The Learning Forge:

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Moving Students from AI Operators to Technical Artisans

PaulCancellieri

Solution Tree Author

Science Teacher

paulcancellieri.com

NC CTE Summer Conference 2026

Materials: The Learning Forge

Access a copy of today’s slides and handouts using the links below. You won’t need them, but you are welcome to follow along or refer back to them later, if you would like to.

misterc.link/071426

Slides

misterc.link/learningforge

One-Pager

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Today’s Outcomes

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Explore how AI tools can provide scaffolds for productive struggle

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Learn to deploy AI in specific zones with the AI Use Spectrum

Investigate norms that value integrity and ownership.

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The Spark

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“Learning happens when students have to think hard.”

Robert Coe

What We Know

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Learning is in the friction,

not the final product.

What We Know

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Welcome

to the

Learning Forge

Learning Forge /ˈlərnɪŋ fɔrdʒ/ noun

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1. A classroom where knowledge is shaped through heat (effort), pressure (feedback), and skillful guidance.
2. A culture that helps students see themselves as artisans who use AI to sharpen their intellect rather than operators who outsource their thinking.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

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We don’t ban the hammer,

but we teach the apprentice that the hammer doesn’t make the horseshoe–

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the blacksmith does.

The 3 Pillars of Forge Culture

Effort

is

Essential

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The HEAT

Tools

have

Purpose

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The HAMMER

Apprentices become

Artisans

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The CRAFT

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The Heat

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The TRY FIRST Norm

Learning is messy. The first draft of anything is supposed to be wrong.

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The Rule: No AI until the brain has sweated.

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WHY?

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In the Forge, heat makes the metals soft enough to shape.

If you skip the heat (the effort), the metal breaks.

The Silent Observer

On a scrap piece of paper, follow these instructions.

START

1. Draw a large rectangle in the center of the page.
2. Draw a smaller rectangle directly above it. The two rectangles should touch.
3. REPEAT 2 TIMES: Draw a circle inside the smaller rectangle.
4. Draw one straight line extending from each side of the large rectangle.
5. At the end of each side line, draw three shorter lines.
6. Draw two straight lines extending downward from the bottom of the large rectangle.
7. Draw a triangle at the end of each lower line.
8. Draw a small square inside the large rectangle.

END

The Silent Observer

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• Where did you have to guess?
• What prior knowledge did you bring to the task?
• When did you want clarification?

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The instructions produced an answer.

The friction produced the learning.

How did it feel to complete this task without AI?

The Hammer

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Tools have Purpose

How do students know if they’re using the tool appropriately?

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Does it deepen thinking or avoid it?

A Spectrum of AI Use

⓪ White Zone

This is the power of the HEAT. Effort is essential to learning.

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For assessments, tools obscure evidence of mastery.

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For early work, students need basic skills before incorporating tools

① Blue Zone

Feedback fuels Mastery

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Immediate, low-stakes feedback allows students to iterate on their work instantly, rather than waiting days for a teacher's grade.

① Blue Zone is about refinement

⓪ White Zone is about effort

The Task - Part 1

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1. Open a note or document on your computer.
2. Without using an AI tools, write a two-sentence argument either defending or opposing a total ban on cell phones in high schools.

The Task - Part 2

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Go to misterc.link/bluezone (or misterc.link/bluezonegem) to access a custom chatbot loaded with this prompt:

You are a strict but encouraging Socratic writing coach. When the user pastes their argument, you must evaluate it for logical strength and clarity. Rule 1: You must NEVER rewrite the sentences for the user or provide new evidence. Rule 2: You must identify ONE specific logical gap, generalization, or weak point in their argument. Rule 3: End your response with ONE guiding question that forces the user to think about how to improve their argument on their own.

Copy and paste your argument and read over the response. Did it stick to its instructions?

😢 “Paul, I don’t want to lose my personal connection with students.”

🤔 Consider this:

• The “Tutor Effect” lifted student scores by 127%
• Teachers + AI = 2x improvement for students
• “Reflective Evaluator” prevents metacognitive laziness
• Discernment is going to be a superpower

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(misterc.link/tutormode)

② Green Zone

Use AI as a lab partner, helping you brainstorm (not solve) the problem. This means putting limits on what it is allowed to do.

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Activities ALWAYS end with student input, selection, voice, and/or elaboration.

② Green Zone

Students are investigating a phenomenon, such as how fast a pendulum swings or how quickly ice melts. They often struggle to identify what to test.

I want to conduct an experiment to see what affects the melting rate of ice. List 8 potential variables I could test. Do not tell me which ones actually affect the outcome, and do not write the procedure.

The Task

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Open a tab to your favorite chatbot and give it this prompt (or your version)

I want to conduct an experiment to see what affects the melting rate of ice. List 8 potential variables I could test. Do not tell me which ones actually affect the outcome, and do not write the procedure.

Is this a hammer or a crutch? Why?

😤 “Paul, my students will let the AI do the work for them.”

🤔 Consider this:

• Use custom chatbots (Raima, GPTs, Gems) to hardwire the limits, for now
• Let them feel the consequences of over-reliance
• Use chat transcript reflections to celebrate their successes

③ Orange Zone

• Verification is a 21st century skill.
• AI Tools hallucinate.

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THEREFORE: Good practice and solid AI literacy require us to verify the output of LLMs.

③ Orange Zone

HALLUCINATION HUNT

1. Teacher prompts an AI for an explanation of a concept that includes subtle, plausible-sounding lies.
2. Student use their resources (knowledge, notes, textbooks, etc) to find the lie(s).

A Spectrum of AI Use

The Craft

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The OPERATOR vs the ARTISAN

Image generated by Google Gemini

Who’s doing the heavy lifting?

• “Metacognitive Laziness”: We think we know the material because we see a good answer, but we haven’t actually encoded it.
• High-performing students use AI to deepen reading, while struggling students often use it just to complete tasks.

(misterc.link/richmond)

A Spectrum of AI Use

A Progression of AI Use

Students start here by asking “Have I attempted to solve this with my own brain first?”

Students start here by asking “Have I attempted to solve this with my own brain first?”

Here is the Purpose Check in which students ask “What do I need the AI to do?” To avoid creating a crutch, they put limits on the AI and on themselves.

Students start here by asking “Have I attempted to solve this with my own brain first?”

Here is the Purpose Check in which students ask “What do I need the AI to do?” To avoid creating a crutch, they put limits on the AI and on themselves.

AI Use ends with the Fact Check, looking for hallucinations and biases.

How do we reinforce the value of ownership?

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The CAMPE Meter

Connection: Does this connect to class discussions or our local context?

Accuracy: Have I verified the facts against a trusted source?

Meaning: Does this represent what I actually believe?

Personalization: Does it sound like my voice?

Effort: Did I sweat a little to make this?

The Task

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Open a tab to your favorite chatbot and give it this prompt (or your version):

Write a paragraph explaining the impact of social media on teenage mental health.

Read over the output.

The CAMPE Meter

Connection: Does this connect to class discussions or our local context?

Accuracy: Have I verified the facts against a trusted source?

Meaning: Does this represent what I actually believe?

Personalization: Does it sound like my voice?

Effort: Did I sweat a little to make this?

What rating would you give your AI paragraph in each category (0-5 points)?

Which category was strongest? Weakest?

What changes would you make to bump your Connection score to a 5?

Do not edit

How to change the design

What changes make the CONNECTION score go higher?

Presenting with animations, GIFs or speaker notes? Enable our Chrome extension

Defend the Delta

Make clear where the AI played a role by focusing on the difference (delta) between what AI suggested and what you submitted.

• AI Use Reflection
• Chat Transcript Analysis
• Oral/Conversational Assessment
• Where is your Voice?

Celebrate Human Work

• Showcase student work
• Elevate performances & presentations
• Call out on-the-fly decisions and deductions during lab activities
• Make questioning an expected part of every class period

Daily Reminders

• Classroom routines
• Posters
• Rewards for ethical use of AI
• Clear and consistent consequences for claiming AI work as their own

🙄 “Paul, I’ll never convince my students that the effort is worth it.”

🤔 Consider this:

• When we outsource thinking, we accrue cognitive debt that will be paid back later.
• AI is brilliantly average, by design. Make your work and your thinking unique.
• If you never pick up the hammer and strike the iron yourself, you’ll always be an apprentice.

Be the Blacksmith

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Cognitive Offloading

“The Drift”

Productive Struggle

“The Climb”

Is this tool a crutch that leads to atrophy, or a scaffold that leads to autonomy?

You are the Blacksmith.

You provide the HEAT and the ANVIL.

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Don’t just teach students to use the tools.

Teach them to

forge themselves.

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Thank you for your time and participation!

Find my book anywhere you buy them. And look for

“The Learning Forge”

later this year.

Please reach out if you have questions or want to learn more about the Learning Forge.

paulcancellieri.com

SolutionTree.com/PaulCancellieri

@mrscienceteach - paul@cancellieri.email

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