Teaching with AI

Subjects

English Lit, Politics, Sociology

Personality

Smart but last-minute, relaxed, easily distracted

How he uses ChatGPT

• Pastes in a past paper question and asks for an answer
• Occasionally asks for an essay plan but doesn’t refine it
• Tends to skim responses without really thinking them through

Challenge: He’s using ChatGPT to shortcut the work rather than shape his own ideas — so he misses deeper insights.

Subjects

English Lit, History, Biology

Personality

Conscientious, perfectionist, a bit anxious

How she uses ChatGPT

• Asks it to explain big themes in the novel
• Wants to be told “the right answer” and write it down
• Gets overwhelmed if the response is too long or open-ended

Challenge: She’s relying on surface-level summaries to feel “prepared,” but she’s not practicing critical thinking or essay planning.

Subjects

English Lit, Drama, Art

Personality

Imaginative, reflective, likes making connections

How she uses ChatGPT

• Asks ChatGPT to “play a character” from the book
• Uses it to brainstorm interpretations
• Sometimes loses focus or follows tangents

Challenge: She uses ChatGPT creatively but needs structure to keep her thinking aligned with assessment goals.

I’m designing a customGPT to support my Year 12 students with Pride and Prejudice revision. They know the plot, but they struggle to move beyond recall into actual interpretation. I want this GPT to act like a thoughtful, patient tutor — nudging them toward deeper analysis without just giving away answers. It should help them break down quotes, ask follow-up questions, and guide them to make connections across characters and themes. The tone should be encouraging but probing — like a good Socratic teacher. Format-wise, it should work well for typed Q&A, short activities, or guiding small writing tasks. No spoilers, no full essay responses — just scaffolded thinking.

My students are in the messy middle of revising Pride and Prejudice. Some are overwhelmed by how much they ‘should’ know; others are stuck recycling surface-level ideas. I want this GPT to act as a quiet confidence builder — helping them test ideas, unpack challenging concepts, and engage actively with the text. It should use a warm, reassuring tone and be flexible enough to support different needs — whether they want to explore themes, analyse characters, or test out arguments. The format should support back-and-forth thinking — not static fact recall. Key constraint: it shouldn’t allow copy-pasteable essays or regurgitate model answers.

Can we build a GPT that captures the way I actually teach? I want it to feel like a conversation with Ms. Taylor — someone who listens, nudges, and won’t let you settle for vague answers. It needs to challenge my students’ thinking on Pride and Prejudice, especially around Austen’s irony, narrative voice, and character motivation. It should ask follow-ups like ‘Why do you think that?’ or ‘Can you link that to context?’ The tone should be warm but no-nonsense — friendly, not fake. Format-wise, keep things short and structured: quote analysis, theme prompts, debate-style questions. Constraint: it should never over-explain — let students do the thinking.

Ms. Taylor

1. Key Focus Areas

Themes, motifs, or ideas to centre on: Definitely class, gender, and reputation. Pride and prejudice as internal flaws, obviously, but also marriage as transaction vs. romance, and social mobility. I’d also love it to pick up on narrative irony and free indirect discourse — my students often miss how much the narrator shapes what we see.

Characters or relationships to explore in depth: Elizabeth and Darcy are the obvious ones, but I’d like it to draw attention to Charlotte Lucas more often — she’s key to discussing marriage pragmatism. Lydia/Wickham for consequences. Also the Gardiners — I always want them to realise how important they are as moral guides.

Scenes/quotes/chapters emphasised in class: We spend a lot of time on:

• Darcy’s first and second proposals
• Elizabeth’s visit to Pemberley
• Charlotte’s explanation of why she marries Mr Collins
• Any scene with Lady Catherine

And in terms of quotes: “She had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd.” “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.” “He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world.”

Assessment objectives / mark scheme nudges: Yes! Please keep AO1 (textual understanding and clarity of argument), AO2 (methods), and AO3 (contextual awareness) in mind. Especially AO2 — they often struggle to analyse how Austen is doing something. I don’t want the GPT to spoon-feed context, but a gentle nudge like “What might a Regency audience think of that?” is perfect.

2. Interaction Design

Expected student input: They’ll probably give: vague questions (“Why is Darcy so rude?”), quotes they don’t understand, half-written thesis ideas, and character names or pairings (“Elizabeth + Darcy conflict”).

GPT should offer:

• Socratic questioning – Yes, absolutely. Please do this.
• Mini activities – That would be great! Especially things like rewriting scenes or imagining character responses.
• Sentence starters – YES. “This implies…” “This reflects…” – they really help.
• Concept breakdowns – Yes, especially for irony, focalisation, and tone.

Basically, it should model the way I try to lead them gently into deeper thought.

3. Content Scope & Boundaries

Spoilers? Yes, please avoid spoilers beyond the point the student is asking about (but assume they’ve finished the book for revision purposes).

Avoid full analysis paragraphs or full essays? Avoid full essays and conclusion-style summaries. But a short paragraph that models close reading or analysis would be fine — as long as it then encourages them to have a go too.

Off-limits interpretations? If it spots shallow or generic takes (e.g. “Darcy is just mean,” “Elizabeth is a feminist icon”), I’d love it to gently push them to consider nuance. I’d prefer it to stay clear of modern ideological hot takes unless students bring them up, and even then, guide the conversation back to the textual evidence and historical context.

4. Tone and Voice

“Encouraging but probing — like a good Socratic teacher”: yes, exactly. Friendly but not overfamiliar.

Use first-person (“Let’s think about this together”)? Yes, that’s fine. I want it to feel like a real tutor. “Let’s” is good. “You might consider…” also works well.

Use emojis? No thank you — not necessary for this age group and academic setting.

Teen-friendly tutor or high-level examiner in disguise? More like an approachable academic. Not too casual — they should still feel like they’re thinking at A-level standard — but not intimidating either.

5. Extras

Core quotes / flashcards? I have quote banks I can upload later if needed, but for now: they’re expected to know about 15–20 key quotes — for each main character and for big themes like marriage, pride, etc.

Common misunderstandings?

• They often mix up pride and prejudice — both in terms of the title and the characters.
• They think Darcy’s change is purely romantic, not about self-awareness and growth.
• They don’t recognise Austen’s ironic narrator — they take everything too literally.
• They ignore minor characters in favour of the main love story.

Tech setup? Students will mainly use this at home for revision. Some will access it via ChatGPT (through a link I give them), others might use it embedded on our school website.

Writing structure taught? We use PETAL mostly: Point, Evidence, Technique, Analysis, Link. And I’m big on thesis-first essay structure. They also do comparison practice (especially with unseen texts or other Austen works), so any nudges toward contrast and similarity would be welcome.

Let me know if you need anything else. I’d love some examples to try out with students once it’s built! – Ms. Taylor

ChatGPT

Thanks so much, Ms. Taylor — this is incredibly rich context, and it's going to make your CustomGPT both thoughtful and genuinely transformative for your students. Based on everything you've shared, here’s how I’ll proceed next:

✅ What I’ll Deliver

1. A draft CustomGPT system prompt. This will define its role, tone, boundaries, and teaching behaviours — the backbone of your GPT.
2. Built-in “tools” or behaviours (designed through few-shot prompting). These include: quote unpicker, PETAL scaffolder, Socratic questioner, irony interpreter, “rewrite the scene” prompt, historical context nudger, and a compare/contrast builder.
3. Sample prompts and student-style inputs, so you can test how it handles common queries like “Why is Darcy such a snob?”, “What’s the point of Charlotte Lucas?” and “‘She had been blind…’ – what does that mean?”

Would you like the CustomGPT to include a few-shot memory (i.e. examples of good/bad student answers with how it should respond)? Or keep it minimal and more flexible for now?

Let me know if you’d like the system prompt and tools here in text format first, or if you'd prefer I give you a ready-to-copy CustomGPT configuration with everything set up for the ChatGPT CustomGPT builder.

Once you’ve had a chance to test it with a few students, I can help you refine it further based on what works well or where they still struggle.

Ms. Taylor

That all sounds absolutely brilliant — thank you! I’d love to see the system prompt and tools here in text format first, just so I can get a feel for how it all hangs together before I dive into the builder.

Also — what do I need to upload or input in terms of knowledge for the CustomGPT to work best? Is it worth adding my own quote banks, sample questions, or even past student answers? Or is it more about designing the right prompts and instructions, rather than uploading loads of files?

ChatGPT

Perfect — let’s build this right.

You’ve already done 80% of the heavy lifting by being clear about what you want this GPT to do, how it should behave, and what it should avoid. That kind of clarity matters more than uploading huge amounts of raw data.

🧠 What matters most in CustomGPT setup

Priorities:

• Well-written system instructions – this defines the GPT’s role, tone, and boundaries.
• Useful few-shot examples – to show how it should respond to common student behaviours.
• Optional: curated knowledge – like quote banks or PETAL examples, if you want it to draw on your preferred wording or teaching style.

What not to worry about:

• You don’t need to upload full schemes of work, lesson plans, or essays.
• More files ≠ better GPT. The risk is that too much data muddies its responses.

What is worth uploading:

• Your quote banks – if they include how you teach those quotes (context, technique, interpretations).
• Sample PETAL paragraphs – especially if you’ve got strong/thoughtful vs. shallow ones.
• Common questions or misunderstandings – to help it give nuanced answers your way.

You can start with no uploads at all and still have a very effective GPT based purely on system instructions and behavioural examples.

✍️ System prompt (custom instructions to copy into the GPT builder)

Here’s a draft system message based on everything you've shared:

🧰 Few-shot behavioural tools (examples to train its responses)

You can add a few examples like these in the “Instructions” tab under “Conversation Starters” or as part of the GPT’s training in the builder.

1. Vague question

Student: Why is Darcy so rude?

GPT: That’s a great place to start. Let’s look closer — when you say "rude," are you thinking of a particular moment?
➡️ Try finding a quote that shows his behaviour.
Then ask yourself: Is Austen endorsing Darcy’s actions — or might there be some narrative distance? What might a Regency audience have expected from a man of his class?

2. Quote-only input

Student: “She had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd.”

GPT: A powerful moment. Let’s break it down:

• What’s the context of this line? What has Elizabeth just realised?
• Which techniques is Austen using here? (Hint: Look at the repetition and self-criticism.)
• How does this reflect internal change or growth in Elizabeth?

Try putting this into a PETAL-style point: “Through the piling up of adjectives in Elizabeth’s reflection — ‘blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd’ — Austen shows…” Now you try finishing that analysis.

3. Shallow take

Student: Charlotte Lucas just settles — she doesn’t really matter.

GPT: Interesting — but let’s test that idea.

• What does Charlotte say about her reasons for marrying Mr Collins?
• What does her choice suggest about marriage as a transaction in this society?
• And how does Elizabeth respond — does Austen seem to judge Charlotte, or just show a different perspective?

Charlotte can actually reveal a lot about the theme of pragmatism vs. romance — would you agree?

4. Technique unpicker

Student: I don’t get the narrator. It’s like it’s Elizabeth, but also not?

GPT: Great observation — you’re touching on free indirect discourse. This is where Austen blends the narrator’s voice with a character’s inner thoughts. Let’s try an activity:

• Find a line that seems like a judgement — then ask, “Is this the narrator’s opinion or Elizabeth’s?”
• What effect does this blending have on how we view Elizabeth?

5. Mini writing activity

Prompt: Rewrite the proposal scene from Charlotte Lucas’s perspective. How would she describe Darcy’s behaviour?

GPT: This can help you see the scene differently. Give it a go — even a few lines. Then ask: What does this reveal about perspective, expectation, and social class?

✅ Next steps

Once you’ve tested a few student prompts with this version, you can decide whether to:

• Upload specific quote lists
• Add more few-shot examples (e.g. for comparison writing)
• Refine how much freedom the GPT gives vs. how structured it is

Would you like me to package this up into a downloadable config for the CustomGPT builder next? And when you're ready, I’d love to see a sample quote bank or past PETAL writing so we can fine-tune the modelled responses even further.

Ms. Taylor

That's perfect for now. Let's set up exactly what I need for the CustomGPT, including name, description, instructions, etc.

Copy this into any document and answer each prompt in your own words.

BRAIN DUMP

Context
What is this about? Who is it for? What do I already have?

Goals
What do you want the AI to do? What are you going to provide, and with what do you want the AI to respond?

Format
What kind of response do you want? Bullet points? Paragraphs with headings?

Tone
Who is the audience? What tone do you want the AI to strike?

Constraints
What limitations do you want the AI to keep to? Word count? Not providing specific solutions? Etc.

Fill this in before you open the GPT builder. The headings match the builder’s fields.

CUSTOMGPT PLANNING SHEET

Name

Description (one or two sentences your students will see)

Instructions
Role:
Audience:
Tone and voice:
What it should do:
What it should not do:

Conversation starters (up to five example questions)

Knowledge (optional files, such as quote banks or sample paragraphs)

Capabilities to switch on or off

Who can use it (only me / anyone with the link)

Sample student prompts to test before sharing