The ABCs of Workf lows + Processes: Streamlining Teaching for Educators

Hello, fellow educators! Today, we're delving into the world of workflows and processes - the backbone of efficient teaching practices. But fear not, we're going to unravel these concepts in a clear and engaging way, so grab a cup of coffee and let's dive in.

Let's start with the basics. Workflows are like the master plan, the guiding light that sets the stage for all your tasks and responsibilities. Processes, on the other hand, are the individual steps within that plan, the nuts and bolts that keep everything running smoothly.

Picture your workflow as the title of a book, capturing the essence of what needs to be done. Each process, then, is like a chapter, breaking down the work into manageable sections. And within each process, you have those finer details - the sub-steps that make up the whole.

So, why should you care about workflows and processes in your teaching journey? Well, let me tell you, they can be a game-changer. From designing curriculum that meets state standards to ensuring your classroom operates like a well-oiled machine, workflows and processes are your allies in the quest for organized teaching. In fact, I will let you in on a little secret, you already use workflows and processes in your everyday classroom experience. Now you just need to recognize them for the amazing tools they are and bring them into the light so you can harness their power.

With a well-crafted workflow, you can navigate through the complexities of tasks like curriculum planning, the PLC process, school-wide functions, scope and sequence, lesson planning, grading, and even the minutiae of daily schedules and communication plans. It's like having a roadmap to guide you through the maze of teaching responsibilities.

Workflows + Processes are already part of your daily practice. The trick is to call them into the light so you can harness their power and transform your teaching experience.

Next for Savvy Teachers…

And here's the exciting part - in our next post, we'll show you how to harness the power of processes to create a planning workflow that empowers you, instead of overwhelming you. So stay tuned, because we're about to elevate your teaching game to new heights.

So, fellow educators, keep calm, embrace your workflows, and let's make teaching a breeze together.

Embracing AI: Revolutionizing Education for the Savvy Teacher

Embracing AI: Revolutionizing Education for the Savvy Teacher

As technology continues to evolve, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education is transforming the way we teach and learn. For teachers, AI offers a wealth of opportunities to enhance educational practices, streamline administrative tasks, and provide personalized learning experiences for students. Here's a detailed look at how educators can embrace AI to become even more effective in their roles.

1. Personalized Learning

Adaptive Learning Platforms: AI-powered adaptive learning platforms, like DreamBox and Smart Sparrow, adjust the content's difficulty based on student performance in real-time. These platforms analyze how students interact with the material, providing more challenging tasks for those who excel and additional support for those who struggle. This ensures that every student receives a customized learning experience tailored to their unique needs.

Individual Learning Paths: Tools like Knewton and Coursera use AI to create individual learning paths for students. These paths consider students' strengths, weaknesses, interests, and learning pace. By personalizing the educational journey, AI helps in maintaining student engagement and fostering a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

Many of us use these types of platforms throughout the school day to benefit our students. Along our journey we will look from another perspective and ask: How can we use these and other adaptive programs to help us the teacher perfect our craft and gain back valuable time to make our students’ and our own lives better?

2. Grading and Assessment

Automated Grading Systems: Platforms like Gradescope and Turnitin use AI to automate the grading process. These systems can quickly and accurately grade multiple-choice tests, quizzes, and even some written assignments. They provide instant feedback, allowing students to learn from their mistakes immediately.

Through this journey, we will take a look at grading platforms like the ones listed above along with others to see how they can help us save time on grading. This benefits us as educators by potentially giving us hours back and benefits our students through timely relative feedback that can help them grow.

Advanced Analytics: AI can analyze students' written work for content, grammar, and originality. Tools like Grammarly and WriteLab offer detailed feedback on writing assignments, helping students improve their writing skills while reducing the grading burden on teachers.

We will also do deep dives into these AI powered plateforms and others like them to evaluate how we can integrate them into our writing instruction.

3. Streamlining Administrative Tasks

Attendance Tracking: AI-powered tools like ClassDojo and Schoology automate attendance tracking, making it easier for teachers to monitor student attendance and participation. These tools can generate reports and alert teachers to attendance issues, enabling prompt intervention.

Scheduling and Planning: Tools like Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams use AI to help teachers schedule lessons, meetings, and assignments. These platforms can also send reminders to students, ensuring they stay on track with their coursework.

Data Entry and Management: AI can streamline data entry and management processes, reducing the time teachers spend on administrative tasks. Platforms like PowerSchool and Infinite Campus automate the collection and organization of student data, allowing teachers to focus more on teaching.

We will be looking into these tools and how we can integrate them within our processes and workflows to make us more effective in our time and teaching.

4. Data-Driven Decision Making

As educators a huge part of our job is to make data-driven decisions. In college we learn how to collect and read data to inform our instruction. The problem is no one ever tells you how you are suppose to find the time to compute and extrapolate all of the data needed to make these informed desicions!

Performance Analysis: AI tools can analyze vast amounts of student performance data to identify trends and patterns. Platforms like Tableau and BrightBytes provide visualizations of this data, helping teachers understand student progress and areas needing improvement.

Predictive Analytics: AI can predict which students are at risk of falling behind or dropping out. By identifying these students early, teachers can provide targeted interventions to support their learning. Tools like Early Warning Systems (EWS) use AI to analyze attendance, grades, and behavior data to make these predictions.

Customized Interventions: AI can suggest customized interventions based on individual student data. For example, if a student is struggling with a particular concept, the AI can recommend specific resources or activities to help them improve.

5. Professional Development

Personalized Recommendations: AI-powered platforms like LinkedIn Learning and Edmodo can recommend professional development courses and resources based on a teacher's interests, experience, and teaching style. These recommendations ensure that teachers receive relevant and impactful training.

Virtual Mentorship: AI can facilitate virtual mentorship programs, connecting teachers with experienced educators and experts in their field. Platforms like Mentorloop and TeachFX use AI to match mentors and mentees based on their profiles and professional goals.

Continuous Learning: AI can help teachers stay updated with the latest educational trends and research. Tools like Feedly and Pocket use AI to curate and recommend articles, research papers, and blog posts tailored to teachers' interests.

6. Classroom Management

Behavior Monitoring: AI-driven classroom management systems, like Classcraft and GoGuardian, monitor student behavior and engagement in real-time. These tools provide insights into student participation, helping teachers identify and address behavioral issues promptly.

Engagement Tracking: AI can track student engagement levels during lessons. Tools like Nearpod and Pear Deck use AI to analyze student interactions with the content, providing feedback to teachers on how to improve lesson engagement.

Automated Alerts: AI systems can send automated alerts to teachers when students exhibit signs of disengagement or disruptive behavior. This allows for timely intervention and helps maintain a positive classroom environment.

These are powerful tools that can save teachers hours of wasted time with students. These tools can also be used to track behavior and engagement issues to help with interventions and individual plans.

7. Resource Creation

All teachers know that resource creation is a total time suck! By relying on AI and each other through platforms like our beloved Teachers Pay Teachers we can help aliviate this common pitfall.

Lesson Planning: AI tools like LessonUp and Planboard assist in creating detailed and engaging lesson plans. These tools can suggest activities, multimedia content, and assessments aligned with learning objectives, making lesson planning more efficient.

Content Generation: AI can help generate educational content, including worksheets, quizzes, and presentations. Platforms like Quizlet and Kahoot! use AI to create interactive and customizable learning materials.

Resource Libraries: AI-powered resource libraries, like Teachers Pay Teachers and Share My Lesson, offer a vast collection of teacher-created resources. AI helps teachers quickly find relevant materials, saving time and effort in resource creation.

8. Student Support

When we support our students with AI we gain valuable time back in our day to attend to other important tasks.

Virtual Teaching Assistants: AI-powered virtual teaching assistants, like IBM Watson Tutor and Carnegie Learning's MATHia, provide additional support to students outside of classroom hours. These assistants can answer questions, provide explanations, and offer extra practice.

Tutoring Programs: AI-driven tutoring programs, such as Squirrel AI and Khan Academy, offer personalized tutoring sessions based on student needs. These programs adapt to the student's learning pace and provide targeted support in specific subject areas.

Chatbots: AI chatbots, like those offered by AdmitHub and EdTech Foundry, provide instant support to students. These chatbots can answer questions, remind students of assignments, and offer study tips, ensuring students receive help whenever they need it.

By integrating AI into their teaching practices, educators can improve student outcomes, and create a more personalized and engaging learning environment all while saving time and enhancing their efficiency. As AI continues to evolve, the possibilities for its application in education are endless. Embrace AI today and become a Savvy Teacher, leading the way in the future of education!

Next up for Savvy Teachers…

It will be a journey for sure, but it seems the possibilities are endless. Let’s keep our focus while we explore how AI tech applies to us; the teacher. How can we perfect our craft and make our lives a bit easier through the use of these AI technologies in conjunction with our Workflows + Processes for a streamline school year?!

It’s going to be great!

~Jess

AI Assist Test: Making My Teacher Planner with and w/out AI

In my quest for a more streamlined approach to organizing my teaching schedule, I turned to AI for assistance. With a simple copy and paste of my schedule from a document shared by a teammate, I enlisted the help of AI to format it according to my preferences. The process was quick and efficient, and I soon had a neatly structured Excel worksheet at my disposal.

Curious about the true impact of AI on my workflow, I decided to conduct a test. This time, I opted to manually format the schedule without AI, relying solely on copying and pasting the content provided by my teammate. To my surprise, the task proved to be more laborious and time-consuming than I had anticipated. The contrast in efficiency was undeniable, prompting me to appreciate the value that AI brings to the table in terms of simplifying tasks.

For those interested in witnessing the tangible benefits of leveraging AI for organizing tasks, I invite you to watch the videos capturing my contrasting experiences. The difference in speed, accuracy, and overall ease of use between utilizing AI and manual formatting is notable. As teachers, we all know that every saved moment is precious and many of them could led to significant changes in our efficiency and work-life balance.

With AI Assistance - Remember I am just learning how to prompt, I am sure that process will get faster with practice!

Without AI Assistance - Simple copy + paste like I would normally do.

Next for Savvy Teachers…

In my upcoming post, I look forward to delving deeper into how I optimize my teaching using workflows and processes, sharing insights on how these simple shifts in perspective and practice and revolutionized our planning processes. Stay tuned for more tips and tricks on enhancing your teacher planner and lesson planning through AI technology and workflow + process integration!

The Journey Begins

Hi there,

My name is Jess Wilkinson, and I'm an elementary teacher with a passion for education and innovation. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of teaching almost every grade from Pre-K through 5th, and I've cherished every moment with plenty of struggles along the way.

In addition to teaching, I have an entrepreneurial spirit. During a hiatus from the classroom to raise my young daughters, I started and helped run several family businesses. This experience ignited my love for processes and workflows, helping me understand how structured systems can simplify even the most complex tasks.

Now that I’m back in the classroom, I’m excited to merge these two passions: education and efficiency. I believe that AI technology holds immense potential to help us transform teaching, curriculum planning, grading, classroom management and administrative tasks. My goal is to explore how we can leverage AI to streamline our teaching through the use of workflows and processes to enhance our educational experience and achieve better work-life balance.

Why AI in Education?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers tools that can significantly reduce the administrative burden on teachers, allowing us to focus more on what we love—teaching! Here’s how AI can help:

- Curriculum Planning: AI can analyze student performance data to recommend personalized learning paths, ensuring that each student receives the attention they need.

- Grading and Assessment: Automated grading systems can save hours of time and provide immediate feedback to students.

- Classroom Management: AI-driven tools can help manage classroom logistics, track attendance, and even monitor student engagement in real-time.

- Content Creation: AI can assist in creating customized educational materials, quizzes, and interactive lessons tailored to diverse learning styles.

My Approach?

I plan to delve into how AI can be integrated into everyday teaching processes, enhancing curriculum planning and streamlining workflows. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the topics I’ll cover:

- Top AI Tools for Teachers: Reviews and recommendations for the best AI tools available.

- Step-by-Step Guides: How to implement AI tools in your classroom, from setup to execution.

- Innovative Processes: Streamline your teaching craft, making your classroom more efficient and effective.

- Workflow Optimization: Tips on creating efficient teaching workflows using AI technology.

- Success Stories: Real-life examples of teachers who have successfully integrated AI into their teaching.

- Future Trends: Exploring the latest advancements in AI and how they can impact education.

I invite you to join me… on this exciting journey as we explore the intersection of teaching, workflows, processes, and AI technology. Together, we can discover innovative ways to enhance our teaching methods and provide our students with the best educational experience possible all while enjoying our professional and personal lives more.

Thank you for visiting, and I look forward to embarking on this adventure with you!

All my best,

Jess