The Human Elements still important in the AI-enabled classroom
here's some things we've built into our classrooms to keep the important human elements even while we incorporate AI tools
where the human is still important:
taste and curiosity. taste taste taste will continue standing out in the current blandness of AI slop
collective listening and feedback from peers
continue building a judgement-free space so students are comfortable sharing their creations
paying attention to the nuanced context of the classrooms' culture. who is friends with who. who has tension with who. the relational dynamics are important to continue knowing.
the ai and internet (youtube videos, etc) teaching the technical skill but our teaching artists still are the ultimate facilitator and 1:1 feedback giver
the biggest mid-term challenge in this era:
teachers getting lazy and not exactly replaced by AI, but outsourcing the hard parts of planning, feedback, and interpretation without engaging deeply.
the instinctual:
“ChatGPT, give me a lesson plan.” Then running it as-is. Result: a plan that ignores all the above: students, resources, classroom culture, the teachers' nuanced goals.
try a reflective loop. Before class:
set the artistic goal
add class context and constraints
treat AI output as a rough draft, not a script
during class:
Co-creating with students reminds them the magic of human teamwork
let AI suggest repertoire, warm-ups, or visual prompts
IMPROV: watch closely for what lands and what falls flat, then improvise where necessary
after class:
judgment-free debrief with yourself or peers
make two lists:
What went well: all the good and positive cues and vibes
What didn't go well: plan assumed gear you do not have or missed the class’s cultural mix and skill levels.
build an AI devil’s advocate. for each student or activity, ask the tool for two reads:
evidence of progress
an alternative or pitfall to watch for. this counters confirmation bias and the Pygmalion effect.
this SHOULD just be set in your settings prompt of your go-to ai tool so it's always being a devil's advocate for you
worried about over-analysis killing spontaneity?
use AI summaries for insight, not scores. this can be important to protect risk-taking and play amongst students.
here's one of our music lesson examples:
you focus on tone color, breath, emotion
student logs a quick reflection: what felt different, what improved, what still needs work
visual arts aspects of our classes example:
AI generates mood boards or composition studies
you curate references, add cultural context, and lead critique
devil’s advocate flags stylistic bias or derivativeness, prompting students to push their voice
the tl;dr of things to think about:
track risk-taking, originality, ensemble cohesion, quality of critique, and technique tied to expression
try the reflective loop and devil’s advocate this week