As artificial intelligence reshapes our world, educators are called to prepare students not just with technical skills, but with the curiosity, creativity, and human-centered abilities to thrive alongside it. This article explores the Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate and offers practical classroom strategies, routines, and AI-driven prompts to bring its six traits — Learner, Researcher, Synthesizer, Storyteller, Connector, and Ideator — to life.

In an evolving world that is starting to be shaped by the rise of artificial intelligence, our classroom spaces must remain places of curiosity, connection, and thoughtful creation. At the recent ASCD + ISTE 2025 Conference, the Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate was introduced by Richard Culatta, not as a checklist of tech skills, but as a human-centered guide for how students can thrive as thought partners alongside AI. Recently, Culatta expanded on these ideas and components of an AI-ready graduate in an ASCD blog post I highly recommend reading.

As educators across the globe continue to reflect on how to integrate future-ready skills — alongside social, emotional, and academic development — they’re also considering how to bring technology into classrooms in accessible and meaningful ways. From my own experience, I’ve come to realize that many educators are already engaging in this work through their district’s Profile of a Graduate, and now they’re beginning or continuing to layer in the responsible work of the integration of AI. It’s more than an opportunity; it’s an obligation. Because those who understand how to use AI thoughtfully and ethically will hold the leverage not just in the workforce but in shaping the future.

These six traits seen below (Learner, Researcher, Synthesizer, Storyteller, Connector, and Ideator) remind us that our role isn’t to replace traditional instruction with AI, but to integrate it with care, creativity, and purpose.

Below, I am offering some suggestions for how each profile component can come to life in the classroom through instructional practice, Project Zero Visible Thinking routines from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, thoughtfully designed AI prompts, and meaningful assessment pathways that offer multiple ways for students to demonstrate their learning.

I want to emphasize that these are simply suggestions, meant to spark thinking and reflection as we explore what this work could look like in our own classrooms. I encourage you to read Richard Culatta’s blog to help frame and deepen your thinking.

1. Learner

• Instructional Practice: Goal-setting conferences, metacognitive reflection journals, and differentiated learning plans
• Visible Thinking Routine: “Compass Points” — Helps students explore their needs, worries, excitement, and suggestions as learners
• AI Prompt: “I’m struggling with ___. Can you help me plan the next steps to improve? What questions should I ask myself as I keep learning?”
• Assessment Pathway: Students co-create a learning plan, check in on their progress using AI or peer feedback, and reflect on their growth over time in a portfolio or video vlog

2. Researcher

• Instructional Practice: Source triangulation, media literacy workshops, and structured research protocols
• Visible Thinking Routine: “Claim, Support, Question” — Students identify a claim, examine its evidence, and generate questions for further investigation
• AI Prompt: “Summarize three different viewpoints on ___. Which sources are credible, and how do they compare?”
• Assessment Pathway: Students build a research brief comparing sources with an annotated bibliography, citing where AI helped expand or clarify understanding

3. Synthesizer

Uses AI to synthesize and remix information into formats and levels of complexity that best meet their unique needs and capabilities.

• Instructional Practice: Choice boards for multimodal projects, graphic organizers for integrating ideas, and remix projects
• Visible Thinking Routine: “Color-Symbol-Image” — Students summarize a complex idea using a color, a symbol, and an image, promoting creative synthesis
• AI Prompt: “Take these three sources and combine them into a summary using a diagram or infographic. What’s the most important takeaway?”
• Assessment Pathway: Students submit a multimodal product (e.g., infographic, podcast, slideshow) and explain their synthesis choices in a reflection

4. Storyteller

Uses AI to present and communicate complex ideas through text, image, audio, video, and other media.

• Instructional Practice: Digital storytelling units, video essays, podcast creation, and presentation design
• Visible Thinking Routine: “Headlines” — Students create a headline that captures the essence of what they’ve learned, encouraging clarity and voice
• AI Prompt: “Help me turn my argument into a short script for a podcast episode. What visual or audio elements could I add to support it?”
• Assessment Pathway: Students present a narrative product (video, audio, or digital story) along with a storyboard or planning sheet that documents the creative process

5. Connector

Uses AI to increase human collaboration including overcoming language barriers and finding common ground among divergent perspectives.

• Instructional Practice: Collaborative group work, peer interviews, cross-classroom or global connections
• Visible Thinking Routine: “Circle of Viewpoints” — Students consider multiple perspectives by imagining what different people would think about an issue
• AI Prompt: “Translate this paragraph into Spanish for my partner. Then help us create a joint presentation that includes both of our perspectives.”
• Assessment Pathway: Students complete a shared project and reflect on how AI helped build bridges between viewpoints or languages

6. Ideator

Uses AI as a brainstorming partner to generate new ideas and explore a wide range of possible solutions.

• Instructional Practice: Design challenges, problem-based learning, or creative writing sprints
• Visible Thinking Routine: “Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate” — A brainstorming structure where students build, group, and grow ideas
• AI Prompt: “Give me 5 possible solutions to this problem, ranked by feasibility or impact. What questions should I ask next?”
• Assessment Pathway: Students submit an idea pitch, design prototype, or story concept that includes an AI brainstorming log and a reflection on which ideas they pursued and why

Moving Forward

This is the moment for us to lean in with curiosity, model discernment, and teach with empathy. When we combine intentional instructional design with the thoughtful integration of AI, we’re not just preparing students for what’s next — we’re preparing them to lead it.

AI may be evolving fast but so are our students and we are ready for this work.

About the Author:

Lauren Kaufman is an educator whose professional passion is to empower teachers to lead and develop lifelong literacy practices in all learners. She is currently a district leader in Long Island, New York, and has served as an assistant principal, instructional coach, elementary classroom teacher, literacy specialist, and K-12 new teacher mentor coordinator. Lauren has led teams developing a comprehensive approach to literacy, has provided educators with job-embedded professional learning, and has guided new teachers with acclimating to a school system. She is the author of The Leader Inside: Stories of Mentorship to Inspire the Leader Within and has contributed to several educational publications. You can connect with Lauren on X, Instagram, or through her website.