VERIFY for Teaching: Thinking with AI
AI is now part of how students learn and how we teach. VERIFY gives educators a flexible framework for supporting deep thinking, ethical choices, and meaningful work with AI.
VERIFY is about making students better thinkers, alongside it.
Why VERIFY?
VERIFY helps you teach students to:
Slow down and justify their thinking
Resist shallow copying or blind trust
Question what AI gives them and why
Think critically, ethically, and reflectively
It works across subjects, tech setups, and age groups.
"I don't want AI to think for them. I want it to make them think harder."
What is VERIFY?
VERIFY provides a structured approach to help students develop critical thinking skills when working with AI.
Each letter represents a step in the process, guiding both teachers and students through meaningful engagement with AI tools.
Validate the Task
Examine the Source or System
Reflect on Your Needs and Context
Investigate Further or from Other Angles
Filter for Quality and Fairness
Your Own Judgment
It helps students slow down, zoom out, and think clearly without giving up speed or creativity. It's a cycle, not a checklist.
VERIFY = 6 habits of smart digital thinkers.
Three Ways to Use VERIFY in the Classroom
1
Before the Task
Use VERIFY to shape student prompts, frame the task, and get clear on purpose.
2
During the Work
Use it live; pause, probe, redirect. It's a way to coach judgement without doing the thinking for them.
3
After the Task
Use VERIFY for reflection, feedback, and self-assessment.
Students revisit what they made and why.
V — Validate the Task
What it helps with:
Framing purposeful, well-scoped tasks and prompts.
Teacher prompt:
"What exactly are you trying to do and why?"
What to watch/listen for:
Vague goals, mismatched prompts, thoughtless querying
Curriculum tie-in:
Task analysis, audience awareness, ethical framing
E — Examine the Source or System
What it helps with:
Understanding where AI responses come from and what might be missing.
Teacher prompt:
"Where is this coming from and how do you know?"
What to watch/listen for:
Over-trusting tone, missing citations, generic voice
Curriculum tie-in:
Media literacy, source analysis, algorithmic awareness
R — Reflect on Needs and Context
What it helps with:
Helping students judge relevance, fit, and personal purpose.
Teacher prompt:
"Is this what you really need or just what was easy to grab?"
What to watch/listen for:
Rushing, misalignment, emotional short-cuts
Curriculum tie-in:
Metacognition, personalisation, digital wellbeing
I — Investigate Further
What it helps with:
Encouraging expansion, curiosity, and diverse thinking.
Teacher prompt:
"Whose voice is missing? What would someone else say?"
What to watch/listen for:
Narrow answers, one-source dependence, flat perspectives
Curriculum tie-in:
Inquiry learning, systems thinking, inclusive reasoning
F — Filter for Quality and Fairness
What it helps with:
Spotting bias, poor reasoning, or low-quality output.
Teacher prompt:
"Is this accurate, fair, and up to date? Who's left out?"
What to watch/listen for:
Stereotypes, vague claims, surface-level generalisations
Curriculum tie-in:
Fact-checking, critical literacy, ethical reasoning
Y — Your Own Judgement
What it helps with:
Helping students stand by their choices with clarity and confidence.
Teacher prompt:
"If someone challenged this; could you explain why you trust it?"
What to watch/listen for:
Default agreement, uncertainty, lack of personal stance
Curriculum tie-in:
Academic integrity, reasoning, ownership of thinking
VERIFY in Action: Sample Classroom Moves
English
Use R and Y to help students reflect on AI-generated writing and revise with purpose.
Science
Use F to challenge vague or oversimplified explanations.
History
Use E and I to surface bias or missing perspectives in summaries.
Media Studies
Use E and F to interrogate voice, framing, and source reliability.
Health
Use R and Y to question emotional tone and credibility in AI health info.
Using VERIFY for Feedback
VERIFY gives teachers a structure for formative feedback that deepens student thinking:
"You explored new perspectives well. Now try filtering them for fairness.""You validated the task clearly; what would strengthen your final judgement?""You're relying on the AI voice. Let's investigate how that influences your answer."
You can also use it to build student rubrics, learning journals, or reflection tasks.
Ethics Without Overload
VERIFY builds ethical awareness without making it a separate unit.
It helps students:
Recognise bias without freezing up
Slow down when something feels "off"
Learn how to trust their instincts and test them
Practise digital responsibility without fear
Better Questions, Better Thinking
The smartest AI classrooms aren't the ones with the flashiest tools. They're the ones where students ask better questions and know why.
VERIFY helps you make thinking visible. It's not about what AI gives you. It's about what you do with it.
Sandy Robinson