🗑 The periodic table of AI prompting

🚨 50% off Teacher AI Literacy Level 1

The AI Fluency Lab has released its first online course, and it’s starting with a bang! 💥

We’re offering a 50 percent discount to Ditch That Textbook readers who enroll in the course before July 7!

This early bird rate gets you the full course — instructional videos, learning activities, pre-written prompts, discussion boards, and tons of valuable resources.

It’s taught by The AI Fluency Lab faculty — Matt Miller, Holly Clark, and Ken Shelton — so you know you’ll get experienced, practical training.

Take advantage of this opportunity before it disappears!

Interested in enrolling multiple people? Email [email protected] for pricing on bulk orders!

💻 TECH TIP 💻

🧹 Summer cleaning for your Google Classroom

As summer approaches (or arrives!), you might be thinking about your messy Google Classroom.

(Or you might want to file this away for August when you come back for the new school year!)

Check out our post — 10 easy ways to clean up your Google Classroom — based on an episode of my former podcast, The Google Teacher Podcast that I co-hosted with Kasey Bell.

Here are a few items from the list …

• Grade and return all work: This returns the access to students’ work to the students.

• Do NOT delete the Google Classroom folder. It keeps Classroom functioning. And it’s really hard to get back when it’s gone.

• Keep files in “Shared with Me.” It’s a filter, not a folder. Leave it be!

• Delete old class calendars. This will help declutter your Clanedar. Delete through Google Calendar.

💡 THE BIG IDEA 💡

🧪 The periodic table of AI prompting

I’ve been working with fellow presenters/authors Holly Clark and Ken Shelton on our new Teacher AI Literacy Level 1 course.

We have a whole section on AI prompting, and we’re developing a sort of periodic table of AI prompting.

Caution: Don’t worry about your eyesight … the image below is blurry on purpose. (Sorry … a necessary step though!)

The more that I analyze my own prompting, the more I realize that it has lots of elements … lots of pieces to the puzzle that I request from an AI assistant like ChatGPT.

Eventually, I started to see them chaining together, kind of how the elements on the periodic table bond together. (Don’t look too closely at this analogy … remember, I’m a Spanish teacher and not a science teacher!)

For the Teacher AI Literacy Level 1 course, I’m developing a sort of periodic table of AI prompting elements.

The purpose: to help us identify parts to add to our prompts so they’re richer — and so they’re more likely to get us exactly what we’re looking for.

Below are three examples of element chains — and a description of how they work …

1. Teaching Material Prompt

In this prompt, we’ll create a teaching resource — a reading passage about photosynthesis — but we’ll add a couple extra elements to level up the response.

Full prompt: You are a sixth grade science teacher. Write a short reading passage about photosynthesis at three reading levels: 3rd, 6th, and 9th grade. Return each version in simple, short paragraphs.

1. R (Role): “You are a sixth grade science teacher.” This sets the role the AI will play, a common first step in prompting.

2. T (Task): “Write a short reading passage about photosynthesis.” Describes the task in a clear and instructional way.

3. Lv (Levels): “At three reading levels: fourth, sixth, and eighth.” Creates materials at different reading levels, incorporating differentiated instruction.

4. Fm (Format): “Return each version in simple, short paragraphs.” Keeps the output clean, clear, and ready to use.

Why this prompt works: It has solid core features (role and task) that most any teacher AI prompt will need. But it adds a layer of instructional design — leveled texts — AND it requests a specific format so it requires little extra formatting afterward.

2. Classroom Instruction Prompt

In this prompt, we’ll be creating a multifaceted lesson plan that covers some key parts of instruction to help students succeed.

Full prompt: You are an eighth grade math teacher. Explain the concept of slope to students who are just being introduced to it. Include at least two real-world examples of slope, a common misconception students have about slope, and a reflection question to help them connect the idea to their lives.

1. R (Role): “You are an eighth grade math teacher.” Again, sets the role so the AI knows how to act.

2. T (Task): “Explain the concept of slope …” Defines our objective AND adds a little extra context to make sure the response is precise.

3. Ex (Examples): “Include at least two real-world examples …” In this case, we’re not just asking for example problems. We’re asking for places where you’d find this outside of school.

4. M (Misconceptions): “Include a common misconception students have …” If we know that students struggle with this new concept, let’s address it right away.

5. Rf (Reflection): “… and a reflection question …” Add a metacognitive question at the end to solidify learning.

Why this prompt works: It builds on the basics. It includes the core — role and task — but it also helps us pull in a few things we might not think about — real-world examples, misconceptions, and reflection.

3. Differentiated Questions Prompt

In this prompt, we’ll create some student questions using a bit of differentiated instruction. Plus, we’ll introduce the idea of an optional element that might fit in certain circumstances.

Full prompt: You are a fifth grade social studies teacher. Write three comprehension questions about the causes of the American Revolution. Make each question target a different level of Bloom’s Taxonomy: recall, understanding, and analysis. One question should be scaffolded for an English language learner.

1. R (Role): “You are a fifth grade social studies teacher.” As usual, establish the role right away.

2. T (Task): “Write three comprehension questions …” Simple, clear, focused task.

3. Lv (Levels): “Make each question target a different level …” Instead of reading levels, now we’re going to draw on a different model (below). But it still calls on the idea of levels.

4. Cd (Cognitive Demand): … of Bloom’s Taxonomy: recall, understanding, and analysis.” This helps students on a range of complexity of thought.

5. N (Need of Student) (optional): “One question should be scaffolded …” This factors in the needs of particular student populations or particular student needs.

Why this prompt works: It goes beyond the simple “give me 10 questions” prompt that many beginner prompters would use. It draws in important pedagogical techniques — levels, cognitive demand, and needs of student — even if the teacher doesn’t feel like an expert in those areas.

More prompts — and more AI prompting elements

We’re developing this periodic table of AI prompting elements for our Teacher AI Literacy Level 1 course in The AI Fluency Lab.

Until July 7, the course (regularly $99 USD) is on sale for 50 percent off.

You can register today to lock in the discount — and on July 7, when the materials become available, you can get started!

👋 How we can help

There are even more ways I can support you in the important work you do in education:

1. Read one of my six books about meaningful teaching with tech.

2. Take one of our online courses about practical and popular topics in education.

3. Bring me to your school, district or event to speak. I love working with educators!