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Issue 48 • Date December 3, 2025
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Shapegrams is my passion project. Since 2018, I’ve been creating digital art lessons and challenges for students, all built in Google Slides. Over the years, I’ve published 125 Shapegrams. Many of them make great no-prep activities for December. If you’re looking for winter or holiday options, check out my blog post: 14 Winter and Holiday Shapegrams: December Digital Art Activities. This month I’m debuting the Reindeer Shapegram. It’s designed for beginners and uses only ovals and word art.
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The reindeer is one of several Shapegrams I offer for free. A one year membership is $35 and gives you access to all 125 Shapegrams while kindly supporting my work.
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I know I just highlighted creating images by hand, and in this same newsletter I’m also showing how well AI can generate images. I have mixed feelings about that, but I truly believe there is room for both AI generated and human created images.
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Bananas for Better Images 🍌
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The image generator inside Gemini is called Nano Banana, and it recently received a major update. Despite the silly name, it is one of the strongest AI image generators available. The standard version of Nano Banana creates images very quickly and is noticeably faster than ChatGPT. Google also introduced Nano Banana Pro, which generates much higher resolution images. It takes longer because it processes your prompt before creating the image. Nano Banana Pro is better at following complex instructions, incorporating images you upload, and handling larger amounts of text. I’ve been making infographics with Nano Banana Pro and have yet to spot a misspelling or any of the text glitches that usually appear in AI generated graphics. Google published seven tips for getting the most out of Nano Banana Pro. I asked Gemini to turn that article into an infographic and pasted the URL. The result is below.
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How do you know which version you’re using?In Gemini’s chat bar, select Create images from the Tools menu and set the model to Thinking with Gemini 3 Pro. This activates Nano Banana Pro. If the model is set to Fast, you’re using the standard Nano Banana.
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Free Gemini users can generate roughly two Nano Banana Pro images per day (this varies based on Google’s server traffic) and up to about one hundred standard Nano Banana images. Note that student Google Workspace accounts cannot generate images at all. If you’re unsure which version created your image, the general rule is simple. If it appeared instantly, it was the standard version. If there was a long pause before the image appeared, it was Nano Banana Pro. Another indicator is resolution. Nano Banana Pro images export at 2048 by 2048 pixels, which is four times higher than the standard version. While you should probably avoid relying on AI for scientific illustrations, the possibilities for teaching and learning are enormous when you have access to an image generator as powerful as Nano Banana Pro. For educational inspiration, Eric Curts has put together many examples created with Nano Banana Pro, complete with their prompts. Read his post: Gemini Goes Bananas: The Ultimate Guide to AI Infographics. There is real educational value in creating your own infographics. I’ve spent hours building my own, and I always learn a lot while summarizing, arranging, and illustrating information. Instant graphics are a great option, but the thinking and learning that happen when you take the time to make your own are hard to replace.
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MIT’s Teaching Systems Lab recently released A Guide to AI in Schools: Perspectives for the Perplexed. It’s based on interviews with teachers, students, school leaders, and researchers, and it lays out the big questions schools are facing as they bring AI into classrooms. The guide’s 56 pages cover things like ethics, student learning, teacher workload, AI literacy, and when and how students should use AI.
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Instead of pushing one viewpoint, it shares a mix of perspectives. You’ll see how different people think about AI’s benefits and drawbacks, the challenge of tools changing so quickly, and the gray areas around academic integrity and accessibility. To dig into the guide a little more, I uploaded the PDF into NotebookLM, Google’s AI-powered tool for studying and interacting with documents. Once a source is in your notebook, you can chat with it. You can ask questions like “What concerns do students mention?” or “How are teachers using AI for feedback?” and NotebookLM pulls answers directly from the text. Since notebooks can be shared, you can open the one I created for the Guide to AI in Schools. It’s ready to chat with you. NotebookLM can also make extra learning materials from the PDF. I had the notebook generate an audio overview, video overview, slides, and infographic.
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The slides and infographic use the same Nano Banana image generator that’s inside Gemini, so the designs look clean and the text comes out clear. NotebookLM turns sources of information into something you can interact with. It’s a great way to preview or review the content in different formats, whether you prefer a quick summary, a visual overview, or a chat that lets you dig deeper.
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Sandstrom’s Screen Secrets 🤫
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My friend Erika Sandstrom is known for over-the-top creativity, especially with video. In fact, she has earned the title Green Screen Gal because of her passion for getting students involved in the process. In her recent Edutopia article, Erika proves you do not need a Hollywood budget. She suggests simple hacks like hanging green plastic tablecloths from the dollar store to get started. I also really like her approach to classroom management. She recommends assigning specific student roles like noise control officer or scriptwriter to keep the room focused. It is a fantastic way to build soft skills and help even the shyest students find their voice. Check out Implementing Green Screen Projects in Middle School for her full 7-step guide. I prompted Gemini’s Nano Banana Pro to make an infographic about Erika’s article.
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I just learned that you can give students a link that auto-fills a prompt for them in Gemini. Try it out. Click this link and you’ll see the prompt already typed into Gemini’s prompt bar and Guided Learning mode is activated. Students can edit, add to, or refine the prompt before submitting. Once the prompt is submitted, Guided Learning steps in and walks the learner through the topic with explanations, examples, and follow up questions. Imagine using this trick to jumpstart the process of studying, reviewing, reflecting, or building background knowledge. How do you build a URL that does this? First, start with: https://gemini.google.com/guided-learning?query=
Then add your prompt directly after the equals sign. I know it’s weird to include spaces in a URL, but each space will be converted to %20 in the browser’s address bar. So a completed link looks like: https://gemini.google.com/guided-learning?query=Explain how compound interest works using easy examples.
It will change to this in the browser: https://gemini.google.com/guided-learning?query=Explain%20how%20compound%20interest%20works%20using%20easy%20examples.
My example doesn’t include a grade level, but when you use this with students, adding the grade level to the prompt helps Gemini tailor the response. Most of the time, I’d probably make a Gem for students rather than rely on long URLs, but this is a handy option when you want a quick way to get prompting started without setting up a full Gem.
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What about ChatGPT? While ChatGPT has a Study and Learn mode that is similar to Gemini’s Guided Learning, it does not support preloading a prompt through the URL. You can still have a regular ChatGPT chat open with your prompt already typed in by adding it directly after the equals sign: https://chat.openai.com/?q=
When someone follows your link, the message box is already filled with your prompt, and they can edit or add to it before submitting. Give this ChatGPT link a try.
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Destiny Wagner, Chief Education Nerd at EdTech Nerds, attended my Digital Snacks presentation at GaETC 2025 last month. She was kind enough to share the slides from her presentation, Calm the Chaos: Brain Breaks that Work. It’s full of great ideas! Thanks to Destiny, I added several new digital snacks to my Padlet. I think of a “digital snack” as a free web app that doesn’t require a login and works well for short student breaks. Drench
Use the color buttons to flood the board. Turn the entire screen one color in fewer than 30 moves. Scrobbly
Draw a character and watch it mirror your movements using your computer’s webcam. Jackson Pollock
Drag your mouse to create splatter art. Click to change colors. Online Spiralgraph
Choose gears, adjust settings, and generate colorful spirograph designs. Fridge Poem
Drag and arrange virtual word magnets to build poems or fun phrases. Explore Live Webcams
Watch live animal and nature cameras from around the world. Blob Beats
A rhythm game from Google Arts and Culture where you hit notes in time to remixed classical music. Patatap
Tap keys or click the screen to trigger sounds and matching animations. Body Synth
Use your webcam to make music through body movements. Radio Garden
Spin the globe and tune in to live radio stations from any location. Hopper the Penguin
Drop a dancing penguin anywhere on Google Maps. Cat Bounce
Click and drag to bounce cats around the screen.
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My friend Angela Maiers’ passion project is a book she co-authored with her son, Ryan, called M is for Mattering: A Pathway to Meaning, Purpose, and Joy – One Letter at a Time. It’s an ABC book where each letter represents a life-affirming idea based on the science of mattering. A is for Authenticity, C is for Courage, D is for Dreaming Big, and M is for Mattering. Angela was kind enough to send me a copy. In it, she explains the science of mattering in a way that’s easy to understand and easy to share. Ryan’s illustrations have an imaginative, gentle style that fits the message well. Together, they’ve created something that feels sincere, practical, and uplifting. M is for Mattering is great for parents reading with their kids and for teachers sharing with students. It’s also a thoughtful gift for anyone who could use a reminder of their value and potential.
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I’ll end this newsletter by quoting Angela’s book. The page for “B is for Believe” says: “Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and more capable than you can imagine.” With this attitude and a balance of AI and human creativity, you can sleigh that passion project you’ve been thinking about! 🦌✨ Smiles from Iowa,
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Subscribe at learninginhand.com AI gave me a hand with brainstorming, drafting, and polishing this issue. Of course, I reviewed and adjusted everything before sharing it with you.
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