Professional Learning Newsletter

See below for the list of recordings and resources from the summer series!

This week we are looking at Google Gemini (AI).

See below for tips.

Summer Series Recordings and Resources

Better AI That Is Actually Helpful (NotebookLM) 

Click Here for the recording.

View the presentation slides: Click Here. 
If you participated, please
submit for your certificate.


Simplifying Classroom Workflows with Smart Browser Hacks

Click Here for the recording.

View the presentation slides: Click Here. 
If you participated, please
submit for your certificate.


Maximizing Formative Assessment with Existing Google Tools

Click Here for the recording.

View the presentation slides: Click Here. 
If you participated, please
submit for your certificate.


Transforming Slide Decks into Active Learning

Click Here for the recording.

View the presentation slides: Click Here. 
If you participated, please
submit for your certificate.






This week our Professional Learning Consultant Alice Keeler is going to dive into Google Gemini AI. Can Google Slides help? Register free to join at noon 
or receive the resources.

Join live Tuesday 6/29 at 12pm Central.

Link will be sent out 1 hour before the workshop.

Unable to participate? We will send out the recording 
and resources after the presentation.


Make sure you are signed up for updates.

 
 

Topics for 2026/2027


What topics can Orion Education & Training bring you for the upcoming school year? Please email akeeler@orioneducation.org with your suggestions.

Foundations of Classroom Consistency


By shifting your focus from policing behavior to managing the environment, you change everything. True consistency creates a predictable, safe, and happy space. Students thrive when they know exactly how the room functions.


Structural Foundations


Procedures Plus Routines Equal Structure

Structure forms the bedrock of a successful classroom. While rules govern behavior with rewards and consequences, procedures simply outline how tasks are done. They carry no penalties.

The Three Step Teaching Cycle

Procedures only stick when you explicitly teach them. First, say it. Next, model it. Finally, practice it.

Reinforce Until Automatic

Turn these actions into automatic routines through continuous reinforcement. Live by a simple golden rule of management. If you say it, monitor it; if you monitor it, enforce it.


Relational Foundations


The Relationship Advantage

Consistency thrives on connection. It cannot exist in a vacuum. Research by John Hattie shows that strong teacher student relationships yield a significant 0.52 impact on student success, proving that connection drives achievement.

Personal Connections Daily

Build a relationship centered community right away. Greet students at the door with a smile. Learn their interests. Intentionally celebrate diversity.

Circle Practice For Safety

Implement regular Circle Practice in your room. This technique establishes a respectful, secure environment for sharing. Safety is essential for both learning and consistent behavior.


Monitoring and Management Foundations


Minute by Minute Monitoring

Maintain your structure through constant, active supervision. Use low profile interventions like strategic eye contact, physical proximity, and simple nonverbal signals. This redirects behavior without disruptive nagging.

Keep Your Composure

Your emotional state sets the tone. Todd Whitaker and Annette Breaux remind us that the more out of control a student gets, the more in control the teacher must become. Remain calm. It preserves your authority.

Bell to Bell Instruction

Effective teaching is your best management tool. Keep students actively engaged with relevant work from the opening bell to the final dismissal. When students are busy, disruptions are reduced.

 

How to Run a Circle Practice

To start, move all desks aside so students sit in a complete circle facing each other. Introduce a unique physical object, like a small stone or a ball, to serve as your "talking piece."


Establish a few quick rules first. Only the person holding the object may speak, while everyone else listens silently. Pass the object around the circle in order, posing a simple question to the group. Students can share their thoughts when they receive the object, or they can simply choose to pass.

 

Teaching with Google Workspace

Getting Started with Google Gemini


If your school is using Google tools, consider Google Gemini for your AI needs.


Start with the prompt box. This is where you ask your question or set of directions. "Create a lesson plan on figurative language" is a prompt. A better prompt will have a lot more words to direct the quality of the outcome, in this case a lesson plan.


Writing a Better Prompt


To get the absolute best results from an AI assistant, the secret is providing context. Think of it like briefing a student teacher: the more details you give about who your students are, what you are trying to achieve, and how you want the final product to look, the better the first draft will be.


Here is a detailed sample prompt that shows how to layer in that specific context.




Role: Act as a creative educational consultant and expert instructional designer.


Context: I am designing an interactive learning experience on figurative language for my middle school class. My students love storytelling, music, and creative expression. They work best when they have a clear voice, choice, and active opportunities to collaborate with peers.


Objective: Create a comprehensive, ready to use lesson plan for a figurative language unit that roots the learning in creative, authentic communication.


Specific Constraints:

The lesson must follow the 5 Es instructional model, providing detailed activities for the engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate phases.

The tasks must focus heavily on the 4 Cs, specifically prioritizing creative thinking and collaboration.

Include an interactive, performance based assessment where students use collaborative digital workspaces to curate and analyze real world examples like song lyrics, poetry, or advertisements.


Formatting: Please present the lesson plan using clear headings for each phase. Do not use any colon or dash punctuation in the headings. Keep the tone professional, supportive, and focused on student success.




Another Prompt Sample

Role: Act as a creative educational consultant and expert instructional designer.
Context: I am designing a collaborative learning experience for my middle school class. My students are highly energetic and work best when they have a clear voice and choice in how they demonstrate their understanding. They are currently exploring basic data analysis and how to represent information visually.
Objective: Help me brainstorm three distinct, interactive project ideas that move away from traditional worksheets and instead root the learning in an authentic, real-world context.
Specific Constraints:

The project must focus heavily on the 4 Cs, specifically prioritizing deep collaboration and critical thinking.

The framework of the project should encourage student agency and ownership.

Create a table for each of the three ideas, provide a brief title, the authentic real world scenario, and how students will work together to create a performance based product (such as a portfolio or a community proposal).

Formatting: Please present the three ideas using clear headings for each option. Do not use any colon or dash punctuation in the headings. Keep the tone professional, supportive, and focused on student success.





AI is not the expert, you are. After reviewing the output provide feedback to your assistant about what is not accurate/incomplete, doesn't reflect your style, or you would like to see worded differently.


It is unlikely the output is exactly what you want. AI is your assistant, anything you send out should accurately represent what you know, as well as your style. Use the 3 dots at the bottom of the Gemini output to select "Export to Docs." This can be found in your Google Drive to allow you to take the rough draft and give it the final polish.

Your chats with Gemini are listed in the sidebar on the left hand side. Hover over a chat to select the 3 dots. If this is a conversation you want to return to, rename the chat and Pin it to the sidebar.


For the summer, Alice Keeler is creating our PL Newsletter. As an Educational Technology and Math expert the summer newsletter will skew towards her expertise. Coming this fall will include segments from all of the professional learning consultants at Orion. Stay tuned!

More Topics and Templates to Come!!

 
 

Summer 2026

Join Orion for Professional Learning

In Person, Virtual, Asynchronous, and Credit Earning


Ready to learn more? This summer we have a lot of options for you. Please reach out to akeeler@orioneducation.org for more details.

INSTRUCTOR: 

Alice Keeler

DATE: 
All Summer

TIME: 

Varies, see website



LOCATION:

Online or Asynchronous


IN PERSON:

ORION SERVICE CENTER

13939 Diagonal Rd, Clearwater, KS 67026


 
 

More to Come! Please share this newsletter with other educators and let us know what you'd like us to cover in the future.

For more information, contact Alice Keeler at akeeler@orioneducation.org.

Orion Education & Training offers a variety of onsite and online professional learning opportunities with new workshops available monthly.

To learn more, visit us at orioneducation.org and click WORKSHOPS,

or give us a call at 620-584-3300.