Teaching with AI
If you’re a teacher, you know the drill: grading stacks of papers, prepping lessons, answering the same student question six different ways, keeping up with data entry, creating engaging materials. The list never ends. By Friday, your creativity is tapped out and your to-do list still feels like a hydra (cut off one head, two more grow back).
Here’s the good news: artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t here to replace teachers. It’s here to give you back your time, sharpen your creativity, and make space for what you actually want to be doing…teaching and connecting with students.
I look at AI as a tool for a smarter way to work and breathe. I use it frequently. Not to write, because I love to write, and I don’t want to lose my writing chops. BUT… I do use it to check my writing sometimes. Like my blog last week. I asked Chat GPT to check it over and eliminate any partisan tone or verbiage, which it did (there wasn’t anything blatant in the post, but it did refine a couple of spots for me). I use it to create slide presentations. I use it to help me generate ideas, graphics, charts, etc…The content is always mine, but AI is like having an assistant that keeps me organized and on track (which I need, believe me). There are so many other ways to use it as well.
Let’s break it down.
1. Work Smarter, Not Longer
AI can help with the tasks that chew up hours but don’t necessarily require your expertise. For example:
Drafting lesson plans: Input your standards and student level, and AI can generate outlines you can tweak instead of starting from scratch.
Creating practice problems: Need ten examples for fractions or comma usage? AI can spin them out in seconds.
Grading and feedback: While AI can’t (yet) replace your eyes on student writing, it can help draft rubrics, suggest quick comments, or pre-check multiple choice answers.
Think of it like an assistant who does the first pass so you can focus on the meaningful part, tailoring for your students.
2. Boost Your Creativity
Ever stared at a blank slide deck wondering how to make this week’s unit on ecosystems or algebra anything but dry? AI tools can:
Suggest analogies or metaphors to make concepts click.
Generate story prompts, dialogue, or even simple illustrations for classroom use.
Offer multiple perspectives on a single topic, helping you stretch beyond your own go-to examples.
When you’re stuck, AI is like having a brainstorming partner who never runs out of ideas (and doesn’t roll their eyes when you toss out the weird ones. Oh wait. Maybe that’s just me).
3. Personalize Learning
One of the greatest challenges in teaching is meeting every student where they are. AI can help by:
Rewording a text to different reading levels (I use this in creating curricula for correctional classrooms all the time!).
Generating additional practice problems for students who need more repetition.
Offering challenge questions for students ready to go deeper.
Instead of preparing three different versions of the same lesson by hand, AI can do the heavy lifting in minutes.
4. Protect Your Energy
Maybe the most underrated benefit: AI can reduce burnout. When you’re not scrambling to reinvent the wheel every day, you have more energy for relationships, reflection, and those moments that remind you why you started teaching in the first place.
Efficiency isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about creating margin. And margin makes room for joy.
A Few Guardrails
Of course, with great power comes great responsibility:
Check for accuracy. AI can be confidently wrong. It’s designed to please you, so sometimes, it will give you an answer it thinks you want, even if it’s not 100% accurate. Always verify.
Keep your voice. AI drafts are just that: drafts. Your students need you, not a robot.
Mind the ethics. Be transparent with students about what tools you’re using, and model responsible use.
Final Sip
Teachers are already some of the most resourceful, creative people on the planet. AI doesn’t change that. It amplifies it. Think of it less like replacing the teacher and more like handing the teacher a better toolbox.
So the next time you’re buried in grading or stuck on how to make a lesson land, let AI take a spin. You might just find yourself with a little more time, a little less stress, a lot more energy to do the work that matters most, and more time for relaxing with a cup of coffee.
If your team would like some guidance on creating meaningful learning opportunities for students and assistance in how to use AI to make that easier, I do some fun PD sessions! You can contact me here.
