From Prompts to Possibilities: AI-Assisted Learning in the K–12 Classroom

WALK™ design canvas

St. Thomas University
LCS 2026 · tstafford@stu.edu

Core message: AI should expand what students can think through, create, and explain. Anchor: Teachers design the conditions; students increasingly shape the learning.

My lesson or task

Grade, subject, and the task as it is now

W · What thinking matters?

What should students explain or do at the end, without help? Use a verb you could observe.

A · Ask who does what

What one limited job will AI do (or a printed sample)? What must stay with the student?

L · Launch a small test

Smallest version: one segment, one class, next week. What will you try?

K · Keep evidence aligned

What will you collect that matches the thinking in W? Include a reflection.

Student reasoning I will require

Explain, justify, compare, find a flaw, defend a choice

Student reflection prompt

What changed in my thinking? Why? What is still uncertain?

Independent transfer task (no AI)

A new case where students use the same thinking alone

My one next action before Friday

Practical guardrails: teacher-mediated AI for young learners · direct use only with institution-approved, age-appropriate tools and school guidance · no student names or private data in prompts · AI can be wrong, so check trusted sources · printed samples work with no AI account.

Morning takeaways

Student reflection and administrator look-fors

St. Thomas University
LCS 2026 · tstafford@stu.edu

Student reflection page

Copy for students. For young learners, ask these aloud and record answers as a class.

1. What did AI (or the sample) suggest?

2. What did I keep, change, or reject? Why?

3. How did I check if it was true?

Trusted source, our own data, a test, a teacher

4. What changed in my thinking?

5. What am I still unsure about?

Administrator look-fors

Observe student reasoning, not tool usage counts. Use for coaching conversations, not evaluation.

Questioning. Students ask questions before or after seeing AI output.

Evaluating. Students say what they trust in an output and why.

Justifying. Students explain choices with evidence or reasons.

Checking. Students verify claims with data or trusted sources.

Reflecting. Students name what changed in their thinking.

Transferring. Students apply the idea to a new case without AI.

Teacher design. Task names the thinking; AI has a limited role; evidence matches.

Equity and safety. No-account option; approved tools; no private data in prompts.

Evidence like observations, reasoning samples, and reflections helps us see change; alone it does not prove that AI caused it.