Artificial Intelligence has become a “household item” in recent times. But how can it make life easier for you as an English teacher? In this blog post, we’ll explore ways you can interact with AI to use it as a virtual colleague and personal teaching assistant rather than just a tool.
This was my first interaction with AI back in December 2022. I asked ChatGPT for a joke about oat milk in Berlin. Just like that overpriced oat milk late, AI tools started as something I tried because everyone was talking about it.
I spent the holiday season treating it like a party trick. But when January rolled around and school was back in session, everything changed.
Faced with designing Business English certification exams— a task I felt neither qualified for nor excited about—I discovered AI could be more than just entertainment. I kept hearing that people were doing A-M-A-Z-I-N-G things with AI… getting output that was mind blowing.
But my first attempts were basic:
Please write six possible titles for this text. 3 options should be true, and 3 should be false but could be true.
The results weren’t revolutionary, but they showed potential. It was useful to some extent, but I kept feeling like it was not what everyone was hyping it up to be.
As I went down the AI-for-teaching rabbit hole, I realized that effective communication was quite literally the key to unlocking its potential.
The Power of Communication
Think about attending a TESOL Conference. You’re in the plenary surrounded by teachers—some novices, some veterans, some teaching kids, others training corporate executives. If someone simply asks,
“Write me a lesson plan”, how useful would that response be?
The lack of context and specificity makes it nearly impossible to provide a meaningful lesson plan.
Now imagine the same request in a special interest group meeting, where you get to share everything about your context, student needs, specific challenges, and get to ask/answer questions. The quality of guidance you’d receive would be dramatically different.
Just as the usefulness of that lesson plan request depends on the details you provided, so too does the effectiveness of using AI in teaching. By understanding how to communicate our needs to AI, we can maximize its capacity to support and enhance our pedagogical practice.
Approaches to Interacting with AI
While effective communication is crucial when using AI, its impact varies depending on how we choose to interact with it. When it comes to using AI, there are two primary approaches:
- using AI as a Tool
- using AI as a Collaborator
Understanding these approaches can make a big difference in the output we get, and ultimately, how useful that output is.
After all, what is the benefit of AI when you only get generic content that you can’t even use?
● Tool: AI performs tasks for you, similar to a computer or software, providing generic
responses and acting like static teaching resources. It’s useful for tasks that require
minimal customization, such as generating vocabulary lists.
● Collaborator: AI works alongside you, offering ideas, sharing insights, and actively engaging with you to brainstorm lesson plans, suggest activities, and support learning at different levels. This approach requires a deeper level of interaction and understanding, allowing AI to provide creative solutions to specific teaching
challenges.
Understanding Prompts: Your Teaching Instructions
To effectively use AI, especially as a collaborator, understanding how to craft good prompts is essential. A prompt is like a set of clear instructions for AI. Just as we wouldn’t ask students to complete a task without providing them with specific guidelines and understanding of what they need to achieve, we shouldn’t approach AI with vague requests.
For instance, instead of saying “Write something about grammar,” we would give students a detailed assignment like
“Create a short dialogue between two friends using at least three examples
of conditional sentences.”
Similarly, when working with AI, we need to craft prompts that are precise and well-defined to get the desired output.
Good prompts include:
– Context about your teaching situation
– Clear objectives
– Specific constraints or requirements
– Student background and needs
– Available resources and limitations
Practical Implementation
Give it a try. Think of a topic and an audience for a class. Go to Claude.ai or Perplexity.ai (my favorite ones – the latter adds sources in the output!). Then, use the prompts below and analyze the output.
First, let’s look at how a typical prompt might be structured when using AI as a tool:
“Create a lesson plan outline for a 60-minute class on [topic] for [type of students].”
Example:
This basic prompt lacks the key elements that make for an impactful AI interaction. We need to provide more context, specify our objectives, define constraints, and consider our students’ needs.
To interact with AI as a collaborator, you can break down your request into chunks, providing more context and detail.
For this purpose, feed it information in chunks, like you’re having a conversation with a fellow teacher:
Chunk 1
#Identity: You are an experienced [type of teacher].
#Task: Let’s brainstorm engaging activities for a lesson on [topic] for [type of
students]. What are some creative ideas that incorporate hands-on learning?
Chunk 2
Based on these activities, how can we structure a 60-minute lesson that maximizes
student engagement and understanding?
Chunk 3
What potential challenges might students face with this topic, and how can we
address them in our lesson plan?
Chunk 4
How can we incorporate formative assessment throughout the lesson to gauge
student comprehension?
Chunk 5
Let’s refine our lesson plan to include differentiation strategies for various language
levels and pace.
Analyzing the Output
Once you receive the output from both AI as a tool and as a collaborator, analyze it as a whole. You’ll likely find that this chunk-approach yields results that are more tailored to your specific needs and context. If you don’t feel like experimenting, here is an example of output generated with the prompts above: tool vs. collaborator
Go Beyond Lesson Plans!
While using AI to create lesson plans is a valuable application, the real power isn’t in generating quick worksheets or generic lesson plans. It’s in having a tireless collaborator who can help you:
– differentiate instructions for diverse learners
– generate creative solutions to teaching challenges
– adapt materials to specific contexts
– save time on routine tasks so you can focus on what makes the biggest impact
Here are a few ideas you might like to try (yes, ChatGPT came up with this list, I edited it):
- Auditing and Improving Lesson Plans – AI can analyze your lesson plans for clarity
- Rewriting Instructions for Clarity & Accessibility – AI can simplify, rephrase, or scaffold
- Turning Student Mistakes into Puzzles or Mini-Lessons – AI can collect common
- AI-Powered Role-Play Simulations – AI can act as a business partner, client, or manager in realistic email exchanges, negotiations, or meetings, helping learners practice professional communication.
- Differentiated Choice Boards – AI can create customized choice boards with varied business communication tasks (e.g., writing a memo, recording a voicemail, analyzing a contract) based on students’ learning preferences.
- Rubric Suggestions & Alignment – AI can refine rubrics to ensure they align with learning outcomes, providing example feedback comments for different proficiency levels.
- “Explain It Like I’m 5” – AI can simplify complex business jargon, contract language, or technical terms into beginner-friendly explanations, with options to adjust formality.
AI Tools Designed for Language Teachers
While general AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are incredibly versatile, our field has seen the emergence of specialized tools designed specifically for teachers and language teaching that don’t require you to spend time thinking about how to write the best and most useful prompt.
Here are a few that you might like to test out:
Eduaide.ai
● 15 generations/month
● Limited Feedback Bot
● Enhance & TransformFeatures
● Has higher education options
To-teach.ai
● Up to 5 exercises, 3worksheets, and 2 lesson plans monthly at no cost
● 5€ or 10€ per month. You can apply for a 30% discount for teachers.
● Editable output
Twee.com
● Free basic functions
● Specific for language teachers
● 5 runs / day for Text Tools
● 3 runs / day for Media Tools
● 5-min input limit on media
● Unlimited interactive sharing
MagicSchool.ai
● 70+ tools for free
● Limited use of the chatbot
● Limited use of tools but it is unclear what that limit is
● Has higher education options
Final Thoughts
AI in language teaching can be a powerful tool when used thoughtfully. It might challenge your assumptions and push you out of your comfort zone. However, it can also be the extra set of hands you have always wanted to better support your students.
The key isn’t to use AI for everything, but to use it for the right tasks. Not to replace your teaching expertise but to amplify it. Start small, experiment, and remember that the skills you develop will serve you and your students well into the future.
So, take the plunge!
Explore, experiment with different prompts and share! I’m always interested in hearing how you use AI.
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The Fine Print
Here are some important considerations when using AI:
● Environmental Impact:
While many AI tools offer ‘free’ access, there’s always a cost – if not monetary, then environmental. Each query, each generation, and each interaction requires significant computing power and energy. Reflecting on this hidden
environmental price tag, how might this reshape your approach to AI use? How could you balance the innovative potential of AI with their ecological impact? What criteriacould you develop to determine when AI use is truly warranted?
● Bias and Mistakes: AI is inherently biased and can make mistakes. Be cautious and verify information to ensure accuracy.
● Mindful Use: Ask yourself if AI is truly needed for a task. For example, do you really need AI for that email?
Disclaimer
The information in this blog post is accurate to the best of the author’s
knowledge at the time of publication. However, the field of artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving, with frequent updates and changes to AI tools and their capabilities. Therefore, the suggestions and examples provided here may yield different results over time. Readers are encouraged to experiment, critically evaluate the output of AI tools, and adapt their prompts and strategies accordingly.
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Mariana Ramírez
Mariana Ramírez discovered her passion for teaching at the age of 8, delivering lessons to her younger sister at their kitchen table in Mexico. Since then, she has continuously expanded her teaching experience, with a focus on languages at the higher education level. Currently based at the Language Centre of the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin), she is interested in utilizing educational tools to enhance her students' learning journey. With a background in Learning, Media & Technology, Mariana is deeply interested in the intersection of language education, technology and artificial intelligence. She recently delivered a workshop for English language teachers on integrating AI into their teaching practice and, as a certified teacher trainer, is eager to continue collaborating with educators to support their adaptation of edtech and AI in language classrooms.
