Knowing how to use AI as a teacher can be a game changer.

Teaching has always been demanding. Endless lesson planning, grading, emails, and admin work – most of it done outside of school hours. AI can change that.

If you’ve ever wished for a personal assistant to handle the busywork, AI is exactly that. It’s not here to replace teachers. It’s here to give teachers back their time and after everything you’ve done, you deserve that.

For years, teachers have been expected to do it all, lesson planning, grading, differentiation, admin work, parent communication, and more. I have been teaching since the internet was born and so I have been through hundreds of changes to the teaching profession and had to keep up with every single one. So I am in the perfect position to see how the workload of teachers has increased exponentially all with the same amount of time to complete it.

It’s about time teachers were given a break and took back their time and their lives.

AI should not be an extra task on the to-do list. It should be a time-saving tool that reduces workload, not adds to it. Used well, AI can free up hours each week, prevent teacher burnout, and create space for a more balanced, sustainable teaching career.

Teachers Have Always Done It All – Without an Assistant

Teaching is one of the only professions where employees are expected to handle every aspect of their job without structured support. There are no administrative assistants handling emails, no research teams summarizing key findings, and no time allocated for deep planning.

Every lesson, every assignment, and every communication with parents or students is created, personalized, and delivered by the teacher.

On top of this, teachers are responsible for:

• Planning engaging lessons that align with curriculum requirements
• Assessing student progress and differentiating instruction for various learning levels
• Communicating with parents, counselors, and administrators
• Managing classroom behavior, student well-being, and learning needs
• Attending meetings, completing professional development, and handling paperwork

The reality is that teachers have been doing far more than just teaching, often sacrificing personal time to keep up with the endless workload. AI has the potential to change this, but only if it is used strategically.

Why Teachers Deserve AI

AI is already transforming industries by automating repetitive tasks, analyzing data, and generating content in seconds. Yet, teachers are often expected to resist AI or view it as a challenge rather than a solution.

Here’s why teachers deserve AI:

• Workload expectations have become unsustainable. AI can handle tasks that take up valuable time, such as creating differentiated materials or summarizing data.
• Other professionals use AI to streamline their work. Doctors use AI to diagnose conditions faster, marketers use AI to generate reports, and lawyers use AI for legal research. Teachers should have access to the same level of support.
• AI should reduce workload, not add to it. If AI is making your job harder, it is not being used effectively. The right AI tools should remove tasks, not create new ones.

AI should be viewed as a personal assistant, one that is always available, free to use, and capable of handling the repetitive aspects of teaching.

How AI Can Actually Save You Time

The key to using AI effectively is choosing tools that automate tasks you already do, rather than creating new ones. AI should be a shortcut, not an extra obligation.

1. Lesson Planning in Minutes

• ChatGPT can generate lesson ideas, quizzes, and discussion prompts in seconds.
• Curipod can create interactive lesson slides that engage students.
• Canva Magic Write can generate templates, classroom posters, and worksheets.

Using AI for lesson planning means less time spent searching for resources and more time focusing on students.

2. Faster Differentiation & Scaffolding

• Diffit.me can adjust reading materials to different levels instantly.
• QuillBot can simplify complex texts, making them easier for struggling students.
• Eduaide.AI can generate adaptive learning materials for various abilities.

Instead of manually rewriting instructions or searching for leveled texts, AI can handle differentiation in seconds.

3. Automated Feedback & Grading

• Grammarly can provide instant grammar and writing feedback for students.
• Eduaide.AI can create detailed rubrics and assessment tools.
• MagicSchool AI can generate personalized feedback based on student work.

Automating feedback reduces the time spent marking assignments while still providing valuable insights to students.

4. Quick Admin & Communication

• ChatGPT can draft emails, parent communications, and progress reports.
• Elicit can summarize academic research and provide key takeaways.
• Brisk Teaching can help teachers create curriculum, generate feedback, and streamline grading.

Instead of spending hours on admin work, AI can take care of drafting, summarizing, and organizing information efficiently.

Try this: Identify one repetitive task that takes up too much time. Choose an AI tool to streamline it.

How AI Can Help Prevent Teacher Burnout & Support Slow Living

Teacher burnout is often caused by excessive workload, unrealistic expectations, and a lack of time for personal well-being. AI has the potential to reduce stress, create boundaries, and give teachers back their time.

• Reducing late nights spent on planning and grading. AI can automate the most time-consuming tasks, allowing teachers to leave work at work.
• Minimizing decision fatigue. Instead of spending energy creating new materials, AI can provide options that teachers can refine and personalize.
• Allowing more time for personal interests. With AI handling repetitive tasks, teachers can have more energy for hobbies, family, and rest.

Slow living is about intentional choices – choosing where to put energy and when to step back. AI allows teachers to step back from unnecessary workload and focus on what truly matters.

Try this: Consider one area of your job that drains you. Test an AI tool to reduce the workload in that area.

AI-Resistant Teaching & Assessment Strategies

A common concern is that AI will lead to student cheating and plagiarism. Instead of banning AI, teachers can redesign assessments to incorporate AI in meaningful ways.

How to Design AI-Resistant Tasks

• Require personal connections. AI can generate information, but it cannot replicate personal experiences or reflections.
• Use AI as a tool, not a shortcut. Ask students to critique, refine, or analyze AI-generated responses instead of producing original work from scratch.
• Focus on real-world applications. Projects, presentations, and discussions that require independent thinking are harder to automate.

Instead of fighting AI, integrate it into your teaching to enhance learning rather than replace it.

Try this: Look at an upcoming assessment. How can you modify it to account for AI use?

AI Should Work for You – Not the Other Way Around

Teachers have been expected to do everything on their own for too long. AI is an opportunity to reclaim time, reduce stress, and create a more balanced workload.

The key is using AI intentionally:

• If an AI tool reduces work, use it.
• If an AI tool adds work, ignore it.
• If AI saves even one hour per week, that is an hour teachers get back for themselves.

Teachers deserve AI – not as another obligation, but as a tool that finally lightens the load.

Try this: Choose one AI tool to test. If it saves time, keep using it. If it doesn’t, move on to something else.

Make Time for the AI That Saves You Time

AI is not just another education trend. AI is a tool that can finally give teachers the support they’ve never had. But like any tool, it only works if you actually use it.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by workload, now is the time to take action. Go back through the action steps in this post and choose one AI tool to try this week. Not next month. Not “when things calm down.” This week.

Set aside 15 minutes to explore a tool that could save you hours in the long run. Whether it’s using AI for lesson planning, grading, or admin work, small changes add up to big time savings.

Teaching should be sustainable, and you deserve the kind of support that makes it possible. AI is here to lighten the load. But it starts with you taking that first step.

Will you make time for the AI that saves you time?