Episode 22- Teaching AI to Fourth Graders (and Letting Them Beat the Robot)-Megan Dacosta

Megan DaCosta teaches fourth grade math and science in Windsor, Connecticut. This is her first year bringing AI into the classroom in a real way, and she joined Bob and Jess to talk about what that looks like with 9 and 10-year-olds. Her district runs on paper and pencil at the intermediate level, on purpose. So Megan's challenge isn't more screen time. It's making the technology she does use count. She works with Magic School AI, building chatbot rooms and station activities her students move through while she stays close. The best moment of her year came from a mistake. A student practicing multi-digit multiplication got the wrong answer from a chatbot, and it argued with her. They solved the problem four different ways. When the student explained their reasoning, the chatbot backed down and admitted the student was right. The student still brings it up. They beat the robot, and the sudent knows it. That's the AI literacy lesson hiding inside a math problem. Don't accept the first answer. Question it. Prove it. In this episode: Using AI as a thought partner instead of a replacement for teaching Reaching 40-plus students a day without losing your read on each one Designing lessons backward so every skill level gets what it needs Teaching healthy skepticism without breeding cynicism Why she wants students to keep their creativity, not flatten it