The Other AI: Teaching Students Human & Authentic Interaction
The Other AI: Teaching Students Human & Authentic Interaction
Offered virtually via Zoom
Date:
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Time:
3:00 – 4:30 PM ET
Pricing:
AISNE Member (1-3 people) $135/pp
AISNE Member (4-9 people) $125/pp
AISNE Member (10-19 people) $115/pp
Non-Members add $100 to each pricing category
This workshop is for all educators and academic leaders.
About this Workshop
As schools navigate the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence, many educators and families are asking an essential question: How do we ensure students are developing the human skills they need to thrive in an increasingly technology-rich world?
While much of the conversation about AI focuses on tools, policies, and academic implications, there is another “AI” that schools must intentionally cultivate: Authentic Interaction. The ability to listen deeply, engage in meaningful conversation, navigate disagreement, build relationships, and understand perspectives different from our own has never been more important.
Join Liza Garonzik, Founder of R.E.A.L. Discussion, for this session exploring how schools can help students develop the communication skills that support learning, connection, and belonging. Participants will experience the same discussion structures, routines, and reflection practices that students use to build skills in dialogue, listening, questioning, and productive disagreement.
In a world where students can increasingly turn to technology for answers, schools have an opportunity to intentionally create spaces where students practice what makes us human: curiosity, empathy, perspective-taking, collaboration, and authentic connection.
You will engage in guided discussion, reflection, and debrief to learn how structured approaches to conversation can strengthen student voice, increase engagement, and create more inclusive classroom communities. We will also examine how shared language and consistent instructional practices can help schools move from hoping students develop communication skills to intentionally teaching and supporting them.
Come away with:
- Practical discussion routines and reflection strategies to use with students
- A deeper understanding of why communication skills must be explicitly taught rather than assumed
- Tools for strengthening listening, questioning, and respectful disagreement
- Ideas for creating more equitable opportunities for student voice and belonging
- A framework for thinking about human skills development alongside AI literacy and innovation
Included In Your Registration
Your registration includes two books in the Conversation Comeback series by Liza Garonzik: A Teacher’s Guide and A Schoolwide Guide to Discussion in a Distracted, Divided World.
A shipping address will be requested during the registration process.
About the Presenter:

Liza Garonzik is the Founder of R.E.A.L.® Discussion and the author of Conversation Comeback: A Teacher’s Guide to Class Discussion in a Distracted, Divided World and Conversation Comeback: A Schoolwide Guide for Discussion in a Distracted, Divided World. She built R.E.A.L.® to solve for challenges she faced in her roles as a teacher, student life administrator, advancement officer, alumni volunteer, and Trustee in independent schools.
Since launching in 2021, Liza has partnered with over 100 K-12 schools on discussion skill-building. Her work has been featured nationally and internationally through the Wall Street Journal, National Association of Independent Schools, The Association of Boarding Schools, International Schools Services, Transcend Education Models Exchange, Enrollment Management Association, and more.
Liza is a graduate of Harvard College (A.B.) and University of Pennsylvania (MS.Ed) with additional Fellowships at the Klingenstein Center, Transcend Network, and New Sector Alliance. She lives in Atlanta with her family – and many animals!
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations and transfer requests must be sent via email to info@aisne.org. Cancellations will receive a 100% refund less a $50 administrative fee. Transfers of registrations from one person to another are permitted up to 2 business days before the start of the event.
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