Your section of the wall.

0:00 to 0:15

Human or Bot?

Nobody shares a name. Nobody shares a fun fact. You just have to be right.

0:15 to 0:25

“All are given their own section of the wall.” Educators made the list.Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas, paragraph 13

The Church isn't anti AI. It's pro human.

In his first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV writes that technology is not an enemy of humanity and not evil in itself, but that it is never neutral, because it takes on the character of the people who build, fund, regulate and use it. So the real choice is not yes or no to AI. It is Babel or Jerusalem (Magnifica Humanitas, 4 and 9).

What the encyclical asks of Catholic schools

• 140
  Teach when not to use itEducating students about AI includes teaching them when, and for what, it should not be used, because fast answers can put out the desire to ask questions.
• 142
  Don't leave parents to fight this aloneThe Pope calls for an alliance of families, schools and policymakers, and for holding the companies accountable instead of shifting the whole burden onto families.
• 143
  Parents come firstParents have the primary right to choose their children's education. Schools are their partners, not their replacement.
• 144
  Keep the doors openThe students with the least often have the most to gain from AI done right, and the most to lose from AI done badly.
• 145
  Form the teachersTeachers need ongoing formation so they can help students use these tools responsibly, critically and creatively instead of being carried along by them. Today is that formation.
• 146
  Protect silence and depthLearning needs rhythms of silence, in depth study, reading and careful analysis, or an endless flow of information crowds out real thinking.
• 147
  Be the place the internet can't beSchools are not called to follow the pace of the digital world. They offer shared time to learn, and relationships a child can trust.

Paragraph numbers refer to Magnifica Humanitas. Full texts at vatican.va.

0:25 to 0:37

Before first period, you've already used AI.

Everybody up. Sit down the first time you hear one you did NOT do today. Tap each one as you read it.

So what is AI, actually?

Software that learned from millions of examples instead of being told every step. The chatbots work like the world's most well read guesser. You type something, and it predicts, one word at a time, what most likely comes next.

0:37 to 1:00

Can I use AI for this?

Eight minutes. Sort the 18 cards at your table. Argue about it. Then tap any task below for the ruling.

Traffic Light Framework from the National Parents Union, MyKidMyData.org.

Brainstorming a lesson is green. Outsourcing your lesson is not.

• The plan stops being yours

  A generated plan you print and teach is a curriculum decision made by a system that has never met your students and has no idea third period falls apart after lunch.

  The judgment is the job. Keep it.

• A student walks into the prompt

  The second you type "a student in my class who reads at a second grade level and has an IEP for," you left the green column.

  Strip the student out or use the contracted account.

• Everybody's lesson starts sounding the same

  These systems produce the statistically average version of everything. Run every plan through one and your curriculum drifts to the median.

  Keep your hands on the parts only you can do.

Which account you're logged into decides what happens to your students.

Plan and privacy details from the OpenAI Help Center, Anthropic's consumer terms update of August 28, 2025, and Google's Gemini Apps and Workspace for Education privacy documentation, as published on catholicsonai.org. Company terms change.

FERPA applies to schools that receive U.S. Department of Education program funds. The Department says private and parochial K to 12 schools generally do not, so in most Catholic schools there is no federal floor. Your login is doing the law's job. U.S. Department of Education ↗

1:00 to 1:15

Monday Moves.

Grab a partner from a different grade. Pick one. Hit Copy it, paste it into any chatbot, see what happens. You cannot break it.

The teacher stayed in charge in every single one. AI made good teaching go further. It did not replace it.

• Level the text

  One reading passage, three versions at different reading levels, same content. You check every version before it goes out.

  Rewrite this paragraph about the water cycle at a 3rd grade, 5th grade and 8th grade reading level. [paste text]Copy it
• Build the practice

  Turn your unit into practice questions and an exit ticket. Then ask for the misconceptions students most often have, and plan for them.

  Give me 10 practice questions on equivalent fractions, easiest to hardest, with an answer key.Copy it

  What are the three most common misconceptions students have about photosynthesis, and how do I address each one?Copy it
• Stress test your lesson

  Have it play a confused student and poke holes in your explanation. Then the student who finished early and is bored.

  Pretend you are a confused 7th grader. Ask me the questions I should expect after this explanation: [paste your explanation]Copy it
• Get the family note out faster

  Draft the newsletter, then a first draft translation for families who speak another language. A qualified person checks the translation before it goes home.

  Draft a friendly, short newsletter note to families about our upcoming field trip. Keep it under 120 words.Copy it
• Make the students the critics

  Generate a mediocre essay on your topic in front of the class and have students tear it apart in writing. What is wrong, what is missing, what is generic. Best AI literacy lesson you will teach all year.

• Ask the Carlo question

  Saint Carlo Acutis set his own limit: one hour of video games a week. Tell your students his story, then ask them the question he answered for himself. Prepare means they learn to set their own rules, not just follow ours.

  What's your limit, and who set it?Copy it

1:15 to 1:30

Build the wall.

What could St. Charles start this semester?

Here is what good support looks like from a principal, a pastor and the diocese. Tap the ones already in place.

1. A clear, written AI policy, built with teachersFrom the school or the diocese, drafted with teachers and families at the table.
2. A school or diocesan account you can actually useWith FERPA generally out of the picture, the contract behind that account is the main thing protecting student information.
3. Real formation, on the clockHands on time to learn the tools (Magnifica Humanitas, 145).
4. A list of approved tools, already checkedPrivacy terms, data retention and training rules reviewed before a tool lands in your classroom.
5. A fairness check on those toolsSo they work as well for multilingual learners and students with disabilities as for everyone else.
6. Clear red lines, and an easy way to ask questionsGrading, discipline, IEPs, placement, counseling, pastoral care, crisis and surveillance stay human.
7. Simple guidance on telling familiesReady to use language for when AI helped draft feedback, comments or a note home.
8. A shared approach to AI detectorsSo no student is accused on a false positive.
9. Common rules for student AI useA school wide starting point, so every assignment isn't its own negotiation.
10. Time for AI literacy in the scheduleIncluding in religion and ethics classes, where the Church's own teaching on AI now belongs.

Artisans of hope.