About the Talk:

AI Literacy is not about replacing good teaching—it’s about enhancing it.

Casey Cuny, 2024 California Teacher of the Year, with more than two decades of classroom and leadership experience, frames AI as both a challenge and an opportunity for educators. His core message is simple yet powerful: “Good teaching is still good teaching—AI just changes the tools.”

AI has the potential to strengthen learning outcomes while easing teacher workload. As an engine for equity, it can expand access to tutoring, scaffolding, and creative tools that help close learning gaps. It enables teachers to personalize learning and boost engagement at a scale we have never seen before. It can also relieve the burden of routine tasks—emails, recommendation letters, lesson planning, grading—while serving as a creative partner for brainstorming lessons, designing projects, and generating prompts. Beyond the classroom, AI enhances professional development by acting as an on-demand thought partner, helping teachers refine lessons, explore strategies, and access personalized, just-in-time learning.

In this session, participants will gain practical strategies for integrating AI into teaching, including how to:

1. Streamline teacher workload
2. Use AI as a thought partner in lesson design
3. Empower students with AI as a study buddy
4. Use custom prompts to create personalized learning experiences for students
5. Apply best practices for crafting prompts
6. Implement guardrails for preventing misuse
7. Reframe “cheating” in the age of AI
8. Raise expectations for student learning by shifting from rote tasks to deeper inquiry
9. How Deep Research changes the game for lesson design and curating resources

By the end of this talk, educators will leave with concrete tools, insights, and an inspiring vision for how AI can amplify—not replace—the heart of good teaching.

About the Speaker:

Casey Cuny is the 2024 California Teacher of the Year. Cuny teaches 10th grade honors English and Senior mythology and folklore at Valencia High School in Santa Clarita, California. He serves as English Department Chair and the school’s Instructional Coach. He also teaches at National University in the Masters of Education program working with teachers from all over the country, and he was recently awarded the 2025 National University Academic Excellence Delphi Award. He is also currently working with ASU to develop their new California Teacher Credential program. 

He strives to create an inclusive environment for his students, and to champion their growth as individuals. He uses the synergy of social, emotional, and academic intelligence to push students to levels of rigor not possible without this concerted approach.