Creating Leveraging AI

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share how I recently leveraged AI as a design and planning tool to create an interactive phonics resource for my first grade students using Keynote.

I teach first grade and use CKLA Amplify, and I was looking for a way to make vowel team review (oi, oo, ou, aw) more engaging while still being instructionally sound. Instead of starting with a blank slide deck, I used AI to support my instructional design process, not replace it.

Here’s how AI helped:

• Instructional clarity:
• I used AI to help me clearly define the learning goal and keep the focus tight on CKLA Unit 3 skills, avoiding extra distractions.
• Language and directions:
• AI helped refine teacher-friendly instructions and student prompts so they were simple, consistent, and age-appropriate.
• Design efficiency:
• While I made all instructional decisions myself, AI helped me iterate faster on layout ideas, visual balance, and slide flow inside Keynote.
• Time savings:
• Tasks that normally take hours (rewriting directions, polishing descriptions, creating terms of use, preview explanations) were reduced significantly — allowing me to focus more on student experience.

What AI did not do:

• It did not choose the phonics skills
• It did not replace my knowledge of CKLA
• It did not create the teaching strategy

Instead, it functioned like a thought partner, helping me work smarter and more efficiently while keeping pedagogy at the center.

The final result is an interactive, audio-based phonics review that my students are genuinely excited to use — and one I feel confident sharing with other educators.

I’d love to hear:

• How others are using AI in lesson design
• How you’re balancing creativity, efficiency, and instructional integrity
• Any tips for integrating AI thoughtfully in Apple-based classrooms

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate being part of a community that values both innovation and sound teaching practice.

— Courtney