The hardest part of creating a 10-minute AI lesson about Jimothy the Raccoon was resisting the urge to make all 10-minutes of the PD session watching Jimothy videos. LOL!
This year, my district changed the school librarian title and job description to EdTech, Data, and Media Specialist. One responsibility in the new job description reads:
Campus AI Lead: Serve as the primary campus trainer for AI integration, such as MagicSchool, ensuring staff use these tools ethically and efficiently and teach students safe, ethical AI use.
Along with working with teachers individually, in small groups, and in PLCs, I have also been asked to present recurring 10-minute AI tips during staff meetings.
Because “this could have been an email” is my automatic response to the words “staff meeting,” I knew these sessions needed to be useful, fast, and as enjoyable as possible given the circumstances.
That became the idea behind AI in 10: short, practical AI-learning experiences that introduce one useful concept without overwhelming teachers or taking over the entire meeting.
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| The AI in 10 branding created for recurring staff-meeting sessions. |
Enter Jimothy the Raccoon
While scrolling through librarian Facebook groups, Instagram, and TikTok, I saw another librarian discussing the use of Jimothy the Raccoon as an engaging way to introduce students to AI-generated media.
The basic question was simple:
Is Jimothy real, or is Jimothy AI?
A few days later, it clicked. Jimothy could also work as the hook for one of my 10-minute staff lessons.
The topic was approachable, funny, and slightly ridiculous—which made it perfect for a staff meeting. Teachers did not need any previous knowledge about artificial intelligence to participate. They simply needed to watch, notice details, and decide what they believed.
I worked with ChatGPT (who I have not named yet) to develop a consistent identity for the recurring AI in 10 sessions. Then I began collecting Jimothy videos.
That was when the real challenge began.
How many raccoon videos can reasonably be shown during a 10-minute professional-learning session?
Apparently, not as many as I would have liked.
I eventually narrowed the presentation to four short clips.
The opening slide introduces the lesson with a low-stakes but surprisingly difficult question.
The Hook: Real, AI, or Something in Between?
As teachers watched each clip, they considered whether what they were seeing was authentic, staged, edited, AI-generated, or some combination of those possibilities.
That distinction matters.
The most useful question is not always simply, “Is this real or fake?” Digital media can contain real people, animals, settings, or events while still being manipulated, selectively edited, or presented without context.
The goal was not to turn teachers into AI-detection experts in ten minutes. It was to model a simple critical-thinking habit:
Pause. Examine the evidence. Verify the source. Do not assume that something is trustworthy simply because it looks convincing.
Jimothy made that process feel more like a game than a lecture.
Teachers could participate immediately. They could disagree with one another. They could point out details they noticed and explain why those details made a video seem more or less believable.
The humor opened the door, but media literacy was the actual lesson.
Teachers examine clues in each video and explain what makes the content appear credible—or suspicious.
Moving Beyond Images and Video
After the Jimothy clips, I widened the discussion.
Images and videos are not the only AI-influenced content teachers and students must evaluate. AI-generated answers now appear throughout internet searches, digital tools, chatbots, and online platforms.
A polished answer can feel authoritative even when the information behind it is incomplete, biased, misleading, outdated, or simply wrong.
Students may see an AI-generated response at the top of a search page and assume the research process is finished. In reality, the answer should be the beginning of an investigation.
The same questions we used with Jimothy also apply to AI-generated information:
- Where did this information come from?
- What evidence supports it?
- Can it be confirmed using another reliable source?
- What information might be missing?
- Is the answer reliable enough for the way I plan to use it?
The transferable skill is not “spot the AI.” It is evaluate the information.
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The lesson shifts from evaluating entertaining videos to evaluating AI-generated answers and summaries. |
Making the Cross-Curricular Connection
One concern teachers often have about AI professional learning is whether it applies to their content area.
This lesson was intentionally broader than a technology demonstration. Evaluating claims, examining evidence, verifying sources, and recognizing manipulated information are skills that appear across the curriculum.
For example:
- English language arts: Evaluate evidence, source credibility, author’s purpose, and how language influences an audience.
- Science: Distinguish between observations, interpretations, evidence, and unsupported claims.
- Social studies: Corroborate information across sources and consider perspective, context, and bias.
- Mathematics: Examine whether the information, data, or reasoning presented supports the conclusion.
- Fine arts and CTE: Analyze how digital media are designed, produced, edited, and used to communicate a message.
Teachers do not need to create an entirely separate “AI lesson.” These skills can be incorporated into work they are already doing with students.
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| The lesson connects AI and media literacy to existing standards across high school content areas. |
The District AI Reality Check
After establishing the broader instructional connection, I shifted the presentation to our district’s AI reality.
General conversations about artificial intelligence are useful, but teachers also need clear information about what applies locally.
Which tools has the district approved? What may teachers use those tools to accomplish? What student-use options are available? What privacy, ethical, or instructional boundaries should staff consider?
This part of the presentation helped move the conversation from an interesting internet example to the practical decisions teachers make in their classrooms.
It also reinforced an important point: an AI tool does not replace professional judgment.
Teachers remain responsible for reviewing information, protecting student data, following district expectations, and deciding whether an AI-generated product is accurate and appropriate for the intended instructional purpose.
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| The district reality check connects general AI literacy to approved tools, local expectations, and responsible classroom use. |
Ending With an Exit Ticket
The AI in 10: What in the Jimothy?! session ends with a branching exit ticket.
The form asks staff members to indicate their comfort levels with using AI:
- personally,
- professionally,
- and with students.
Follow-up questions then branch according to each participant’s responses.
A teacher who is already comfortable using AI may need examples of student activities, ethical-use strategies, or more advanced features. A teacher who is hesitant may need basic vocabulary, time to explore an approved tool, or reassurance that they are not expected to become an expert immediately.
The exit ticket gives teachers an opportunity to reflect, but it also gives me valuable information for planning future sessions.
Instead of guessing what staff members need, I can use their responses to determine which topics should come next.
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The exit ticket measures staff comfort with personal, professional, and student AI use. |
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| Follow-up questions change according to each teacher’s reported comfort level. |
Why Jimothy Works
Jimothy is funny, but the lesson is not really about a raccoon.
It is about slowing down before accepting something as true.
It is about recognizing that believable content is not necessarily reliable content.
It is about asking better questions before sharing, citing, teaching, or acting on information.
Most importantly, it gives teachers a low-pressure way to experience the same uncertainty their students face online every day.
A 10-minute staff-meeting session cannot solve every challenge related to artificial intelligence. It can, however, create a shared experience, introduce a practical habit, and provide a starting point for deeper conversations.
And if a raccoon named Jimothy can help us do that, I consider those ten minutes well spent.
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| The final slide directs staff to the exit ticket and helps identify topics for future AI in 10 sessions. |
Here is the entire presentation
26-27 What The Jimothy?! by Nikki D RobertsonAI Use Disclosure
In the spirit of transparency and responsible AI use, I used ChatGPT to help brainstorm the AI in 10 concept and branding, organize the ideas in this post, and revise portions of the writing for clarity and flow. I reviewed, edited, and approved the final content. The experiences, instructional decisions, examples, and opinions shared here are my own.
