Katie Wright knew that AI can save her time, but she also knew lessons created by AI will not be very useful if she lets AI completely do it for her.

This is a partnership, and AI is just her assistant.

To accomplish this, she started by asking for ideas on a lesson she wants to try. When she got a vague answer, but with a kernel of something good there, she began refining her prompt.

Wright shared her goals and outlines for the lesson, working with her tool to turn this into something she can use.

To her, that’s the trick to getting AI to help you create cognitively demanding tasks: Work with AI to create something together, combining its speed and alternate ideas with your creativity and expertise.

In this way, AI can help ease the lesson plan process without ever taking it over.  

The Educator

Katie Wright, a teacher at Odessa High School in Townsend, Delaware, wants to make AP psychology and sociology come alive — whether students are in the room or learning online through Schoology.

Her dual certifications in special education and secondary instruction aren’t just credentials; they’re the foundation for her mission to make advanced coursework accessible to every learner, from students learning English to those with disabilities.

Wright has a passion for teaching and curriculum design that has led her through various roles as an elementary social studies specialist and a middle school teacher.

Along the way, she became an AP psychology reader and even helped gamify economics lessons as part of the EPIC Games Education Advisory Board.

She’s not just teaching content — she’s reimagining how technology and creativity can open doors for all students.

How Have You Used AI in Your Classroom?

Wright uses artificial intelligence to synthesize her learning goals into cohesive and engaging project-based learning and inquiry-based learning units across all the courses she teaches.

By feeding unit outlines into her AI platform, she generates creative lesson structures and interactive learning experiences that align with her curriculum. This has helped her reimagine her classroom as a dynamic, student-led environment.

Recently, she used the following prompt to help her develop an inquiry-based unit on the biological bases of behavior for her AP psychology class:

“Give me a sample of a unit in AP psychology in the style of inquiry-based learning.”

Once she was satisfied with its responses, she provided the AI chat system with the teacher-made unit outline, which included learning goals, vocabulary and the course and exam description provided by the College Board for AP psychology.

She then refined her prompt to provide more context of what she was looking for:

• 12- to 13-day unit
• 2 to 3 inquiry tasks

All tasks would lead to a final project that would be a reflection portfolio-style summative assessment.

The AI chat provided an outline, and, with some more prompting, gave her a day-to-day rundown as well as detailed outlines for each task and reflection portfolio.

She has since taken this outline and started to tailor it to her teaching style, incorporating activities that she knew students had enjoyed in the past. Her final unit plan can be found online at IBL Unit 1: What’s controlling me?

What Has Been the Impact of AI on Your Teaching and Learning?

Wright recently launched her first PBL unit with her AP psychology students and immediately noticed an increase in curiosity and engagement.

The hands-on approach encouraged students to explore content more deeply and connect it to real-world scenarios — something that would have been harder to achieve through traditional lecture formats.

What Tips or Tricks Can You Give Educators Who Want to Start Using AI?

Wright’s number one piece of advice is this:

Don’t settle for the first response. Instead, guide the AI with follow-up prompts and clarifications.

AI doesn’t replace your planning—it enhances it.

She recommends starting with broader prompts — such as inquiry questions or unit goals — before working down to daily lessons. With a little practice, you’ll find your groove.

“You don’t have to give anything up,” Wright said. “AI doesn’t replace your planning — it enhances it. You’re still the expert in the room. This is just another tool to help you work smarter.”

Designing Cognitively Demanding Tasks with AI

Wright leaned into Pillar 1, designing cognitively demanding tasks using AI.

These longer units of study can take days or weeks to develop and tweak before launching with students.

She showed how using AI as a thought and planning partner can significantly reduce the time it takes to plan engaging, in-depth learning experiences for students.

She also layered what AI gave her with her own creativity and experiences as an educator, with the knowledge of what works best for her students.