Experience AI Before You Govern It
Most AI guidance asks school leaders to write policy before they’ve had a chance to actually use the tools their teachers and students already have. This guide takes the opposite approach: ten short, low-pressure activities — one per tool — so you experience firsthand what each can do, and just as importantly, what it cannot.
Every lesson follows the same structure: a plain-language explanation, a first try, a short reflection using Astra’s Go DEEP™ model where it fits naturally, and one leadership question to carry back to your school. No prior AI experience is assumed.
Ten Tools. Ten First Experiences.
The same ten tools your staff and students are most likely already using — covered in a fixed, deliberate order, from a first conversation with AI through to substantial document work.
ChatGPT
Start with a conversation
Grammarly
See how AI edits your writing
Canva Magic Studio
Turn a sentence into an image
Gamma
From outline to finished deck
Perplexity
Answers with sources attached
Otter.ai
Let it take the notes
Google Translate
Meet every family halfway
MagicSchool AI
Built for teachers, not adapted to them
Khanmigo
A tutor that asks, instead of tells
Claude / Claude Cowork
Move from conversation to substantial work
Selected Pages From the Guide
Welcome — setting expectations before you begin
AI Tools at a Glance — a one-page reference for all ten
A sample lesson — ChatGPT, the first of ten