How Leaders Can Use AI to Reduce Teacher Workload While Preserving a Positive, Organized Classroom Environment

0:02 Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Road to an Effective Classroom Environment, where we explore practical strategies that help educators build positive, organized, and successful learning communities. I am your host, Dr. Lashonta, known as that Classy Sassy consultant. I am an educational leader, consultant, leadership coach, and someone who believes that great teaching shouldn't require sacrificing your health, your family, or your peace of mind. So today we're talking about something that seems to be everywhere right now, and that is artificial intelligence known as AI.

0:45 So educators are excited about AI, some feel overwhelmed, and then you have some who are wondering whether AI will replace teachers. So here's the short answer to that question: No, AI will not replace good teachers, great teachers. AI will never replace them because teachers are going to be needed. But leaders who know how to use AI wisely will absolutely outperform teachers who don't. Today's conversation isn't about replacing relationships, it's about reducing unnecessary workload so teachers can spend more time doing what matters most.

1:31 And that's connecting with students, building classroom culture, and providing meaningful instruction. So let's go ahead and dive into this conversation. So the real problem isn't teaching. And I want to start off with that, and that there is a clear distinction when we're talking about where issues in the classroom. Most teachers aren't exhausted because of teaching itself, they're exhausted because of everything surrounding teaching. So just think about the day in the life of a teacher. You might be married to a teacher, you might be a teacher yourself, you might be the child of a teacher.

2:13 But think about the day in the life of a teacher. Teachers are writing lesson plans, creating rubrics, they're writing emails to parents, they're differentiating instruction, analyzing data, updating learning management systems, documenting interventions, creating classroom visuals, and then finding engaging activities as well as completing compliance paperwork, answering dozens of emails, attending meetings, and somewhere inside of all that, teachers are expected to inspire children. That's a lot.

2:52 That is a lot to do. When leaders hear teacher burnout, they often think the answer is another wellness initiative or another appreciation luncheon or another motivational speaker. Those things are wonderful and they do serve a place. I love a good wellness initiative. Walking around a track or getting steps in, and whoever has the most steps, they they are awarded some type of certificate or t-shirt or a book bag. I love a good appreciation luncheon. If the macaroni is like my grandmama made with all the cheese oozing and goozing, I love a great luncheon.

3:36 And motivational speakers are awesome. I just came back from the South Carolina Association for School Administrators conference that's held in North Murrell Beach every year. And the closing speaker was Dr. Eric Thomas. Phenomenal. He did a phenomenal job. And I am ready. I'm ready for the upcoming year, as well as many of the people in that room. So all of these are great ideas, and they should still continue because they show appreciation. But appreciation doesn't remove the workload, systems do.

4:15 And so that's where AI becomes a leadership tool and not just a technology tool. So AI should remove work and not relationships. What that means, we're looking at when we look at schools and we see where mistakes are happening. One of the mistakes that they make as far as leaders, leaders will ask, how can teachers use AI? So my belief is that leaders should ask a different question. They should be asking the question, what repetitive work can AI remove so teachers can spend more time with students?

4:56 Now that's leadership. And we've all done it at the beginning of any new initiative, whether it's an initiative the district office or executive office has put out, or whether it's things that our principal may have researched or gone to a conference, brought back to the school.

5:33 How can they how can AI help to remove that repetitive work? So AI should never, and I mean never, replace relationships or discussions in the classroom, teacher judgment, student encouragement, restorative conversations. Those are things that require human connection. So that requires wisdom from a human, not from AI. So that's not what AI is for, it's not to replace those human connections that teachers should be making with their students. But AI absolutely can help with repetitive tasks. For example, instead of spending an hour creating vocabulary activities, AI can generate them in seconds.

6:22 Instead of rewriting a lesson for three different reading levels, AI can create differentiated versions almost instantly. And instead of staring at a blank screen trying to write a parent communication, AI can draft it. Teachers must review the information because you got to inspect what you expect. Teachers still have to put their own personal stamp on it, personalize it, make it their own.

6:55 But the point is they don't have to start from scratch. So that's the difference in how you can use AI effectively in the classroom that can help to reduce some of the workload that teachers have. So, what are some ways that school leaders can leverage AI? So listen up, school leaders, this is what you can do. First thing is provide lesson planning support. Encourage teachers to use AI as a planning assistant. So having that teacher to take a 50-minute lesson on photosynthesis using collaborative learning and exit tickets, and then seconds later, they get a complete framework.

7:41 Teachers can adjust it, they can improve it, they make it theirs. The planning time decreases dramatically. So using AI as lesson planning support, and that requires making sure that you, as leaders, you know what you're doing, or you're able to bring in the professionals that can guide them, provide that professional learning to show them what they should do. But as a leader, what you expect the teachers to be doing in their classroom, you need to be able to speak on it and show it yourself as well.

8:14 That's that's Dr. Lachant's opinion. Another way leaders can leverage AI is through differentiating instruction. And differentiation is one of the biggest challenges that teachers do face. But instead of creating one lesson and then creating a lesson for struggling learners and then another one for advanced learners, AI can generate all three. It's very similar to uh News ELA or New Zella for my teaching folks out there, depending on where you are and how it's presented to you, New Zella or News ELA, it that is a program that is able to put have the same passage, same piece of reading.

9:02 It has the same, the context is the same, but you can vary it for the different reading levels. And so if you're wanting to differentiate instruction, AI can do that because teachers are constantly having to complete a lesson plan or assignments in which they are catering to the needs of their students as they should. But one lesson, one assessment, it's not for every student. And so if you're going to differentiate the instruction, you've got to have a tool that's gonna help you in that process so that can help to reduce the workload.

9:47 And so this is not, this is not cheating, this is not, this is not off the wall, but this is efficiency. Teachers still decide what students receive. So another way leaders can leverage AI is through family communication. Teachers spend hours writing emails, leaders can provide support by helping teachers to have the right AI prompts. So, for instance, telling AI, whether you're using Chat GPT or if you are using any other chat right now is in my mind, but whether whether you're using chat or co-pilot or any of the other AI models that are out there, you can put a prompt in that says write a professional parent email explaining missing assignments, or you can use it to create a positive phone call script celebrating a student improvement.

10:49 So communication with parents improves because now teachers don't have to struggle to find the words or even finding the time. Once you put the prompt in, the way your emails are set up, you can schedule the email to send out at a certain time, or you can have the prompt for what you're gonna say when you call a parent if you're at a loss for words. But consistency improves and teacher stress decreases. Another way that leaders can leverage AI is through administrative tasks, such as meeting agendas, professional development outlines, observation summaries, school newsletters, staff recognition messages, student certificates, classroom newsletters.

11:39 This gives administrators something that they rarely have, and that's time. Time to coach teachers, time to visit classrooms, time to visit to build relationships. So it's important that if there are some tasks that you can take off the off your plate that could be done in a in a few seconds, and all you have to do is fine-tune it, then use AI. Another way that, and the last way that leaders can leverage AI is through data analysis. So as educators, we collect so much T of so much data. Teachers, they collect a lot of data in their classroom through formative and summative assessments and through attendance.

12:27 So much data is collected and collected, and as leaders, we do the same. But many don't have the time to interpret that data, and that can be said whether you're a classroom teacher or if you are building level administrator, district level administrator. You have to find that time or stay up hours beyond your bedtime going through and analyzing data. AI can summarize that data for you.

13:09 So instead of drowning in spreadsheets, instead of drowning in Excel, teachers can receive actionable information that they can use. Okay. Now, how we protect classroom culture while using AI. So this is a big one for me because you know this this is I am the culture queen here. And one thing that does concern me is how we can protect classroom culture while using AI. Sometimes schools become so excited about technology that they forget all about culture, but technology does not create culture, people do.

13:54 A positive classroom environment is still built through greeting students, knowing their names, building trust, providing feedback to the students, restorative conversations, clear expectations, visible learning, and student ownership. AI cannot smile at a child, AI cannot notice when a student is having a difficult day, and AI cannot build belonging. That is our work. Us as humans, that is our work. The best schools will use AI to handle the administrative load while teachers focus on the human work.

14:38 So think about it this way: if AI handles the paperwork, teachers handle the people. That's how positive culture survives. So, what I want leaders to think about, there are three questions that I want you to ask before you begin to implement AI in your schools or in your school districts. So think about these three questions before you introduce AI. The first question is: will this save teachers time and not create more work, but actually save time? If it's not going to save time, and you may have to look at teachers individually and not as a as a collective group, because you know in your buildings, if you know your teachers, you know your staff, you know who will embrace what new concepts are out there.

15:39 There are some that are gung-ho, they will anything that they learn about, they're willing to try it. But when you have those who are kind of set in their ways, and you don't have to be over 60 or over 50 to be set in your ways, you have some young people that they only want to do things their way. You have to look at it on a case-by-case basis. And if individually you have those who are not ready to embrace AI because they're still typing with two fingers, or they don't like technology because they're afraid of it, as I was at one point, then you have to take baby steps with them.

16:20 You have to go all the way back to introducing technology little by little with them and working your way up to AI. So that's the first question is will it save teachers time? Because if your teachers are not going to embrace it, then they're not, then it's not going to help them to save time because they're not going to use it. So, case by case, you have to look at the individuals, look at collectively, how can this help teachers? Who are those teachers in your in your building that can help bring them along the way and will encourage them to embrace it?

16:57 The second question, leaders, that you need to ask is Does this improve instruction? If it looks impressive, it's probably not worth it. Does this help to improve instruction? That is the second question that you should ask. And then the third question is: Does this protect relationships? Because if technology reduces meaningful interaction, it's solving the wrong problem. Leadership is always about people first and technology second. It's just like the the piece of being a student and being an athlete.

17:38 That student is a student athlete, not an athletic student. Okay. So those are your three questions to ask when you're looking at introducing AI. Will this save teachers' time? Does this improve instruction? And does this protect relationships? So I want you to keep in mind a couple of key um of key takeaways from our conversation. When you're thinking back to this episode, you can always replay it back to go over these points. But there are five things that I want you to keep in mind. The first thing is AI should reduce workload, not replace teachers.

18:16 The second thing is you use AI for a repetitive task. Keep human connections human. The third key takeaway is leaders set the tone. When leaders model responsibly, responsibly, AI can be used. When leaders model responsibly, AI can be used. Teachers feel permission to explore safely. Or to explore safely. And then the fourth takeaway is time saved should be reinvested into students, not replaced with more meetings. So just because you're saving time, that doesn't mean that you need to open up your calendar to put more meetings in place.

19:08 And then the fifth takeaway is positive classroom culture remains the foundation. Technology is simply one more tool to support it. So as we close this out, I want to leave you with a challenge. So this week, or whenever you are starting back school, if you're not currently in school, I want you to find one repetitive task that consumes unnecessary time. Maybe it's lesson planning, maybe it's writing emails, or even creating assessments. Use AI to complete that one task. Then use the time you saved to walk into a classroom, encourage a teacher, have a meaningful conversation with the student, or just be present.

20:00 Leadership isn't measured by how much technology you adopt, it's measured by how much time you create for what matters the most. Thank you for joining me for another episode of The Road to an Effective Classroom Environment. And if today's conversation encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with another educational leader who is looking for ways to support teachers without adding to their workload. You can also connect with me through Lee Jane's Consulting LLC, where I work with schools and organizations to build positive cultures, strengthen leadership, and create sustainable systems that help educators thrive.

20:42 Until next time, remember a positive classroom environment doesn't happen by accident. It happens through intentional leadership. And when we use technology wisely, we create more space for the relationships that matter most. I am Dr. Lashonta, and I'll see you on the next episode of The Road to an Effective Classroom Environment.