Your AI Assistant: Building Custom GPTs for Educators

Outline

1. Welcome & Introduction (5 minutes)
Content: Quick welcome, overview of what participants will learn, and the purpose behind creating your own AI tools.
Engagement: Ask: “What’s one repetitive task you’d love to get help with?”

2. Writing Better Prompts with the Prompt Booster (10 minutes)
Content: Show how great AI starts with a great prompt. Teach a simple Prompt Booster Template to help educators write clear, consistent prompts.
Engagement: Share common classroom prompt examples and have attendees revise one of their own.

Process: Prompt Booster Template (digital) for ongoing use.

3. What Are GPTs & Why They Matter in Education (10 minutes)
Content:

Overview of GPTs and how they’re used in schools for grading, planning, feedback, and more

Tour the GPT Store and highlight free, educator-friendly GPTs

Show examples of how these tools save time and promote reusability

Engagement: Invite participants to explore the GPT Store and note which tools spark ideas.

Process: Start a discussion about favorite finds and how they could use them in their work.

4. Exploring How to Create a Custom GPT (15 minutes)
Content:

Explain the two ways to build GPTs:

Using the no-code Create tool

Using the Configure section with a shared template

Share a simple configuration template to guide custom builds

Engagement: Encourage questions and let participants preview what they’ll build.

Process: Walk through the process step-by-step, prepping them for the hands-on activity.

5. Hands-On: Create Your Own GPT (20 minutes)

Content: Participants begin designing and building a custom GPT for a classroom or leadership task.

Engagement: Work individually or in small groups. Encourage peer sharing and support.

Process: Circulate to assist, answer questions, and provide suggestions for flexibility and reusability.

6. Share & Collaborate (5 minutes)
Content: Discuss how educators can share GPTs safely across their school or district.

Engagement: Group brainstorm on collaboration ideas and protecting student data.

7. Q&A + Next Steps (5 minutes)
Content: Answer practical questions about classroom use, data safety, and AI integration.

Engagement: Invite participants to share one AI idea they plan to try next.

Process: Summarize key takeaways and offer follow-up support or resources.

Supporting research

1. AITeach Pro: Don't buy AI solutions, create your own!
https://www.aiteachpro.com/
2. Transforming Lesson Plans: A K-12 Educator’s Guide to Customizing GPTs (Richard Campbell)

https://richardccampbell.com/chatgpt-for-teachers-achieve-framework-k-12/

3. Key Guidelines for Writing Instructions for Custom GPTs (OpenAI)

https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9358033-key-guidelines-for-writing-instructions-for-custom-gpts

4. How to create a custom GPT: A beginner's guide (Zapier)

https://zapier.com/blog/custom-chatgpt/