Study Guide: Alex for Teachers and Educators
Your reference for using Alex in teaching, curriculum, and student support. Ready-to-run prompts for lesson planning, differentiation, assessment, and parent communication.
What This Guide Is Not
This is not a habit formation guide (see Self-Study Guide for that). This is a teaching toolkit — the specific ways Alex can save you time and enhance your practice, and the prompts that work.
Core Principle for Educators
Teaching is about understanding where students are and meeting them there. Alex’s highest value is reducing the time you spend on tasks that don’t require your expertise — so you have more energy for the work that does.
The key pattern: be specific about your students. Grade level, prior knowledge, learning differences, class dynamics. The more context Alex has about your actual classroom, the more useful the output.
The Seven Use Cases
1. Lesson Planning
When to use: Designing instruction for a concept, unit, or skill.
Prompt pattern:
Help me plan a lesson:
Subject: [content area]
Grade level: [specific grade or range]
Topic: [what you're teaching]
Standards: [relevant standards if applicable]
Time: [class period length]
Prior knowledge: [what students already know]
Create a lesson plan that includes:
1. Learning objective (clear, measurable)
2. Hook / engagement activity
3. Direct instruction sequence
4. Guided practice
5. Independent practice
6. Formative assessment check
7. Closure / synthesis
Follow-up prompts:
Add differentiation for students who need more support.
Add extension for students who need more challenge.
This is too much for one period. What would you cut?
2. Differentiated Materials
When to use: Adapting content for different learners. Meeting IEP accommodations. Challenging advanced students.
Prompt pattern:
Help me differentiate this material:
Original content:
[paste the text, problem set, or activity]
Grade level: [intended level]
Students who need adaptation:
- [describe the students and their needs]
Create:
1. A simplified version (same concept, reduced complexity)
2. A scaffolded version (supports for struggling learners)
3. An extended version (deeper challenge for advanced learners)
4. Visual or graphic organizer version
Follow-up prompts:
A student with [specific learning difference] is struggling. What additional supports would help?
Create a word bank / sentence starters for ELL students.
Make this accessible for a student reading 2 grades below level.
3. Assessment and Rubric Design
When to use: Creating formative and summative assessments. Designing clear rubrics.
Prompt pattern:
Help me create an assessment:
Topic: [what you're assessing]
Type: [formative / summative / diagnostic]
Format: [quiz / project / essay / presentation / performance task]
Standards: [what you're measuring]
Time: [how long students have]
Create:
1. Clear directions
2. Assessment items aligned to standards
3. A rubric with specific criteria and levels
4. Common misconceptions to watch for
5. Options for student choice if appropriate
Follow-up prompts:
Create an answer key with explanations.
Add a self-assessment checklist for students.
What feedback comments would help a student at each rubric level?
4. Feedback and Comments
When to use: Providing meaningful feedback on student work at scale.
Prompt pattern:
Help me write feedback on student work:
Assignment: [what students were asked to do]
This student's work: [summarize or paste key excerpts]
Strengths: [what they did well]
Areas for growth: [where they need to improve]
Tone: [encouraging / direct / growth-focused]
Write feedback that:
1. Starts with a specific strength
2. Identifies the most important area for growth
3. Provides a concrete next step
4. Uses student-friendly language for grade [X]
5. Stays under [X] sentences
Follow-up prompts:
This student is easily discouraged. Make it more supportive while still honest.
Write 5 variations of this feedback for different students with similar issues.
Create targeted praise comments I can use for [specific skill].
5. Parent Communication
When to use: Emails, conference prep, progress updates, behavior communications.
Prompt pattern:
Help me communicate with a parent:
Context: [what's happening]
Student situation: [academic / behavioral / positive update]
Parent relationship: [new / established / challenging]
Goal: [what you want to accomplish]
Tone: [professional / warm / concerned / celebratory]
Write a [email / phone script / conference talking points] that:
1. Opens with connection
2. States the situation clearly
3. Focuses on student growth
4. Invites partnership
5. Proposes next steps
Follow-up prompts:
The parent might get defensive. How do I frame this more carefully?
I need to document this conversation. What should my notes include?
Write a follow-up email after a conference.
6. Classroom Activities and Engagement
When to use: Creating engaging activities, discussion prompts, group work structures.
Prompt pattern:
Help me design an engaging activity:
Topic: [what you're teaching]
Goal: [what students should learn or practice]
Class size: [number of students]
Time: [how long you have]
Energy level: [need to activate / need to focus / review]
Create an activity that:
1. Gets all students participating (not just volunteers)
2. Has clear instructions and structure
3. Includes built-in accountability
4. Has a clear debrief or synthesis moment
5. Can be adapted if time runs short
Follow-up prompts:
Make this work for small groups of 3-4 students.
Add a movement component — students have been sitting too long.
What discussion questions would deepen the thinking after this activity?
7. Curriculum Mapping and Unit Design
When to use: Planning a unit, sequencing instruction, aligning to standards.
Prompt pattern:
Help me design a unit:
Subject: [content area]
Unit topic: [the big idea]
Duration: [number of weeks / class periods]
Standards to cover: [list them]
Prior units: [what students have already learned]
Culminating assessment: [how you'll measure success]
Create a unit outline with:
1. Essential questions that drive inquiry
2. Lesson sequence with key concepts in order
3. Formative assessment checkpoints
4. Key vocabulary and scaffolds
5. Connection to student interests or real world
Follow-up prompts:
Where can I integrate cross-curricular connections?
I have a field trip / guest speaker. How do I build it in?
What prerequisite skills should I pre-assess?
Practice Progression
Week 1: Plan one lesson using the prompts. Notice what you would have missed.
Week 2: Differentiate one piece of existing material for your range of learners.
Week 3: Write feedback on a set of assignments using the prompts. Track time saved.
Week 4: Draft a parent communication for a situation you’ve been avoiding.
What Great Looks Like
After consistent use, you should notice:
- Less time on planning, more time on teaching
- Better differentiated materials without starting from scratch
- Faster, more specific feedback at scale
- Clearer communication with parents
The goal isn’t for Alex to teach your students — it’s for Alex to give you time back for the work only you can do.
Notes on Academic Integrity
Be thoughtful about how AI use intersects with your classroom expectations:
- Model appropriate AI use for students
- Consider how you’ll handle student AI use on assignments
- Be transparent with colleagues about your own AI use
- Focus AI assistance on your teacher work, not on replacing student learning
Your expertise is what makes the learning happen.