Control Alt Achieve: My 2026 MACUL Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the 2026 MACUL Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 18th through 20th.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can access more MACUL information and register for the conference at:

https://maculconference.org/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at MACUL, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

🧔 My Sessions

📅 Wednesday, March 18, 2026

🚀 Beyond the Slideshow: Google Slides Activities for all Subjects

Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: Gallery Overlook H
Session Agenda: http://bit.ly/curts-slides
Description: We all know Google Slides is a great tool for making multimedia slideshows. But did you know it can also be used to make "Choose Your Own Adventure" style stories, interactive quizzes, online comic strips, storybooks, stop-motion animation, manipulatives, class soundboards, formative feedback in class, peer editing activities, and more? In this session we will explore these and more non-traditional uses of Slides. Learn how students can use Google Slides to express themselves in more ways than just a presentation.

🚦 Artificial Intelligence / Natural Misuse - Managing AI in Schools

Time: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Location: Gallery Overlook H
Session Agenda: http://bit.ly/curts-aimisuse
Description: As beneficial as AI is, it also comes with challenges and the potential for misuse. In this session we will explore ways to address academic integrity concerns, tools and strategies to help monitor AI use, proper citation for AI generated content, ways to encourage positive use of AI in the classrooms, developing your own class set of AI guidelines for students, alternative assessment options, addressing AI bias and inaccuracies, student data privacy, identifying fake content, evaluating AI tools, and more.

📅 Thursday, March 19, 2026

🔑 Accessibility Tools to Support all Learners

Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Location: Ballroom D
Session Agenda: http://bit.ly/curts-support
Description: There are many tools, apps, extensions, and features available to assist all learners. In this session we take an in-depth hands-on look at a wide range of technology tools to assist any and all learners. These can include text-to-speech, speech-to-text, readability, reading comprehension, artificial intelligence tools, audio support, organization, focus, and more. Learn what tools are available and how to access and use these free tools with your students.

🕵️ Did a Robot Write this Report? Managing AI Cheating

Time: 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Location: Ballroom D
Session Agenda: http://bit.ly/curts-aicheat
Description: Although AI can help support students in their learning and work, unfortunately it can also be misused for cheating purposes. In this session we will explore ways to address academic integrity concerns in the age of AI. This will include creating student AI guidelines, adjustments to make assignments more AI-resistant, tools to monitor the use of AI and see what work students have done themselves, and educating students on the proper use of AI.

🤖 The Power of Personalized Learning: Custom AI Chatbots for Students

Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Ballroom D
Session Agenda: http://bit.ly/curts-chatbots
Description: AI chatbots are a powerful way to provide safe, monitored, personalized learning experiences for students. Chatbots can be used for a wide range of engaging activities such as interviewing a historical figure, discussing a book, learning about a career, assessing understanding, providing tutoring, or diving into any topic. With AI these chatbots adjust to each student individually to meet their specific needs and interests. In this session we will explore free tools such as SchoolAI, Brisk, MagicSchoolAI and more, where you can choose from a wide range of pre-made chatbots or easily create your own.

📅 Friday, March 20, 2026

💎 Your AI Treasure Chest: Creating & Sharing Gemini Gems

Time: 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Location: Ballroom D
Session Agenda: http://bit.ly/curts-gems
Description: Gems are reusable, custom prompts that save your best AI workflows for instant access, and they are a game-changer for educators! In this deep-dive session we'll start by using Google's pre-made Gems (like Brainstormer and Storybook Creator), then learn to create your own, with tips for effective prompting and uploading reference files. We'll also cover how to share your Gems with colleagues and how schools can build a shared, high-quality Gem repository for staff and students. To see their full potential, we will tour my "EduGems" website and demonstrate powerful, ready-to-use prompts for lesson hooks, rubric generation, DOK analysis, and even creating AI-powered classroom games.

💯 The Future of Feedback - Guided Grading with AI

Time: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Location: Ballroom D
Session Agenda: http://bit.ly/curts-aigrading
Description: One of the biggest challenges in education is the time required to provide detailed feedback on student work. Thankfully we now have powerful AI tools that can generate personalized feedback for student work based on the guidelines, rubrics, and style we suggest. This can include feedback on student writing from short answers to full essays, as well as feedback on spoken student explanations. In this session we will explore AI grading and feedback tools such as Class Companion, Snorkl, EnlightenAI, Brisk Teaching, MagicSchool AI and more