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The Power of Prompting

30 mega-prompts. 7 modules. Zero fluff. This is the course educators use to stop talking at AI and start thinking with it.

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Built for educators who want to go beyond "just try ChatGPT."

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Teachers who want to use AI thoughtfully — not just quickly
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Instructional coaches looking for prompts they can hand to their team
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School leaders exploring what AI literacy actually looks like in practice
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Anyone who's tired of AI hype and wants something they can use this week

How It Works

Every lesson gives you a real prompt — not a demo, not a sample. Something you can use this week. The placeholders in cyan are yours to fill in. That's where your context, your school, and your students show up.

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Open a lesson and read why this prompt matters
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Make it yours — fill in the cyan placeholders with your context
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Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini — any AI tool
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Check it off and watch your progress grow

Jump to a Module

D.R.I.V.E.R. Framework1✓
S.P.A.R.K. for Students5✓
Role Play6✓
Community Building6✓
Feedback6✓
Power of Play3✓
Executive Function3✓
Module 1 0 / 1

The D.R.I.V.E.R. Framework

Six steps to drive any prompt — your foundation for everything.

Here's the thing about prompting: most people skip straight to asking AI a question and wonder why the answer feels generic. D.R.I.V.E.R. is why. Six moves. Each one adds a layer of specificity that changes what comes back. Learn this first — everything else in this course builds on it.

DDesignatePick a role
RReferenceName the result
IInspireSet the aspiration
VValueVoice your values
EEngineerDesign the structure
RReflectBuild in reflection
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D.R.I.V.E.R. in Action — A Worked Example ▼

Why This Matters

Each D.R.I.V.E.R. step adds a different kind of specificity — role, output, audience, tone, structure, and reflection. That layering is what turns a basic prompt into a mega-prompt.

The Prompt

You are a middle school basketball coach. (Designate) You are drafting a three minute halftime speech. (Reference) This is for a tired team who need hope that they can come back and win. (Inspire) You value humor and poetry. (Value) The talk should start with a question and end with a call to action. (Engineer) Then give me two follow-up questions to help me think about what needs revising. (Reflect)
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Key Insight: Notice how each line adds a different dimension. That's what makes a mega-prompt different from "write me a speech" — it's layered thinking.
✍️ Your Turn

Pick something you actually need this week — a meeting opener, a parent email, a lesson intro. Run it through all six D.R.I.V.E.R. steps and paste the result into your AI tool. Compare the output to what you'd get from a one-line prompt.

🏆 D.R.I.V.E.R. Unlocked

You now have the six moves that turn any vague idea into a prompt worth pasting. Everything from here builds on what you just learned.

Module 2 0 / 5

S.P.A.R.K. — Five Ways to Get Started

A framework for student learning with mega-prompt templates.

Now that you've got D.R.I.V.E.R. under your belt, let's put it to work with students. S.P.A.R.K. gives you five different entry points — five ways to help a learner partner with AI instead of just copy-paste from it. Each one is a different kind of thinking. Pick the one that fits your next lesson.

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S — Stimulate Creativity ▼

Why This Matters

This turns AI into a creative writing partner that helps explore concepts through storytelling, character, and emotion — not just information retrieval.

The Prompt

You are my creative assistant. You have studied creative writing, specifically you are well versed in (author's work). Please help me kickstart my (type of writing or text type) that will take the audience on an adventure through (place or time) in order for them to feel (emotion). Your priority is to feature a protagonist who faces (depiction of conflict) in order to explore the theme of (theme description). Please draw investigation from (legends, mythology, film, etc.). This task is meant for (audience description). One key question I would like the reader to feel curious about through their reading journey is (question here).
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Why it works: By naming an author's style, an emotion, and a source of investigation, you're giving the AI three different creative constraints. Constraints breed creativity.
✍️ Your Turn

Pick a concept from your curriculum. Instead of asking AI to "explain" it, use this prompt to turn it into a short creative piece. Notice the difference.

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P — Personalized Assistance ▼

Why This Matters

This turns AI into a concept-based tutor that meets students where they are — breaking big ideas down across levels and connecting to personal interests.

The Prompt

You are an expert concept-based learning tutor. You have a wealth of knowledge about (topic). You are also a skillful (related profession). Please break down the concept of (pick concept) at three different levels: (level, pick ages or grade level). Please also provide one example at each level. Then list three questions for me to reflect on in order to understand this concept's relationship to where I live in (favorite place). Lastly, please provide me with a clear analogy for understanding this concept better. Please know that my personal interests include (hobby or passion) when drafting the analogy.
✍️ Your Turn

Have a student fill in the placeholders themselves. The act of choosing their own hobby, place, and level — that's metacognition in action.

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A — Add Alternative Perspective ▼

Why This Matters

Pushes you to consider viewpoints you might not have sought out — grounded in real expertise, not just opinion.

The Prompt

You are an expert (select type). You have studied the writings of (key thinkers). I am preparing for a (activity) about (topic). I think that (personal opinion). Give me a different perspective on this issue that will help me consider a wider range of questions I need to think about and reflect more deeply on. Incorporate specific bias examples about (provide specific types of bias).
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The magic: You state your own opinion first. The AI isn't generating a generic counter-argument — it's responding to YOUR actual position.
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R — Reimagine Notes ▼

Why This Matters

Transforms raw notes into a structured study resource with follow-up questions, concept definitions, and connections to existing knowledge.

The Prompt

You are my learning assistant here to help me gain clarity after consuming my notes from a lesson on (lesson focus). Prepare to read my notes, then summarize them in three short sentences. Provide me with five follow-up questions to help me think more critically about my notes. Then finally create a bulleted list of concepts with definitions that I should study. Explain how those concepts connect with my existing notes. Address me as (name or salutation) and keep your tone (select tone).
✍️ Your Turn

After your next meeting or PD session, dump your raw notes into this prompt. See what questions the AI surfaces that you didn't think to ask.

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K — Knowledge Expander ▼

Why This Matters

Connects academic content to career aspirations — helping students see why what they're studying matters beyond the classroom.

The Prompt

Currently I am studying (topic) in my grade (level) (subject area). I am struggling to understand this topic. Can you provide a few reasons this topic is one I need to learn more about if I want to become a (professional job description)? Connect the subject matter to my future career aspirations. Also provide a few questions about the design cycle that I might be interested in.
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Notice: "I am struggling" gives AI permission to be patient and foundational. Teaching students to name what's hard is itself a skill.

🌟 Five Ways In

You've just built a toolkit for student thinking with AI — not just student use of AI. That's a different thing entirely.

Module 3 0 / 6

Role Play Prompts for Thought Partnership

Practice hard conversations, build confidence, and think through conflict.

This is where it gets personal. These six prompts turn AI into the thinking partner you wish you had at 4pm on a Tuesday — someone to push back on your ideas, rehearse a hard conversation with, or help you get unstuck when you're procrastinating. Not a replacement for a colleague. A warm-up for being a better one.

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Nudge Me▼

Why This Matters

A compassionate but critical thinking coach who won't just agree with you. Designed to surface the biases you don't know you have.

The Prompt

You are an expert in analytical thinking. You are a compassionate but critical coach who will have a series of at least three exchanges with me about an opinion I have. You will refrain from agreeing with me, and instead you will provoke reflection and you will make me aware of biases I might not be aware of as they pertain to my opinion. Are you ready to begin?
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Why this is powerful: Most of us rarely have someone push back on our thinking in a safe way. This prompt creates that experience on demand.
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Confidence Builder▼

Why This Matters

Rehearse a social situation you're nervous about — accountability plus practice in a low-stakes environment.

The Prompt

You are an expert in interpersonal dynamics. You are going to help me prepare for a social situation that I feel nervous about. You will hold me accountable to getting better, and you will do so through at least three thoughtful exchanges. Your role is to help me play out the scenario and feel more confident. Shall we begin?
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Role Play Script with Questions▼

Why This Matters

Creates a multi-perspective script to help a group process difficult feedback — great for leadership teams or staff meetings.

The Prompt

You are a conflict management specialist. Prepare a script that provides (Number) very different perspectives on a group working to process difficult feedback they have received about (TASK). The script should help our group define better ways to listen and consider alternative perspectives. Give us a sample set of three discussion questions at the end of the script.
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Where Did I Go Wrong?▼

Why This Matters

A guided conflict resolution role play that holds space for feeling overwhelmed while still moving toward agency.

The Prompt

You are well versed in conflict resolution. You will role play with me to help me better understand how I can repair a relationship where there is significant conflict. Keep in mind that I am feeling overwhelmed about this issue, and at the same time push me to think about my agency. Are you ready?
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Ignition▼

Why This Matters

Helps break through procrastination with an organized plan, timeline, and motivation built right in.

The Prompt

You are a project manager with a special expertise in (area). I have procrastinated on (task). You will engage in a coaching exchange with me that helps me set an organized to-do list and a timeline. Please address me with (mindset). Are you ready to begin our exchange?
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Not Sure How to Start a Conversation▼

Why This Matters

A communications coaching prompt that helps you prepare for a negotiation or difficult conversation by building on your strengths.

The Prompt

You are a communications expert with a special set of skills that pertain to negotiation. I need you to coach me on potential strategies for opening a dialogue. Through a series of exchanges between us you will help me feel prepared, empowered, and self-aware about how my strengths can best be used. Please start.

💪 Halfway Mark

You've built prompts for your own thinking, for students, and for hard conversations. The next four modules take all of that and point it at culture, feedback, play, and the skill underneath everything else.

Thinking about bringing this to your whole team?

The BAKE framework helps school leaders build a shared AI literacy mindset — not just shared tools.

Explore BAKE →
Module 4 0 / 6

Community Building Prompts

Build connection, collaboration, and belonging.

You've practiced thinking with AI on your own. You've built prompts for students. Now: how do we build the room? These prompts help you create the conditions where collaboration actually works — belonging, trust, shared language. AI handles the creative scaffolding so you can focus on the human part.

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Which Analogy Fits for You?▼

The Prompt

Generate a list of ten analogies for a classroom. Focus on generating analogies that can be understood by (AGE RANGE). Give a range of different analogies that pull ideas from sports or fashion or music. Include at least one example that references the landscape in (LOCATION).
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Why Do We Need One Another?▼

The Prompt

Please generate a top five list of debates that (SUBJECT) students in Grade (X) should have to help them best understand why (SUBJECT) is a collaborative process. Include one key concept from (SUBJECT) as a factor in each debate. Include a sub-question for each debate.
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Recipe for Collaboration▼

The Prompt

Please generate a recipe for best collaboration practices that would be relevant to (GRADE). The recipe should be ten lines long. In each line leave at least one fill in the blank. Focus on including (skills or framework or curricular tie in) in this recipe.
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Before We Learn Together...▼

The Prompt

Offer five reflection questions that are helpful for (SUBJECT) in (GRADE) to ask themselves before working in small teams. These questions should help the student prepare to collaborate and communicate with compassion. Relate the questions to our school mascot which is (MASCOT).
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Tying reflection to the school mascot makes it feel local and specific. Small design choices make a big difference in buy-in.
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Getting to Know Me Template▼

The Prompt

Create a template for a (GRADE) student to use in writing a letter to their class. This template should make space for the student to explain how others can best collaborate with them. The template should also make space for the student to tell others about their personal interests.
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Questions for the Teacher▼

The Prompt

Pretend you are (age) student studying (SUBJECT). What are five questions you would want to ask your (SUBJECT) teacher in order to better understand how to learn together? Please consider while drafting these questions that this is an (CURRICULUM FOCUS).
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Feedback Prompts

Give, receive, and think more deeply about feedback.

Ask any teacher what they wish they had more time for. Feedback comes up every time. These prompts don't replace the human act of giving feedback — they help you design the culture around it. Sentence starters, preparation checklists, role plays. The stuff that turns feedback from a dreaded event into an ongoing practice.

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Feedback Recipe▼

The Prompt

You are an expert in analytical thinking. Draft three different recipes for effective feedback in a (GRADE/SUBJECT) classroom. Each recipe should place a different emphasis on a different skillset that is integral to communication. Your recipes should provoke a conversation about what makes feedback meaningful in learning.
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Feedback Sentence Starters▼

The Prompt

You are an expert in communication. Draft five sample sentence starters that would be useful for (GRADE/SUBJECT) students to use in a peer review about (TASK). The goal of the peer review is for students to better understand (OBJECTIVES).
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Role Play Script with Questions▼

The Prompt

You are a conflict management specialist. Prepare a script that provides (Number) very different perspectives on a group working to process difficult feedback they have received about (TASK). The script should help our group define better ways to listen and consider alternative perspectives. Give us a sample set of three discussion questions at the end of the script.
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Prepare for Feedback▼

The Prompt

You are a highly trained mentor. Create a five point checklist for a mentee to use as a reflective tool before they prepare to receive feedback. This checklist should be accessible to (GRADE) and connect to our school values of (CONCEPTS).
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Clarifying Feedback▼

The Prompt

You are a highly motivated student who has received some feedback about (topic). You are driven to deeply understand ways to action that feedback. Draft seven very unique questions that you might ask in order to better work with that feedback.
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Why Feedback Matters▼

The Prompt

You are an aspiring (career). Carefully consider nine reasons that getting better at processing feedback as a (task) is useful for you. Ensure each of the nine reasons is specific, unique and directly connected with the profession named.

🚀 Five Down

You've covered student learning, thought partnership, community, and feedback. Two more to go — and they're the fun ones.

Module 6 0 / 3

The Power of Play

Stories, improv, and games to unlock creative thinking.

Almost there. And honestly? This might be my favorite module. Interactive fiction. Improv games. Board game strategy. These prompts prove that play isn't the opposite of rigor — it's the engine of it. If you've been doing the modules in order, you've earned this.

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Interactive Story▼

Why This Matters

A choose-your-own-adventure that embeds curriculum into an interactive narrative — accessible, engaging, and inclusive of readers with dyslexia.

The Prompt

You are an interactive fiction writer. You will be drafting an interactive story for an audience of (select grade or topic or subject). The aim is to inspire students to think about the significance of (concept) as they pertain to (context). The interactive story should value the intelligence of the students and their creative thinking skills. The story should take no more than five minutes to finish and be written in a way that is accessible for readers with dyslexia. Please present one chapter at a time, allowing me to make a decision before continuing with the next part of the plot. Do not reveal any outcomes until a choice has been made. At the end of the story, include three questions for (activity).
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The accessibility consideration and five-minute constraint are design choices that make this actually usable in a real classroom.
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Improv Ideation▼

The Prompt

You are an expert in improv. You are looking to help theatre students brainstorm a way to bridge improv and an appreciation of (TOPIC). These theatre students are passionate about (CONCEPT/THEME). Your ideas should value collaboration and playfulness. Generate eight different rough draft ideas for a new improv game that takes all of this into consideration. Also provide two reflective questions that can help the students consider how to further develop the ideas.
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Board Game Strategy▼

The Prompt

You are a strategic thinker who is well versed in board game design. You coach board game players who are looking to get better at competitive play. You value play and individual practice. Come up with three very different very unique approaches to getting better at the game (NAME OF GAME) that a (AGE) old could try out with (RESOURCE RESTRICTIONS). In addition provide an open ended reflective question to accompany each approach to push the learner to think about the importance of play as it pertains to their studies in (SUBJECT OR UNIT DETAILS).
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Executive Function

Planning, task management, and goal-setting with AI as scaffold.

Last module. And it's the one underneath everything else. Planning. Prioritizing. Breaking a big scary goal into steps you can actually take. These prompts use AI as the scaffold — not to do the thinking for you, but to help you see the thinking more clearly. Use these for yourself first. Then hand them to your students.

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Project Manager▼

Why This Matters

Creates a project framework with built-in reflection questions and motivational phrases — the cognitive and emotional sides of getting things done.

The Prompt

You are a skilled coach and mentor. Please generate a framework I can use for a (WEEKS) project on (TOPIC). This framework should provide (number and type of) questions I can use to (verb) on my (understanding of concepts). Please write me (number) motivational phrases I can use when I feel (emotion).
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The motivational phrases aren't fluff — they acknowledge that executive function breaks down when emotions take over.
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Task Translation▼

The Prompt

You are a highly motivated project manager. Please prepare to break down instructions I will provide. I would like you to also provide a vocabulary list of (#) terms in the instructions. I also would like you to explain why the assignment is important for me to do as someone who wants to become a (job type). Your new version of the instructions should focus on (function). Are you ready to review the instructions?
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Goal Navigation▼

Why This Matters

Breaks one big goal into smaller steps with time constraints, examples, and advice for when you get stuck — a full executive function scaffold.

The Prompt

You are an executive assistant who pays extremely close attention to detail. Please help me break down one big goal into (x) smaller steps. For each step provide three examples of how I (task). Provide a timeline that helps me work on each step over the course of (timeframe). Build in 15 minute breaks, and know that I only have (x) hours each day to focus on this. Give me a brief word of advice on what I can do for each step if I am confused. My big goal is to (goal), the end result is (x).
✍️ Final Challenge

Use this prompt for something real right now. A report, a project, a personal goal. Let AI build the scaffold, then you do the climbing. You've earned it.

You've learned to think with AI.
Now imagine your whole school doing the same.

These 30 prompts gave you a foundation. But here's what we keep hearing from school leaders: "I get it now — but how do I bring my whole team along?"

That's a different challenge. It's not about tools or policies. It's about building a shared way of thinking about uncertainty, learning, and change.

That's what BAKE is for.

BBalance
AAdaptability
KKnowledge-Sharing
EEmpathy
Explore the BAKE Framework →

Starting at $26 for the 4-week Foundations email series. School-wide packages available.

"You just built 30 prompts for yourself. BAKE helps your whole school build the mindset to use them well."

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Designed by Tricia Friedman at Shifting Schools