As classrooms become increasingly diverse, supporting English Language Learners (ELLs) has never been more crucial. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into language learning can provide valuable resources that cater to individual needs, enhance engagement, and personalize the learning experience. By leveraging the following resources, educators can create a more inclusive and supportive environment that fosters confidence and proficiency in English.

Click here for a download to the Five AI Resources for ELL Students

Napkin.ai transforms text into graphic representations. With a simple copy and paste, Napkin will incorporate images, charts, diagrams, and illustrations into the text. This application is excellent for ELLs because it allows teachers to quickly display multiple representations of the content.

Keep it simple and direct with perplexity.ai. When introducing a new concept or standard to ELL students, begin with a quick search on perplexity.ai. The AI application simplifies definitions, brief videos, vocabulary words, and images.

Diffit.me offers endless possibilities. Utilize the interactive activities to engage ELL students with visual representations and break down the context into bite-sized paragraphs. Lower the reading level and translate the articles into various languages. Diffit.me is a great way to differentiate instruction for all learners.

Increase student discourse in the classroom with the Snorkl app. Snorkl is easy to set up and use as a quick formative assessment that grades, provide feedback to the students, and gets them talking about what they have learned. Think of Snorkl as an AI-powered whiteboard that can help to authenticate the learning process.

Begin 2025 by encouraging students to reflect on their experiences over the past year. What achievements are they proud of? What challenges did they face? This reflection will help them recognize their growth and identify areas for improvement. Download our reflection goal setting form.

Introduce the concept of dreaming big. Encourage students to think about their passions and interests. Ask them to write down their dreams, whether they relate to academics, sports, arts, or personal development. Remind them that every great accomplishment starts with a dream.

After establishing their goals, assist students in developing actionable steps. For each goal, they should outline what they need to do regularly to achieve it. This may include scheduling study time, joining clubs, or seeking help from teachers or peers. Download our Five Leveled Goal Setting "STEMS" to help with creating action setting plans. 

Encourage students to share their goals with a peer or family member. Having someone to hold them accountable can keep them motivated. Establishing a supportive environment where they can share progress and challenges is key to their success.

Remind students that every step they take is important. Encourage them to celebrate small victories as milestones on their journey to larger goals. Recognizing their progress helps to build confidence and resilience. Try to set up regular data meetings with the students either weekly, biweekly, or monthly.  Download our data-meeting cards.  The data meeting cards help to keep the meeting short and to the point. 

Enhance student engagement and ownership by utilizing these freemium tools. The tools outlined below demonstrate how to plan for differentiated instruction, engage students during presentations, convert a lecture into a podcast, and more. Explore the following tools for differentiated instruction ideas, engage students during a presentation, transform a lecture into a podcast, and more

Audio Pen: - audiopen.aiAudio Pen allows you to quickly convert your thoughts, lectures, or feedback into written text. I can easily envision educators using this tool to provide prompt reflections on student projects and writing excerpts. This freemium application offers limitless possibilities for both students and teachers.

Brisk Boost - Chrome Extension
​Enhance student engagement with the Brisk Boost activities. In just a few seconds, you can create exit and entrance tickets or enable students to interact with historical figures. The current free Boost activities include hooks, debates, real-world math applications, inquiry, brainstorming, and assessment components.

Mentimeter - AI Extension
Turn a lesson into a conversation with the use of Mentimeter.  The audio creation of the presentations, along with the instant interactivity elements, allows all of the participants to engage with the lesson through reactions, chats, discussions, interactive polls, and Q&A.

Eduaide.ai
​To increase student engagement in the classroom, it’s essential to design differentiated instruction tailored to individual student needs. With Eduaide.ai, teachers can quickly create differentiated lessons for small groups with just a click of a button. This ensures that every student can learn at their current level and receive support to advance to the next level.

Teacher AI Prompts
​By using a quality AI prompt, you can quickly generate lesson plans, engagement activities, and differentiated lessons for free. Visit our blog post for examples of effective teacher AI prompts. Modify the grade, subject, and content to create a customized prompt that enhances student engagement and ownership.

Bonus: Google Notebook LM
​Transform your lesson, lecture, or notes into an engaging podcast using Google Notebook LM. For those of us juggling busy schedules, this is a fantastic way to continue learning on the go, whether you’re commuting, working out, or simply multitasking.

​In today’s diverse classrooms, the concept of differentiation in instruction has become essential for meeting the varied needs of all students. While many educators understand the necessity of adapting teaching methods for struggling learners, it is equally crucial to recognize and support gifted and talented students. Differentiating instruction ensures that every student, regardless of their abilities, is engaged and has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Gifted and talented students often require more than traditional curriculum offerings to stay motivated and challenged. When instruction is not tailored to meet their advanced learning needs, these students may become bored or disengaged, leading to underachievement. Differentiation allows educators to provide higher-order thinking tasks, advanced materials, and opportunities for exploration that stimulate intellectual curiosity and foster a love of learning.

Khanmingo is an adaptive learning tool for gifted students, offering personalized, challenging content that aligns with their interests. It features interactive lessons, real-time feedback, and advanced topics to keep learners engaged and enhance their understanding.

KidsThinkWide Adventure allows gifted and talented students to expand their imagination with creative adventure stories that incorporate collaboration, brainstorming, visual thinking, and publishing elements. This freemium website takes learning to unlimited possibilities.

Socratic by Google: Socratic is an AI-based research assistant that helps students explore complex topics through interactive explanations and connections to advanced resources, making it ideal for independent research projects.

Cognii: This AI-powered virtual tutor provides open-response assessments and feedback, encouraging critical thinking and deeper understanding. It’s especially useful for gifted students who thrive on analytical challenges.

ChatGPT prompt examples that can be used to create differentiated lessons, activities, and challenges for gifted and talented students.  Below are a few prompts that you can use to generate and customize lessons and project ideas for the gifted and talented students. 

As educators, we constantly seek ways to improve student growth and achievement in the classroom. By implementing effective strategies, we can create an environment that fosters learning and supports student success. In this blog post, we will explore five impactful methods to enhance student growth and achievement, providing practical insights for educators seeking to make a positive impact in their classrooms.

Implementing learning studios will help foster student growth and achievement by allowing the students to learn the content through multiple learning modalities.  The learning studios will also help to increase student ownership, empowerment, and student engagement.  Learning studio days should always include a small group if student growth and achievement are a priority in the classroom.   Learn more about learning studios by visiting this blog post and watching this video.

Recognizing that students have diverse learning styles and abilities, differentiated instruction allows educators to tailor their teaching methods to meet the individual needs of each student. By incorporating varied instructional techniques, such as visual aids, hands-on activities, and collaborative projects, educators can create an inclusive learning environment where all students have the opportunity to thrive and achieve their full potential.

​Active student engagement is a key driver of student growth and achievement. By fostering a classroom environment that encourages participation, discussion, and critical thinking, educators can ignite students' curiosity and passion for learning. Utilizing interactive teaching methods, such as group discussions, debates, and problem-solving activities, can empower students to take ownership of their learning and cultivate a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Watch this video to learn how to get started and to level up with the student collaboration.

​Feedback plays a crucial role in supporting student growth and achievement. By providing timely and constructive feedback, educators can guide students in understanding their strengths and areas for improvement. Offering specific feedback that highlights student progress and offers actionable suggestions for enhancement can motivate students to strive for continuous improvement and take ownership of their learning journey.  Explore and learn more about providing Instant feedback. 

As educators, we are always looking for ways to support our students in reaching their full potential. One way to build academic relationships, trust, and ensure all students grow within the classroom is by holding data meetings. These meetings don't have to happen every week, but the more consistent and frequent they are, the more students will always be working toward their individualized goals.

When scheduling the data meeting, consider what kind of data you want to share with the students. Start small! Don't overwhelm them by presenting every single piece of data. To make sure you have enough time to meet with all of the students, set a timer. I usually allocate about two minutes to meet with each student.

Please make sure to create or print a year-long MAP Goal Tracker that students can keep in their data binders. The tracker should include space for the RIT Score, RIT Goal, and a place to write down a goal. It would be helpful to also include a section where the student and teacher can check in on the goal at least three times before the next MAP assessment.

Click here is a sample goal sheet from our website. 

When reviewing the MAP data points, call the students in for individual data meetings. Start by explaining what RIT is and how the RIT score can demonstrate growth and achievement over time. Then, open the Student Profile Report and show the achievement mountain and the progress they have made over time.

STOP: Don't Skip This Step.  Before setting a RIT Goal, it's important to review the Student Achievement Norms provided by NWEA. The RIT Norms will show the average RIT score for your grade level and where the student falls within the range. This will help to put into perspective how many points to increase the RIT Goal. It also provides a good talking point with parents and students about the RIT Scores.
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Now, it is time to record the current RIT Score and the RIT Goal. The Student Profile Report will provide a projected achievement RIT score. You can adjust the RIT score on the report to show what happens once the student meets their goal. Will they move up a color? Will they jump two color bands?

Set an academic goal with the student on how to meet the RIT goal. A great way to set achievable goals is to use the SMART goal system, where it is measurable, specific, attainable, relevant, and within a given time period. We took the idea of SMART goals and generated MAP goal stems based on the different color bands from the MAP assessment.
Click here to grab a copy of the Goal Stems.