Welcome to Teacher’s AIed: the newsletter about AI in the K12 Classroom.

How AI will affect K12 Classrooms is complex. Each week, we curate knowledge for educators about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of AI and K12 education.

In this week’s edition, we continue our SWOT Analysis of AI and K12 series by overviewing the strengths. If you haven’t read the introduction article to this series yet, take a look here.

Right Leg, Left Leg

At the beginning of every school year, I would ask my middle school students to complete a “learner profile” so that I could get to know them better. I would ask about their favorite subjects, their goals for the year, their interests, etc. However, for this story, the most relevant question is: “What are your strengths?”

Typically students would respond, “working in groups,” “using the Chromebooks,” or “creativity.” All fantastic skills that students can leverage once they hit tough spots throughout the year.

Yet, the best response I ever received was “Right Leg. Left Leg.”

It came from one of my 7th graders who was an excellent athlete - as his response attests to. While these weren’t necessarily the academic strengths I was looking for, I valued his answer nonetheless. If anything, it served as a reminder of what was most important to that student, and how I, as his teacher, could personalize my teaching to play to his strengths.

I share this anecdote as a reminder of the transformational leverage a strengths-based perspective affords. It is important for teachers to not only know, but also personalize instruction to align with student strengths. We want to apply a similar perspective in this SWOT analysis and subsequent blog posts. The question then becomes: what are the strengths of the K12 system and how can they be leveraged to improve teaching and learning?

K12’s Many Strengths

As AI tools become more integrated into our lives, we see the K12 Education system as a critical ally in preparing the next generation for an AI-augmented future. K-12 education serves as a launchpad for young minds, fostering connections, shaping characters, and igniting the flames of curiosity. The many successful elements of K12 education brings up the question: What strengths can be leveraged as AI proliferates academic environments? In this post, we will name the most important strengths we see in our K12 system.