Cabot teachers navigate AI in the classroom

Yahoo

22-05-2025

CABOT, Ark. – Artificial Intelligence is just about everywhere – on apps, on phones and computers; and it's made its way into some classrooms.
At Cabot High School, math teacher BJ Brooks and English teacher Twyla Kester both say that when it comes to teaching their students, they would rather stick with the basics instead of having them rely on AI.
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However, they say that doesn't mean there's no place for AI to help students.
'AI is here, it's going to be here, it's not going away,' Brooks said.
Brooks says she doesn't allow anything with a 'battery' in her classroom and tells her students not to use AI in the classroom to help with tests.
'Photomath is on their phone,' Brooks said. 'They take a picture of a math problem, and it gives them the answer.'
Instead, she says she uses an old-school method when it comes to having her students solve problems.
'They will get a mini whiteboard and a marker, hold up their answer, and I will grade them like an 1800s schoolhouse.
Kester also says she uses the basics when it comes to teaching.
'We handwrite all of the essays in class,' Kester said.
Kester says if students use AI like ChatGPT to write any other assignments, she can tell based on some of the vocabulary words that it uses compared to what her students would normally write.
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However, they do believe there is a positive aspect to AI. Kester made her students compare their written essays to versions.
'80 percent of the time, my students find their own versions were better,' Kester adds. 'They are smarter than they think, and we just have to show them the path.'
Brooks also knows there is more than one way to solve a problem, especially when it comes to their homework that's not graded.
'If you're struggling, take out that phone and do it through AI to look how they solved it. It gives them another perspective,' Brooks said.
She says that after they find that solution, they will have a discussion in class about how that way helped them learn.
'They get up in front of the classroom and will instruct the kids on this way AI taught them, and it's empowering for the student, it gives them confidence in mathematics, and teaches the other students another method,' said Brooks.
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They say it's important to keep up with all the changes happening in and around the classroom, but maintain education for their students on ethics and integrity despite those changes.
'It's important for me for my students to find their voice and be proud of it,' Kester said.
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