“We believe that the responsible use of generative AI is not a distraction, but a core competency for every future-ready graduate.” Michael Kennedy, Assistant Principal at Grandville High School, details the critical process his school used to pivot from fear to faculty empowerment, providing access to Google Gemini for lesson design, and as a curricular resource across grades 9-12.
The journey of rolling out Gemini to all students began in the Grandville Public Schools AI Committee, made up of teachers, building admin, the district Technology Director and district admin, that meets on a quarterly basis. Through their work, they finalized policy, an AI tool adoption and review procedure, and updated their list of approved resources. They realized that many AI platforms like ChatGPT aren’t safe for students and decided to open access to Google Gemini under the Google workspace and education license. They are supported by a Superintendent who believes this skill set will be critical to students’ success in the future workforce.
The committee, along with the work of Mr. Kennedy, has been supporting their staff through the AI transition with information sessions and asynchronous PD opportunities. Mr. Kennedy made sure to provide context specific examples for all teachers to see the value of AI supported pedagogy. For example, a student in science could load an excerpt from the textbook into Notebook LM to support the classroom learning through the creation of AI generated infographics, flashcards, podcasts and video overviews.
There was the realization that students were using AI on their personal devices and at home on a frequent basis, so this was an opportunity to “provide teachers with the tools to teach this critical technology to the students in real time” compared to just ignoring the advent of AI and working with just paper and pencils. The committee decided that now was the time to unblock this technology for students rather than keep fighting against the tide.
One of the common concerns with rolling out Gemini to the entire student body is that academic dishonesty will increase. While cheating/plagiarism haven’t disappeared, Mr. Kennedy noted that there has not been an influx of academic dishonesty referrals in their SIS. In fact, some teachers have leaned into pedagogical changes, and focused more on “formative checks along the way with larger assignments, moving past DoK 1 activities into higher level learning experiences.”
As with any transition, the challenge remains: How do we support teachers who want to equip students and themselves with the best resources to foster student learning, but also find time and energy to learn and engage with this technology.
An additional challenge is helping staff balance pedagogically sound analog approaches and cutting edge AI opportunities for themselves and students. Mr. Kennedy plans to continue to support teachers on their AI adoption journey as this has been a fast shift in terms of educational technology change. For the classrooms actively using AI, Mr. Kennedy plans to fan the flames of innovation and encourage those teachers to share their stories with the staff.
The next steps for Grandville are to engage the wider community. The goal being to inform and partner with families, businesses, and other stakeholders to AI implementation at Grandville. Mr. Kennedy and Grandville have taken the approach to lean in and help teachers and students use AI appropriately whether through Notebook LM and Gemini, or other approved tools and platforms, rather than pretend it doesn’t exist.
“Now teachers have the opportunity to flip the script,” Kennedy said, “rather than have the teacher be the sole keeper of information, they now can engage students in the process of learning and use AI as a supplement and consultant for student learning.”
Michael Kennedy has been the Assistant Principal at Grandville High School for the last eight years. Before that, he was an English teacher for 16 years. Michael can be reached at MKennedy@gpsbulldogs.org.