It’s me and ChatGPT against the world.
I’m stuck.
I have no ideas.
I can’t think.
Blank.
When I was a teacher, I had lesson plans to write that had to be submitted.
I had to write emails to parents, to administrators, and other faculty members.
When I went on maternity leave for both my kids, I had to come up with 6 weeks’ worth of lesson plans and activities, AND create the worksheets for the activities.
UGH! It took FOREVER to come up with all that material.
Luckily, my sympathetic principal gave me a sub for half a day to get my sub plans ready.
She was smart enough to see that getting a sub for a half day was worth not scrambling for daily for lessons plans while I was out for 6 weeks.
Other than my gracious principal, there was NO ONE to help me.
I had to tough it out. I had to sit there for an hour or get up and do another task and come back to my computer.
So much time wasted!
😖😖😖
Fast Forward to me not teaching any more, but starting my online business.
Although I have BA in English and a MA in Education Administration, I have no experience in business or marketing.
So, what do I do?!!!
I can’t go back and start college all over! I don’t have the time or the money for that.
Instead, I decide to use modern technology to help me figure out what I need to do to run a successful business.
HOLD ON!
WAIT…
I’m lying.
I had NO CLUE there was technology besides going to YouTube to learn about different concepts.
My wonderful tech savvy husband introduced me to a little thing called
ChatGPT!
It’s unbelievable the things it’s capable of doing.
I need an outline for my blog. DONE.
I need a breakdown of this passage I don’t understand. DONE.
Create a description, titles, tags for my products on my website. DONE.
List marketing strategies to help me with my website. DONE.
What sorcery is this?!!!
Whatever you need, it will come up with it for you.
Can you imagine the possibilities?!!!
I recently, decided that I wanted to go back to substitute teaching, just for some cash while I’m launching my business.
I needed to up date my resume. ChapGPT- DONE.
I needed to write a cover letter. ChatGPT- DONE.
I saved myself so much time. I couldn’t believe it.
I think back to my time as a teacher.
All that time spent on
lesson plans,
creating activities,
creating worksheets,
creating assessments,
writing emails to parents,
writing plans for the substitute teacher,
I could have been hanging with my family, my dog, or just enjoying my hobbies.
Yes, this is a picture of my dog, Buckley. 🐶♥️
Now, it got me wondering, in this new world of AI technology, are teachers even taking advantage of this amazing tool?
The answer is: Not Really (unfortunately).
WHY?!!
Well, there’s been some backlash about it not sounding like a real person. It is too cheesy or gimmicky in some of the responses.
This can very well happen, but there is an easy trick that can help you be a “ChatGPT Connoisseur”.
Ready for it?
It’s a thing I like to call PRACTICE!
Yes, that’s right. Its called practice. You have to become familiar with how to navigate ChatGPT.
You have to understand how to ask for what you want.
It is trial and error.
🗣️🗣️🗣️I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH! (Okay, I’ll stop yelling)
Just like any tool, you have to learn how to use it correctly.
You have to learn to make it give you the results you want.
I am living proof that a non-tech person (a mere commoner)
can become efficient in the ways of this new world of AI.
Now, there is nothing that is fool proof.
You should never just submit anything without reviewing ALL of the work (skimming the first section and deciding it’s all good, can be detrimental).
But, in the past, I did some substitute teaching before I became a teacher, and there were times when there weren’t any sub plans for me.
I was basically a warm body to make sure the kids stayed in the classroom. It was tough.
How do you entertain a room full of teenagers before they get antsy and turn on you?
I could’ve easily used ChatGPT in that situation and help myself in this situation.
I mean come on, you know the admin aren’t going to come up with something and hand it to you.
If I substitute teach again, I will definitely be using ChatGPT to help me in these types of situations.
I’ll go one step further:
If this isn’t a policy already, I think school districts should pay for ChatGPT memberships for all its employees.
Think of all the productivity that would happen!
And the more familiar teachers become with this technology, the easier they will be able to spot an AI generated essay or short answer response from students.
Because we all know that coming, if it hasn’t already been happening.
The students WILL be all using AI to get all their assignments done.
How do teachers feel about that?
Is this progressive step forward?
Or is it hindering our students’ learning?
Can it be an effective learning tool for kids who didn’t understand the math problem at school?
I know my husband used it to teach our daughter a math concept she didn’t understand.
He asked ChatGPT how to explain that math concept so that a 4th grader can understand it.
He used the info he received and it clicked for her. It was amazing!
People are afraid of new AI technology, and I don’t blame them. I get it.
There will always be bad people ready to do bad things, but does that mean we have to stop making progress, stop moving forward because of it?
A friend said this phrase to me in passing and I thought it was great. So much so, I decided it needed to be a sticker.
To those of you who were labeled procrastinators or slackers... now is your time to shine. ChatGPT is here to help you be sucessful at waiting til the last minute to get your work done.😄