Google AI Badgeathon

Looking for a great free day of virtual PD to kick off the new school year? Well get your snacks ready because Google is hosting their "AI Educator Series Badgeathon: Day of AI Learning".

I am super excited to be presenting one of the sessions that day on Gemini Notebook and how to build just-in-time coaching resources at 1:30pm Eastern.

Here are the details for the full day of sessions:

• Date: September 19, 2026
• Time: 9:00am-7:00pm ET

A fast-paced, drop-in learning festival designed for your busy schedule. Pop in for a 30-minute power session or stack a few together to level up your AI skills on your own terms. Every 30-minute block packs a punch.

• Lightning Talk: A fellow K-12 classroom teacher shares a quick, real-world AI hack or use case (like automating lesson plans or student-inquiry scaffolds).
• Module Overview: Get a fast, clear walkthrough of the official curriculum to master the tool's features.
• Live Badging & Prizes: We open our screens, complete the 5-question quiz together to earn your verified badge, and wrap up with custom swag giveaways!

Why Join Us on September 19th?

• ISTE-Aligned Micro-Credentials: Walk away with verified digital badges that prove your practical AI fluency.
• Win Free Swag: Complete a bundle of badges to earn raffle entries for amazing prizes, including limited-edition Google water bottles and other official Google gear!
• Live Troubleshooting Support: Stuck on a quiz question or login? A team of Google team members will be active in the live stream to answer your technical questions in real time.

Planning to join? Get more details on the website and register for free.

I hope to learn with you!

Upcoming Webinar - Promptcraft: Building a Better AI Prompt

I am excited to be presenting a free webinar about creating better AI prompts. And what better time than September to have a "Promptember" event!

AI can have a powerful impact on teaching and learning, but the value of what you get out can often depend on the quality of what you put in. How can you craft better prompts to get the best results? 

In this session we will explore hundreds of examples of excellent prompts, learn the top 10 tips for better prompts, and explore free tools to help you make the best prompts for your needs.

Details for this training:

• 💬 Promptcraft: Building a Better AI Prompt
• 🗓️ Thursday, September 24th, 2026
• ⏰ 3pm ET / 2pm CT / 1pm MT / Noon PT
• ▶️ The webinar will be live-streamed and also recorded for those who can't attend live
• ✅ Register at bit.ly/sep24prompt or in this Google Form

Feel free to share with others and I hope you will join me for this exciting webinar!

What's New in Google - August 2026

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from August 2026, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our August 2026 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the August 2026 meeting:

EdTech Links - Week of 8-24-2026

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Recorded BenQ Session - AI Games, Interviews & Activities for Student Learning

This year at ISTE26 I had the privilege to present a session at the BenQ Education booth where we explored using AI as an interactive partner for games, interviews, and activities for student learning.

These can be done with any grade level or subject, either as whole-class activities where the teacher manages the AI but the students still participate, or with students individually interacting with the AI for their own learning experiences. 

In this session we tried out a wide range of AI activities such as:

• 🎙️ AI Interview
• 🔠 “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories
• 🤔 "20 Questions" games
• ❌ “Two Truths and a Lie” Games
• 📓 Emoji Definition Game
• 🤐 Classroom Taboo Game
• ⚖️ AI Debate
• ✍️ AI Co-Writing

To learn all about using AI for engaging student learning activities, see below to watch the recorded 30-minute session from the ISTE26 BenQ Education booth and to access the resources from the session.

Thanks to BenQ Education for sponsoring my presentation at their booth!

New PD Session - AI Prompts for Language Arts

Educational technology is constantly evolving, so my PD catalog has to change as well to keep up with everything new. During the course of the year I typically add several new sessions to my offerings. 

At the moment my PD catalog has over 70 different sessions that I offer for schools, conferences, and organizations. You can see the full catalog here - https://bit.ly/curts-pd

Recently I added a new session that covers AI prompts for language arts. See below for all the details and session resources. Feel free to use these resources any way you need, and if your school or conference is interested in this session or others, please reach out to me to discuss options for me to join you in person or virtually.

✍️ AI Prompts for Literacy, Reading, Writing & Language

• Description: In this session we will explore practical AI prompts specific for literacy, reading, writing and language to see how they can be used for teaching and learning. Prompts we will try out may include Decodable Texts, Discussion Prompts, Poem Writing Coach, RAFT Writing Prompts, Reader's Theater, Reading Level Analyzer, Story Co-Writer, Text-dependent Questions, Text Rewriter, Vocabulary List, Vocabulary Tiers and more.
• Resource Doc - bit.ly/curts-elaprompts
• Slideshow - View Slides - Copy Slides

Join my Gemini for Schools Online Course

Google Gemini is easily one of my favorite AI tools for education. It has a robust free version with a wide range of powerful features, can be used with any age level, and comes with free data privacy protection for schools.

I use Gemini every day in my own work, and provide PD sessions on it all the time.

I am excited to be offering a 4-week online course on Gemini for schools starting this September. This is in partnership with EdTechTeacher and their collection of eight courses they are offering this Fall.

See below for all the details on my course and how you can participate. I hope to learn with you!