Everybody’s talking about ChatGPT and how it’s going to impact K-12–and generally not in positive terms!
Granted, ChatGPT might make writing that 11th-grade essay on symbolism in “The Great Gatsby” a whole lot easier (which, to be fair, does make grading a whole lot harder). Aside from that, there are real positives to our new AI pal, and overworked teachers can embrace it as the gift that it is: a free personal teaching aide. The one who sketches out the lesson plans and assessments, finds source materials, and just generally carries out the grunt work.
In other words, ChatGPT can save teachers a whole lot of time.
1. ChatGPT Helps with Writing Lesson Plans
Teachers can use ChatGPT to get a jump on lesson-planning.
Let’s say I’m teaching symbolism in literature. First, I’m going to ask ChatGPT for five creative ideas for teaching symbolism in “The Great Gatsby.” One of the amazing things about ChatGPT is that we’re actually chatting – we’re in dialogue together. I want to include some additional primary resources along with the teaching activity. So, my next question is: What are some primary sources I could teach along with those suggestions? ChatGPT suggests some great resources, but who has time to go digging those up?! Oh yeah! ChatGPT does. I ask it for links for each of the resources it suggested.
Lastly, I ask for it to write an exit ticket. Whoops, I stumped it! But when I ask it for two summative and two formative questions about the lesson, and voila! I have to put in some revision time, but I’ve got the building blocks for a great lesson.
And note, this works for any subject, at any grade level. It’s not an ELA thing.
2. ChatGPT Can Help with Managing Family Communications
Let’s say you’re sending a weekly update to families on Friday. Ask your teaching aide to help compile it for you! Just follow these steps:
- Upload your lessons from the week
- Ask ChatGPT to write a paragraph with bullet points detailing the main ideas of the week’s lessons with three “Ask Me About” questions.
- Link to any resources you’ve pulled from ChatGPT over the course of the week.
- Ask ChatGPT to write engaging social media posts for Facebook and Twitter to promote your weekly update.
It’s not that you couldn’t do this yourself; it’s that your AI teaching aide can save time by doing it for you in mere seconds.
3. ChatGPT and that One Parent…
You know that one home adult who’s overly enthusiastic with their emails and texts or otherwise pushes the boundaries? You know how coming up with an appropriate response takes so much time? ChatGPT can help with these responses. There’s a free handy-dandy assistant available 24/7 who’s never impatient. Here are two easy ways it can help:
- Upload the offending email or text message to ChatGPT and ask it to write a polite but firm response explaining why the request isn’t possible.
- Ask ChatGPT to write a broadcast email to all parents/caregivers explaining the hours you’re available to talk and when to expect responses to emails/texts. Then, ask it to write a polite follow up to a parent who is making unreasonable demands on your time.
Again, some editing will be required, but personalizing text is a lot quicker than generating it from scratch.
Teachers Shoulder a Lot of Responsibility
Student teachers, while great, require mentoring. But ChatGPT? Why not take advantage of a free, always-available teaching aide to help you stay in communication with families? Because the more you communicate with home adults, the more successful their students will be.
Want proof? Just ask ChatGPT!
Related:
How schools can respond to ChatGPT with inquiry-based learning
5 things to know about ChatGPT in education
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