Professional learning · Coaches, Leaders, Librarians · 75 minutes
PD Menu Makeover
Coaches take apart a one-size-fits-all AI PD day and rebuild it as a choice menu, grounded in a real needs assessment, adult learning principles, and teaching strategies that already work.
Many campuses have lived through the AI PD day: a keynote about the future, a demo of eight tools, everyone creates an account, and nothing changes on Monday. In this design session, coaches analyze a fictional district's original agenda and the comments teachers left afterward, sort a draft needs assessment into questions worth keeping, rewriting, or cutting, and then rebuild the day as a menu. Every menu option has to name who it is for, the adult learning principle it honors, the research-based teaching strategy it serves, and the evidence teachers will bring back. The menu includes paths for skeptics, for privacy, and for deciding not to use AI.
In this packet
- Handout A: The Juniper Flats AI Day (reading)
- Handout B: Needs Assessment Sort (card sort)
- Handout C: Menu Builder (organizer)
- Facilitator key (last page)
TCEA ELE indicators
- C4.1 I know how to design and deliver effective professional development sessions.
- C4.2 I can identify and address teachers' individual learning needs.
- C4.3 I am aware of adult learning principles and how to apply them.
- AI1.2 I can explain AI concepts in simple terms to various stakeholders.
Full facilitator guide: mglearn.github.io/eles/activities/pd-menu-makeover.html
Handout A for PD Menu Makeover
The Juniper Flats AI Day
A fictional district's original PD agenda and the comments teachers wrote afterward. Starred comments are for the Persona check.
1Juniper Flats ISD · "AI for Everyone" PD Day · All K–12 staff, high school auditorium. 8:00 Welcome and keynote: "The Future Is Already Here." · 9:15 Demo: eight AI tools in 75 minutes. · 10:30 Everyone creates an account on one chatbot and tries three prompts from the slide. · 11:30 Lunch. · 12:30 Compliance video on acceptable use. · 1:30 Grade-level teams "brainstorm ways to use AI." · 2:45 Exit survey: "Rate today 1–5."
2Six adult learning principles to diagnose with. (1) Adults need to know why before what. (2) Adults bring experience that should be used, not ignored. (3) Adults learn best around real problems in their own work. (4) Adults want choice and some control over their learning. (5) Adults are ready to learn what is relevant to their role right now. (6) Adults need practice with feedback, not just exposure.
3★ Grade 2 teacher: "Seven of the eight tools said 13 and up. I teach seven-year-olds. I spent the morning on things I can't use."
4★ High school chemistry teacher: "I'm not against AI, I'm against wasting a day. I wanted to know whether it can help my students write a claim with evidence in a lab report. Nobody asked me that."
5★ Middle school ELA teacher, 22 years in: "I have real concerns about my students outsourcing their thinking, and today felt like a sales pitch. I didn't say anything because it seemed like the answer was already yes."
6Special education teacher: "I would have loved a session on text-to-speech and reading supports. It was mentioned for thirty seconds."
7Librarian: "We created accounts with our district email, and nobody explained what the tool does with what we type. Two people at my table pasted in student writing to test it."
8Second-year teacher: "Honestly, I just want to see someone teach a lesson with it and then try it myself with help nearby."
9Exit survey note from the organizers: "Average rating 3.1. Teachers want more time to explore." (Ask yourself whether that conclusion matches the comments above.)
Handout B for PD Menu Makeover
Needs Assessment Sort
Sort each draft question: Keep it, Rewrite it (write the better version on the back), or Cut it.
Keep
Rewrite
Cut
Handout B for PD Menu Makeover
Needs Assessment Sort: cards to sort
Cut apart the strips. Sort each one onto the mat and be ready to explain why.
Which AI tools would you like to learn about?
What is one thing you want students to be able to do by winter break that they struggle with now?
Rate your comfort with technology from 1 to 5.
What concerns, if any, do you have about AI in your classroom? (Your answer will not be shared with your name.)
Do you agree that AI will transform education?
How do you prefer to learn something new: watching a model, trying it with support, reading, listening, or discussing with colleagues?
List all the apps you use in a typical week.
What do you already do well that you could share with colleagues?
Have you ever used AI to write lesson plans? Yes / No
What grade level and subject do you teach?
Please enter your students' names and reading levels so we can personalize the session.
How much time can you realistically give to follow-up after the PD day?
Handout C for PD Menu Makeover
Menu Builder
Build 4–6 options. Three are required (first three rows). Every row needs a strategy and an evidence entry.
| Option, format, and who it's for | Need it answers (from the needs assessment or comments) | Adult learning principle it honors | Research-based strategy the tool (or no tool) serves | Evidence teachers bring back |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Required: a path for teachers not ready to use AI | ||||
| Required: a privacy and student data path | ||||
| Required: a path where "don't use AI in this lesson" is a legitimate outcome | ||||
Facilitator only for PD Menu Makeover
Answer key and notes
Handout B: Needs Assessment Sort
| Item | Sort | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Which AI tools would you like to learn about? | Rewrite | Asks about tools, not needs. Better: "What do you want students to do better this semester?" |
| What is one thing you want students to be able to do by winter break that they struggle with now? | Keep | Surfaces a classroom goal the PD can serve. |
| Rate your comfort with technology from 1 to 5. | Rewrite | Too vague to act on. Better: ask about comfort with a specific task, such as checking an AI answer against a source. |
| What concerns, if any, do you have about AI in your classroom? (Your answer will not be shared with your name.) | Keep | Gives skeptics a safe, anonymous way to be heard. |
| Do you agree that AI will transform education? | Cut | A leading question that signals the expected answer and yields no planning information. |
| How do you prefer to learn something new: watching a model, trying it with support, reading, listening, or discussing with colleagues? | Keep | Directly informs format choices on the menu. |
| List all the apps you use in a typical week. | Cut | Long, tedious, and says little about learning needs. |
| What do you already do well that you could share with colleagues? | Keep | Honors experience and finds peer facilitators. |
| Have you ever used AI to write lesson plans? Yes / No | Rewrite | A yes or no can feel like a trap. Better: "Where, if anywhere, has AI saved you time or caused a problem?" |
| What grade level and subject do you teach? | Keep | Needed so K–2 teachers are not sent to tools for 13 and up. |
| Please enter your students' names and reading levels so we can personalize the session. | Cut | Collects student data the PD does not need. Never ask for it. |
| How much time can you realistically give to follow-up after the PD day? | Keep | Tells you whether a playlist, a lesson study group, or a single session fits. |