1:30 - 2:20
Concurrent Sessions C
Room L1
Teaching with Primary Sources With/In the Age of AI: Crafting Assignments that Use & Resist Chat GPT
Celia Bland, Special Projects Manager, Bard College Institute for Writing & Thinking
Whether you consider ChatGPT an innovative tool or a fast track to plagiarism, its impact on History and English classrooms is undeniable. The teaching of academic writing has entered a new era and this interactive workshop will model sequences for helping middle school and high school teachers develop prompts and assignments for working with primary sources in-class and ways to use — and thwart — ChatGPT. How can we encourage students to make connections with primary documents and to articulate their own thoughts and questions (not AI's)? How can we practice strategies that motivate students’ learning despite their access to a tool that could potentially complete assignments for them? Over the course of 50 minutes, with time for Q&A, we will weigh the role the author still plays in academic writing, and consider the possibilities as well as the potential dangers of ChatGPT.
Room L3
AI Literacy for the Secondary ELA Classroom: Policy, Ethics, and Practice
Christy Chang, ELA Curriculum Specialist, Office of Curriculum and Instruction, School District of Philadelphia
In this session, 6-12 ELA teachers will build knowledge around AI literacy and consider the impact of AI advancements on teaching and learning, specifically from a secondary ELA lens. After reviewing the most current policy around the use of AI tools in education, we will discuss the necessary parameters that must be established in order for AI to be used ethically and responsibly in the classroom. Within those parameters, this session will explore how secondary ELA classrooms can be a place where students can build a foundational understanding of AI and its societal implications through text analysis, discourse, and writing.
Rainey Auditorium
Investigating Activism and Social Issues through Intergenerational Research and Community-Based Projects
Mary Wolters, Student, Conestoga High School; Emmy Talian, Doctoral Student, Penn GSE; Teacher Consultant, Philadelphia Writing Project; Opal Jawale, Student, Johns Hopkins University; Sunny Ajitabh, Student, Rutgers University; Andrew Yao, Student, Penn GSE; Nora Garg, Student, Science Leadership Academy; Sunhee Kim, Student, Penn GSE; Ayr Ajitabh, Student, Conestoga High School
This session will explore how an intergenerational team, linked by the Write4Change community, investigates activism and social issues in Philadelphia and globally. Panelists will discuss how online writing workshops, using new technologies, bridge educational spaces and provide youth with creative refuge and community beyond traditional school contexts.
Room M1
Write Out: Poetry for the Planet
Christina Cantrill, Director of Community Partnerships, National Writing Project; Christina Puntel, Spanish Teacher, Saul High School; Teacher Consultant, Philadelphia Writing Project
Write outside during a conference about AI? YES! Join us to explore what it means to be human when living, learning, and teaching alongside machines. What better way to explore and embrace our questions about the liminal spaces all around us than to go outside and write together.