Joshua Chard, the 2024 Maine Teacher of the Year, has been working in education for more than three decades. He teaches second grade in Portland.

Every generation of teachers has faced a moment when the ground shifts beneath them. Ours came the day students discovered that a chatbot could “think” with them, write with them and sometimes respond faster than we could type. The question now isn’t whether AI belongs in school, but how we choose to lead in a world transformed by it.

Educators have always adapted to technological change. The pencil democratized literacy. The calculator prompted fears that students would stop thinking mathematically. Computers and the internet reshaped research, communication and classroom management. Each time, teaching — not the tool — remained the center of learning.

Artificial intelligence is simply the next chapter. And like every innovation before it, AI isn’t going away.

When OpenAI made early headlines in the mid-2010s, many educators understandably stayed focused on the work at hand. We’ve all seen “the next big thing” come and go. But the release of ChatGPT in 2022 marked a real turning point. Students adopted it instantly, and suddenly we were confronted with both its possibilities and its pitfalls. Was it a shortcut? A threat to academic honesty? A new way to differentiate instruction? The answer, of course, is that it could be all of these things, depending on how we use it.

What I’ve learned is this: AI is neither  a miracle nor a menace. It is a tool. And when used thoughtfully, it can strengthen good teaching.

In my classroom, AI helps me create differentiated reading passages that allow all learners, from newcomers learning English to advanced readers, to engage with the same essential ideas. I use it to model revision strategies, generate writing prompts and brainstorm adaptations for students who need different entry points. It drafts clear family communication and helps me write grants that bring resources to my high-needs school.

But AI doesn’t replace thoughtful planning or my professional judgment. If anything, it sharpens it. Because when routine tasks become faster, I have more time to do what no algorithm can: build relationships, inspire curiosity and help students see themselves as capable thinkers.

And whether we embrace it or not, AI is already woven into our daily work. My school’s communication platform automatically revises messages so they can be easily translated into the nine languages my students’ families speak. Search engines now begin with AI-generated summaries. Even colleagues who insist they “don’t use AI” rely on tools quietly powered by it.

My thinking shifted further after conversations with Casey Cuny, the 2024 California Teacher of the Year. He often says, “Good teaching is still good teaching. AI just changes the tools.” His high school students use AI to stretch their thinking, not replace it. And the habits he cultivates, questioning, revising, explaining, are the same ones I nurture in my second graders. When we teach students to think deeply and ethically, they will be ready to use AI responsibly as they grow.

And yes, in the spirit of transparency, AI helped shape this piece.

I listed my ideas, asked ChatGPT to sort them into an outline and then drafted the essay the old fashioned way, with my resources spread out in front of me. When phrases felt clunky, I asked Chat GPT for suggestions— just as I would from a human editor. I revised, refined and asked my colleagues for feedback. AI was a work partner, not the creator. Creating was my domain.

The truth is simple: AI isn’t here to replace teachers, but it can challenge us to evolve.

AI isn’t waiting for us to feel ready. It is already reshaping how students learn, communicate and imagine the world. As educators, we can meet this moment with curiosity instead of fear — modeling what ethical, creative and human-centered use looks like. Our students deserve nothing less.