Campfire Session — Math Fall '25

Introduction • 00:00

• Lulu introduces the session and agenda.

Ice-breaking news • 02:00

• A gold medal was earned by a Deep Think model. It was noted that 35 out of 42 points.

• Gold medals were earned by 8% of contestants. 92% of top math high schoolers were outperformed.

• Questions about Google Gemini and DeepMind were raised. DeepMind was identified as the research lab behind Gemini.

Flint features for math • 04:45

• In Flint, a variety of tools (calculator, graphing tool, image recognition, etc.) are combined with a large language model. This improves reliability for solving math step by step and the experience of students getting explanations from Sparky.

• User role-based behavior of Flint is described for teachers and students. A demonstration is shared showing the system solving a division problem with steps in a teacher account and guiding a student through the process in a student account, illustrating role-based behavior and verification of results.

New upgrades and features for math • 08:19

• New features are summarized, including

  • New base model of Claude 4 Sonnet

  • Flint's camera can now flip to taking photos more naturally on mobile and tablet.

  • Equations can now be generated and edited in Flint documents.

  • The equation editor is now collapsible and movable.

  • Needs attention highlights are now generated live for teachers during student activity use.

Math chats and activities in Flint • 11:31

• A demonstration of Flint features is shared, including chats and activities, with emphasis on using chats for one-off conversations and activities to customize student interactions.

• Lulu explains how to create worksheets, lesson plans, and other documents, and demonstrates editing equations and graphing problems within Flint. The process of building an activity is walked through step by step, including using an activity builder, running previews, and planning to connect chats and activities in the future.

• Lulu showcases practical examples: generating a seventh-grade/pre-algebra worksheet with word problems, graphing distances and areas on coordinate grids, and collecting feedback on a student solution. They highlight Flint's ability to graph, edit equations, and provide targeted guidance for teachers versus students.

• The user demonstrates how to create a custom activity by selecting the "Give problem-solving practice" activity creation shortcut. Then, she prompts Flint by guiding Flint to generate content. This includes selecting subject area, grade level, and specifics for fifth graders, and setting preferences for basic operations and themed word problems.

• A persona-based approach is explored, with the user proposing an alien math tutor named Sparky to engage students and collect information about their patterns and interests. The idea is to use these personas to control the tutoring style and ensure students do the work themselves.

• A feature walkthrough is described, focusing on shortening messages and limiting steps to eight problems, with one-question-at-a-time guidance for fifth graders. The approach aims to reduce student overwhelm and improve engagement.

• A recommendation is made to have students speak or write responses, suggesting faster input when describing hobbies and likes. An emphasis is placed on building context and simulating a student session experience.

Educator shareout • 25:43

• Lulu shares a video testimonial. Immediate feedback on students’ written work is provided, and the teacher moves around to assist individuals. The tool enables rapid insight into each student’s struggles and strengths.

• The teacher emphasizes that technology enhances teaching rather than replaces it, delivering measurable, instant impact on student learning as fractions to decimals are practiced.

• A speaker shares experience using Flint in physics and math, noting benefits from new tools like the whiteboard and camera features. The speaker highlights excitement to try the camera tool for math workflows and reflects on personal experimentation with Persona-inspired activities in science and math contexts.

• A speaker praises the notification system for identifying both positive achievements and potential issues, recounting a class example where a student performed well and a red-flag moment involving inappropriate remarks. The speaker views these alerts as valuable for classroom management and parent/administrator communication.

• The group discusses improvements in language models for math tasks, emphasizing the shift from mistakes to more accurate math guidance. A key tactic described is framing the AI as a Socratic tutor to guide students toward answers without giving them away, with several participants endorsing this approach and noting growing student engagement and success.

• Pictures feature is explored; details are visible and viewed twice, improving accuracy. It is noted that Flint can analyze photos more closely now and behaves almost like a human in detail assessment.

• Input methods for capturing student work are demonstrated, including using the bottom-right camera icon to take photos of work during sessions. Laptop and mobile limitations are acknowledged, with phones being more practical for quick captures.

• The speaker notes two-year duration of ongoing Campfire sessions and mentions availability of topics and upcoming calendars.

• Speaker 2 highlights use cases of Flint beyond worksheets, including debate facilitation and a recent formal observation in class. A request is made for a physics lesson plan on projectile motion, which Flint quickly generated with goals, formulas, and numericals, and a new practical added within a minute.

• A time is spent clarifying how AI can assist grading, including the use of grading activities and prompts to standardize rubric-driven work. Discussion covers how Flint can support teachers by creating grading workflows, handling different types of inputs, and ensuring quality alignment with teacher expectations.

• Participants acknowledge options for using Flint to grade papers, worksheets, and even student work PDFs or images, and consider the need for alignment with the teacher's rubric and quality standards. The group also notes a quick path for advancing discussions or demonstrations if needed.

Conclusion • 39:01

• Lulu concludes the session and highlights the plan for upcoming campfires.

• Lulu also shares QR codes for people to check out the Campfire Calendar, Flint's Instagram (which has a bunch of teacher-facing content), and the Flint Community.