#2 Public Education was Built to Silence Educators

Use AI to Reclaim Your Power & Autonomy as an Educator

Author

Megan Hsu
October 27, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Lesson Objectives

  • Reflect on how the current education system limits educators’ potential and stifles innovation.

  • Explore how technology, especially AI, can help educators reclaim their time and elevate their teaching.

  • Learn actionable steps to automate mundane tasks and focus on what really matters—teaching and student growth.

Do Now

Before we get started, take a moment to reflect on your own experiences as an educator. What tasks drain your creativity and energy the most? How do these tasks impact your teaching and well-being?

What We’re Discussing Today

Let’s start with a truth we rarely talk about: public education isn’t broken—it’s working exactly as it was designed to. Educators are overworked, underpaid, and stuck in a cycle of outdated systems that stifle creativity and innovation. The real threat to this system? Educators realizing their power.

Think about it. What other field out there has to do everything?

As teachers, we manage classroom that are unpredictable. We have to be ‘on’ every second we are with our students. We need to manage relationships with parents, administrators, colleagues, and support staff. We have to run meetings, we have to collect data, we have to have sharp instincts and compassion.

As administrators, we interview, hire, and evaluate staff at all levels. We run professional development, we manage department budgets. We have to understand and be able to creatively interpret the law. We move between emotional meetings with parents to big picture planning meetings to check-ins with staff that are frustrated. We understand the gravity of our decisions—they can completely change the course of a child’s life.

Yet we are given outdated tools, conflicting laws from different agencies, and the expectation to flex at any given time. Why don’t we just leave? See, here’s the thing—I’m pointing out the truth here because I love education. I’m not here to teach you how to leave. There are plenty of people out there doing that already. I want to start a movement. Let’s create our own solutions. Let’s take charge and create our own change.

It’s time to break free from this cycle and reimagine education. And that’s what I want to build with Edumated—a community of empowered educators, working together to create our own vision of what education should be.

There’s a big movement currently to build in public. It creates accountability, it builds anticipation. I want to take it one step further. I want us to build collectively—build together with a common goal to improve education for all students and staff. Let’s start now!

I Do, We Do, You Do

I Do: My Vision for a Thriving Education System

This week, I created a list of tools, services, systems, and resources that—if built—would drastically change the future of education. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a start. Here it is: 20 Education Startup Ideas. Feel free to make a copy and use it as you please.

Remember, I’m not here to help educators leave the profession. I want the opposite. I want to build a culture where education is a desired profession, where educators thrive. I want to create a world where we are empowered to innovate, collaborate, and reclaim our time. And I believe technology, particularly AI, is the game-changer we need.

But here’s the catch: the system isn’t going to teach us how to use it. That’s up to us. It’s time for educators to take this into our own hands—automate the mundane, disrupt the status quo, and build our own solutions. We can’t do it alone but we can do it together.

We Do: Let’s Build This Together

Let’s look at how we can start building our own solutions. Watch this video on time-saving automation:

Jack Roberts creates some of the best Make automation content on YouTube. Think about what this could be used for in education. This week, I will be building this out and applying it to progress monitoring in special education. (I attended my brother’s wedding this weekend and returned with a head cold, so no video from me.)

Here are three key ways AI and automation can change your day-to-day life:

  1. Automate Paperwork: From grading to IEP documentation, AI can handle time-consuming tasks with tools with Google Sheets + Make.com automations.

  2. Streamline Parent Communication: Automate weekly updates, progress reports, and reminders using email templates or chatbots, freeing up hours each week.

  3. Reimagine Lesson Planning: Use AI tools like ChatGPT to generate creative, adaptable lesson plans that meet your students’ needs without the extra workload.

Let’s try this together: Start by choosing one administrative task you find exhausting and automate it this week. If you need help getting started, we have a guide for that—stay tuned!

You Do: Your Mini Task for the Week

This week, I challenge you to identify one repetitive task that drains your energy and automate it. Whether it’s grading, lesson planning, or communicating with parents—find a tool or system (or build one!) to take it off your plate. By reclaiming your time, you’ll find more room for creativity and connection with your students.

Keep my two mantras in the back of your head this week:

  • You always have time for the things you make time for.

  • Micromentum: a small commitment can build massive momentum.

Think-Pair-Share

  • Think of 3 tasks in your current workflow that could benefit from automation.

  • Pair up with a colleague to brainstorm which tools or strategies you could use to automate these tasks.

  • Share your ideas (and struggles) with our community of educators and let’s support each other in reclaiming our time! Post about your ideas and connect with other Edumators who are transforming their classrooms with automation.

Exit Ticket

Completed your mini task? Post about it on social media and tag us! Let’s celebrate your progress:

Follow us for more AI and automation tips.

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Spread the Word!

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