Primary Education and AI – Insights with Shannon Cunningham

🎙️ Podcast Episode: Primary Education and AI – Insights with Shannon Cunningham

Adam Peterson [00:00:01]:

You can do that. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. I am Adam, here with Deedee. Good to see you.

 

Deedee Wills [00:00:08]:

Good to see you. Good to see you.

 

Adam Peterson [00:00:10]:

We. We’ve got another guest coming on with us. Do you want to tell everyone who’s joining us today? I mean, I want to, but you can. She’s a really awesome friend of both of ours, but go ahead. You give her the.

 

Deedee Wills [00:00:21]:

Let’s arm wrestle over this. So Shannon Cunningham is somebody that we met. I know, probably eight or nine years ago. I don’t know. It seems like a long time ago. Although she seems eternally young. I don’t know how she does that, but she’s an instructional coach. She’s an educator. She’s based out of North Texas. She works all over the place with. With teachers, and she has this passion of bringing educational technology into the classroom. So I’m super excited to see what she has to share with us.

 

Adam Peterson [00:00:51]:

Yep. Let’s do it.

 

Deedee Wills [00:00:53]:

Let’s do it.

 

Adam Peterson [00:00:55]:

Now she just has to come in here.

 

Deedee Wills [00:00:57]:

Yeah. She said she was updating her technology or her Zoom or something.

 

Adam Peterson [00:01:01]:

Her Zoom account.

 

Deedee Wills [00:01:02]:

Yeah.

 

Adam Peterson [00:01:04]:

Yeah. I had not seen her. I told her when we saw each other in Schomburg, I’m like, I don’t know if I’ve seen you in person since Vegas.

 

Deedee Wills [00:01:13]:

Since Vegas.

 

Adam Peterson [00:01:15]:

Like, we’ve talked and we talked online and we’ve talked, texted back and forth, but it’s. It had been a minute.

 

Deedee Wills [00:01:21]:

I know. It’s. I mean, I was lucky she came and hung out with us. So, I mean, that was really nice. But she’s such a beautiful spirit, you know? Like, she sort of like. I feel like she and Liana are these, like, little precious flower people. Like, I just love them, but, you know, you can’t help but feel good in their presence. Right. They. They just make you feel good being.

 

Adam Peterson [00:01:48]:

That’s what Trish and I were saying after we heard about everything with Bryce, and, like, we both were, like, first of all, wrong. Second of all, how to someone like that, like, she’s as kind as can be. She’s gorgeous. She’s just smart.

 

Deedee Wills [00:02:03]:

Yeah. Generous. I mean, just a generous spirit. Yeah.

 

Adam Peterson [00:02:09]:

I mean, we.

 

Deedee Wills [00:02:11]:

Yeah.

 

Adam Peterson [00:02:12]:

Because we hung out with them quite a bit in Vegas. Like, Trish and I. I don’t know.

 

Deedee Wills [00:02:15]:

That I ever remember meeting him.

 

Adam Peterson [00:02:17]:

He. The last. I think it was the last year there he was with. And we went, like, out to lunch together, the four of us, along with, like, Lori and her daughter, and spent quite a bit of time with him. And you never. And she. I We were talking about this in Schomburg. I was like. I never would have guessed. She’s like, adam. I wouldn’t have either. Like, he.

 

Deedee Wills [00:02:35]:

You.

 

Adam Peterson [00:02:35]:

He sold us all.

 

Deedee Wills [00:02:36]:

Yeah, that’s what narcissists do. They make you believe. They make you believe. Yeah. I mean, I think that last year I was. I wasn’t gonna present because I was like. I don’t know. I think I was just fried out. And then Esgi asked me to do their booth, so I did it with Katie and who else?

 

Adam Peterson [00:02:59]:

I don’t know. Who would have been there? Like, the vehicle. Been there.

 

Deedee Wills [00:03:02]:

I think the vehicle was in there. Yeah, but it was. I mean, it was. Oh, no, not Chris. There she is. Not Chris Pambano. He wasn’t there.

 

Adam Peterson [00:03:11]:

Yeah, he kind of bailed.

 

Deedee Wills [00:03:12]:

Whatever. Chase. Chase.

 

Adam Peterson [00:03:14]:

Oh, yeah. Thomas worked with him. He was a good dude.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:03:17]:

Hello? One sec. Okay.

 

Adam Peterson [00:03:19]:

Hi.

 

Deedee Wills [00:03:21]:

We were saying nice things about you, so no worries. No worries.

 

Adam Peterson [00:03:25]:

Yeah. Yes. So can you hear us?

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:03:30]:

Yes, now I can hear you.

 

Deedee Wills [00:03:32]:

My yeti. Do you have.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:03:34]:

Oh, no, your. Is yours a yeti?

 

Deedee Wills [00:03:35]:

My yeti.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:03:37]:

Weird.

 

Deedee Wills [00:03:38]:

I just have it mounted.

 

Adam Peterson [00:03:39]:

Mine’s a. A road.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:03:42]:

Okay. Is my audio. Okay, Now, I don’t know if I’m coming through the yeti or not, but.

 

Adam Peterson [00:03:47]:

Can you check your. Go down to your little microphone?

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:03:52]:

So when I like, that’s how I was able to hear y’all. Because before I had it set to.

 

Adam Peterson [00:03:57]:

What’s it say? Your microphone is set as well?

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:03:59]:

That’s playback. But yeah, let me change it to that. Hang on this audio. Okay, so let me do now. Okay. Can you hear me? Yeah, you can.

 

Adam Peterson [00:04:10]:

I can just show your microphone set.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:04:12]:

To your Yeti, but see, now I can’t hear you.

 

Deedee Wills [00:04:14]:

I just sent you.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:04:15]:

I just sent you the input.

 

Deedee Wills [00:04:18]:

Oh, she can’t hear me. Check your phone.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:04:22]:

Okay, let me select the microphone. Oh, yes, let me do that.

 

Adam Peterson [00:04:29]:

Just need to sign. See?

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:04:32]:

Thank you. Yes. Yeah, because that’s what I need to do. Okay.

 

Adam Peterson [00:04:38]:

Now we can’t hear you.

 

Deedee Wills [00:04:39]:

Yeah, I can’t hear you.

 

Adam Peterson [00:04:43]:

No, I love it that we’re recording this right now too. No.

 

Deedee Wills [00:05:00]:

I sent a picture of my screen to the text. I don’t know if that helps you at all. I see your lips moving. Eh.

 

Adam Peterson [00:05:12]:

Eh. I love it that you’re still talking, though.

 

Deedee Wills [00:05:19]:

We will. We will jump up and down when we hear you.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:05:21]:

I know. Okay. Can you hear me? Okay. Is it clear, though? Because I don’t think it’s through my yeti, which. That’s fine.

 

Adam Peterson [00:05:27]:

It’s fine. Okay. We can hear you. All right.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:05:31]:

Okay. Y’all wouldn’t believe this. My library. Because Dee Dee is the one who gave me the amazing tip to do work at the library and rent a room. Oh, it’s closed on Thursdays. No, I thought there was a glitch, because, like, you can only reserve it 24 hours in advance. And I wasn’t worried about it. I never have an issue. I was like, oh, their system must be down. And then it was like, oh, they don’t. They’re on. Like, how random is that?

 

Deedee Wills [00:05:53]:

Thursday. Closed on a Thursday. That’s funny. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:05:57]:

But as long as y’all can hear me.

 

Deedee Wills [00:05:58]:

Okay, I can hear you. You’re good. You’re good.

 

Adam Peterson [00:06:03]:

They’re closed.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:06:05]:

I know.

 

Adam Peterson [00:06:05]:

That’s interesting. In the library, my mom’s here, so.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:06:08]:

Walker is in his room singing and doing his thing.

 

Adam Peterson [00:06:10]:

So awesome.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:06:11]:

I am going to tell her really quick, though, that I’m on.

 

Adam Peterson [00:06:15]:

Those are the best interruptions. Don’t worry about it.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:06:17]:

Oh, my gosh.

 

Deedee Wills [00:06:18]:

Our dogs are in our episodes all the time, so.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:06:21]:

Okay, good.

 

Deedee Wills [00:06:22]:

I mean, not that.

 

Adam Peterson [00:06:23]:

Not that she’s relating Walker to a.

 

Deedee Wills [00:06:25]:

Dog that has to have a leash on him, but it’s okay.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:06:29]:

Our dogs are getting into all the things.

 

Adam Peterson [00:06:31]:

Don’t kick your child. Like, Didi kicked her dog, though.

 

Deedee Wills [00:06:33]:

I did not. I tapped. I tapped with my butt.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:06:35]:

Did not kick my dog. I love tap.

 

Adam Peterson [00:06:38]:

We used to have a phrase, my neighbor teacher and I, we’d always go into. We had, like, this middle pod room between us that we used to use, like, for technology and stuff. And we would go in there all the time and just go, don’t hurt the puppies. Don’t hurt the puppies. Don’t hurt the puppies. Seriously, on days when we were having those days.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:06:55]:

I’m gonna turn off this space heater, though, so you don’t get background noise.

 

Deedee Wills [00:06:58]:

Oh, yeah.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:07:00]:

The weather’s been insane. It was like, I had my air conditioning on yesterday, and then today I’m like, okay, well, now the heater’s on.

 

Deedee Wills [00:07:05]:

Well, spring, we had two windows replaced, and it’s like 8 degrees. It’s not that cold, but it’s very cold outside, so they have to take the whole window out, and it takes a while for it to get it back in. It’s like big windows. So I was like. I was freezing.

 

Adam Peterson [00:07:19]:

Yeah, we got snow last night. We had tornado warnings, wind, rain. We got this dust rain that apparently came from Texas.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:07:27]:

Like, it’s been crazy.

 

Adam Peterson [00:07:30]:

Yeah, we were like, it rained but it looks like someone took a bucket of mud and dumped it on my car.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:07:35]:

It was weird.

 

Adam Peterson [00:07:36]:

And then after the tornadoes came through, we didn’t get hit, but, like, neighboring towns had trees down. Then it snowed, like, 2 inches overnight. How do you get a tornado blizzard? It’s ridiculous.

 

Deedee Wills [00:07:49]:

I think we sent the rain or the. The cold front. This is my eyebrow pencil. Why am I talking to you with my eyebrow pencil? And then I think Texas took. I was like, I couldn’t find it this morning. It’s right here at my computer. Because, I mean, doesn’t everybody do their eyebrows at the computer?

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:08:03]:

Yeah, you know.

 

Adam Peterson [00:08:04]:

You know me all the time.

 

Deedee Wills [00:08:05]:

I know. Okay, let’s go. Let’s go.

 

Adam Peterson [00:08:08]:

All right, we’re already recording.

 

Deedee Wills [00:08:09]:

Okay.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:08:09]:

So, yeah, tell me the outline or, like, what?

 

Deedee Wills [00:08:11]:

Oh, we just chat.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:08:13]:

Okay. About how long I’m free. Y’all don’t want to talk too much or too little?

 

Deedee Wills [00:08:18]:

15. 15 minutes? 30 minutes. We’ve gone longer, we’ve gone shorter, so feels comfortable.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:08:23]:

Okay.

 

Deedee Wills [00:08:24]:

Now.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:08:25]:

Yeah.

 

Deedee Wills [00:08:25]:

Okay.

 

Adam Peterson [00:08:25]:

We just talk. We’re pretty lowkey.

 

Deedee Wills [00:08:27]:

We did a little, like, pre intro already. We’re just trying something a little different where we’re. Instead of having you talk about yourself, you know, the whole time, I mean, we’ll have you say something, but we wanted to give, like, a little background, and then we’ll just jump right in. Right? Is that right, Adam? Is that how we’re doing?

 

Adam Peterson [00:08:42]:

That works for me.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:08:43]:

And y’all say whatever, like, I don’t care. You guys know me.

 

Adam Peterson [00:08:48]:

We talked good things.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:08:49]:

You can just say, this is our friend Shannon. Whatever.

 

Adam Peterson [00:08:52]:

We added some pretty good adjectives in front of friend.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:08:57]:

Thank you. Thank you.

 

Adam Peterson [00:09:01]:

Are we starting? Oh, you want me to wait?

 

Deedee Wills [00:09:05]:

I was making a little quiet space so you would know where to place it. Okay.

 

Adam Peterson [00:09:08]:

Because you. Because we can’t.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:09:09]:

We’re going to talk about the AI, right?

 

Deedee Wills [00:09:11]:

Yeah.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:09:12]:

Okay, perfect.

 

Adam Peterson [00:09:14]:

I heard that one. All right. Welcome in to our friend Shannon Cunningham. It’s good to see you. How are you?

 

Deedee Wills [00:09:25]:

Good.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:09:25]:

How are you guys?

 

Adam Peterson [00:09:26]:

Awesome. Coming to us from. From Texas. We’re, like, all across the. The country right now, but it’s always good to see your face, hear your voice, and can’t wait to hear what you have to tell us today about some. Some cool things that I know are kind of. I use that word like trending topics in education right now, because AI is one of those things. That’s what we’re going to chat about, which I’m excited to hear about at the younger level. And I’M sure many teachers are as well because there’s so much out there that can be used. But before we jump into a topic, dede gave you an awesome intro, but kind of tell us a little bit about you as a teacher, as a mom, and this is going to sound really professional. Who is Shannon Cunningham?

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:10:06]:

Yes. Oh, my gosh. Well, y’all are so sweet. I will share a little bit about my journey into getting into education. I always joke that someday this would be my whole keynote speech, but I will not give you the whole keynote speech. I’ll give you. You made a little spice of it, but, yeah. My name is Shannon Cunningham. My public school experience as a student actually started in Arizona. That’s where I was born and raised, in the Sunshine State. And with that growing up, I worked a lot with kids. I knew that. I enjoyed being around children. I worked in children’s ministry growing up. I was like the neighborhood babysitter, all those things. And so I knew I wanted to go into teaching. But it takes a drastic turn when I get to high school. So when I get to high school, I was actually diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. And if you are not familiar with what that is, it is where your own body does not recognize the joints in your immune system. Didi, I know you’re very familiar with. With this, and it just. It’s crazy. And I was 16 years old, which is a very odd age to be diagnosed with this. And so it took months and months, A, just to get a diagnosis and then B, to figure out what medication worked. So during this time, I had to wear the boots that you wear when you break your feet. Right?

 

Adam Peterson [00:11:18]:

Oh, my gosh.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:11:18]:

Yeah. I couldn’t hold a pencil like, it was nuts. And my school was over a quarter mile long, three stories tall.

 

Deedee Wills [00:11:25]:

Oh, my God.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:11:26]:

And during this time, uh, again, I’m 16 already. Turbulent years, right? Like, I don’t know if anybody likes to go back and really, those teenage years. And I know listening to the podcast is elementary school teachers. I know you guys are all nodding your heads with me because it’s like, no, thank you. I’ll pass on secondary. Uh, but anyway, so with that, I want you all to remember, it was my environmental science teacher who was so supportive, so encouraging. Okay. Uh, he never gave me a hard time if I was late to class, never gave me a hard time if I had missed class, was just always there, greeting me with a warm, welcoming smile. However, on the contrary, my English teach teacher was quite the opposite. Just really made life difficult. During a time that was already difficult, and things kind of came to a head where all of a sudden, I find myself in the assistant principal’s office, and he realizes what’s going on, and he looks at me and says, why aren’t you on a 504? I’m sorry. How am I supposed to know what those random string of numbers are, right? And how are my parents supposed to know to even ask that? I mean, it was chaos. So eventually, we get. I get on a 504. My environmental science teacher comes to the meeting. My English teacher did not. And so I left high school, y’all, with the most bitter taste in my mouth about school. And I thought, okay, you know what? I’m never stepping foot in a school again besides college. And if I can’t help people, I’ll go help animals in the environment. And so I declared my major as environmental science, and I went to the University of Nebraska. Go, Big Red. If I have any Husker fans listening. And, y’all, I go to my very first day of class and remember who is the teacher who is so supportive? Environmental science, like that is just. It just shows the impact of a teacher. And I know that everyone listening understands that. So I walk into my very first day of class, freshman year, and there is another student who is so passionate about the environment. He is not wearing shoes, y’all. No shoes, okay? And y’all, I watched him throughout the whole year, even in the snow, still no shoes. I mean, this man.

 

Adam Peterson [00:13:18]:

Oh, my gosh.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:13:19]:

And I sat there and I thought, this man is so much more passionate about the environment than I am. He’s going to get hired over me. Like, he’s going to love his life because he loves us so much. And so I left my very first day of class, and I asked myself, what’s my no shoes passion? And I knew it was working with kids. I knew it was teaching. And so I told myself, I need to get over it. And I need to get over the English teacher being as horrible as she was. And I need to go be the environmental science teacher, but for elementary education. And so I changed my major on the first day, never looked back. Eventually made my way to Texas. I’ve been here the past 10 years teaching. And so I’m very passionate about supporting teachers and students and their families, because when you know better, you do better. But a lot of our parents, they love their kids unconditionally. I mean, I’m a parent. I love my child. I’d do anything for him. But if you don’t know what to ask for. Then how are you expected to do that? And so. Yeah, so anyways, that’s my. I kind of gave you the long version.

 

Adam Peterson [00:14:13]:

I love that story. No, that’s an awesome story to share. I thank you for sharing it on here too.

 

Deedee Wills [00:14:18]:

Yeah, I’ve heard parts of your story, but I don’t know that I heard everything, so. I love everything you said, but as you were talking about the guy with no shoes, I was thinking, of all people to be shoeless. It’s not you, because if I know a girl who loves a shoe, it’s you.

 

Adam Peterson [00:14:39]:

How many pairs of boots did you bring to Illinois a few weeks ago?

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:14:42]:

So many. And you guys, like, even during the day, I had multiple shoe changes. Like, first session, I had one pair of shoes. The next session or the other. Yeah, I was slinking out of that class and probably, like, ugg boots on, like, I don’t belong here.

 

Deedee Wills [00:14:54]:

I love.

 

Adam Peterson [00:14:55]:

No, I think. I think your story is. Is so powerful, though, because we all have had those teachers. Right. And. And for you to change your path in life because of one like that. I had no idea. I did not know that story about you. And hearing you say you’ve been teaching in Texas 10 years makes me realize how much younger than you. You are than us.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:15:11]:

Oh, my God. No, no, no.

 

Adam Peterson [00:15:13]:

I knew you were younger, but I’m like, oh, gosh, she’s way younger than us. I love that story. Didi and I have talked a lot about teachers that made us who we are, and we’ve also talked about teachers that we never want to see again in our lives. And. And it’s awesome to hear that, especially from someone who is an amazing educator like yourself. So cool. Thank you for sharing that with us.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:15:32]:

I know.

 

Deedee Wills [00:15:33]:

And, you know, I feel like. I feel like your English teacher made you who you are, too. Right? Of who? Yeah. Because you probably keep her in mind on those days that are challenging or if you have a challenging student. Right. I always talk about the students who sometimes would test my patients, and all of a sudden, I’m the teacher I swore I would never be. Right where you’re really frustrated or. And so those. Those have positive and those negative impacts all together make this beautiful person we now know and love. Name Shannon.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:16:10]:

Thank you.

 

Deedee Wills [00:16:11]:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we. Adam, I, are talking about how. How we just love, you know, your spirit. You’re very generous with your. With your care. And I don’t know, you just. You. You tend to provide a calming presence, and I’m sure that Your school feels that as well. Yeah.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:16:30]:

Thank you.

 

Deedee Wills [00:16:31]:

So you’re going to talk to us about our friend Mr. AI, right?

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:16:38]:

Yeah.

 

Deedee Wills [00:16:38]:

You know, some of us are in an age group where AI is legitimately terrifying.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:16:45]:

Oh, the Terminator. Yeah.

 

Deedee Wills [00:16:47]:

Right.

 

Adam Peterson [00:16:47]:

Oh, gosh. I was just listening to a podcast with, with Elon Musk and his new AI. Like, I don’t know, it’s not new anymore, but, like, aura that he can talk to and, like, they were talking about scenarios and like, things like, oh, my gosh, my paranoid mind right away was like, here goes. This is it. I. I’m. I’m so paranoid about stuff like that.

 

Deedee Wills [00:17:10]:

Digging the fraidy hole.

 

Adam Peterson [00:17:11]:

But I use it. I do use AI in the education realm, but there’s some stuff out there.

 

Deedee Wills [00:17:16]:

We want to hear. Like some things that you have shared. I know, in your sessions, share with people how AI can help teachers.

 

Adam Peterson [00:17:24]:

Yeah. And I’m, I’m stoked because I, I know a lot of people think, like, upper grades. Right. Like, that’s where it’s being utilized. And I think a lot of the, the stuff we see out there in the world is, is high school and, or junior high and above. So when you said you wanted to talk about AI with. With us, and I know you’re a primary teacher, I’m. I’m excited to see what you got. I know our listeners will be, too.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:17:44]:

Yeah. And so I will say from this standpoint, at this current, you know, point in time where It’s March of 2025, is that I think right now it’s more so about the teachers using it, Right?

 

Adam Peterson [00:17:55]:

Yes.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:17:56]:

I always make the explanation of teachers or veteran teachers are always telling young teachers, just like we did with Google, don’t you dare pull up Google and Google something live on the projector.

 

Adam Peterson [00:18:05]:

Right.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:18:05]:

You’re going to Google something innocent, like a leprechaun and all of a sud. You’re gonna have a leprechaun holding a mug of beer, and you’re gonna have to try to tell the kids it’s apple juice. Right. Like, you never do it live. So I will disclaimer with that. You know, when you’re doing AI, try not to do it live with students, because just like Google, you don’t know what it’s going to generate, but there are things that you can do to use it. So if you are. If you are a pro with AI, if you are new to AI, tune in and listen, because I promise you’ll leave with some sort of tips. But I will say one of the big Things that I encourage teachers just to dive in and try is Chat GPT. And if you are a user of chatgpt, something a lot of people don’t know is that if you log in to ChatGPT, you know it will save your conversations. But a big tool is when you log in and you click on that right hand corner, you have the option to do something called Customize GPT. Even if it’s the free version. I use the free version, y’all. This is important because you can tell it things like, for example, I tell it, I’m a single mom. I work in a title one school district. I support teachers preschool through fifth grade. I go to 15 campuses. You know, I give it all this information and that helps it better curate a response to me. You know, I might also tell them that I need reminders to for self care. I need reminders to be calm and gentle to my teachers when I’m coaching them or whatever tip it is that you want to add in there. You could even say I have diabetes or whatever. It might be that way if you’re going to ask it for recipes. So that’s a big tool is make sure you customize your GPT.

 

Adam Peterson [00:19:37]:

I had no idea you could do that. I’ve used it forever.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:19:39]:

Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Whether you’re new or pro, I promise you’re going to leave with some tools today. But yeah, my GPT is a big one. And it is one of those tools where a lot of times we sit and think, okay, well, I’m going to use Chat GPT for the tasks that I don’t love or drain my time and energy. And I do recommend that. Right. So never give it identifiable information. But if you were to maybe say, oh my gosh, I got to communicate with this parent because this child has not been listening in class. They haven’t been following directions. I’m drained. But I do know I want to be kind. Right? But do I have the time and energy to be kind right now? So I might go to Chat GPT and say, can you help me write a letter to a parent whose child has not been listening in class this week or whatever, talking too much. You send it, it’ll give you a response back. Now, I highly suggest to people, think of it in the concept of 80 20. I think that’s off of. I think it’s called Pareto’s principle. 80:20 applies to a lot of areas in life. I think it’s that 80% of the outcome comes from 20% of the effort. Another relation to the 8020 rule is you wear 20% of your closet 80% of the time. Teachers can relate to that school spirit. Friday, College Wednesday. Right. So anyways, all that to say I tell people, go to ChatGPT or whatever AI you’re using with the mindset that you’re going to let AI do 80% of the lift, but you’re going to go in and do 20%. Right. If you go in thinking it’s going to give you a perfect answer every time, you probably will leave disappointed. But you’re going to take that response, copy and paste it into Word or the email, and then just make little tweaks to it. But know that it is a conversation. So if it gives me a response and I’m like, ugh, I don’t like that response at all. That doesn’t sound like me. Or maybe I need it translated to Spanish. Maybe I need it written at a third grade reading level. I can tell it, hey, can you reword that and put it in a third grade reading level? Can you please translate that to Spanish? So know that whatever you ask for right away, you can have a conversation. It’s like having a student teacher, really. And you can have it better change that answer.

 

Adam Peterson [00:21:43]:

Yeah, I was blown away the first time I did that. Like in our friend Kristen Sloan was the one that first got me going on it with some stuff we were talking about through Esgi and, and I remember she’s like, no, no, no, tell it to fix this sentence or tell it to do this. And then I got the point. So I, I have the paid version because I was using it for some, some drawings and stuff too, for a book I’m working on. And I remember saying, like, I just typed back to it. It said, no, that’s not what I meant. And it comes back and says, well, please explain it in more detail. Like you really do like almost get in an argument back and forth with it.

 

Deedee Wills [00:22:18]:

Yeah, I like, oftentimes I’ll get a response back and it’s like, as you were saying, sometimes the words are not going to be able to resonate. The tone isn’t right or the words aren’t going to resonate with the person who’s the listener. So. But the content is right. Right. So what they said was what I liked. I just wanted them to rephrase it. So sometimes I’ll ask it, can you rephrase this as if a friend. It’s a friend to friend conversation. Because, you know, sometimes the tone can be very Authoritarian in the way that it comes across. And so when you’re wanting to be making sure your message gets heard. Sometimes a friend to friend conversation or peer to peer conversation, oftentimes a friend to friend makes it less formal. But I love, I’ve never thought about using that for a parent conversation.

 

Adam Peterson [00:23:08]:

That’s a good idea.

 

Deedee Wills [00:23:09]:

Love that.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:23:09]:

Yeah, well, I like to written like you can do it to practice conversations. So you might be a parent conference and I, and this is the big thing with primary grades, right. Like we’re the first, oftentimes we might be the first to bring to a parent’s awareness like hey, I notice your child is struggling with articulating or you know, focus or whatever it is. And that’s tough. I mean especially now as a parent, I have a whole new level of empathy for that. Like it’s hard to hear that. And especially if you’re a new teacher or maybe if you’re a teacher who knows this parent’s going to get defensive before that parent conference. It doesn’t mean that you need to be handing them a paper or doing it as a written message. But you can say, hey, can I pr. You can go chat GPT and say can I practice this conversation with you? This is a point I need to get across to the parent that I want to suggest that they, you know, seek speech for their child or whatever it is. Can you practice that with me? What if they get defensive? What are some things I could say to de escalate? So it can also just be a rehearsal for oral conversation.

 

Adam Peterson [00:24:05]:

That’s cool. You know, it’s another cool feature too for teachers that are listening and might not know and I’m sure both you know this. But like if, if you’re a teacher, listen this and you, you have a blog or a website that you, you have quite a bit of information on. You can actually say like write this letter in the voice of primary chagan shenanigans.com and then it’ll pull from that website or whatever your blog is. It’ll pull your data and your voice from your previous posts and try to make it sound more like you. So that, that’s a cool thing to try too for teachers that are listening to have blogs and which they probably already do this. But I remember when I first found that like write this letter in the style of Adam peterseneducation.com and it makes it sound like I’m, I’m writing it.

 

Deedee Wills [00:24:46]:

Look at you. One of the things as you were talking, I don’t know why I said it that way.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:24:50]:

Look at you.

 

Deedee Wills [00:24:50]:

I was like, yeah, look at you. Dear Chat pt, help me adjust my tone to Adam. No, I was thinking about, you know, there used to be on tpt, you would see a lot of people have like, report card comments, right? And although, you know, I certainly wouldn’t want to suggest anybody, you know, lose their income, however. And I wouldn’t want to suggest that you just cut and paste report card comments. But sometimes you’re just like, please, Lord, help me think of one thing I can say, right? Please, Lord, help me think. And so that’s a great way. Like you said, they could do 80% of the work. The AI could. 80%. And then you could, you could add that 20% to make it. Make sure that it sounds and that it’s accurate. Right?

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:25:39]:

Yeah. And there is a tool that uses the same, for lack of better words, brain as chatgpt. It’s called Magic School AI. Yeah, I love that free version is I. Again, like, free is me. I’m using the free version, y’all. And so I use the free version of it. They have report card comments as well. And the difference between. So again, Magical AI uses the same brain as Chat GPT, but it’s what we call curated AI With Chat GPT, it’s a wide open frame, right? Like, I can go type, hey, I want you to make a newsletter. It needs to be five sentences long. It needs to cover this. It’s. I have to give it all those directions where Magic School AI, you log in and you click on the button that says make a newsletter. So they’ve kind of done the front work of telling that Chat GPT brain of, you’re going to make a newsletter. You need to do this, you need that. This is the type of tone you need to have. Um, and then you can just jot in those things. So if you are having a tough time getting the results you want with ChatGPT, you may consider trying Magic School AI because it may have already done a better job of setting parameters for the outcome you want.

 

Adam Peterson [00:26:45]:

So what are some of your favorite things on Magic School that you’re. That you’ve used with your. With your students or with your schools? Because I discovered it through our, our all of our mutual friend Lori Elliott. She introduced that to me and I, I was blown away and we were working some junior high teachers at the time, getting them to do some cool stuff. But what have you found? Like, your go to is on Magic School.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:27:05]:

I mean, I definitely like to send emails, right. And then Also, so I personally do a lot of teacher coaching. And so that’s another way I can get ideas and then something else. Just because as a coach or if you, you know, if I have any administrators who are listening, you know, you want to make sure that you’re not always saying, well, in my classroom or in my school or in my. This. Right. And you also want to be able to think outside of yourself because maybe someone has a different teaching style than you. And so with that, they have things like behavior intervention tools, they’ve got an IEP generator. And just like Didi mentioned, I wouldn’t suggest just fully copying and pasting there. Right. But sometimes you have to think outside of yourself. And the benefit of showing the teacher that. And this, I think, is a benefit to anybody using AI, whether it’s Magic school or whether it’s chatbots. It’s kind of like having a judgment free person to brainstorm with. Right. You can be vulnerable and say, you know, gosh, I’ve been teaching 20 years, but I’m having the most difficult time with this kid blurting this year. And I swear I’ve tried every trick in the book that can be hard for a teacher to say to a principal. So something that’s empowering as an educator or as an administrator or an instructional coach is if you can bring this tool to your teachers, you know, they can maybe be a little bit more genuine and share that with the AI. Maybe not you, but they can at least be getting some good ideas and collaborate more. So if you’ve got a teacher has a hard time opening up, I think it’s a great tool to show them.

 

Adam Peterson [00:28:28]:

Nice. There’s one that I saw that we were. Lori was kind of shown in a workshop, and then we did it with some teachers. And I don’t remember the, the exact button to click, but it was basically like you could start a conversation with a, a book character. So like, this teacher was reading Harry Potter series with their class and it was, I want to have a conversation with Harry Potter. And it won’t obviously speak in his voice, but it’ll. It’ll type like you’re talking back and forth with Harry Potter or Abe Lincoln or any kind of historical figure. And I thought that was such a cool feature to do. Even at the primary level. You’re not going to have your kids sit down and type that. But it’d be cool if you’re doing a historical study or, you know, a nonfiction study of something. And you said, what if, you know students we could talk to Abraham Lincoln. And you could type it out and have a conversation. It was so cool to watch the conversation go back and forth.

 

Deedee Wills [00:29:18]:

Yeah, it’s magic. AI, do you feel like that’s a safe spot that you could do a search? I think you could. Okay.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:29:25]:

Yeah. That one I would feel safer showing live.

 

Adam Peterson [00:29:28]:

Okay.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:29:28]:

The thing with chat gbt, so I also do a lot of curriculum work for my district, and sometimes I’m like, oh, my gosh, I need to think of one more word for the uck family. And y’all know the students would be saying it, right? Yeah, yeah, I have one.

 

Adam Peterson [00:29:41]:

I have one.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:29:42]:

I have one. Yes, it, too. Okay. So that’s why I’m always like, no. And I’ll even tell Chat GPT. Like, chatgpt. You know, I’m making stuff for school. Like, that was a bad word. And it goes, oops, you’re right, it was.

 

Deedee Wills [00:29:53]:

Oh, funny. That is funny.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:29:55]:

Like the kids testing the water.

 

Adam Peterson [00:29:56]:

Oh, that’s good.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:29:57]:

Yeah.

 

Deedee Wills [00:29:58]:

But.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:29:58]:

And I think, you know, I don’t know. Are people able to leave comments on these podcasts?

 

Deedee Wills [00:30:02]:

They can, yes. We would love to have questions. Yes.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:30:05]:

And I would love for them to, because I think that. And, you know, Adam kind of touched on this. A big part of AI really comes from how people use it. And so that’s something I always say in my sessions is I say, please, please email me, tag me, post, share how you’re using it. And this is also where I remind people, you know, I don’t, you know, think AI will entirely take over the world because so much of it is about the user. And so one beautiful thing about when I do these sessions is I get to hear amazing tools and ideas that teachers have shared. Like I mentioned earlier, you know, you can put in that you have diabetes or something. That was because a teacher messaged me and said, oh, my gosh, thank you. Another tool I share is Goblin Tools, and they have something where you can come up with recipes. They’ve got all sorts of cool tools. But anyways, she said she’s been using that because she had a family member who was diagnosed with diabetes, and so it’s been giving her new ideas. I had another special education teacher share that. She uses Magic School AI. She uses those Social Stories button and what she. So the social stories button, it can create stories for kids who have a tough time maybe adjusting to something new. So, you know, as a kindergarten teacher, for us, that might be. It’s picture day, right? And for these sweet kindergarten babies, they have never experienced that before. And Hear me out. I do not doubt any teacher listening their ability to explain to a child what to expect for picture day. But again, primary teachers, y’all, you teach reading, science, social studies, math, how to be a human, how to be a student. And so sometimes the brain power, it’s like, oh, my gosh, it’s too much. So, you know, you can hop on a social stories and say, make me a social story about picture day, and it’ll walk through that social story. Well, what this teacher did, she went to a garage sale. She got a beanie baby for each of her students and then identified, you know, what it was that that child was struggling with, whether it was going to the nurse or, you know, maybe they had their first doctor’s appointment, whatever it was. And she created a social story with a beanie baby for each child and sent me a picture of it. And it’s like, again, that’s the best part of AI, is seeing how each user uses it. So I would encourage anyone to come back to this podcast comment, share how you’re using it, because that truly is the beauty in this is it’s what happens after hearing about it.

 

Adam Peterson [00:32:10]:

That’s cool. I like the beanie baby idea. That’s awesome.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:32:12]:

I know.

 

Deedee Wills [00:32:13]:

And you think about that, like, oftentimes we hear these things and you’re like, that’s such a great idea. I totally want to do that. But if you sit down to actually do the work for 20, 25 kids now you’re exhausted and you, like you said, you have this whole other curriculum you’ve got to get through. And so sometimes, you know, teachers seem. It’s just one more thing. Just one more thing. And so if we could take one of those or 2 or 22 of those 1 more things and make it easier. It’s not cheating. It’s called trying. Trying to survive.

 

Adam Peterson [00:32:48]:

It’s called trading water.

 

Deedee Wills [00:32:49]:

It’s called treading water while you’re holding a duffel bag over your head. Right. Like Private Benjamin. So, although you guys probably don’t even know.

 

Adam Peterson [00:32:56]:

I know. Saving.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:32:57]:

Yeah.

 

Adam Peterson [00:32:58]:

Private with Goldie Hawn.

 

Deedee Wills [00:33:00]:

She’s like, is that something?

 

Adam Peterson [00:33:02]:

Doesn’t know that movie.

 

Deedee Wills [00:33:03]:

Did they play that as you made your western expansion trip in the covered wagon?

 

Adam Peterson [00:33:09]:

Yeah, I remember my dad showed me that movie. Goldie Hawn.

 

Deedee Wills [00:33:12]:

Yep. I’m not even sure if that scene was in there, but I just.

 

Adam Peterson [00:33:16]:

Was Private Benjamin?

 

Deedee Wills [00:33:17]:

I don’t know. Just. Just coming up with something there.

 

Adam Peterson [00:33:19]:

But you have no idea what we’re talking about, do you?

 

Deedee Wills [00:33:22]:

It’s like I’m a baby.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:33:23]:

I know who Goldie Han is. I’ll give you that.

 

Adam Peterson [00:33:26]:

Classic Goldie Hawn.

 

Deedee Wills [00:33:27]:

Classic Goldie Han.

 

Adam Peterson [00:33:28]:

Check that one out.

 

Deedee Wills [00:33:30]:

Okay, so we’ve heard about a couple of things. I know you probably, you know, you fill up an hour. Was there anything else that you wanted to share about AI that you think, ooh, this would be a good tip. Or if you’re like, nope, I’m good, cut it off.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:33:43]:

We can, I will say one thing, and you know, because we’ve kind of started with it, is that, you know, we’ve talked about maybe those mundane tasks that ChatGPT or AI, whatever AI tool you’re using, and that’s oftentimes what people go to. But I also would encourage people to look at it with the mindset of growing the things you already love. And an example I often give in my sessions is I love to do a Steam station in my room, particularly an engineer station. And so I have them always ask three questions. What is the problem that needs to be solved? Who has the problem? And why is the problem important to solve? Right. And so that they go to this engineer station and they have to identify that problem. Again, the what is the problem? Who has the problem? That’s a really big part of building empathy. And then why is it so important to solve? And y’all, I love it. Like, this is some. This is something that I do get excited about. It’s not just like one more lesson plan do.

 

Deedee Wills [00:34:39]:

Yeah.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:34:39]:

And sometimes we take those things we love and we’re like, well, I’m not going to go to Chat GPT for that or use AI, because this is something that does give me life and energy. But I would encourage you to take it to AI because it can make it even better. So for me, we know that our kids, you know, sometimes you have those classes where you can give them free rein. Like it’s engineer station. You come up with a problem, and they’re so creative. Then there’s some years where you have classes and you’re like, oh, my gosh, if I don’t tell them what to do. Idle hands, the devil’s workshop. Right? And so with that, you know, you might, you know, the example I give is I go to chat GPT, explain that I have this engineer station. Again, I love it. It’s something I do enjoy working. I might then ask ChatGPT, okay, it’s the month of September. We have, you know, back to school, Grandparents Day, this and that. Can you give me some subjects that might inspire a Problem. Well, it then gave me the example of have them build a robot for elderly people. I’m like, oh, my gosh, that’s so clever. I love that idea for using that theme for that month for the engineer station. Well, then I asked it, okay, can you please explain to a first grader? Because maybe I was teaching first grade. Can you please explain to a first grader what their robot would need in order to care for an elderly person? And it gave all these examples. You know, it needs to be friendly. Sometimes elderly people get lonely. They need to have somebody to talk to. It needs to have clear buttons that they know how to access. It needs to be able to help them track their medications. And it was just amazing. And I was excited to bring that to the engineer station. So again, that would be my mindset to encourage people with is we often go to AI with like, oh, I don’t want to do this, so I’m going to go to AI but also, when you’re fired up, go to AI and see if there’s ways it can, you know, increase what you’re already working on.

 

Deedee Wills [00:36:28]:

I love that.

 

Adam Peterson [00:36:28]:

I like that.

 

Deedee Wills [00:36:29]:

I love that.

 

Adam Peterson [00:36:30]:

That would work for Adam, too. Remember to take your medication.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:36:33]:

I know, right?

 

Adam Peterson [00:36:36]:

Trisha has to make me packing lists when I go on trips.

 

Deedee Wills [00:36:39]:

Like, she’s like, we just need a robot ad.

 

Adam Peterson [00:36:41]:

I do.

 

Deedee Wills [00:36:42]:

Why don’t you have one?

 

Adam Peterson [00:36:43]:

I’m sure Trish would appreciate that.

 

Deedee Wills [00:36:45]:

I feel like you should have one. I feel like I think you and that robot would like.

 

Adam Peterson [00:36:49]:

We get along fine.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:36:50]:

My first graders will design one for you in the. In the engineer station.

 

Deedee Wills [00:36:53]:

There you go.

 

Adam Peterson [00:36:54]:

I love it.

 

Deedee Wills [00:36:54]:

There you go.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:36:55]:

I love it.

 

Adam Peterson [00:36:56]:

So I know there’s much more.

 

Deedee Wills [00:36:58]:

I know. Go ahead, Adam.

 

Adam Peterson [00:36:59]:

We’re gonna say the same thing. There’s. We can talk all day about this because I know the other thing about it is ever changing. Right. There’s always something new coming up, and it’s kind of generating more and more each day. So we hope. People leave comments. If you are listening, you’ve got a great idea. Share it or questions. Share it. But where else can people follow you, find you? I’m sure you have stuff out there that you’re going to be posting about AI as you continue your journey as a presenter. What’s the best place to follow along with your journey?

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:37:26]:

Yeah, I would honestly say Instagram and Facebook is probably the best place to connect. It’s primary shenanigans spelled like my name S H a N n o N I G A N S I’M a third generation Irish American, so I had to throw in some little Irish sass there. But yeah, and then my email primary shenanigans. Gmail.com. like I said, that’s where I get people sending those ideas. And I love to give shout outs about how they’re using AI. And so, yeah, that’s where I would say is the best place.

 

Adam Peterson [00:37:53]:

Awesome.

 

Deedee Wills [00:37:54]:

Awesome. We’ll also link that into our show notes so people can find you. Oh my gosh. It’s always such a pleasure every time we get to spend time together. I look forward to it and I can’t wait till we see each other again.

 

Adam Peterson [00:38:06]:

Same.

 

Deedee Wills [00:38:07]:

Thanks, everybody.

 

Adam Peterson [00:38:09]:

Bye.

 

Shannon Cunningham [00:38:09]:

Thank you all. Bye.