Ava Morton uses ChatGPT to help students with special needs understand Romeo and Juliet, the Gettysburg Address, and other forms of writing that can be challenging for any middle schooler.
Morton, an 8th-grade special education teacher at Babb Middle School in Clayton County, Georgia, works with students with ADHD, dyslexia, autism, and other learning challenges. Many struggle with texts written in a way that feels far removed from how students speak today.
That leaves them often reading two to three grade levels below where they need to be, and Morton uses ChatGPT to help them understand the same grade-level material as their peers. âChatGPT helps me meet all of my students where they need to be,â she said.
Morton was one of more than 170 Clayton County Public Schools teachers who attended last weekâs inaugural AI Skills Jam for Kâ12 Educators in Jonesboro, Georgia. Clayton County serves 50,000 students, and Morton said ChatGPT is already helping her personalize lessons for students with different needs.
Before ChatGPT, Morton spent hours searching across different websites, vetting what she found, and adapting it for her students. She estimates ChatGPT now saves her at least five hours of planning time each week.
For a Shakespeare unit, that can mean showing students the original text from Romeo and Juliet, a modern version, and a simpler version adapted to their reading level. For a lesson on the Gettysburg Address, it can mean breaking the material into smaller pieces, helping her explain difficult passages more clearly, and creating questions to check whether students understand the lesson.
If a student is struggling with a concept, Morton can ask ChatGPT for another way to explain it in simpler language. For students with dyslexia, it can help her spot words or letters that may be especially challenging, so she knows when to pause, say them out loud, and make sure students are following along.
Morton also uses ChatGPT to communicate with families. She drafts messages in English, translates them into a parentâs native language, and can keep the conversation going even when language might otherwise be a barrier. She said that has been especially helpful with parents who speak Spanish or Vietnamese.
For students on the autism spectrum, Morton said ChatGPT can help her rephrase questions about literature, poetry, or figurative language in real-time when a lesson is not landing.
âIf a lesson is not going as intended, I may take a short little break and check in with Chat to see how I can refine this in the moment,â Morton said. âIt can help me make sure I can reach those students and rephrase how Iâm teaching or saying things.â
She said ChatGPT is not replacing the teacher. It is helping teachers adjust more quickly to what their students need.
âIt functions more as a teacherâs assistant, and in some instances as a coach,â Morton said. âIt gives me ideas, and it gives me a chance to go back, reflect, and adjust what Iâm doing.â
