PME 811: Innovation in teaching and learning

 If you’ve ever wished you could get a few hours of your life back each week, or just have someone sit beside you and help with the parts of teaching that pile up, Magic School feels like that friend. It’s an educator‑built AI platform created specifically for K–12 teachers and students and more than 5–6 million people in schools around the world are already using it. At its core, Magic School is designed to give teachers breathing room. It helps with the tasks that quietly eat away at your evenings: lesson plans, rubrics, assessments, IEPs, parent emails, you name it. Teacher’s report saving 7–10 hours every week, which is wild when you think about what you could do with that time back. But what makes Magic School more than “just another AI tool” is the way it supports creativity and innovation. Need materials differentiated for English learners or students with IEPs? It can generate and scaffold content instantly. Want to adjust a reading level, design a formative assessment,...

  Innovation Original Definition: Innovation stems from the Latin innovare , meaning “to renew” or “to make changes.” I think innovation is the process of improving or updating something that already exists. Innovation does not mean than creating something entirely new, rather, it is about enhancing a product, system, or practice to make it more effective. Revised Definition: Innovation is the purposeful transformation of teaching and learning through reflective change. This is often informed or influenced by historical, cultural, and relational contexts and can cultivate hope, build community, and prepare learners for a better future in response to evolving societal and global needs. Reflection: When I first defined innovation, I viewed it as improving something that already existed to make it more effective. At its core, I still believe this is true, however, my definition lacked elements to make a complete and holistic. Throughout this course, my perspective of innov...

                    AI Tools in the Classroom: School‑Based Pro‑D, January 23 rd 2026, 8:30–11:30 a.m. Event Description This school wide professional development session was held at W.L. Seaton Secondary which introduced teachers to practical applications of AI. The foundation of the session was a hand held guide named “Educational AI tools.” The workshop focused on how teachers can use AI to streamline everyday tasks, improve learning supports, organize materials, differentiate readings for diverse learners (including ELL), generate rubrics, create writing samples and strengthen report‑card comments. This session was designed for all the staff at Seaton Secondary and emphasized how AI is a tool that can innovate our practice by saving time on the laptop so we can spend more time interacting with our students and helping them one on one. Personal Reaction I felt apprehensive about AI and unsure whether it had a meanin...

  Part 1: Initial Reflection When I think about how I learn best, face to face interactions or human connection is the first idea to come to mind. I know many educators who rely on digital platforms to stay current with new ideas however, my professional growth has developed differently. I have intentionally stepped away from social media as I have found it to be a big distraction to what’s important in my life. Instead, I have learned to depend on the people around me such as my colleagues, mentors or other professionals in the district. I have taught at 4 schools in 5 years and have had the privilege to build relationships with educators across the district who offer unique strengths, experiences, and perspectives. Whether it’s observing what others are trying in their classrooms, asking questions or co‑teaching lessons, my growth as a professional has stemmed from my relationships which has shaped the teacher I am today. In addition, I tend to share my own ideas through face...

  The debate around AI use in the classroom is becoming impossible to ignore. As a high school teacher, I find myself going back and forth about when and how to introduce AI to my students. For my Grade 8 and 9 learners, I remain firm about limiting AI use. These years are foundational, and research shows that  dependence on digital tools can create gaps in core skills when students are still developing academic habits. My goal is to help them build confidence as thinkers before experimenting with tools that may do too much of the work for them. Still, I know AI isn’t going anywhere. In our senior grades, teachers are encountering AI in writing, research, and creative tasks. Yet, there is an argument that AI can strengthen learning through scaffolding and differentiated assignments. This tension, caution with younger learners and guided exploration with older ones, shows exactly where my practice is experiencing innovation.  The AI Assessment Scale in the image above has ...

  Jane Roland Martin’s “The Contradiction and the Challenge of the Educated Woman” shows how for much of history, women’s education was seen as threatening. John Stuart Mill’s statement that “women who read, much more women who write, are… a contradiction and a disturbing element" highlights how shocking it once was to imagine women as intellectuals (Martin, 1991). Even though the article was written in 1991, Martin’s argument makes it clear that the very idea of what it means to be “educated” has long been shaped by male‑centered expectations. She notes that women were expected to “ transform themselves from living contradictions… into people who transcend male as well as female stereotypes ” (Martin, 1991). With regards to diversity and inclusion in teaching, this startling history suggests innovation in teaching and learning are closely linked to inclusivity. At one point, becoming an educated woman was a radical yet innovative concept. This article has made me reflect: How inc...