The AI Co-Pilot: A Teacher’s Guide to Modern Lesson Planning
Artificial intelligence, or A.I., is today an indispensable tool in virtually every industry of the twenty-first century. It is already having an impact on education comparable to, or perhaps greater than, that of Wikipedia during the early internet era.
The education industry has long adopted new technologies in different forms to improve lesson delivery and achieve learning outcomes. A.I. is another innovative technology that the modern education system and educators must consequently adopt and have in their professional toolbox.
The importance of planning and preparation for any class cannot be overemphasised. Yet, planning time is often long, unpaid, invisible and repetitive. One profound use of A.I. in education is its ability to reduce the time and effort teachers and educators put into planning and preparing for classes.
This post demonstrates some practical A.I. skills that teachers can adapt to suit different classroom needs.
The A.I. co-pilot
Think of A.I. as the creator—one that drafts lesson plans, plans activities, prepares assessments and generates discussion questions for classroom engagement. Essentially, A.I. does much of the heavy lifting involved in structuring information and preparing an initial plan for your class.
The teacher then becomes the curator—the person who carries out the pedagogical review of the A.I.-generated plan. You add the human touch, personal anecdotes and lived experience. You change the tone, remove unsuitable activities and edit the draft to match your preferences and classroom context.
A.I. should therefore not replace the teacher. It should serve as a co-pilot that supports the teacher’s professional judgement and creativity.
Prompting frameworks for educators
There are bad prompts and good prompts. An optimised A.I. output requires a reliable formula that improves both consistency and quality.
For example, when you ask an A.I. to:
Write a lesson plan on the transport system in animals.
there is a good chance that you will receive a generic output filled with buzzwords, vague objectives or activities that may be impossible to carry out in your class.
The output may become a classic example of the “garbage in, garbage out” rule of A.I.
A.I. may be smart, but it cannot read your mind. It does not know your students, classroom layout, class size, teaching style or available resources unless you include them in your prompt.
Below are two prompting frameworks that educators can use to obtain more consistent and useful outputs.
1. RCTC framework
RCTC is best used when you want to generate a quick draft. It is easy to remember and gives you tighter control over the A.I. output.
Role
Who should the A.I. act as?
Act as an experienced Grade 5 Mathematics teacher.
Context
What is the specific situation?
You are teaching a class of 28 students, including four students with individual learning needs and three students who are still developing their English-language skills.
Task
What exactly do you want the A.I. to do?
Create a ten-minute warm-up activity for multiplying fractions.
Constraints
What are the boundaries?
Do not use any technology. Keep the reading level suitable for Grade 4 students and format the output as a bulleted list.
Complete RCTC prompt
Act as an experienced Grade 5 Mathematics teacher. You are teaching a class of 28 students, including four students with individual learning needs and three students who are still developing their English-language skills. Create a ten-minute warm-up activity for multiplying fractions. Do not use any technology. Keep the reading level suitable for Grade 4 students and format the output as a bulleted list.
This is more likely to produce a practical response than simply asking A.I. to create an activity on multiplying fractions.
2. CREATE framework
CREATE is useful when planning a more detailed lesson. The framework requires you to give A.I. the pedagogical context it needs to draft the type of lesson plan you want.
C — Context
State the grade level, subject, class size, lesson duration and any specific student needs.
R — Role
State the persona the A.I. should adopt.
Act as a veteran Senior Secondary School Biology teacher.
E — Expectations
State the learning objectives, curriculum expectations or standards that must be achieved.
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to explain the transport system in mammals and distinguish between arteries, veins and capillaries.
A — Activities
Mention the type of activities you want included.
Include a starter question, a labelled-diagram activity, group discussion and an exit ticket.
T — Tone and format
Explain how the output should sound and how it should be presented.
Write in a clear and encouraging tone. Present the lesson plan in a table with columns for time, teacher activity, student activity and assessment.
E — Exclusions and extras
State what should be avoided and what additional materials should be included.
Exclude activities that require a projector or internet connection. Include a three-question exit ticket and five homework questions.
Complete CREATE prompt
Act as a veteran Senior Secondary School Biology teacher. Prepare a 40-minute lesson for a class of 35 students on the transport system in mammals. By the end of the lesson, students should be able to explain double circulation, identify the major parts of the heart and distinguish between arteries, veins and capillaries. Include a five-minute starter activity, a labelled-diagram activity, group discussion and a three-question exit ticket. Write in clear British English and present the lesson plan in a table with columns for time, teacher activity, student activity, resources and assessment. Do not include activities that require internet access or a projector. Add five homework questions and a simple marking guide.
Bad prompt versus good prompt
Bad prompt
Write a lesson plan on photosynthesis.
This prompt does not provide the class level, duration, available resources, learning objectives or preferred format.
Better prompt
Act as an experienced JSS 2 Basic Science teacher. Prepare a 40-minute lesson on photosynthesis for a mixed-ability class of 32 students. The lesson should help students define photosynthesis, identify its raw materials and products, and explain its importance to living organisms. Use only a chalkboard, fresh leaves and locally available materials. Include a five-minute starter activity, teacher explanation, group activity, assessment questions and homework. Present the lesson plan in a table.
The second prompt gives the A.I. enough information to prepare something closer to the teacher’s actual classroom needs.
Pro tip: Use iterative prompting
Your first prompt will rarely produce your final lesson plan. Treat A.I. as a co-pilot.
When the output is not quite right, do not start all over again. Give feedback and tell the A.I. exactly what should be changed.
For example:
This is a good draft, but the lesson hook may be too boring for my energetic students. Give me three alternative high-energy hooks that do not require technology.
You can also use follow-up instructions such as:
Simplify the explanation for students with weaker reading skills.
Replace the group activity with an individual activity.
Reduce the lesson to 30 minutes without removing the assessment.
Use examples that are more familiar to students in Nigeria.
Create an extension activity for students who finish early.
This process is known as iterative prompting. You continue refining the draft until it becomes suitable for your class.
A final caution
A.I.-generated lesson plans should always be reviewed before they are used in the classroom.
Teachers should check the facts, calculations, examples and references provided by the A.I. They should also ensure that the lesson follows the approved curriculum, reflects the students’ learning needs and uses resources that are actually available.
Confidential information about individual students should not be entered into public A.I. tools. The teacher remains responsible for the final lesson plan and every material used in the classroom.
Conclusion
A.I. can reduce the time and effort teachers spend on repetitive lesson-planning tasks. It can draft lesson plans, suggest activities, prepare assessments and generate questions for classroom engagement.
However, A.I. should remain a co-pilot. It may create the first draft, but the teacher must curate, personalise and improve it.
With prompting frameworks such as RCTC and CREATE, educators can get better results while still retaining the human judgement, creativity and classroom experience that effective teaching requires.
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