Artificial Intelligence / Artificial Intelligence / New Teacher Tips / Technology
by Curtis Chandler · Published 04/15/2025 · Last modified 05/01/2025
Just like Top Gun Maverick had to trust his jet’s tech while employing his instincts and training, teachers are learning how to fly with AI as a co-pilot. The responsibility lies with us to adjust AI’s suggestions. Curtis Chandler offers dozens of teacher-tested prompts to get started.
Stealth learning and assessment blur the boundaries between learning, assessment, and fun. Teacher educator Curtis Chandler shows how simulations and practical projects help students across subjects gain knowledge while enjoying the process. Included: some lesson design tips.
Supporting learners through effective vocabulary instruction is critical to their success. Curtis Chandler offers a “crash course” – a compendium of key principles, strategies, and research-backed methods to help students build key vocabulary skills, whatever your subject area.
Whatever classes you teach, it can be a tremendous challenge to find engaging texts that help students develop key literacy skills. Teacher educator Curtis Chandler offers resources to find nonfiction texts online and, if needed, ready them for students with assists from AI.
Many teachers are feeling some apprehension about introducing artificial intelligence into their teaching, writes teacher educator Curtis Chandler. Yet “the truth remains that AI is an essential topic for our classrooms this year.” Here are his tips for how and what to teach.
New Teacher Tips / Your First Teaching Job
by Curtis Chandler · Published 04/21/2024 · Last modified 05/12/2025
As pre-service teachers anticipate their first classrooms, former Kansas TOY and teacher educator Curtis Chandler is ready with expert strategies to help them select the right schools and successfully complete the interview process. He stresses staying positive and being persistent.
Brain Breaks / New Teacher Tips
by Curtis Chandler · Published 02/11/2024 · Last modified 04/15/2025
Brain breaks are simple transitional physical and mental exercises to prevent learning fatigue, refocus the attention of the class, and keep students energized and receptive to learning. Curtis Chandler shares 24 break ideas to ease stress and help kids connect with each other.
In classrooms filled with conversations, oral instructions, and academic vocabulary, poor listening skills can drastically limit learning. Curtis Chandler shares seven simple activities educators can use to help students become active listeners who know more and retain more.
Class Closers / New Teacher Tips / Strong Class Closures
by Curtis Chandler · Published 10/09/2023 · Last modified 04/01/2025
Don’t devote all your class prep time to the start and middle of lessons, says teaching expert Curtis Chandler. Closure is critical if the learning is going to stick. See his wide selection of quick and meaningful wrap-ups to reinforce each lesson, including student favorites.
A New School Year / New Teacher Tips
by Curtis Chandler · Published 08/13/2023 · Last modified 07/17/2024
As schools open their doors for a new year, preservice educator Curtis Chandler urges novice teachers to prioritize the two crucial elements most likely to fuel student success in the months to come: teacher relationships with students and clarity about classroom expectations.
