Getting Started with AI Part II
A guide on using AI to create differentiated examples and assignments
Summary
Key takeaway from Part I is to use the CART framework for effective prompts: Context, Audience, Role, Task
If you missed part one, click here to read it.
This week’s guide will go over creating examples, worksheets, and texts at varying levels
For access to the samples generated, subscribe to my substack and you’ll receive an email with a link to the folder
Save Time and Create Tailored Content for Your Class
One of the best uses of AI is to free up our energy by taking over tedious tasks. As an English teacher, I struggle to think of anything more tedious than sentence structure and the types of sentences. I am however willing to concede that it’s probably worth teaching from time to time, so let’s walk through using ChatGPT to do this. We will still use the CART framework but note that the parenthetical parts are there to draw attention to the acronym, including them in your prompt will probably confuse ChatGPT.
Prompt: (Context)I am teaching 10th grade English (Audience), and I need definitions and examples for different kinds of sentences (simple, compound, complex, etc). Act as my assistant (Role) and create a worksheet. Please include 5 questions that ask students to identify the sentence type and 5 that ask them to create their own examples (Task).
I also asked for an answer key so that I don’t have to waste valuable time and energy remembering which ones are which.
ChatGPT also seems pretty capable of generating math problems too.
Prompt: I teach high school Algebra(Context/Audience) , act as my assistant (Role) and give me a worksheet on linear equations and inequalities. Include 3 sample problems of increasing difficulty with a step-by-step solution guide. Then give me 10 problems of varying difficulty (Task).
I added a second prompt asking for further refinement.
Prompt: Can you remake the worksheet so that it starts with a few sentences explaining the process of solving these problems to students and please also put the sample problem solutions underneath the sample problems rather than at the end.
Customizing and Differentiating Existing Content
Let’s not beat around the bush, sometimes the curriculum you’re given sucks. Sure it’s important that we stick to approved and vetted curricula, but there’s a reason students groan in disgust when they see you whip out your copy of Springboard. One way to meet state standards without boring your students to death is to modify existing content and present it in a more engaging way.
Prompt: My students are researching environmental issues such as the impact of palm oil(Context and Audience). Act as a textbook author (Role) and give an overview of a few issues of your choosing. Each issue should have a short paragraph explaining the context and implications. Please try to keep the text engaging (Task).
I then asked for a simpler and more complex version of the same text.
Conclusion
AI can free up your time by generating worksheets, answer keys, and examples
While not perfect, AI can also generate texts at different levels to provide differentiation
What are some experiments you’d like to see? What have you been doing in your own classroom?