5th Grade Teacher, Brandie, Sparks Active Learning With Instant Pear Decks to Create Lessons Students Love
Brandie Schroeder, a 5th-grade teacher at Central Elementary in Plainfield, Indiana, has long been an avid user of Pear Deck. Her students have come to love its interactivity, eagerly anticipating its use in lessons. As Brandie shares, “I’m one of the main teachers that uses Pear Deck at my school. My students don't always have the experience of Pear Deck in other classrooms. Their first reaction is, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is so cool. I love this!’ Because I do it for every math lesson, my students know what to expect, and they love having the lessons right in front of them.”
Now, with the introduction of Instant Pear Decks, where teachers can create AI-generated lessons in under 30 seconds, Brandie is discovering even more ways to provide active learning opportunities to her students and streamline her lesson planning. Instant Pear Decks enable teachers to create dynamic, standards-aligned lessons in a fraction of the time. In this story, Brandie shares her insights on how Instant Pear Decks enhances classroom engagement by aligning lessons with real-life relevance for students, clarifying objectives, and increasing engagement through content tailored to student interests.
Streamlining lesson planning with standards-based AI capabilities
One of the standout capabilities of Instant Pear Decks for Brandie was the ability to search by standards. "One of the first things I noticed right off the bat was that you could create lessons straight from a standard in a drop-down menu. I specifically love that it has every standard. Not just Common Core, but also the state standards we have.”
This feature not only saves time, but also ensures the content is aligned with the curriculum. For Brandie, who teaches multiple subjects, this is invaluable. "It pinpoints that specific skill. I feel like with every lesson it came up with, there was a slide on the objectives. Especially for new teachers, it’s so hard to put a learning objective into student-friendly learning targets.. I love that it does that for you."
Making learning relevant and engaging with AI-generated content
One of the most significant challenges in education is making the content relevant to students' lives. Brandie was particularly impressed with how Instant Pear Decks help bridge this gap. "I like how it takes the content and relates it to real life. That, to me, is very impactful because kids are always saying, ‘When are we ever going to do this? Why do we need to know this?’ I even picked some of the standards you wouldn't typically relate to real-world things. And it was able to.. So it's kind of nice it does that and you don't have to think of it on your own."
For example, when Brandie tested the tool with a topic like the Boston Massacre, the AI-generated lesson went beyond just the historical facts. "I typed in the Boston Massacre because we teach that in fifth grade. The lesson it came up with was key events leading up to the American Revolution, which is exactly how we teach it. Instead of doing that real-life application, it's understanding the impact of it. I thought that was so cool because social studies in fifth grade is tested on our state testing. It's not just memorizing facts - it's applying what you know about specific things in history and exactly what that is, like the impact on it and just really digging into it."
Brandie also highlighted how Instant Pear Decks can help tailor lessons to individual student interests, creating an active learning environment. She shared an example of a student who loves horses, and using that interest to create a more engaging lesson. "Horses are like therapy to her. I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, I could put that in and she would have a little more interest in it and maybe try harder than she would if it was just something from the book.’”
By streamlining the way she plans and delivers instruction, Instant Pear Decks empowers Brandie to focus on what truly matters: fostering a love of learning in her students.
Instant Pear Decks and AI’s role in supporting every teacher
When asked if she would recommend Instant Pear Decks to other educators, Brandie’s response was enthusiastic. "Absolutely. One reason? Time. We’re all busy. This is my 10th year teaching, and I'm trying to spend more time with my family. Even if you do the same things every year, it’s never the same. Good teachers, I think, always need to keep up with the times. So I think things like this add a whole other aspect of diving deeper and personalizing learning."
Instant Pear Decks is more than a tool for streamlining lesson planning; it's a resource that helps teachers like Brandie Schroeder create meaningful, engaging, and differentiated learning experiences for their students. By integrating AI to complement, rather than replace, the teacher's role, Instant Pear Decks empowers educators to enhance their teaching and improve student learning outcomes.
As Brandie puts it, "It's not that teachers can't think of this stuff. It's just that it might not always be at the top of our mind, or you might not have the time. I feel like even if you don't use the whole lesson, you can at least use parts of it. Taking bits and pieces and adding them to your current lessons can be a game changer."
Whether you’re a new teacher or a veteran, Instant Pear Decks offer something valuable to everyone, making it a must-have tool in today’s classrooms.
Feeling inspired? Create your first Instant Pear Decks.
