Hey everyone,

I’m celebrating 1 year 🎉 of writing these newsletters by revisiting one of the very first topics I covered: AI in education.

A year ago, most conversations sounded like this:

“AI is cheating.”
“AI will replace teachers.”
“AI is a terrible amalgamation of human history and now society is collapsing.”

Well, the sky is still here, and AI hasn’t gone anywhere.

So, I don’t want to talk about whether AI belongs in education anymore. It’s here. Your learners are using it.

The better questions to ask are:

Are you using it intentionally?

Are you confident in the value YOU bring to learners?

Are you just throwing robot glitter at problems and hoping for the best?

Here are 3 AI strategies I’ve implemented in my learning design over the last year, from low-effort/high-impact to “I accidentally built a digital clone of myself.”

Strategy #1: The “Fight me, bro!”

This is my favorite use case. Simple, easy, high return.

Ask AI to attack your own instruction and strengthen your learning experience.

Paste in a lesson plan, curriculum map, assessment, etc. and ask:

• “Where could learners become confused?”
• “What prerequisite knowledge is assumed?”
• “Does the assessment align to the objective, standard, and instruction?”
• “What Bloom’s level is this actually targeting?”
• “What misconceptions might emerge?”
• “What objectives might logically come next?”
• “How can I make this a project-based approach / microlearning / gamify this activity?”

Tip

AI needs frameworks as reference. For example, if you want it to match cognitive rigor, be explicit about things like Bloom’s Taxonomy as a framework to match standard rigor to objective verbs > assessment level > instruction depth (see what I did there? Backward design 😉)

Follow up tip

Most AI tools maintain contextual memory inside a single conversation. Return to the SAME thread and it remembers tone, frameworks, language, etc. (for the most part).

Fun tip

It doesn’t have to be your content! Take your district’s curriculum and do the same thing… make it a “Fight US, bro!” adventure.

Strategy #2: The AAA (Aggregate and Analyze)

AI is GREAT at quickly identifying trends in large sets of data.

You: That’s great Evan, but I don’t have large data sets.

Me:

• rubrics
• playing tests
• concert reflections
• practice logs
• any collected written responses
• gradebook scores

The issue isn’t collection anymore. It’s synthesis.

Teachers are great at analyzing a moment in time, but AI is best at analyzing multiple moments simultaneously.

Imagine feeding AI 150 anonymized concert reflections with your rubric and asking:
​
“Which rubric category consistently underperforms?”

“Use the NCAS standards and identify which standards appear weakest?”

“Which activities generated the strongest engagement?” Let’s to more of this

“Which activity, music, or concept did learners not enjoy?" Let’s do less of this

AI unlocks a better future for you and your learners by quantifying and validating things you “gut checked” before. It often surfaces patterns hidden behind words.

Strategy #3: Mr. Combs 3000 (Custom Bots)

Okay, technically I’m ABOUT to implement this one with our drumline, but the bot itself already exists.

Let me show you a real interaction with Mr. Combs 3000 before I explain it:

Me: I took this picture of my music, how do I read measures 23 and 24?

Mr. Combs 3000:

Measure 23 (4/4 Time)

This measure is all about that crescendo. Start at a whisper and end like you're trying to set off a car alarm in the parking lot.

• Beat 1: Quarter note. (1)
• Beat 2: Quarter rest. (shhh)
• Beat 3: Quarter note. (3)
• Beat 4: A triplet! Three notes squeezed into one beat. (4 - trip - let)

Counts for 23: 1 | (2) | 3 | 4 - trip - let

Measure 24 (2/4 Time)

DANGER! The time signature just chopped the measure in half. We only have two beats here, so don't go looking for beat 3 or you'll find yourself playing during a rest in measure 25.

• Beat 1: Quarter note. (1)
• Beat 2: A dotted eighth note. (2 (e) (+))
• The "a" of 2: A sixteenth note. This is a "syncopated" feel—it’s going to feel like a little "hiccup" right before the downbeat of 25. (a)

Counts for 24: 1 | 2 (e) (+) a (Note: You hit on 1, 2, and the a of 2)

Putting It All Together

If we play them back-to-back, it sounds like this:

1 - (rest) - 3 - 4-trip-let | 1 - 2 (e) (+) a

Teacher Tip: That "a" at the end of measure 24 is a "pick-up" into the big ff note at measure 25. If you're late on that sixteenth note, the whole band is going to look at you like you just dropped your lunch tray in the cafeteria. Don't be that person!
​END

Is it the ideal teacher? 🙅🏾 No

Is it the best way to learn counting a measure? 🙅🏻 NO

Might it help me scale the things between rehearsals so kids don’t get stuck? 🤷🏿‍♀️ ¿Maybe? I’ll let you know.

​
My instructions for this bot include:

1. Instructions on my voice and tone as a teacher. And if you read these regularly, the witty jabs 💯% translate to my teaching style.
2. Rhythmic frameworks on how I prefer to count out eighths, sixteenths, and triplets.
3. Guides on how to help a struggling student (encouragement and providing short exercises to practice if struggling).

What SHOULD AI help us with?

Ideally?

• repetitive actions
• first drafts
• pattern analysis
• organizing chaos

So that YOU focus on:

• relationships
• observation
• motivating
• culture building
• cultivating growth

Updates From the Music Room

Highlighting some recently published choral works! Orchestra and Band releases coming next issue.

​Goodbye and Hello 👋

Written as an upbeat, heart warming (with humor) elementary school graduation song, with a REALLY fun accompaniment.
​
​My family HATES how catchy the melodic line is with the lyrics “goodbye scribbled dinosaurs.”

Two-part and Unison versions are available.

​Winter’s Current ❄️

A song about everyone’s unique journey in our shared world. This is more flowing.

​Two-part and Unison versions are available.

Your Thoughts

How are you using AI in your practice today? Any strategies, thoughts, or opinions to share on the topic?

​Share your thoughts here​

Get Inspired,
Evan

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