Ashtin Johnson uses ChatGPT to build her online classroom in Canvas and adapt assignments for fifth graders working at different levels. She estimates that AI saves her tens of hours a week, much of it on course preparation, emails and classroom materials.
Johnson has taught in Utah’s Davis School District for 12 years, to classes of up to 32 students. Some students need extra help with reading or math. Some students with disabilities join her class for activities like PE, art, or computers. For any given subject, Johnson is teaching many classrooms within a classroom.
At OpenAI’s Salt Lake City K-12 Educator Jam, Johnson used ChatGPT to build and synchronize her courses in Canvas, the online learning system her students and their parents use. During a back-to-school week that included four hours of professional development each day, she used it to prepare online courses, emails and back-to-school materials while physically setting up her room.
The same tool helps her adapt assignments while keeping the class moving forward together. “With AI, it’s not as overwhelming to take the same assignment and to break it down into three different levels,” she says. For students who need more accessible reading material, she can build a progression around the same projects their classmates are doing. “They’re still feeling like they’re part of the classroom and they have the same materials we have, just at a level that fits their ability.”
Johnson teaches students how to use an AI tutoring tool to work through questions they might be embarrassed to ask in front of the class. A child struggling with regrouping numbers can get help privately. “They didn’t have to ask that out loud in front of everybody,” Johnson says, “but they could ask it in private.” At the same time, one advanced fifth grader used the tutor to keep moving through a sixth-grade course when the sixth-grade teacher was unavailable, which was key to keeping her engaged.
Writing time can produce a line of students at her desk, each asking, “Is this good enough?” Johnson teaches students to explain to the AI tutor what they’re writing and what kind of feedback they need. Instead of waiting for one teacher to reach every desk, they can all get more practice rewriting.
ChatGPT also helps Johnson plan projects around the interests her students bring into the classroom, whether graphic design, drones or Lego. “When I ask a student what they want to do, it changes how they look at school,” she says. Johnson often starts by speaking to ChatGPT instead of typing: “I talk to my computer 90% of the time.” ChatGPT turns her spoken thoughts into emails and elaborate project plans she can refine, giving her more confidence in her writing.
Johnson loves teaching, and she says spending less time on digital preparation lets her give more attention to her students. As a mother of three children under 12, she also asks: “How do I give what I can to my kids?” Getting more of that work done during the school day leaves her more energy for them at home.
