For teachers · 25 patterns, 5 categories

The Teacher Pattern Pack.

25 copy-paste prompts for planning, differentiation, feedback, parent emails and assessment. Each one has [brackets] for your class, your subject and your students. The more detail you put in the brackets, the better the draft you get back.

Before you start · the 3-line context habit

Start every session with who, what, and how.

"I teach [subject] to [year level] at a [context, e.g. mixed-ability public school]. My style is [e.g. plain language, worked examples first]. I'll paste the curriculum content I'm teaching. Use only that, and don't add curriculum codes." Paste that before any pattern below and every output improves. The full version of this habit, the context bundle, is Module 2 of our AI for Teachers course.

Category 1 · Lesson planning

Plan in minutes, refine with judgement.

The lesson skeleton

"Draft a [60]-min lesson on [topic] for [year]: hook, direct instruction, guided practice, independent task, exit ticket. Timings for each."

The hook generator

"Give me 5 opening hooks for [topic] that would land with [year level] — a question, a story, a demo, a provocation, and a game. 2 lines each."

The analogy factory

"Explain [hard concept] using 3 different analogies a [year]-level student would get: one from sport, one from gaming, one from everyday life."

The unit mapper

"Map [topic] into a [5]-lesson sequence. Each lesson: objective, key activity, formative check. Flag which lesson students usually find hardest and why."

The resource remixer

"Here's my existing worksheet: [paste]. Refresh it — same learning outcome, new context, updated examples, tighter instructions."

Category 2 · Differentiation

Three levels, one pass.

The three-tier split

"Take this task: [paste]. Produce foundation, core, and stretch versions — same concept, same format, different scaffold. Don't label them in the student-facing text."

The reading-level shift

"Rewrite this text at a Year [X] reading level. Keep every fact. Halve the sentence length. Don't dumb down the ideas."

The EAL/D support pass

"Adapt this worksheet for a student with developing English: pre-teach 5 key terms with plain definitions, simplify instructions, keep the academic content intact."

The extension ladder

"My fast finishers demolish [task type] early. Give me 3 extension tasks that deepen — not just 'more of the same' — ordered by challenge."

The scaffold builder

"Build a sentence-starter and paragraph-frame scaffold for [writing task] that a struggling [year] student could use without an aide beside them."

Category 3 · Feedback & marking support

Draft the comments, keep the judgement.

The feedback drafter

"Here's my rubric: [paste]. Here's the student work, with the name and anything identifying removed: [paste]. Draft feedback: 2 strengths, 2 next steps, encouraging but honest, [year]-appropriate language. I'll edit before it goes anywhere."

The comment bank

"Generate 10 report-comment variations for a student who [is improving but inconsistent in X]. Professional, specific, no clichés, no 'pleasure to teach'."

The misconception spotter

"Here are 6 anonymised wrong answers to [question]: [paste]. What misconceptions do they reveal? Group them and suggest a 10-minute reteach for each group."

The exemplar builder

"Write 3 responses to [task] at Year [X]: one clearly below standard, one at, one above. I'll use them for peer-assessment calibration."

The next-steps translator

"Turn this criterion — [paste rubric line] — into 3 concrete 'what to do next' actions a [year] student would actually understand."

Category 4 · Comms

The right tone, first draft, every time.

The parent email (tricky)

"Draft an email to a parent about [the issue, with the student's name and identifying details removed]. Tone: warm, factual, partnership-framed, no edu-jargon. Under 150 words. End with a clear next step."

The newsletter blurb

"Write a 100-word class-newsletter item about [event/unit]. Energetic but not breathless. One line parents will actually remember."

The excursion pack

"Draft the parent letter + permission checklist for an excursion to [place] on [date]: purpose, logistics, cost, what to bring, consent line."

The leadership brief

"Summarise this into a 5-dot-point brief for my HoD: [paste]. Lead with the decision needed. One line of context per point."

The tone shifter

"Here's my draft: [paste]. Keep the content, shift the tone to [calmer / firmer / warmer]. Show me what you changed and why."

Category 5 · Assessment design

Assess for an AI world.

The question bank

"Generate 15 questions on [topic] for [year]: 5 recall, 5 application, 5 analysis. Include answers and one common wrong answer per question with why it's tempting."

The rubric builder

"Build a 4-level rubric for [task] at [year], criteria: [list]. Plain language a student can self-assess against. No 'demonstrates a sophisticated understanding' filler."

The AI-resistance check

"Here's my assessment task: [paste]. How would a student complete this entirely with AI? Now suggest 3 redesigns that make thinking visible — process artefacts, in-class components, oral defence."

The retrieval starter

"Make me a 5-question retrieval-practice starter mixing [this week's topic] with [two topics from earlier this term]. Answers on a second section."

The moderation partner

"Here are my rubric and two marked samples, with names and anything identifying removed: [paste]. Play the second marker: where might another teacher disagree with my grading, and why?"

The two rules that make all 25 safe

Nothing identifiable goes in. Nothing goes out unread.

No student names, no identifying details — ever, in any tool. And every output is a first draft from a fast, overconfident assistant: your name goes on it, so your eyes go over it. That's not an AI rule, it's a professional one.

Want this for your whole staff?

Bring it to your school as one staff session.

We run these prompts live with your staff in a 90-minute session, on the tools your school has approved, with one rule for student data everyone follows. The quickest way in is the ready-made note to your principal in your kit.

Send your principal the note Back to the kit

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