Using AI as Your Back-to-School Planning Partner

Explore 11 ways that AI can help make the back-to-school process more manageable for teachers. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

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Paul Beckermann 0:00
Welcome to Tech Talk for Teachers. I'm your host, Paul Beckermann.

Transition Music with Rena's Children 0:05
Check it out, check it out, check it out, check it out. What's in the toolkit? Check it out.

Paul Beckermann 0:16
The topic of today's episode is using AI as your back-to-school planning partner. The beginning of the school year can be very exciting and also overwhelming. If you're like me, you're probably asking yourself, "How am I going to get everything ready?" This is a really common question for new teachers, but it's also very common for veterans. I don't think the butterflies ever went away for me. After all, every year is a little different, and you'll be working with a whole new set of students with new human dynamics.

Would I ever rely on AI to do all of my back-to-school planning for me? No, but it does have a place and can help to lighten the load for teachers. In this episode, I'm going to share 11 ideas for how you might consider using AI as a planning partner to help make the start of the school year more manageable.

Transition Music with Rena's Children 1:09
Here is your list of tips.

Paul Beckermann 1:13
Number one: Create a back-to-school checklist. If you've done this before, you know what needs to get done. If you're new to teaching, you might not be fully aware of everything that needs to be prepared for that first day with students. In either case, it's easy to overlook things that need to be addressed. To help with this, you can ask AI to create a back-to-school preparation checklist.

Here's an example of what this type of prompt might sound like: "I'm a sixth-grade math teacher getting ready for the first week of school. Create a back-to-school preparation checklist for everything I should complete before students arrive. Include classroom setup, seating, supplies, routines, first-week lesson plans, technology setup, family communication, student accommodations, grading setup, emergency sub plans, and personal organization. Mark each task as 'must do,' 'should do,' or 'nice to do.' Also, include a short first-day readiness checklist at the end." Of course, this is just one example of a prompt. You customize that for your own needs, but that's an example of what it might sound like.

Number two: Plan the first week of school. This is one of the items that will probably show up on that back-to-school checklist generated in tip number one. For this one, you can ask AI to generate a first-week plan that blends relationship building, classroom routines, content previews, and low-stakes activities. This first week will set the tone for the class moving forward, so it's important that it does more than simply get through procedures.

An example prompt might sound like this: "Create a five-day first-week plan for a seventh-grade science class. Include community building, classroom routines, technology expectations, and a series of short activities that previews ecosystems." If you want to take this a step further, you could ask AI to help you anticipate student needs and identify potential blind spots in your planning. You might ask questions such as, "What barriers might students face in my first-week lessons? How could I support students with reading challenges, anxiety, executive functioning needs, or language barriers? And is the level of cognitive load appropriate for week one? Am I overlooking any points of confusion my students may experience?"

Number three: Draft classroom routines and procedures. AI can help you think through routines for entering class, turning in work, using devices, asking for help, group work, cleanup, and even transitions. If you already have a draft from previous years, you can paste that in and ask AI to review it for clarity and conciseness. In any case, you should review the AI suggestions and revise the routines so they match your classroom personality. This is your class, not the AI's. With this approach, you can start with a draft rather than a blank page. That can often be a really helpful productivity starter and time-saver.

Number four: Create classroom culture scenarios. This tip will probably be most helpful once you've got your classroom routines and expectations developed. When you have those, AI can help you rehearse how you'll respond to common classroom situations before they happen. Some examples might include a student refuses to participate, a group activity goes off task, a student uses AI inappropriately, a parent questions a grading policy, or students are reluctant to talk on day one. With this approach, AI can help you think through and practice potentially uncomfortable moments before they happen.

Number five: Create student-friendly syllabi and family letters. Communication is always key, and AI is great at helping draft clear and concise messaging. This can be particularly helpful for teachers who have a long syllabus or course description that they want to condense into a more welcoming, readable version for students and families. This could include a one-page course overview, a "what to expect" letter, or a back-to-school email.

Example uses could include: translate teacher language into student-friendly language; create separate, clear, and concise family and student versions of my syllabi and back-to-school letter; adjust the tone to be warm, clear, and concise; and generate FAQs for families. If you want to go further, you might consider building in some parent communication around AI use in your classroom. AI can help draft a short parent note about classroom AI expectations, an FAQ about student AI use, a message explaining how AI supports learning without replacing thinking, and maybe a back-to-school night talking-point sheet. This process can also help you think this through in an intentional manner.

Number six: Create substitute and emergency plans early. This is a practical and often overlooked tip. You never know what's going to happen that might keep you out of your classroom. So, having a sub plan in place can provide some peace of mind. Specifically, you can ask AI to help you prepare a generic emergency sub plan, a day one, two, or three backup activity, directions that are clear enough for a substitute, independent review activities, or even a class profile template for the sub to reference. This can be a quick win, even if you decide to update or improve the plan later. With this approach, at least you can enter the new year with a plan in place with very little effort.

Number seven: Build getting-to-know-you activities. Teachers know that relationships are key, and having a plan for building classroom community and trust is an important ingredient in any back-to-school planning process. AI can help by generating interest surveys, reflection prompts, icebreakers, and student goal-setting activities for you to use.

Example prompts might include: "Design a student interest survey for a high school English class," "Create five low-risk discussion prompts for students who may not know each other," "Create a goal-setting activity for students to reflect on how they learn best," "Draft student conference questions," or "Generate weekly check-in prompts." As you enter these prompts into AI, be sure to provide relevant context about your class and objectives. This will help the AI align its suggestions more closely with your specific needs and goals.

Number eight: Prepare AI use expectations for your students. AI is not only your planning partner; it's also a reality in the ever-changing, tech-filled classrooms that we teach in. Before students use AI, they need expectations, so you'll want to start the year by clarifying when AI is allowed, when it's not, and how students should document or explain their use. One approach is to present categories for when and how AI can be used in your class.

It might sound something like this: AI is not allowed for independent skill checks, first drafts when the goal is original thinking, and tests and quizzes. AI is allowed with permission for brainstorming, feedback, vocabulary help, and practice questions. AI is encouraged for revising, generating study guides, asking for explanations, or checking clarity. And AI is always required to verify information, cite or acknowledge use, and always be ready to explain your thinking about how you used AI.

If you want to take this a step further, you can have AI help you prepare for academic integrity conversations. Rather than just developing AI use expectations, you can have the AI help you decide how to teach those expectations, rather than just stating them. To help you develop that plan, you could ask the AI to create AI use scenarios for discussion, "allowed or not allowed" examples, a student-friendly AI agreement, reflection questions after using AI that students can use, and a simple "How I Used AI" disclosure form.

Of course, with anything generated by AI, you'll want to vet these suggestions carefully. Ask clarifying follow-up questions, and throw out what doesn't fit your style or needs.

Number nine: Create lesson hooks and discussion starters. This tip gets down to the daily lesson planning level. You can use AI to create engaging openings connected to student interests, current events, dilemmas, images, scenarios, or even "Would you rather" questions. For example, a middle-school ELA teacher might prompt, "Give me five engaging opening questions for a middle-school media literacy lesson about deepfakes and online trust."

Number 10: Generate formative checks. AI can quickly draft exit tickets, quick-writes, retrieval questions, misconception checks, and short rubrics. The key, again, is that you, the teacher, review them for alignment and accuracy before using them. AI can support planning and assessment, but your teacher judgment remains central.

Number 11: Use AI as a thought partner, not a replacement. The best use of AI is not "Write this lesson for me." It's "Help me think through possibilities, create a strong first draft, and improve my plan." Use it like you'd use a human assistant: get insights, ideas, and help doing the work, but keep the key decision-making for yourself. Oh yeah, and one quick bonus reminder.

Transition Music with Rena's Children 10:42
Here's a bonus tip.

Paul Beckermann 10:45
Protect student privacy. You can use AI to plan activities and lessons for your students, but don't paste private student information into AI tools unless your district has specifically approved that use. This is especially important at the start of the year, when you may be reviewing rosters, IEP notes, behavior plans, and family information. Always remember that student safety comes first. If you're not sure what's allowed, check with your local leadership team for guidance as you approach the new school year.

I want to wish you a happy, fulfilling, and effective start to the year. Remember the positive impact that you will make on your students every day. AI can help you start the year more prepared, but as always, it's your relationships, your routines, and your professional judgment that will make your classroom work. Have a great year.

To learn more about today's topic and explore other free resources, visit avidopenaccess.org. Specifically, I encourage you to check out the article collection, "AI in the K-12 Classroom," and, of course, be sure to join us next week for our full-length podcast, Unpacking Education, where we're joined by exceptional guests and explore education topics that are important to you. Thanks for listening. Take care, and thanks for all you do. You make a difference.