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DECEMBER 2023 – JANUARY 2024 CEA ADVISOR 9

Wit and whimsy “Playful” isn’t the first word that comes to mind when you think about artificial intelligence, but former teacher Luke Forshaw, now director of professional development services for Cooperative Education Services, says that could change. “There’s a lot that educators can do with AI to their make lessons richer and

Learning Is Child’s Play Play-based learning was one of many priorities CEA successfully advocated for in the 2023 legislative session, and a new law on the books makes play based learning mandatory for Connecticut’s kindergartners and preschoolers. Boards of education are also now required to allow play-based learning through fifth grade. So, what is play-based learning, and how can you address concerns among parents and colleagues who worry it could undermine academic rigor or usurp the teaching of necessary skills such as reading and math? Elementary school teacher and Hebron Education Association Co-President Christopher Lapsis, who was instrumental in advocating for play-based learning as a legislative priority, explains. “Fred Rogers famously said, ‘Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.’” “Among our youngest students, learning Why Play? and participation strategies at Rekindling Joy. “When play-based learning is squeezed out by test prep and direct instruction, teachers report a dramatic increase in student behavioral problems and anxiety in the early grades.” An avenue for all students At CEA’s Rekindling Joy conference, CEA Vice President Joslyn DeLancey led a session on how play can make curriculum more accessible to students with 504 plans and IEPs. She opened with a discussion of play and rigor, explaining that rigorous lessons are those that push boundaries and encourage students to question assumptions and think deeply. “Somewhere along the way, people in charge of education decided play and rigor were not the same thing, but I would argue that play is one of the most rigorous things we could be doing with our students.” In her fifth-grade classroom, DeLancey set up math stations for free play activity centers where students enhanced their math vocabulary and came up with their own games and challenges. “Sometimes we feel pressured because we have so much curriculum to cover, but there are ways to do it through play more organically,” DeLancey said. She added, “We have kids who struggle to sit still. They may not have needed an IEP if they’d gotten those early literacy skills through play. They couldn’t sit and listen to someone do Fundations, but maybe they would have been able to access those skills through play.” Children with IEPs who are given opportunities to play are often more successful at learning concepts, she adds. “For a lot of kids, it’s not that they’re not smart; it’s that we haven’t given them a way to access the learning.” All work and no play Lapsis, who started as a third-grade teacher in 2002, says he began to feel the pressure of No Child Left Behind. “With the emphasis on standardized testing, I saw the pendulum shifting and an overfocus on teaching skills that were on ‘the test.’ As a result, we were buying new reading, math, and writing curricula, and when you added up how many minutes of instruction you needed for each program, there weren’t enough minutes in the day. With that, other things had to go.” Those other things, Lapsis says, “were fun, meaningful, and important for children to develop into successful citizens. They were also what made children want to show up and learn each day.” Around the same time, Lapsis began to see a decline in students’ ability to work together with partners, solve problems, and think outside the box. “More children were struggling with fine and gross motor tasks, too,” he says, “and all these lagging skills correlated with the academic rigor being pushed down. First grade was becoming the new second grade, and kindergarten was the new first grade.” By contrast, Lapsis says his own children—who were preschoolers then— were having fun at school and learning through play. “I began to see the benefits of play and the focus in preschool on educating According to child development expert Dr. Karyn Purvis, it takes about 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain—unless the task is associated with joyful engagement, in which case it takes only 10–20 reps. through play is not only more developmentally appropriate than direct instruction but also more durable,” adds CEA Teacher Development Specialist Kate Field, who presented on student engagement

their lives easier,” he said, adding that games he once played as a child he can now code using ChatGPT.

Presenting at the conference, Forshaw guided teachers in using ChatGPT 4—the latest version, available free through Microsoft Bing’s Create Mode—to develop and refine lessons and assessments in a way that’s easy and conversational. “You can ask your AI to consider specific contexts, and you can give it certain constraints,” he explained. One teacher experimented with ChatGPT to create lesson plans around Caldecott-winning children’s book author– illustrator Leo Lionni. “Great,” said Forshaw. “Now what are some special circumstances in your classroom? What are some added directives you can give your AI?”

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“Help me with students who aren’t decoding,” she replied. “What else?” Forshaw asked.

“Help me assess nonverbal students.” Though AI can be a powerful tool for educators—from generating potential lessons, assessments, and report card comments to quickly creating custom graphics, 3-D models, sticker packs, and coloring book pages—Forshaw says it will not displace teachers. “AI has a long list of limitations, which include inaccuracies, a lack of deep understanding, limited context, potentially inappropriate content, and more,” he explained. “You—the teacher—are the one steering the ship.” “This session was amazing,” said Naugatuck High School technology teacher Melissa McInvale. “I don’t know a lot about ChatGPT yet, so I was curious about how it could help me produce better lessons and activities.

When I saw the announcement about Rekindling Joy, I thought, ‘We lost that over COVID,’ and this is the first year I feel like things are getting back to normal. I really want to bring that joy back for myself and my students. It was great to start with a comedian, who got everybody laughing.” Andover K-6 reading

the whole child in a developmentally appropriate way,” he says. Twelve years ago, he switched to teaching preK and says he is fortunate that his school district supports a play-based model of preschool learning. “I know my preK colleagues in other districts have not been as lucky. I would attend workshops and hear about districts implementing writing prompts and mastering a certain number of sight words per semester in preschool. This pushdown into preschool scared me, and that’s when I knew I needed to do more.” When he met DeLancey, he says, “I felt I actually had a platform to advocate. Over the last couple of years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with Joslyn and many other amazing people at CEA to advocate for play and what’s developmentally appropriate.”

specialist Krysta Cariboni added, “I love the tools we got for using AI to generate materials for our kids. Every teacher has the experience of trying something that isn’t working in the classroom, and AI can produce alternatives, so it’s another resource we have.” “AI can also be useful with IEP objectives,” said colleague and special education teacher Kathy Hartnett. “It’s not perfect—you have to personalize it and make it work for your students and your situation—but it can be very helpful.”

Fun fact! Laughter promotes learning. Humor activates the brain’s dopamine reward system, increasing goal-oriented motivation and promoting long-term memory retention.