GRADES 6-12, COLLEGE, GENERAL ENRICHMENT
Beyond easy answers, what impact will AI, including large language models like ChaptGPT, have on marginalized students? Will it provide access and equity like never before or will it replicate, or magnify, the inequities that fundamentally shape public education? Instead of waiting to find out, enter conversations to build an understanding of algorithms and LLMs to envision classroom, school, and district policies centering on student interests. Participants will be grounded in critical theories from Anyon (1981), Hammond (2014), Nobel (2018), Howard (2020), Perez (2021), and Hicks (2023). We will center ourselves in a judgment-free, experiential space to investigate relationships with technology and to critically investigate the roles it may play in our careers, classrooms, and districts.

GRADES 6-12
This session demonstrates using young adult literature, such as "Flowers For Algernon," to foster empathy and creativity in classrooms. Participants experience a project-based unit where students explore disabilities, becoming "Inventors of the Year." They brainstorm disability-related products, research using AI tools and credible websites, sketch prototypes, write product descriptions, and create guides. The unit culminates in an "Invention of the Year Expo" and reflective blogging. Besides disabilities, the session discusses literature addressing issues like gender, race, nationality discrimination, and socio-economic gaps. Participants will then develop or bring their own unit, culminating in a group session to share and discuss their work.

GRADES 9-12
In our session, we will do our own analysis of Shakespeare's Hamlet, and compare it to analysis produced by Artificial Intelligence. We'll ask ourselves, if AI were a student in our class, how well would it do with understanding the themes and character motivations in the play? Could it do insightful analysis, write a provocative thesis, provide thorough evidence and persuasive commentary? How would it do on high school level assessment questions? In the process of engaging the artificial mind of a machine, we will ask ourselves, what does it mean to be human?
OPTIONAL PRECONFERENCE READING: Hamlet by William Shakespeare 

GRADES K-12, COLLEGE, GENERAL ENRICHMENT
Students have always found ways to access learning aids that teachers discourage. From smuggling CliffsNotes into their backpacks to selling essays, from keyword searching assignments to scanning math problems, they've consistently tried to work the system. In this digital age, educators have tried implementing plagiarism checkers and even hanging cell phone pouches on the wall. With the advent of AI, however, the dam has burst, and those prevention strategies no longer address the flow of information and answers streaming toward kids. So, what does it look like to teach and learn and collaborate in the Age of AI? https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bryan-Sanders
PRECONFERENCE READING: EngagingEngaging with AI -- A radical shift for the future, today; Attention is all you need

GRADES 6-12, COLLEGE
In this session, participants will learn about AI tools, and share experiences and understanding of the tools in their classroom. Together, we will create a resource bank of tools for use and work on an assessment guidance tool that can be used by teachers and students as we navigate the use of AI in our daily lives.

GRADES 9-12, COLLEGE
This session will explore an approach to teaching Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Klara and the Sun, which explores the integration of AI "friends" into family life, and ultimately what it means to be human as increasingly better facsimiles are developed.
PRECONFERENCE READING: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

GRADES 6-12, COLLEGE
AI systems glean creative works from the internet and have been employed to create new works of literature To create new writing means certifying that your work does not contain generated language. In this interactive workshop we will demonstrate how to involve AI in the creative writing workshop ethically. All creative writing instructors, writers, and enthusiasts are invited to join us.

GRADES K-12
This session will explore ways in which new technologies can contribute to advancing a student centered, learning by doing, project-based curriculum. Drawing on the pathmaking work of James Moffett, participants will deepen their knowledge of the universe of discourse and explore methods of engaging students holistically in writing and learning.

GENERAL ENRICHMENT
The impact of AI in academia has be HUGE and when we consider how the social justice aspect of classroom dynamics alongside AI, what does this look like, how can we best direct the outcomes of excellence we want our students to leave us with now that Google and other search engines are now supercharged with AI. How do we embrace the technological advances AI brings us as educators in an equitable more teacher-friendly way? Let's discuss some of the social justice challenges and successes AI brings to the everchanging dynamic of our classrooms.
PRECONFERENCE READING: Understanding Education for Social Justice; The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

GRADES 9-12
Rather than enforcing a top-down AI policy in the classroom, we will grapple with questions surrounding AI and design morally responsible guidelines for writing, reading and research. We will explore the intricacies of storytelling and moral philosophy through contemporary writings, and disucss ways our students will critically analyze texts, employing close readings and discussions to understand authorial styles and intentions. The session includes creative writing tasks, discussions on moral education, and explorations of ethical dilemmas in technology. A Socratic Seminar will further examine the impact of AI and the role of human struggle in the digital age, encouraging students to reflect on their moral compass in today's world. OPTIONAL PRECONFERENCE READING: “How America Got Mean” by David Brooks, The Atlantic August 14, 2023; “You Are Not a Parrot and a Chatbot Is Not a Human” by Elizabeth Weil, New York Magazine March 1, 2023; “Issue 248” by Nick Cave, The Red Hand Files, August, 2023.

GRADES 9-12, COLLEGE, GENERAL ENRICHMENT
How do we engage with and teach poetry? Beyond Dickinson's "I'm nobody," we explore "Who are you?" to uncover identity in poetry. This foundation guides our study of poems, teaching methods, and prompts, deepening our poetic practice and instruction.

GRADES 6-12, COLLEGE, GENERAL ENRICHMENT
This session delves into human nature themes, paralleling AI's quest to mimic human intelligence and behavior. It draws parallels between Steinbeck's works, like "Grapes of Wrath," "Of Mice and Men," and "Cannery Row," which comment on poverty, inequity, and industrialization, and AI's potential societal impacts. The session explores how AI might worsen or mitigate social inequities, reflecting current AI industry debates. We'll examine Steinbeck’s philosophy, his characters' resilience and adaptability, and his emphasis on interconnectedness within communities. This session links Steinbeck's themes with contemporary AI discussions, highlighting their relevance to our interconnected society. Bring your favorite Steinbeck novel or writing.

GRADES 9-12, COLLEGE    
Climate change is the most pressing existential threat of our time. Join us for an interdisciplinary discussion of climate change literature and the way it intersects with race, gender, and socioeconomic status. We will explore poetry, novels, films, and critical theory related to climate change and the environmental humanities.
PRECONFERENCE VIEWING: Beasts of the Southern Wild 
OPTIONAL PRECONFERENCE READING: Counting Descent by Clint Smith, Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, and A Children Bible by Lydia Millet.

GRADES 9-12, COLLEGE
In the era of large language models (LLMs), English language arts teachers ponder how to adapt their teaching. Writing, traditionally a measure of intellectual skill, faces challenges from chatbots that mimic student work. This session aims to comfort and challenge educators, addressing technology’s impact on education. Discussions will cover concerns, instructional implications, and ethics in an AI—inclusive world. Emphasizing a “pivot, not surrender” approach, it explores how educators can integrate modern technologies yet preserve writing’s educational value. Teachers will leave with a broad perspective and practical strategies for classroom integration. Participants expected to have working experience with AI.

GRADES K-12
The classroom is the place where the magic of education happens, or doesn’t. This weekend, I would like to invite you to engage in a conversation of and for implementing strategies, routines, and mindful structures that will help organize a thriving learning space for every student and teacher.

GRADES 6-12
Many of us teach texts, use grading systems, or employ department policies that have some problematic elements- sometimes out of habit, sometimes we’re required to. Let’s spend the weekend discussing and examining what we teach and how, and surfacing strategies to identify and address these problems and how we can evolve our curriculum, our classrooms, and our schools, including sharing and developing approaches we can immediately start using back at school.

GRADES 9-12, COLLEGE, GENERAL ENRICHMENT
How do we turn reluctant writers into confident authors when LLMs are a click away? What tools do we have at our disposal, and how do we best deploy them? In this session, writing instructors will share best practices and illustrative failures pertaining to that unstated part of our job description that requires us to convince students to earnestly engage tasks that AI can do in seconds. We will examine the role of writing in our curricula and discuss methods for generating student buy-in. Our conversation will include course design, assignment structure, classroom management, trust building, feedback techniques, and more.

GRADES 6-12
With countless artificial intelligence platforms emerging, there is a growing opportunity for educators at all levels and stages in their careers at our fingertips. This session will focus on time saving strategies for lesson planning, providing quality feedback, adapting and creating content, and building assessments, all with the support of various AI platforms and tools. We will explore MagicSchoolAI, ChatGPT, Quizziz, Brisk, and more. We have all felt the need for more time, extra support, and collaboration. In its own limited way, AI can provide these supports as we continue our meaningful work. Let AI be your new TA.

GENERAL ENRICHMENT
We are the experts when we wrote our personal stories. AI may help us with some details. In this session you will be invited to write and share two or three life vignettes. Participants will receive more than 100 writing prompts.

GRADES K-12, COLLEGE, GENERAL ENRICHMENT
Through writing, we gain the ability to understand our lives and to find our place in the world. In this workshop, we engage in a non-threatening writing process developed by the Bay Area Writing Project which transfers easily to the classroom. We remember the thrills and challenges of creating, and explore methods for sharing and revising early drafts. On Saturday morning, participants work independently (“on the road”), creating memoirs, essays, poetry, or fiction. Later, we gather in small groups to read our work and offer feedback. On Sunday, we regroup to enjoy each other’s creations and celebrate the creative journey.

GRADES K-12, COLLEGE, GENERAL ENRICHMENT
As far as we are concerned, opera is the pinnacle of performance art, an extreme sport which rewards both the novice and seasoned opera goer with a multitude of riches. If you wonder what opera is about, we cover that. If you like exploring literary themes, we cover that. If you like classical music, you’re in. Opera rewards those with prior knowledge, and this group provides that, not only for two upcoming operas in San Francisco (so you can buy tickets), but for enjoyment of opera for all time. A 30-year fixture of the Asilomar conference, the opera group covers a lot of bases, but focuses on two upcoming performances of the San Francisco Opera. We compare and contrast performances from all over the world on DVD to illuminate the world of opera. Perfect for novice and pro alike.

School or district reams can use the conference time to plan their own projects. Groups often find inspiration from the keynote and Around the Hearth sessions.