Mandy Johnson teaches in Anaheim Union School District. She’s also an alum of aiEDU’s Trailblazer Fellowship, which she’s used to bring back knowledge about AI and build AI Readiness for her high school students.

With applications open now, aiEDU caught up with Mandy to talk about being a Trailblazer, what she learned and how she applied her fellowship learnings into her classroom. Check it out below 👇

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗶𝗘𝗗𝗨 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗯𝗹𝗮𝘇𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄? I set a professional learning goal to grow my own AI literacy so that I would be equipped to educate my own students about AI tools and how to choose and use them in ethical and appropriate ways. I was really impressed with aiEDU's resources and I wanted to learn more!

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺? The program gave me language and resources to help my students understand that AI tools are tools - and that they will never be "smarter" than my students (and) that my students have the power and the responsibility to make educated choices about how to engage with AI tools and use them for various purposes.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗶𝗘𝗗𝗨 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗯𝗹𝗮𝘇𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽? This is a great opportunity to meet other educators who are curious about AI. It was a great learning experience for me to hear from and see what other teachers were doing with their students.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽? AI tools are developing at breakneck pace and will change what education and the world of work looks like, but my job as a teacher continues to be to connect with humans and support them in exploring the world with curiosity and thoughtfulness.

Meet Mandy Johnson. aiEDU’s Q and A with a Trailblazer.

aiEDU expands Trailblazer fellowship, targeting rural and Indigenous communities, to build AI Readiness for America’s teachers