Can AI Really Help Teachers? My Experience with AI-Generated Classroom Designs

We’re already a month into the school year, and with Halloween approaching quickly, I’ve been reflecting on how AI-generated classroom designs might really help teachers enhance their lesson plans and creativity.

This year has felt a bit strange for me, like I’ve lost a bit of direction. Last year I created some great science products, like those pertaining to volcanic eruptions and climate change to Washington state history lessons. I’ve been super busy cranking out collaborative coloring pages—if you pop over to my TPT store, you’ll see them sprinkled everywhere under my recent products.

These coloring pages are my brainchild, but with a twist—I used AI to help create them. Now, before you roll your eyes, it wasn’t as easy as clicking a button. The prompts I used to get the right designs took hours of practice. In fact, I’ve spent so much time perfecting this that I’m starting to feel like I should add “AI Prompt Engineer” to my resume. Honestly, that title is probably a real job somewhere by now!

The tricky part is turning these AI-generated designs into something that works as a coloring page. Just because something looks beautiful doesn’t mean it’s suitable for students to color. I took a lot of inspiration from styles I love, like Art Deco and stained glass windows, and once I got the designs right, I turned them into collaborative posters. The process is a bit of a journey—pulling them into Illustrator, breaking them into squares, and prepping them for classroom use. Sometimes I even tweak them in Photoshop to get them just right.

Now that I’ve figured out a smooth workflow, I’m excited to get more creative with my designs. Lately, I’ve been thinking about my Italian learners. When I started my TPT store, I focused on Italian language resources, and those Valentine's Day-themed products did pretty well! So, I’ve decided to make collaborative coloring posters that feature Italian proverbs. The students color their section and, in the process, learn a bit of Italian—and a proverb to boot!

Before I sign off, I want to mention that I’m planning a blog about the AI Presentation Maker on Slidesgo. I’m a big fan of their slides, and I think their AI feature is worth exploring. But can AI really make the perfect slideshow for you? Stay tuned!

See you in the next blog! Naomi

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