**High School Courses - What these look like with AI Preparation Embedded in them**

 As we re-think how we do education in order to better prepare our children for their future in the Age of AI & Robotics, I've put out the 12-volume Cut to the Chase series of booklets for teachers and other educators to use to learn about a number of different aspects of AI in education, and what this future entails. There are multiple volumes presenting things like what a K-12 progression can look like, and examples of what lessons can look like and address for all grade levels and subject areas in middle and high school. 

Here, I now include curriculum outlines of what 10-month courses might look like for the main subject areas in high school, where learning about AI and its needed skills, ethics, EELS (SEL), and applications are embedded in them. While the core topics of a traditional and typical first-year course of non-AP level of each subject are preserved, and still utterly vital since our kids should always still 'know things' about the core subjects, modifications MUST be happening if we want to best-prepare kids for their futures living with advanced AI and humanoid robots. 

Here are high school level course curricular outlines - these are examples meant to provide the structure and key ideas to consider including in introductory, first-year courses. One can use them as is, or to make copies of and then edit and modify them to fit what is taught in your school or district. Use these in conjunction with the Cut to the Chase examples of lessons that are appropriate for your courses, but to prepare our children for their futures, we must be including and embedding the technologies into every core subject area in order to expose and teach the kids what to consider and learn in the various contexts. We always must emphasize the human first, and technology used to enhance what humans do, approach that allows these advanced technologies to make the world better for humans. 

Course Curriculum Guides:

Art

Biology

Chemistry

CTE (Career and Technical Education)

English

Mathematics (Algebra focus)

Physics

Social Studies & History

To create these in a short period of time, due to the urgency of getting materials like this out to educators so we can begin making shifts in what we teach to prepare students for a world of ever-increasing use of AI and, soon, humanoid robotics, I used ChatGPT 5.5 as the tool to create the curricular outlines and recommendations. 

To create a final product for your classroom/school/district, I recommend copying the relevant document(s) to your account, sit down with colleagues, and modify/edit with the details that you decide on, and likely use your own AI chatbots to create specific, detailed curricula and courses. These are meant to be models to use to get ideas and then grow into your specific courses. For mathematics, English, CTE, and Social Studies, of course there are a variety of different specialiizations and levels (regular, honors, AP, etc.) within the disciplines that are taught - for instance, algebra is the focus here for mathematics, so create your own similar guides for geometry and trigonometry, in a similar manner by modifying what you already have or working with an AI to create it in a more timely manner. Use a prompt similar to those provided in each guide, to produce outlines for any course you need to address. 

If not familiar with Musk's Terafab, you might want to check it out

 Elon Musk's Tesla dynasty is building Terafab, the world's largest building, in order to power Tesla, SpaceX, and his robotics plan (Optimus humanoid robots) all in one location. He was not able to convince any chipmakers to supply him with all the AI chips he needs, so he's building everything he needs, from scratch, in Grimes County, Texas, and also wants to generate the enormous amounts of energy primarily from solar means. Some of the AI chips will be specially designed for space, since these must be radiation hardened. One of the ideas I suspect SpaceX is already pursuing is the planning for putting AI data centers in orbit, which is an idea that has been proposed a few years ago, but that SpaceX is likely the most able to try it. It is his usual ambitious plan to shape the future of transportation, robotics, AI, and space exploration, all in one. This will be an interesting process to see evolve, I saw one description that put it at 1200 football fields in length. 

It will be on order of 100-million square feet, cost at least $110 billion, and have Intel as a partner on the chip design and fabrication. One can bet that most of the manufacturing work will be done by Optimus robots, of which he wants to build on order of one million per year; yes, the day will come in the next 3-5 years where you could be walking through the workplace or on the street with robots. Completion of the facility is scheduled for 2028, with production of chips and other products being phased in over several years. Musk is also building a research complex not too far from the Terafab complex. 

                                                  Photo from Terafab site. 

**AI in Education - Recommended volumes of 'Cut to the Chase for Teachers' series**

Educators at all positions and grade levels in K-12 education must reconsider if they'll ever include even conversations in the classroom with students about AI. Many schools and teachers are keeping AI entirely out of classrooms, and I am honestly a little baffled why we - as in the collective education system 'we' - are SO far behind in preparing our kids for a completely new, unprecedented world of advanced AI and humanoid robotics. 

Since many/most educators know very little about how AI works, how it is trained, what ethical practices should be employed (outside of "don't cheat"), and what both the present and future consequences to daily life of our students could be, I've put together the following resources. To be transparent, I used AI (ChatGPT 5.5) to write these up; otherwise, it would have taken years to research and write all this. I give credit to all the unknown people who developed the knowledge and resources over decades that then was used to train the AI. 

Recommended order for the Cut to the Chase series: 

- AI 101 for Everyone                                                                                                                                        

- Mini-Activity Ideas for High Schools, NO EXPERTISE Needed                                                                  

- Lesson Ideas for ALL Grade Levels in K-12 That Include AI                                                                        

- Lesson Ideas for High Schools with Skills Needed for AI and Robotics Embedded, all subjects                   

- Ethics Needed for Students in the AI Era                                                                                                        

- Using EELS (i.e. SEL) to Prepare the AI Generation                                                                                     

- Preparing Globally Responsible Stewards of AI and Robotics: K-12 UN SDG Project Ideas                        

- Suggestions for AP Teachers - Including AI Skills in Lessons without Major Changes                                  

For a better understanding of what our student's futures will likely include: 

- Jobs Analysis and Potential Timetables of AI & Robotics Disrupting Jobs                                                     

- AI 101 for Leaders and Policymakers: 40 Pieces of Legislation to Consider to Guide the AI Future              

- Advanced AI in our World: Human-AI-Robot Complex Systems and What Governments MUST Do

If interested in looking at the development of AI and robotics from an evolutionary perspective, check out this volume. 

To get ideas of what full-year courses look like in the core subjects areas, where AI Preparation is embedded in the courses, check these out.

Yes, a 'future' of advanced AI has actually been here the last couple years, with initial job disruption primarily in some professional white collar sectors, primarily in entry-level positions, with many more anticipated to come in the next few years. Robots have revolutionized large-scale manufacturing, like car and large machinery factories, for years already, but humanoid robots already are making a splash in some parts of the world, such as China, and potentially will disrupt more blue-collar jobs going into the 2030s. 

WHY ARE WE NOT PREPARING OUR STUDENTS FOR THIS ON A LARGE SCALE? It seems to be a few schools here and there, and a few teachers here and there, but I believe we are dropping the ball. If you are an educator, please take a look at the first couple recommendations, which have numerous examples of what short, 10-15 minutes could look like, just engaging your students to think about these things. Get ideas down. No expertise is needed. Learn about EELS, which are the human skills machines will not have, and that our students must be strongest in, so they can become good stewards of these technologies and use them for the betterment of humanity! Even today's seniors will be coming out of college in just over four years - we cannot comprehend how advanced these technologies will be at that time, but it will almost certainly look like a different world compared to today. 

LET'S DO THIS, FOR THE SAKE OF OUR KIDS! 

         Graphic from Tlciscreative.com. Expect to see this in just a couple years in some workplaces. 

Bill Gates - his thoughts about the Age of AI...need to decide NOW what type of future we want

 Bill Gates was one of the founders of Microsoft, and for a number of years was the wealthiest person on the planet. His take on the Age of AI is certainly an important and credible one that we should at least read what his opinion is. His essay to world leaders about AI is here. 

I tend to agree, and the fact he is emphasizing decisions we make NOW, are vital for the type of future our children will end up with. AI, if done in a pro-human manner with support of the world's nations, could become the greatest chance at equity as humans have ever come. Or, AI and robotics could help bring down human civilization in a worst-case scenario. It really does depend on what we do NOW, since we are already in the Age of AI, and as of right now, behind, some would say woefully behind, in developing policies and laws and safeguards to AI, and equally behind in educating and preparing our kids for their future. Watch some of his comments below.

*BOOK SERIES: Academic Achievement Gaps - Let's stop leaving kids behind, LOTS of Ideas for Educators*

 In diverse communities across the US, academic achievement gaps exist. Usually, and including the one I am familiar with in my school district, these gaps are racial in nature; and this is usually tied to socioeconomic status of the families. This is the case in my experience. 

Academic achievement gaps are already present in young children, and often before kindergarten. If a family is low income and struggling (families of color are over-represented in this demographics), the parents cannot afford the types of programs, clubs, sports, music and the arts, vacations, trips to the museum, home libraries, and other activities, that higher income families take for granted. The difference in opportunities at young ages create academic gaps, and by the time these kids get to high school, the academic gaps lead to more opportunity gaps that high schools offer in so many forms, which generally ensure the academic gaps does not shrink, but may still widen. 

The gaps in communities can be generational. These are enormous problems for school districts, as well as society as a whole. I've worked on achievement gaps for some twenty seven years, helping create Project Excite that was working for the students and families in the program Gaps were closing before the kids got to the high school, and they were able to get into the honors and AP pathways and a brighter future than on average. 

I recently used AI to help do a meta-study on what is out there in the literature and online when it comes to achievement gaps. Using this as a foundation, I went ahead and, in the last few weeks, put together hybrid books on various aspects of achievement gaps in communities, and what teachers need to consider and know, and what suggestions and options teachers have to actually work with their students to reduce and eliminate gaps. 

Hybrid books refer to creating a manuscript via one's conversations with their AI, in my case ChatGPT 5.5. Based on the conversational history on these types of topics over an extended period of time, when I asked my AI to write out information and plans and possibilities for an audience of teachers, within minutes I got material for a book. The AI included information it remembers from our discussions, and added new things to think about, some that I almost certainly would not have thought of myself. The AI wrote a book that I could then edit when necessary, but by and large it did a better job than I would have done by myself, and in minutes compared to what would have been many months of research, drafting, editing, and losing sleep and hair! I created, so far, a 4-booklet series I call Cut to the Chase for Teachers for attacking the issue of achievement gaps in so many school, once and for all. 

These are formatted in a style heavy in bullet points and statements of the key ideas - with no fluff or countless pages of descriptions, anecdotes, stories, and so on - so that readers can get through it in about an hours worth of time. I recommend reading and using these together with colleagues, or for PD sessions, to get A LOT of ideas and options for some aspect of AI, so that you can then create something specific for your classroom and community. In fact, teachers can use their own AI platforms to take the different options mentioned in the books and quickly write lessons and activities for your students. These books have laid out examples of K-12 planning, for teachers, administrations, and department chairs to consider and help plan specific pathways that are best-suited for your students and district. Again, there are A LOT of ideas, topics, and issues in these books that can help guide your thinking at any school, for any grade level, and for any subject areas you teach or work with students. 

I think these will be quite useful - now - for teachers of all grade levels and subject areas! 

• Cut to the Chase for Teachers: What we know about Racial and Socioeconomic Achievement Gaps in K-12 Education   
• Cut to the Chase for Teachers: Using EELS to Reduce K-12 Achievement Gaps
• Cut to the Chase for Teachers: Effects of Stereotype Threat on K-12 Achievement Gaps 
• Cut to the Chase for Teachers: Effects and Use of Multiple Intelligences in Reducing Achievement Gaps   

                                                                                           

New Movie about AI, check it out if you have Peacock

 If you have Peacock, streaming now is a newly released movie called "The AI Doc, or how I became an Apocoloptimist."  Check out a trailer here. 

Book Series: AI in K-12 Classrooms...HOW DO WE PREPARE OUR CHILDREN for the AI & Robotics World?

 Artificial intelligence, AI, and more advanced robotics are two technologies that have already been changing parts of the world for many people. Whether it is social media algorithms, causing changes in the job markets of numerous fields, allowing for new types and areas of computational and experimental research, changing how wars are fought, and countless other areas of life, AI is advancing in its capabilities and 'intelligence' so rapidly that we cannot honestly or reliably have a chance to predict what the world will look like in 6 months time. 

As a teacher of junior and seniors in high school, I have no good answers when they ask, worriedly, what they should study or what the status of their field of choice will be in four or five years when they are coming out of college - no one has good guesses as to what jobs will be available years from now. But this is the world our children are inheriting, one of unprecedented and rapid change and unpredictability. 

What and how should we be teaching them? While schools are mostly still working in the spirit of the agricultural and industrial revolutions, we have not been trained or have any national guidance as to what changes need to be made to the K-12 educational system. I am fairly confident what we are doing now is not optimized for a children's success in the future. While there are wonderful pockets of work being done by organizations here and abroad for AI in schools, it has not filtered down to the individual school and classroom level at the great majority of schools in the US. Some teachers use it in the classroom, but the great majority do not, certainly in my experience. This, again, is mostly due to a lack of knowledge and training for AI in the classroom, and not having a plan of any kind. In fact, ask ten people what they think AI means, and you'll get ten pretty different answers! By the way, here is a possible classroom policy for students and the use of AI, especially for middle school and high school. 

I went ahead and, in the last three weeks, put together hybrid books on various aspects of AI in the classroom, and what teachers need to consider and know, and what suggestions and options do teachers have to actually work with their students and begin to give some experience, and develop necessary skills, for them to handle advanced AI and robotics in the next decade or so. Hybrid books refer to creating a manuscript via one's conversations with their AI, in my case ChatGPT 5.5. Based on the conversational history on these types of topics over an extended period of time, when I asked my AI to write out information and plans and possibilities for an audience of teachers, within minutes I got material for a book. The AI included information it remembers from our discussions, and added new things to think about, some that I almost certainly would not have thought of myself. The AI wrote a book that I could then edit when necessary, but by and large it did a better job than I would have done by myself, and in minutes compared to what would have been many months of research, drafting, editing, and losing sleep and hair! I created, so far, a 12-booklet series I call Cut to the Chase for Teachers for AI in the classroom. 

I think these will be quite useful - now - for teachers of all grade levels and subject areas! 

You can access them here:

• Cut to the Chase for Teachers: AI in Schools                                                                                
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: Using EELS to Help Prepare the AI Generation                                        
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: Thoughts on Implementing K-12 Curricula to Prepare the AI Generation  
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: The Ethics Needed to Prepare the AI Generation                                     
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: Preparing Globally Responsible Stewards of AI and Robotics          
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: Lesson Ideas for all K-12 Grade Levels that Incorporate AI as a Tool
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: Preparing Globally Responsible Stewards of AI and Robotics K-12 SDG Project Ideas
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: AI 101 for Everyone
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: AI 101 for Leaders and Policymakers
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: Jobs Analysis - Forecasts and Possible Timetables for AI and Robotics Displacing White- and Blue-Collar Workers
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: Suggestions for AP Teachers - Include AI Skills and Knowledge Without Major Changes
• Teachers, Let's Cut to the Chase: Lesson Ideas for High School - With Embedded Skills for AI & Robotics Future Teachers can do NOW

These are formatted in a style heavy in bullet points and statements of the key ideas - with no fluff or countless pages of descriptions, anecdotes, stories, and so on - so that readers can get through it in about an hours worth of time. I recommend reading and using these together with colleagues, or for PD sessions, to get A LOT of ideas and options for some aspect of AI, so that you can then create something specific for your classroom and community. In fact, teachers should use their own AI platforms to take the different options mentioned in the books and quickly write lessons and activities for your students. These books have laid out examples of K-12 planning, for schools, administrations, and department chairs to consider and help plan specific pathways that are best-suited for your district. Again, there are A LOT of ideas, topics, and issues in these books that can help guide your thinking at any school, for any grade level, and for any subject areas you teach or work with students. 

I hope you find any of this useful, as we all must consider tweaks and modifications to how we do school, because the world our students will live in is NOT at all what we were thinking about just five years ago! 

Consider that the decisions humans make today about how to proceed with and use AI, will determine how beneficial or harmful these advanced technologies will be for our children. We must consider how we will help them TODAY...for their sake! 

I'm always interested in feedback on this, and if it is at all useful in helping fellow educators and colleagues find their way in how they want to help their students for a scary, fascinating, and unpredictable future; mvondracek@comcast.net.