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Check out the latest Virtual Teacher Newsletters
THE MONKEY DID IT!
Warning: You are entering a No Rules Zone. Proceed with imagination at light speed.
One Monkey. A Typewriter. Total Tuesday Chaos.
It all started with a bowl of cereal.
Then the floor tilts. Then the kids turned into aliens. Then cats. In space.
And now there’s a dragon. Of course there is.
Who’s responsible for this madness?
A cheeky monkey with a typewriter and way too much imagination.
He’s flipping the story faster than a soap-bubble spaceship and the kids can barely keep up.
If you like stories that bounce, blast, roar, and giggle...
You already know who to blame.
THE MONKEY DID IT!
Ready to tell a story where anything can happen?
The typewriter’s waiting. Go bananas.
Be an author. Make the mayhem. Tell your story.
Because writing stories? That’s a SUPERPOWER
Lots of thinking and questions and rethinking and testing and figuring things out.
Here is the end result of the Monkey Typing after lots of ideation.
If you want to see what else the Monkey can do….
SUBSCRIBE to my Youtube Channel or Newsletter
CHECK OUT The Monkey Did It! Pdf
The finished video will be out soon.
Something UnLIKELY is HERE….
What do you get when you combine a fearless kid with a wild imagination, a sceptical best friend
and a cursed spoon in the school cafeteria?
You get UnLIKELY, a picture book full of sock cities, rainbow hiccups, moon missions and one surprisingly polite pirate.
It’s imaginative.
It’s beautifully illustrated with AI.
It’s a great way to start conversations about how AI + imagination = endless creative possibilities.
Protagonist: The Imaginator – confident, curious and never out of stories.
Antagonist: The Friend – a loyal skeptic who always says “Unlikely”… until……..
This book was made for kids, classrooms and anyone who’s ever been told “that’ll never happen.”
Want to see how UnLIKELY things come to life with AI?
Check Out the UnLIKELY VIDEO with a bit of Monkey Business
Check Out the UnLIKELY eBOOK for the Full Story.
AMAZING WORLDS
A book and Video LIKE NO OTHER
AMAZING WORLDS is more than just a story, it’s a human-AI collaboration.
I wrote it.
I imagined it.
I prompted the images.
And with the help of AI, I brought AMAZING WORLDS to life; Worlds that never existed before.
Not a single place, creature or adventure in this book has ever been seen by human eyes. Without AI, none of this would be possible. Nothing in this book has ever been seen before.
AMAZING WORLDS BOOK
Check out the linkedin Article on how it was done.
Here’s the Lesson Plan Introducing Prompting. Here’s the Text to Image Prompt list identifying word counts & sample prompts. Click here for the APPS list safe for the classroom.
AMAZING WORLDS is not just a story about IMAGINATION,
IT'S PROOF of it.
A New Jumper - with Some Monkey Business
My Experiment with AI Storytelling
JOIN ME on this fascinating journey,
as I revisit a story I originally wrote 20 years ago while teaching kindergarten.
This story, “The New Jumper,” was one of the favourites, and now I’ve reimagined it using cutting-edge AI tools.
The New Jumper Videos
The New Jumper - Original
The New Jumper with Some Monkey Business - Maltese + English Text
The New Jumper with Some Monkey Business - Maltese
The New Jumper Books
A New Jumper
A New Jumper in Maltese
The final product reflects the intriguing possibilities of AI.
LET ME know your thoughts on this video and the evolving role of AI in creative storytelling!
What a DISASTER!
Take a deep breath… because this video is pure chaos! Packed with over-the-top disasters, comedic timing and an unstoppable protagonist, this is the story of someone who refuses to give up, no matter how many times they get squashed, melted or EXPLODED.
THE THEME:
Life isn’t just unpredictable—it’s outrageously unfair, ridiculously chaotic, and totally unstoppable. Disasters will come. Big ones. Weird ones. Ones that make absolutely no sense.
BUT HERE'S THE TRUTH: You CAN'T control what happens. You CAN control what happens NEXT.
RESILIENCE isn’t about avoiding disaster, it’s about staring it in the face, laughing through the wreckage and stepping forward anyway. It’s about getting knocked down, standing back up, daring life to do its worst and proving that nothing, NOTHING, can stop YOU.
What a DISASTER! Videos
What a DISASTER! - TRAILER What a Disaster! Video
What a DISASTER! Book
DOWNLOAD the What a Disaster Book or read in the Browser.
AI Future Proofing Students TODAY!
Here’s why this really matters:
AI is the future.
We’re preparing kids to not only keep up with tech but to lead it.
Using NLRAI (NO to LOW Risk AI) tools, kids get to learn how AI works,
how to use it responsibly, and how to have fun with it.
IN THIS VIDEO
I dive into NLRAI tools that make AI education accessible, safe, and exciting for primary school classrooms.
DISCOVER
how tools like Google’s Teachable Machine, Canva Text-to-Image, SuperTask and QuickDraw are transforming learning,
helping students understand AI and preparing them for the future.
As an AI EDUCATION CONSULTANT,
I specialise in helping educators integrate AI
into their classrooms effectively.
My AI Consultancy services provide personalised guidance to schools,
focusing on stress-free implementation,
high engagement,
and compliance with educational standards.
FAKERY & Image Manipulation
TIMELINE of the History of FAKERY & Image Manipulation: From Prehistoric Art to AI
The timeline of FAKERY & image manipulation highlights a simple truth, the practice of altering reality in imagery is not new.
From prehistoric symbolic art to AI-generated deepfakes,
humans have always sought to shape perceptions, tell stories, or push agendas. The current "hysteria" around AI-generated images stems not from their existence but from how seamlessly they mimic reality and the speed at which they can be produced.
THIS PERSPECTIVE provides a critical foundation for understanding the importance of education in critical thinking, particularly as it relates to AI and other forms of FAKERY.
RATHER THAN FEARING, we need to focus on education: fostering critical thinking, understanding the technology, and applying ethical principles. By empowering kids and adults to understand the "why" and "how" behind fakery, we transform AI from a source of fear into a tool for informed, creative, and ethical engagement with the world.
WHY IT MATTERS, Understanding the evolution of image manipulation helps us demystify AI-generated content and focus on fostering critical thinking. With education, we can turn AI tools into opportunities for creativity and informed decision-making rather than sources of fear.
WHAT TO DO, Empower yourself & others by questioning, analysing & understanding the technology behind FAKERY & image manipulation. Watch the video and join the conversation on AI use & media literacy!
SUPER TASK
Use SUPER TASK for SUPER Review, Revision, Pretesting
or Post Testing Tasks on any content.
SUPER TASK Empowers students!
Personalized learning through AI: students direct, ask, & explore.
Speech-to-Text & adaptive learning for deeper understanding.
CHOOSE
the topic, choose your year level.
SUPER TASK
will ask a series of 5 questions about the topic at the appropriate year level.
BUT
You can ask questions like:
Can you explain…….
I don’t understand this, can you provide more detail.
Can you show me an image? To help me understand.
I would like to know more about……..?
Tell me some jokes about this topic.
Provide a summary of this topic.
Student starts to learn how to interact with the AI
& THEY take charge
of their own learning.
Oh did I mention, it SAVES YOU TIME!
The VT AI Programmer
WHAT DOES THE VT AI PROGRAMMER DO?
WHAT DOES THE VT AI PROGRAMMER DO?
SAVES TIME
Generate content that aligns with the DET NSW Syllabus in the
BLINK OF AN EYE
CUSTOMISABLE
Tailor your lessons by year level, topic, and length.
INTEGRATION
Easily integrate learning outcomes and extensions specific to each unit of work.
DIFFERENTIATION
Learning plans for all abilities on the fly.
EASILY ADD OUTCOMES
and descriptors
ACCESSIBLE ANYWHERE
Use the VT AI Programmer on your mobile device with speech-to-text features for even easier planning.
ALL DONE IN A FLASH.
IMAGINE IF AI WAS SIMPLE!
Oh did I mention, it SAVES YOU TIME!
The Fantastic Prompt and Mr Fox
Unleash Your CREATIVITY with AI & bring your IMAGINATION to life!
CREATE something you’ve NEVER SEEN before with AI.
Your imagination is the only limit.
DIVE
into this video, where we explore the MAGIC OF PROMPTING with AI and Adobe FireFly - a tool that turns your imagination into reality!
I guide kids through a brainstorming adventure, teaching them to harness their collective creativity and really think about great descriptions for the characters in "The Fantastic Mr Fox".
USING
an interactive whiteboard, bring "The Fantastic Mr Fox" to life, exactly the way you imagine him.
SAVE
the images to a computer, and share them via Google Drive. The kids can then pick their favourite images, describe their characters, and justify their choices.
JOIN ME in this CREATIVE JOURNEY
where
IMAGINATION KNOWS NO BOUNDS!
AI DeMystified - What NEXT?
IMAGINE IF AI WAS SIMPLE!
WHAT IF you could start introducing AI into your classroom tomorrow?
WHAT IF all you needed to do to understand how AI works is to play a simple game?
This “GUESS THE WORD" game can be played by children and adults alike and is a great introduction to how AI or LLMs work.
AI guesses the next word, the next sentence, or the next image from a vast set of training data.
This extensive training helps AI understand language patterns, grammar, context, and a wide range of topics.
THE GUESSING GAME
When the AI reads or writes a sentence, it plays a guessing game.
It looks at the words it already knows and tries to guess what will come next.
LEARNING WORDS & PATTERNS
The AI is very smart because it has read so much.
It’s just like how you know that after
"Once upon a," the next word is probably "time."
READING LOTS OF STORIES
AI reads lots and lots of books and stories, just like you do.
Well, I hope you do!
So that’s what AI does – it guesses the next word, or series of words or sentences.
Is it always correct? NO! That’s why YOU always need to check it!
TRY THIS “What Comes Next Game” and play it in your classroom tomorrow with your students.
Explore the Virtual Teacher Website here are some
ABSOLUTELY Splendid resources
YOU will love.
Click on the PUSH button, top right, to see more fabulous links.
Making Movies
The Language of Film
Basic Camera Shots
Camera Angles
Camera Movement
Light, Colour & Sound
Archival Site
Original VT site first published in 1998
Includes Articles
Is there a Doctor in the Mouse?
& Writer’s Block
InfoGraphics
If we let science do the talking you'd hear that the brain is a real sucker for visual information.
JIU University
Rainforests
Virtual Field Trip Amazon Forest
View it here Introduce your students to the layers of the rainforest and the animals who live there. Explore the adaptations that have evolved over time.
Mind Candy
The Starfish Story
An old man had a habit of early morning walks on the beach. One day, after a storm, he saw a human figure in the distance moving like a dancer.
"It made a difference for that one."
Maths
Fabulous Maths websites to explore.
Great Videos
Splendid apps.
Flextangles
Exploding Dots
Hexaflexagon
- one of my favourites
Doing STEM well, is hard and focused work,
will the kids be happy to work hard?
ABSOLUTELY…
Code of the Netizens
This Website & Newsletter is not free, despite the misleading advertising above.
The FEE is now due.
Each week you must help one colleague on the Internet who has less knowledge than you.
Help that person even if you have to visit their classroom or do a little research and get back to them. Trust me, this will help a lot of people get their classrooms running much better much faster.
Oh! and send them a link to VT for inspiration.
OK I'm trusting you!!!
Why I love writing VT - there is no force or other authority in the world more powerful than a lot of people thinking differently and writing about it!!!!.
© Cathy Brown 1998 - 2025 © All images & Videos Cathy Brown Located in Sydney NSW Australia all rights reserved.
No unauthorised reproduction without written permission. Webmaster & Designer - Cathy L. Brown
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