ask questions that need them. Build in time to reflect on the how, not just the what. Focus less on “finishing” and more on thinking out loud.

And when you start making these shifts, it’s eye-opening to see how much students have been relying on Google or AI to get by. The shortcuts get exposed, but so does the opportunity to help them become real thinkers.

AI and EduProtocols

Fray-I: Teaching Students to Question AI Like a Historian

The first time a student told me, “This sounds smart, but I don’t think it’s right,” in response to an AI-generated answer—I knew we were onto something.

That moment sparked Fray-I—a thinking routine I’ve been developing to help students analyze AI responses, not just accept them. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s already changing how my students interact with both history and technology.

Here’s the flow:

Students engage with content – a primary source, textbook excerpt, or short video.
They ask a question based on the reading or viewing—either one they create or one I provide (especially if the source leaves something unanswered or unclear).
They run that question through an AI tool like ChatGPT or MagicSchool.
They get a response and analyze/evaluate.

Here’s what Fray-I looks like:

Claim: What is the AI saying? What’s the main idea or argument?
Evidence Used: What support, facts, or examples does it include?
What’s Missing?: What voices, perspectives, or key historical context are left out?
Push It Further: How could this answer be stronger? More accurate? More complete? Would you use this response?

This turns AI into the text—not the shortcut.
Students question the bot like they would a biased newspaper article, a government document, or a historical speech.

Why Fray-I works:

It puts students in the driver’s seat. They’re not copying—they’re critiquing.
It reinforces essential social studies skills: sourcing, bias, perspective, and evidence-based reasoning.
It meets students where they are—working with the tools they’re already curious about.

And honestly? The engagement is different.
When students start noticing what the AI got wrong, what it ignored, or how it could be improved, they feel ownership.

Fray-I isn’t finished. I’m still tweaking sentence starters and scaffolds to support all learners. But it’s already doing what I hoped: Helping students think like historians in a world where information is instant—but not always insightful.

Here is a Fray-I Template

Quick Thoughts

Quick Thought: Rethinking AI With Less Hype, More Meaning

When AI first came out, I was intrigued. I started thinking of ways to use it creatively to help me. Ways to boost engagement. Ways to support learning. I was the guy making presentations with titles like “10 Ways to Use ChatGPT in Class” or “5 Ways to Increase Engagement with AI.” And those were useful—at the time.

But we’re past that now.

AI is here. It’s constantly evolving. It’s inevitable. Students will use it. So I’ve been trying to use it with them—not just for me. I’ve been using MagicSchool to help kids generate ideas, model how to write prompts, and get personalized feedback. I’ve shown them how to paraphrase AI-generated content instead of copying it. I’ve trying to show them to to analyze the content AI spits out. I’ve used Class Companion to give them feedback on writing, hoping they’ll read it and revise.

Some do.

Some don’t.

Some use it to improve. Some copy and paste. Some avoid it entirely and insist on thinking for themselves. Some don’t engage at all. It’s like a mini snapshot of society—some are all-in, some resisting, some just watching.

The real question now is: How do we use AI meaningfully? How do we turn it into a thought partner—not a shortcut?

Here are two ways I’ve started doing that in class:

Use AI to Practice the Process, Not Just Produce the Product
One of the most effective ways I’ve used AI in class is to treat it as a starting point, not the final product. I have students use AI to generate a response, then paraphrase it in their own words, critique what’s missing, and decide what they’d keep or change. This process helps them engage with the content, reflect on their own thinking, and develop stronger writing and reasoning skills. Whether it’s analyzing a historical event or building an argument, the focus is always on using AI to support the learning—not replace it.

Evaluate the Feedback Itself
One thing I do regularly: students create a slide summarizing their thinking, screenshot it, and upload it to MagicSchool. AI gives feedback, but here’s the key—they don’t just revise based on it. They evaluate it. Was it helpful? Confusing? Did it miss the point entirely? This makes feedback a thinking task. It gives students the power to decide what advice is worth using—and what isn’t. They’re not blindly following directions; they’re making choices. That’s real learning.

AI and EduProtocols

Let Them Rally: What Teaching 5-Year-Olds Tennis Taught Me About AI

In 2006, when I first started teaching tennis, I ran a bunch of classes for 3 to 5 year olds. We had all the right equipment—mini nets, low-compression balls, small racquets—the stuff that actually made sense for little kids. But I was still running drills like we were using regular tennis balls on a full court – stuff that was way too big and too much for where they were.

One day, my boss—who also happened to be a great mentor—watched one of the classes and asked, “Why don’t you have these kids rally?”

I kind of shrugged and said, “They’re not ready for that. They’ll struggle. What are they going to get out of it?”

To which he replied, “Maybe this week they get one ball in a row. Maybe next week they hit two. Maybe the week after that, none. But you’re giving them a chance. You’re giving them the opportunity to build the skill.”

That moment stuck with me for years. Recently, it’s been popping into my head again. Not for tennis. Rather, because of AI.

When AI tools first started popping up in education, I wasn’t sure what to think. I didn’t want it to become a shortcut. I didn’t want kids to stop thinking. I didn’t want to lose the craft of teaching and learning.

That conversation about rallying stayed with me. I realized—maybe AI is the ball. Maybe we just need to let kids rally.

Now I’m using tools like Magic School, Class Companion, and Snorkl in class. Not just for the sake of using them, but to give students opportunities.

Let them try. Let them fail. Let them get one good idea this week, maybe two next week.

Class Companion gives them real feedback on their writing—feedback they actually use. Snorkl lets them explore thinking with AI scaffolds. Magic School helps them dig deeper and ask better questions. These tools aren’t doing the work for them—they’re helping them build skills.

But here’s the key: we still have to be the coach.

We’ve got to teach them how to interact with AI, not just copy and paste. We’ve got to help them ask better questions, process feedback, revise, and think. That’s what AI literacy is really about.

So no—AI isn’t perfect. But if we avoid it because we think kids can’t handle it… we’re missing the whole point.

They can’t rally if we never give them the ball.

Let them rally. Stand on the sideline. Feed them another one. That’s how they grow.

AI and EduProtocols

Things Are Getting Expensive…Here’s Some Useful Free Versions Of AI Tools

Things are getting expensive. Teachers don’t wanna pay for stuff. Free versions are usually watered down or full of ads. I’m just here to share some tools that have useful free versions. These are ones I’ve been using and they’ve helped me plan better, save time, and still give students solid feedback and learning experiences.

I’ll keep it simple: what it is, why I like it, and how I use it (with a solid teaching idea thrown in—usually paired with EduProtocols that make sense).

Class Companion

Even with the free version, Class Companion gives your students feedback like a champ. It tracks writing progress over time, breaks feedback down into categories like organization and evidence, and gives consistent scoring. You can assign short-answer questions or extended responses, turn off copy/paste (huge during state testing season), and export their progress.

Why I like it: I don’t have to manually grade everything and I still get useful data. Feedback is fast and targeted. It’s perfect for helping kids write better without burning myself out.

Teaching Idea: Pair with Nacho Paragraph. After doing a Number Mania, reading, or Frayer-based content build, have students write a one-paragraph response that argues a claim. Class Companion gives AI feedback on the claim, evidence, and reasoning. It’s also great after a MiniReport—combine two sources, write a response, and let AI provide revision tips. Great test prep without being test prep.

Brisk

Brisk is like having an AI sidekick built right into Google Docs and Slides. You can highlight text and ask it to simplify or raise the reading level, turn a website into a quick Google Slide presentation, or even generate questions. You can use it to leave AI-generated feedback on student work, but I mostly use it for materials prep.

Why I like it: It’s fast, doesn’t take me to a new platform, and it helps me tailor materials for students at different levels in seconds.

Teaching Idea: Use Brisk to level a source before a Cyber Sandwich. Take a tough article, simplify it for one group of students, and leave the original for another. Have them annotate, partner-share, and write a summary. You can even ask Brisk to generate questions for a thin slide or fast and curious warm-up.

Curipod

This is my go-to when I want a fast, interactive lesson that looks good but doesn’t take hours to make. Curipod lets you create engaging, Nearpod-style lessons. You can add open-ended questions, quick polls, drag-and-drop, even AI-generated reflections or historical figure Q&A simulations. The drawing and writing feedback features are a huge bonus.

Why I like it: I can turn a warmup into a 20-minute meaningful discussion with a couple clicks. Students actually enjoy the format and get to respond anonymously or collaboratively.

Teaching Idea: One way you could try using Curipod is by adding a few Sketch and Tell prompts throughout the lesson. Students draw and write a quick response, and the platform gives them feedback right away. After the Curipod, you might follow it up with a Thick Slide—have students share four important facts, two visuals, and a comparison. It’s a simple way to turn the lesson into something more student-centered and reflective.

Final Thoughts

These three AI tools won’t replace your teaching—but they do make it faster, easier, and more manageable. You don’t need 12 tools, and you definitely don’t need to drop $25/month to get value.

Try one this week. Layer it into an EduProtocol you already use. Let the AI handle some of the prep or feedback so you can focus more on the conversations and connections that matter.