THE PREP PERIOD

Quick tips, tools & tricks you can take to the classroom on Monday

Avoiding "Companionship Risk" | This week's tip draws from the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the AI for Education webinar on anthropomorphism​

The language we use around AI shapes the mental models students build about what it actually is. When adults say "ChatGPT thinks," "the AI wants to help," or "he understood what I meant," students get a picture of AI that doesn't match reality. And for younger students especially, that gap between perception and reality can go further than we realize. (More on that in this week's Sarah's Pick.)

This week, try a quick language audit before a lesson where AI comes up. The Raspberry Pi Foundation's AI literacy team has been studying this directly and suggests some simple swaps:

You don't have to be perfect. According to educators at AI for Education, catching yourself mid-sentence and correcting out loud is itself a powerful teaching move. Students notice when adults model that kind of precision.

Try a swap with one class this week and see what sticks.

LOUNGE READS

Schools are figuring out how to teach students to think critically about AI, while also wrestling with whether AI belongs in classrooms at all. The teacher-free AI school story out of Chicago drew a lot of attention and strong feelings. Meanwhile, Turnitin released real data on how students are actually using AI, and BrainPop made the case that AI literacy belongs in every subject.

BrainPop

​Beyond the Prompt: Why AI Literacy is the New Critical Thinking​

AI fluency and AI literacy aren't the same thing, and BrainPOP argues the second one is what students actually need — across every subject, not just in a tech class.

"By embedding these concepts into the topics teachers are already responsible for, we make AI literacy a part of the learning journey rather than a disruption to it."

Gazette Extra

​A Teacher-Free AI School Is Coming to Chicago with Tuition at $55,000 a Year​

A new Chicago school replacing teachers with AI entirely is raising big questions for the field.

"The guides, who are not credentialed educators, supervise students and act as motivators and mentors. Later in the day, they steer workshops and set individual goals with students."

PR Newswire

​Responsible Use of AI in Education Is a Range, Turnitin Finds in First Learning Integrity Insights Report​

Turnitin's first real data report on how students are actually using AI in school work.

"Conversations with customers reveal that when there are clear and consistent policies on the use of AI, both educators and students benefit."

SARAH'S PICK

SchoolAI

​Students need to know when they're talking with AI​

Calling AI by a name, giving it a face, and letting it say "I understand how you feel" isn't best practice.

At SXSW EDU this year, a presenter shared a story that really put "companionship risk" into context for me. She had noticed her young son referring offhandedly to "the tiny woman" in her phone. When she asked what he meant, it became clear he genuinely believed a tiny woman lived inside of her cell phone. He had a complete picture in his head: what she looked like, the color of her hair, what she was wearing. He was completely convinced she was real.

This is exactly how young brains make sense of something they don't have language for yet. Anthropomorphism serves as a mental bridge for kids - and plenty of adults - attempting to fill the gap when they don't yet have the words to describe what AI truly is. This gap closes when we give students something accurate to put there instead.

Some EdTech companies are beginning to make design changes that take this seriously. SchoolAI just changed the avatar for their student-facing AI tool, Dot, from a character with a face to a simple abstract circle. Their reasoning: students need to understand what kind of thing they're talking to, and a friendly face works against that understanding.

We know some educators and students genuinely liked Dot's friendly face, and that familiarity has value, especially for younger learners. We don't take that lightly. But we believe clarity about what AI is serves students better in the long run.

Their product team noted that when a student expresses frustration, Dot now says "it looks like this is frustrating" rather than "I know how you feel" — a small language shift that preserves the support without pretending to an emotional experience the tool doesn't have.

MagicSchool published a white paper this month on the same concern, focused on what they call companionship risk: the conditions under which a student starts relating to an AI tool the way they'd relate to a person. They recently retired the "Raina" persona from their student chatbot.

These are companies that have every incentive to make their products feel warm and engaging. The fact that they're moving in the other direction tells you something. It also puts something on us as educators: if the platforms students use are starting to be clearer about what AI is, our classrooms should be too. The Prep Period tip this week is one small way to start.

A NOTE BEFORE YOU GO...

I'm glad you're here! If something resonated this week, hit reply and tell me. If you know a fellow educator who would find this useful, forward it their way. The village grows when educators share with other educators.
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— Sarah