AI assistants can support teachers to do their best work, writes Jeremy Caplan, director of teaching and learning at CUNY’s Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, in an essay in The 74.
AI assistants can help us save time and create a better work/life balance. They can also help us do better work.
How to use prompts is the first step to making the most of AI. A prompt is a natural language instruction to an AI assistant. It doesn’t have to include technical or formal language. You don’t even have to use full sentences.
You can use prompts with many AI assistants. Effective prompts must be detailed, including specifics and context. Generic prompts yield generic responses.
Using prompts effectively can decide the value of AI. The prompts below illustrate a practical way to use AI in support of thoughtful, pedagogically-sound teaching. You’re training the AI assistant and teaching it your preferences.
1) The Bell Ringer
Generate a bunch of quick activities you can use at the start of a class session, adapted for your subject and your students.
Prompts: “I teach [subject x] to students in [grade level x]. We’re studying [specific topic xyz. Include a sentence or series of phrases of context about your particular class and teaching style.”
Example: I teach U.S. History to 10th graders at a public school in San Diego. We’re starting a unit on the civil rights movement. We’re focusing on the tactics used in nonviolent protest: sit-ins, freedom rides, and marches. My students respond well to visuals and storytelling, but some of them are slow to settle into our morning class sessions.
Generate five bell-ringer activities I can adapt to start class in an engaging way. Each should take no more than five minutes, require no handouts, and either activate prior knowledge or get students thinking about why ordinary people take extraordinary risks. Include one that’s discussion-based, one that’s written, and one that involves an image or short video clip I can pull up on the projector.
2) The Real-World Hook
You’re using AI to generate five ways to show your students how the topic you’re teaching is relevant to their lives, each with a two-sentence hook you can use to open discussion.
Prompt: “I’m about to begin a unit on [x topic] with [x grade level] students. [Provide a sentence of additional context and a few additional details about your students’ interests]. Generate five ways to connect this material to something students at [x] grade level may likely be able to relate to. For each connection, suggest a two-sentence hook I can adapt to help jumpstart a class discussion.”
Example: I’m about to start a unit on percentages and ratios with 7th graders. I teach in a suburban middle school in Ohio. Many of my students follow football and basketball. Many also spend a lot of time on social media. A few are really into cooking and video games.
Generate five ways to connect percentages and ratios to things 7th graders actually care about. This can include sports stats, social media follower counts, video game scoring, food recipes, or other relatable subjects. For each connection, suggest a one-sentence hook I could use to kick off a class discussion.
3) The Scaffolding Prompt
Reframe an existing handout or assignment so it’s clearer and more accessible, especially for students who need extra support.
Prompt: “Here is a [handout / assignment / resource] I give students: [paste or upload the handout]. Help me reframe this for students who face [specific challenges or context that impact some of your students]. I particularly want this to be more accessible for students who need extra support. Break the instructions into smaller, numbered steps. Replace any abstract language with concrete, specific directions. Point out any parts I should clarify. Suggest a brief example for each major step and any illustrations or images that might help me make this more visually engaging. Maintain the academic expectations I have for the work. The goal is clarity, not simplification.”
Example: I’m attaching a lab worksheet I give students. I need this to work better for my 4th grade science class. We’re in rural New Mexico. Several of my students have IEPs, a few are English language learners, and their reading levels vary a lot.
Help me create alternative versions of this worksheet that might be easier to follow for students who need extra support. Break the instructions into short numbered steps. Replace abstract instructional terms with plain, everyday language, but don’t change the vocabulary words, which I need students to learn. Add a concrete example for each major step. Flag any parts that might confuse a 9-year-old. Suggest one or two simple illustrations that could help. Don’t water down the scientific thinking. Don’t alter my expectations. The goal is clarity, not dumbing this down. I’ll edit it afterwards to make sure it fully represents my instructions.
4) The Fresh Angle Search
Find five recent or unexpected real-world examples of a concept you’re teaching, including perspectives from outside the U.S. and connections to students’ current interests.
Prompt: “I teach [x topic] to [grade level x] students. [Provide additional context here about the topic or learning outcomes you’re focused on]. I’m looking for interesting material [or whatever other description you prefer] to make this subject more engaging for students. [Include any additional context about your students’ interests]. Find me five recent, unexpected or counterintuitive real-world examples of [x concept] that might surprise or intrigue students. Include also several real-world details to help add nuance for students who think they already understand the concept. And suggest several new analogies I can use for students who don’t yet understand this concept. Include international examples, and at least one that has an element of humor.”
Example: I teach introductory biology to 9th graders at a public high school in Phoenix. We’re finishing a unit on ecosystems and food webs, and I want to make it feel less textbook and more real.
Find me five recent, unexpected, or counterintuitive real-world examples of ecosystem disruption that might surprise students who think they already understand this concept. Include one example from outside the United States, one from the last two years, and one that connects to something teenagers are likely to know about or care about, like a sport, a food, or a place they might actually visit.
5) The Skeptical Student Prompt
Generate 10 challenging questions a skeptical student might ask me about this lesson.
Prompt: “Here is a [lesson plan / reading / concept] I’m teaching: [paste or upload material, mentioning the grade level and any other relevant context]. Give me a list of potential student questions about the relevance of this new topic and about real-world applications. Include also a mix of other unusual or surprising questions curious students might ask. If these high school students doubt this material is relevant, what might they ask, and what aspects in particular might they question. Generate 10 challenging questions students might ask. Include questions that challenge the relevance of the topic, the reliability of my sources and the assumptions behind my explanations.”
Example: I’m teaching the attached lesson next week on supply and demand. Imagine you are a skeptical 12th grader who thinks economics has nothing to do with your life.
Generate 10 tough questions you might ask during this lesson. Include at least two that challenge whether this concept actually works in real life, two that push back on whether the examples are realistic, and two that ask why any of this matters to someone who isn’t planning to work in finance or study business in college.
6) The Blind Spot Audit
Identify specific places in your lesson plan or syllabus where you might have an unconscious bias, where your instructions may be unclear, examples may not reflect student diversity or assessment criteria might be confusing.
Prompt: “Here is my [lesson plan / syllabus / unit overview]: [paste or upload document]. Take the perspective of a critic with expertise in inclusive pedagogy and student-centered design. Identify parts of my plan that may not work for someone with physical differences such as a vision, hearing or mobility impairment. Also point out places where an unconscious bias might be influencing the way I’m presenting this topic. Point out places where examples or explanations I’ve included might not make sense to my diverse students. Show me places where my assessment criteria could be made more clear. Note any other sections of the material that might not be inclusive, accessible or relatable for students. Be direct. Include the location of each issue so I can explore potential fixes. I want specific critique, not general praise, and I want you to explain each observation in detail.”
Example: I’m attaching a unit overview I’m planning to use for a 6th grade reading and writing unit on personal narratives. I’d like an independent critique from the perspective of someone with extensive experience in inclusive teaching and middle school literacy.
Identify places where my instructions might confuse a student who is new to this kind of writing, or who struggles with open-ended assignments. Identify places where my examples or readings might not reflect the range of backgrounds in my classroom. Point out places where I could make my grading criteria clearer before students start writing. Be direct and specific. Tell me exactly where the issues are so I can find them quickly. I want honest, concise feedback, not compliments.
7) The Differentiation Prompt
Produce two alternative versions of an existing assignment: one with additional scaffolding, and one with stretch challenges for advanced students.
Prompt: “Here is an [assignment / assessment] I give students: [paste or upload material]. Generate two versions of this: one for students who need additional scaffolding and more explicit guidance, and one that adds stretch challenges for advanced students. Preserve the core learning objectives. Summarize the suggested changes and explain their rationale, so I can decide how to adapt these alternatives for my students.”
Example: Here is a problem set I give students at the end of our unit on proofs: [paste assignment]. I have three pretty distinct groups in my 10th grade geometry class. Some students are still shaky on the basics. Most are roughly where I’d expect them to be. And a handful are ready for something harder.
Create three versions of this assignment. The first should add more step-by-step guidance and a worked example for students who need extra support. The second should stay close to the original but fix anything that’s confusingly worded. The third should add three harder extension problems for students who finish early and want a challenge. Keep the same core learning goal across all three versions. Add a quick note explaining what changed and why, so I can decide how to use each version.
8) The Rubric Builder
Generate a rubric with three performance levels and five criteria you’ve specified, written in specific, concrete language, without vague phrases like “good use of sources.”
Prompt: “I’m assigning [describe assignment] to [grade level x] students. [Provide any additional relevant context]. Generate a rubric with three performance levels: Excellent, Proficient and Developing. Include five criteria relevant to this assignment: [list criteria, e.g., argument clarity, use of evidence, originality, structure, mechanics]. For each criterion and each level, write two specific sentences describing what that performance actually looks like. Avoid vague language like ‘good use of sources.’ Be concrete. Put this rubric into a table, then await my input for potential edits”
Example: I’m assigning an argumentative essay to my 8th graders. They have to pick a local issue, take a position, and back it up with at least three sources. Some of my students have never written a formal argument before.
Generate a rubric with three performance levels: Excellent, Proficient, and Still Developing. Include these five criteria: clarity of argument, quality of evidence, use of sources, organization, and writing mechanics. For each criterion at each level, write one specific sentence that describes what the work actually looks like. Skip vague phrases like ‘uses sources well’ or ‘writing is clear.’ Make it concrete enough that a student reading this before they start writing knows exactly what they’re aiming for. Put it in a table, then ask for my edits.
The 74
