Assistance for Educators

A Day in the Life of Julia, the Dedicated Teacher

Julia stands smiling, leaning against a wall to help prop up the exhausted mind inside her exhausted body. She is handing over her students to their parents after a long but satisfying school day. After the last student has been collected, she turns towards her classroom, aware that there is still much to do, yet struggling with a mental inertia that makes it difficult to decide where to start.

Turning Thoughts into Action: The Role of an Assistant

She turns to her assistant and offloads everything on her mind. Her assistant takes this ‘mind dump’ and transforms it into an organised checklist.

Reflecting on the Day: Improving Tomorrow’s Lessons

Julia begins with a brief review of the day, handing her lesson plans to her assistant, who then gives her a simple reflective exercise to assess what worked and what didn’t. The assistant makes notes on any unexpected issues that arose and translates relevant points into actionable items for the checklist.

Addressing Classroom Challenges

Julia shifts her attention to the next day’s lessons, staring at her bare-bones plan. She knows that her ‘Human Society and Environment’ activity fell flat today, and she’s now anxious about how to improve it for tomorrow. She shares her current plan, the problems encountered today, and the required curriculum outcomes with her assistant and starts brainstorming ideas for tomorrow’s lesson. Her assistant distils this brainstorm into five different options, from which Julia selects her preferred approach and begins planning around it.

Managing Difficult Conversations

Her thoughts turn to some troubling behaviour from one of her students. Julia feels anxious about discussing these issues with the student’s parents. She knows she needs to talk to her head teacher but hesitates to write the email. She explains the situation to her assistant (without mentioning real names) and shares her struggle in crafting this email. Together, they compose an email that Julia is comfortable with in under five minutes.

Preparing for the Next Day: Streamlining Lesson Plans

Before Julia leaves school for the evening, she hands over her lesson plans, reminds her assistant of the lesson plan template, and asks her to format the lessons accordingly. She knows this will save hours later should she need to present her plans to colleagues or, heaven forbid, during an audit.

Morning Adjustments: Tailoring Lessons for Support Teachers

At 8 am the next day, Julia realises that her support teacher could benefit from a modified teaching plan for the Mathematics lesson. Time is short, so she quickly asks her assistant to create five variations of the plan to address the specific challenges of the student who will be working with the support teacher. Pleased with at least two of the variations, she prints a copy and finds the support teacher in the staff room.

The Reality of Today’s Educational Support

Never a dull moment, but when push comes to shove, there’s no other job Julia would rather have!

The Future is Now: AI as a Teacher’s Assistant

As we pull down the fourth wall, you might agree that an assistant as talented as Julia’s would fulfil any educator’s utopian dream. But here’s the surprising truth: this isn’t a future fantasy—this is a reality today. The technology is already here, and it’s good enough to make this level of support available now.

Enhancing Excellence with AI

I contend that while imperfect, such an assistant could accompany every one of your teachers at minimal or even zero cost. Like any assistant, the longer you work together, the better the outcomes. This assistance could come from tools like GPT-4, Claude, or Gemini. In most cases, teachers could manage with the free versions until they willingly invest $30 a month, recognising the benefits they’re gaining. And as these assistants improve, so too will teachers’ ability to work with them.

Supporting Educators in an Increasingly Demanding Role

In an age where demands on teachers are increasing and many good teachers are leaving the profession, this kind of assistance could make a real difference. AI is proving to be a technology that enhances the skills of those who are already good at their craft; it supports and amplifies excellence when used well.