A 4-Step Framework for Exploring AI on Your Own Terms

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, skeptical, or even exhausted by all the talk about AI, you’re not alone. Educators everywhere are being asked to do more with less, and now there’s a new wave of tools promising to “transform education.” It’s easy to wonder: Is this just another trend? Will it really help? Do I even have the bandwidth to figure it out?

Those questions aren’t just valid, they’re wise. You’ve spent years building your practice, honing your instincts, and doing what works for your students. It’s natural to be cautious.

But learning about AI doesn’t require immediate adoption or a complete shift in your practice. It starts with thoughtful experimentation: trying things out in low-stakes ways so you can see for yourself what’s useful and what isn’t. This kind of hands-on exploration is essential professional development: It keeps you informed about emerging technologies and positions you to make contextual decisions about tech integration in your classroom.

The four steps that follow focus on exploration and observation, not implementation. Each one offers a window into AI’s capabilities and limitations, helping you build the understanding you need to make informed decisions about if, when, and how these tools might support your teaching practice. You can try these using tools like Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or SchoolAI—whichever is available in your district or feels most accessible to you.

Remember, you’re in the driver’s seat of this journey. This learning happens on your timeline. There’s no rush to move on to the next phase until you feel ready, and that moment will be unique to you.

1. Start Small and Personal

Let’s begin with something completely removed from work. We’re going to start by asking an AI tool like ChatGPT for a little assistance with a personal task. You can word your request the same way you might when consulting a friend. The aim is to get comfortable with the basic experience of interacting with AI while learning how to give clear direction that yields the results you want.

Try simple prompts like these:

• “Here’s what I have in my fridge: three chicken breasts, spinach, an avocado, two cucumbers, and cheddar cheese. Create a quick dinner idea for my family of four.”
• “I’m planning a four-day trip to New York City in April. I enjoy art museums, live music, and discovering local hidden gems. Build me a detailed itinerary.”
• “I want a 15-minute workout that targets my core and upper body. Design a five-day plan I can do at home.”

In less than a minute, you’ll see AI generate something surprisingly useful, but chances are the initial response won’t be perfect. AI needs direction, and the more specific your prompt, the better the results. Follow up with additional context like “My daughter is a vegetarian” or “I have no access to gym equipment.” You’ll immediately see that the more specific and clear you are, the better the output will be.

2. Reclaim Your Time

Move on to the next phase when you feel comfortable and ready—knowing that the pace will look different for everyone. As you do, start by exploring where AI could support within your existing workflow. Wondering where to start? Think of tasks where you would feel comfortable asking for outside help (like from an assistant, if you had one): for example, creating checklists for an upcoming field trip or drafting initial versions of communication.

You’re not replacing your own thinking or judgment. You’re simply getting some starter ideas so you can focus on the details that matter the most. AI can make mistakes, so you’ll always edit, tweak, and fine-tune to reflect your own voice and expertise.

Remember, if the first response isn’t quite right, guide AI by asking it to adjust and providing any additional context it may be missing. Try slightly more detailed prompts like these:

• “Draft an email to parents about an upcoming field trip to _____ on _____, asking them to fill out the parent permission form. Keep it concise and parent-friendly.”
• “Summarize this staff meeting agenda and pull out the key action items. [Copy and paste agenda.]”
• “Help me prepare talking points for a parent meeting about a student who’s doing well academically but struggling socially. [Insert information about your goals for the conversation.]”
• “Here’s a to-do list for the upcoming school week: [Insert list.] I’m struggling with how to prioritize and delegate. Some of these tasks can be handled by student helpers or a teaching assistant. Please sort them into three columns: ‘Do Now,’ ‘Do Later,’ and ‘Delegate.’ Include a short description of how each task could be delegated (e.g., template emails, classroom jobs) and a five-day action plan to manage the rest.”

3. Create Classroom Materials (You Could Use Tomorrow)

AI is surprisingly good at generating ideas for classroom content, from warm-up questions and discussion prompts to brain breaks, bulletin board ideas, lesson plans, and beyond. It excels at quickly connecting ideas from a vast variety of sources to create new combinations that fit your needs. Tools like SchoolAI and Brisk are specifically designed for educators and can save you hours of prep, but even a general tool like Gemini, Copilot, or ChatGPT can produce surprisingly relevant ideas with the right prompt.

You don’t need to use these materials in your classroom; this is just an invitation to explore what’s possible and begin imagining where this might fit in. When prompting, give AI context, like the grade level you teach, lesson topic, or classroom tone (playful, serious, SEL-focused, etc.).

You may find that AI offers a variety of materials and ideas that help you build on your own thinking. Some outputs might feel ready to use as-is, and others may simply spark a new direction. Try getting even more detailed with your prompts:

• “Generate 10 fun, engaging ‘question of the day’ prompts for fourth-grade students that help build classroom community. This is a new class where most students don’t know each other well, and several are reluctant to speak aloud. For each prompt, include two to three participation options, like drawing, writing, using hand signals, or small group discussion, so every student has a comfortable way to engage.”
• “I’m working with early readers on the short vowel sound ‘a.’ My students have already mastered all consonants and the digraph ‘sh.’ Please create three decodable short stories focused on CVC words with the short ‘a’ vowel pattern, using only phonics patterns and sight words they’ve already learned.”
• “Give me eight open-ended discussion questions for To Kill a Mockingbird that go beyond plot recall and focus on themes like justice, empathy, and moral courage. These are for an eighth-grade class with a mix of strong readers and students who need support with abstract thinking. Include one follow-up question for each prompt to encourage deeper dialogue.”
• “Come up with three quick (two-to-five-minute) brain break activities for a group of 7-year-olds who’ve been sitting through a long block of literacy instruction. The class has a few students with sensory needs and a few who prefer nonverbal activities. Include options that support movement, creativity, and self-regulation along with brief instructions for how to introduce each one.”

4. Apply It to Real Classroom Needs

Imagine how AI might support your actual teaching—not by changing how you teach, but by helping you think through adjustments, ideas, or extensions. You don’t need to use its suggestions; you’re just exploring how responsive AI can be to your particular classroom context, including support for students with learning differences.

Don’t forget to include your learning goals or standards in the prompt. For example: “Using fourth-grade ELA standards…” or “Aligned to NGSS.” This gives AI a clearer target and gives you better results.

• “Help me write two SMART IEP goals for a sixth-grade student with ADHD who struggles to initiate tasks and turn in homework on time. Include supports and measurement criteria.”
• “I’m using a scripted ELA curriculum for sixth grade, but I want to better tailor the lesson to my students’ needs. Here’s the lesson text and objective: [Paste details.] Suggest ways to adapt this lesson to better support my multilingual learners and students with IEPs, while still meeting the lesson’s core goals. Please identify opportunities for differentiation, student choice, and culturally responsive teaching.”
• “I have a very long ELA block in my schedule, which makes it difficult to fit in other subjects like science or social studies. I want to integrate second-grade NGSS into my existing [Insert ELA curriculum name here] to make my instruction more interdisciplinary without sacrificing literacy goals. Please suggest a few integrated lesson ideas or thematic units that allow me to meet both ELA and science standards.”
• “Here’s my lesson on ecosystems. Students have been struggling with _____ (describe in detail). Suggest some potential scaffolds for students who are struggling and some extension activities for early finishers. Align this to the [Insert standards] and include specific indicators it supports.”

This isn’t about overhauling your practice, but rather expanding your instructional toolbox. You’re not outsourcing decisions. You’re gathering ideas you may not have considered, then filtering them through your lens of what you already know about your students. It’s less about finding the “perfect” solution and more about increasing the range of possibilities you have to work with.