Library › Productivity AI › Teachers
Cover a colleague's classes using everyone's free periods
Practice: Setting limits and rules. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
A teammate on your 8th-grade team is out Thursday for a training, and you're arranging in-house coverage. You want exactly 4 numbered lines, one per class she teaches, each as period - class - covering teacher, under 45 words, plain text. Each teacher can only cover during a free period, nobody covers twice, and use the updated free period one teacher sent. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Missing the updated free period. Ms. Patel's original free period is in the list, so the AI puts her in 3rd. Try: Add: "Use Ms. Patel's update: free 4th, not 3rd."
- Ignoring the one-class rule. The AI gives Mr. Cole both periods he's free. Try: Add: "Nobody covers more than one class."
- Not giving the line shape. The AI writes a table or explains its choices. Try: Add: "Each line: period - class - covering teacher."
- Letting the AI add extras. The AI adds the planning periods and sub plan notes. Try: Add: "Only the 4 classes. Plain text, numbered."
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 45 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 8 words."
What a strong prompt includes
- Says how many lines
- Uses the update
- States the one-class rule
- Shows the line shape
- Sets a word limit
Related exercises
- Announce a new weekend rotation in three clear rules (Productivity AI · Managers and team leads)
- Announce the employee assistance program in three steps (Writing AI · HR and recruiting)
- Answer a patient portal message about delayed lab results (Writing AI · Nurses and healthcare workers)
- Answer a refill request without promising approval (Writing AI · Nurses and healthcare workers)
- Answer an application's employment-gap question in a few lines (Writing AI · Job seekers)