Sophie’s Special Ed Journey

This Thanksgiving break, I thought about the unsung heroes of education —special education leaders — and found myself experimenting with AI to create a unique gift to honor them.

Let me tell you how this happened. First, I don't have to tell you that special ed leaders have extraordinary resilience. 

✅Consider these responsibilities: 

• IDEA compliance requirements

• Staffing issues (teachers, support staff, & specialists)

• Expanding instructional capacity

• Family concerns and complaints

• State test score gaps

• District priorities and politics

How do they do it all AND manage to have a personal life?? 

Meanwhile, I've been bombarded with a flurry of messages recently about potential uses of AI in special education. Curious, I participated in a number of webinars and workshops on AI. Some of them even gave us a chance to experiment. Still, I was hesitant and a bit intimidated. 

I gathered my courage and decided to give it a try. I paid for one month of ChatGPT and entered a prompt to create an e-book in the style of a children's picture book. I described the main character - a special ed leader (since she was on my mind) - along with her problem and how she solved it. I figured that's the framework for a story, right? 

Well, to my amazement, this AI system responded with an outline of 20 pages, ready for my edits, AND the message, "Would you like me to create the first image?"

I was blown away and enthralled! Over the next 3 days (when I wasn't prepping a turkey dinner) I learned through trial and error how to write prompts to get results. When I shared my final version with my team, they rolled up their sleeves to make it even better (Thanks, Meg & Tori). 

Just for laughs, we thought you’d like to see 4 blooper images (plus the final image) ChatGPT gave us for our prompt: “Use this style and image of Sophie to create a meeting where Sophie is presenting professional development. She is happy to lead the session. The people in the room are happy, engaged, and excited to hear what Sophie has to say.”

We had so much fun creating it, and they encouraged me to make this e-book available to YOU! 

So, here you go! I'm giving Sophie's Special Ed Journey away for free in appreciation for all the Sophies out there who are courageous champions of special education! 

With appreciation.....