How to Talk to Students About AI Using Contemporary Poetry

 by Tracee Orman

Over the summer, I read a poem I could not stop thinking about. It was called “Please Use AI” by Joanna Atkins-Potts. 
 
It made me stop and think about all the tiny little things that make us human. Like driving with the window down, feeling the grass between your toes, falling in love… Things that a machine will never be able to feel.
 
I knew instantly that this poem would be perfect for class. But I also wanted to share it with the world. I reached out to Jo and another contemporary poet, Shawn Smucker (who wrote the original “Please Use AI” that Jo's was inspired by), to see if we could collaborate on a lesson featuring their poems. Both poets gave me permission to use their poems and reprint them in a student-friendly format with room for annotation.
 
Their poems are not only perfect examples of verbal irony, but relevant sources for opening up a dialogue about AI use with your students. I mean, let's be honest. Students are using AI. It's readily available to them, it's getting harder and harder to detect, and they see everyone else using it. 

When I first posted this on my Instagram, many teachers reached out to me concerned because their students are using AI to do all their own thinking, from choosing what they should wear each day to deciding whether to break up with a boyfriend. And, of course, writing essays and answering homework questions. They are outsourcing their thinking, their creativity, what makes them human. I hear people express concern for the future if people become addicted to AI. I think the future is already here.

So how do we address this? How do we encourage students not to use AI for every little thing? (Or for the big things they need to learn?) One way is to start having these conversations about what we are losing every time we use AI. The poems can be our openers.

What is so wonderful about these poems is that they use sarcasm, something most teens can easily understand. After you've read the poems with your students*, you can discuss the theme, rhetorical devices, and compare how each poet treats the subject. But then talk about why the message resonates with so many. (Both poems went viral this summer.) Did it make them think differently about using AI?

Because both poets draw from their own adult experiences, it helps to have a teenage perspective, as well, which is why I include an example poem written from the perspective of a teenager.

And because I cannot let an opportunity slip to have students write poetry, I have them brainstorm different little things that they do throughout the day that are uniquely human. Things they may be tempted to outsource to AI. Then they use those examples to write their own parody "Please Use AI" poems.

This, I think, is where the reality of it might seep in. When they share their poems with one another, it just might make them think differently about how they are using AI.

Jo Atkins-Potts also wrote an essay about what the poem means to her, so you can have students read the essay AFTER they have already analyzed the poems themselves. She writes about what we stand to lose if we allow a machine to do all of our thinking for us. For teenagers, this is especially important. They are still learning so many valuable things. If they skip these steps and never learn to struggle through a problem or find the right words for an essay, they aren't learning perseverance, determination, or patience. They are missing out on the building blocks that make us uniquely ourselves.

What else would you include in these discussions? I would love to hear your feedback on our Instagram page.

You can find my full lesson here: Poetry Analysis: Please Use AI
While it is listed for grades 9-12, it can be adapted for 7th-8th grades, as well. I have an alternative assignment where only Atkins-Potts's poem is used.

*If you'd like to play a video of the reading of either poem, voice actor Chris Tester (@NaturallyRPVoiceover) recorded both.
Shawn Smucker's on YouTube 
Jo Atkins-Potts' on YouTube 
You can also find them on his TikTok and Instagram accounts.

Use Music as an Introduction to Poetry and Teaching Figurative Language

Use Music as an Introduction to Poetry and to Teach Figurative Language

By Tracee Orman

Teaching poetry can be intimidating because so many students have negative connotations associated with poetry. Is it because it’s used heavily in state testing? Is testing ruining poetry for our students? 

Regardless of the reason, it’s tough to overcome as an English teacher.

So how do we bring joy back into our poetry units?

I am a huge proponent of using music in some shape, way, or form, in all my units. Poetry is no exception. In fact, it’s the BEST unit to use music because aren’t song lyrics essentially poems? I believe they are.

One song that is my go-to even after all these years is Katy Perry’s “Firework.” Not only is it a recognizable, upbeat song, but it covers ALL of these:

• Imagery devices: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole

• Sound devices: alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme

• Rhetorical devices: anaphora, epistrophe

• Tone/mood

• Theme

It makes it easy to use for so many different grade levels; younger students can focus on a select few devices to identify and analyze while older students can practice deeper analysis on how these devices work together to bring meaning to the song.

How to Introduce It:

🎶 The procedure I use for introducing the song as a poem is by playing it, of course. Poems are meant to be heard, so song lyrics should be heard, as well. You can have your students follow along with the lyrics on the first listen. Then play it again and have them try to identify the different imagery, sound, and rhetorical devices in the song. You can have students work in pairs if they are struggling.

🎶 After students are able to identify the devices, have them explain what it means. You can go over them as a group or in small groups. Play the song again, having students look with fresh eyes and ears.

🎶 Finally, discuss the tone/mood and how the devices work together to help create that. Ask them if they notice a shift in the mood at any point in the song. Discuss how the actual music (not the lyrics) contributes to this or creates irony. 

If you’d like this lesson and all the handouts that will guide your students step-by-step, you can get it FREE by opting in to my email list. 

You can also use the song to practice figurative language anytime. There are enough examples that you have a set lesson ready-to-go to use with any unit.

Next Steps:

I usually analyze at least one more song* before I have students choose their own school-appropriate song to analyze. Not every song is going to have a variety of devices used, so I usually tell them their song must have at least 3 different devices. 

What happens next is amazing. Students are looking at lyrics of numerous songs, scanning for poetic devices. Little do they know they are reading and thinking critically. It’s a fun, sneaky way for them to further practice identifying devices in context.

I hope this helps and I’d love to chat more with you about use song lyrics for an introduction to poetry or anytime! Join our conversation on Instagram.

For additional poetry activities, check out these activities:

*Wake Me Up Poetry Analysis by Tracee Orman

Figurative Language in Song Lyrics by Presto Plans

Students Won’t Participate? 5 Quick Fixes

If your students won’t participate in class, give minimal answers, or seem completely disengaged, you’re not alone. Low student engagement is one of the most common challenges in middle and high school classrooms, and it shows up in frustrating ways: blank pages, surface-level responses, off-task behaviour, and silence during discussions.

When students are disengaged, the problem usually isn’t your lesson. They’re stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure how to respond…and pushing forward rarely fixes it.

What you need in those moments are quick, effective classroom strategies that re-engage students without starting over.

Here are 5 quick fixes: simple, in-the-moment moves you can use to get students participating again, improve focus, and bring your lesson back on track fast.

Quick fixes for students who won’t participate:

• Run a quick “Support It” challenge

• Shrink the task

• Use a turn-and-talk

• Add a fast - but focused - energizer

• Build in time for chat and tech breaks 

1. When students give vague, surface-level answers

What it looks like:

You’ve asked a question and all you get is:

• “I’m not sure… it just shows he’s nice.”

• “Because that’s what happened.”

• “I dunno…”

• Crickets…

What to do: Run a quick “Support It!” challenge

Stop the class and say:

“Okay, folks. We’re going to do a challenge right now. I am going to give you a hot take about a character, and you have to support it - or not. You can choose to disagree, as long as you support it with evidence - and not with something vague. Not with ‘because I think so.’ With real evidence. That’s the challenge.”

Give them:

• A simple claim you provide OR

• One based on a response a student already gave

• Two minutes to find one piece of evidence

• The choice to do it on their own or with a partner

Then model or prompt:

• The character is ___

• For example, she ___

• This shows ___ because ___

This strategy works because there’s an expectation to use a structure, the task is clear, and framing it as a “challenge” makes it more interesting.

I would suggest you try this the first time with something relatively easy: an obvious character trait, for example. This will allow students to practice and get in the habit of quickly finding evidence. Then, the next time, make it more interesting by picking something about the character that could be debatable.

• Learn how to teach students to support claims with evidence

• Try this ready-to-use (and free!) lesson plan for teaching textual evidence

2. When students are staring at the page, not working

What it looks like:

You have given your students a task, and some are working. But there are also:

• Heads down or eyes anywhere but on the task

• Blank or unfinished pages 

• Distracted, off-task students

What to do: Shrink the task 

For example, you have given students a writing or thinking task, and you have someone unable to get started. Say:

“Forget the whole paragraph for now. Just do this one thing.”

Then, give them a micro-task. For example:

• “Write ONE sentence about how the character feels.”

• “Circle one word that stands out and explain why.”

• “Add just one more example to support this point.”

This strategy works because it allows the student to focus on one thing at a time. Yes, I know they should be able to do more, but if they are staring at a blank page, you need to get them jump-started. Shrinking the task reduces overwhelm, gets them moving, and can build momentum quickly.

However, you must circle back soon and give them another small task to do once they’ve completed the first!

3. When the discussion is flat, or no one is participating

What it looks like:

• You ask a question… crickets

• The same 2–3 students do all the responding

• Everyone else checked out

What to do: A turn-and-talk

Say:

“I’m going to give you something to think about...”

Give a clear prompt:

• “Do you agree with the character’s choice? Yes or no - and why?”

Set a timer for 1–2 minutes to allow students to consider their answer. Then set it again for another 2-3 minutes and have them share their answer with a partner. Then pull a few responses from volunteers.

This strategy works because it allows students time to think, it lowers the risk, it gets everyone thinking and talking, and it can build confidence quickly.

Learn how to use this strategy!

4. When the energy is low and students are mentally gone

What it looks like:

• Slumped posture

• Slow responses

• That end-of-day (or mid-winter) fatigue

What to do: Reset with a fast, structured energizer or brain break

These give students a quick reset with activities that allow them to refocus.

Use them anytime to:

✅ Provide a fun, energizing “break” after a content-heavy lesson or period of work

✅ To refocus attention after transitions

✅ Wake students up whenever you think you’re losing them

✅ Review skills you’ve already done

✅ Warm-up at the beginning of a class

✅ Fill in the last few minutes of a class that has finished early

✅ Instill some fun that focuses on learning

✅ Show students that learning CAN be fun

This strategy works because it re-energizes students while still keeping them focused on learning.

If you’d like some energizers that are ready to go when you need to pivot, you’ll love my ready-to-use ELA Energizers & Brain Breaks -  read more about how to use them in your classroom.

5. When Phone Use and/or Chatter is Constant

What it looks like:

• You are battling for students’ attention

• Student phone use is preventing them from working

• Chatter and misbehavior is disrupting learning

What to do:  start by trying breaks and, if that doesn’t work, create a code of conduct.

Sometimes students just need a break; it’s hard to sit and listen all day - you know that from PD days, right? 

I found that giving my students a 2-3 minute break in the middle of class (or when it makes sense) made all the difference in the world. They could chat, check their phones, or just check out. Then knew they had to earn the break, and that really helped too. 

• Read more about that here.

But what if the break doesn’t work? What if you can’t get them off their phones or to stop talking? 

My greatest successes came when I had a heart-to-heart talk with students, and we worked together to create solutions. These solutions became agreed-upon codes of conduct that I could use as a reference and that allowed students to feel they had a voice in the climate of the classroom. Read more about them in the links below:

• How to control a chatty class
• Creating a cell phone code of conduct

This strategy works because you are showing students that you care about the fact that it can be hard to focus and that you will work with them to come up with solutions.

If you feel like your students have checked out

The instinct is to push through, but when students are checked out, pushing harder usually doesn’t work.

Pivoting to a re-engagement strategy can be just the thing you need to keep things on track. These quick fixes aren’t extra, though; they’re the moves that help you get your lesson back without starting over.

These are 5 quick fixes you can use when students won’t participate or seem completely disengaged.

Want Some Quick Fixes Ready to Go?

If you want these kinds of quick pivots already built for you—with prompts, structure, and student-friendly formats—you might love my ELA Energizers & Brain Breaks.

They’re designed for exactly these moments:
✔ When students are stuck
✔ When energy is low
✔ When you need something that works right away

Thanks for reading!

Jackie, Room 213

Check out these Brain Breaks from Presto Plans