You have probably heard of ChatGPT by now. What you probably haven't realized yet is its amazing use in a life skills classroom. It has already revolutionized the way people do things, why not let it make your job easier too? I have compiled a list of ways you can easily test out ChatGPT's amazing capabilities in the world of a life skills teacher.
TASK ANALYSIS
Many life skills students need step by step support for daily tasks to help them lead a more independent life outside of your classroom. You can use ChatGPT to help come up with detailed breakdowns for any functional task you can think of! Here, I typed in the prompt "Can you create a task analysis for reheating food in a microwave?". Within seconds, ChatGPT was able to create a step by step breakdown that I could easily adapt for my students' needs. Some other prompts you can ask about include loading the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, brushing teeth, folding laundry, and so many more.
DIFFERENTIATED PASSAGES
Perhaps you are working on functional text in your classroom like reading online news articles, but the text is too difficult for your students to understand. ChatGPT is amazing with differentiating any text you paste in it to any grade level you need it to be. In the example below, I asked ChatGPT to take a pretty text-heavy article (10 to 12 paragraphs) and change it to a 1st grade level. The specific prompt I used for this was, "Can you help me differentiate this text to a first grade level?". It did this for me in seconds! This is a great way to differentiate for students of all learning levels in your classroom so everybody can access the content at a level that makes sense to them.
IEP GOALS
ChatGPT is wondering for coming up with functional IEP goal ideas. If you have a student with specific deficits you have observed in the classroom, let ChatGPT know so it can help you come up with an IEP goal. For this example, I asked it to write an IEP goal for a student who needs help using measuring cups. It created a great goal and provided context behind it as well! You could do this for so many different skills!
SOCIAL STORIES
ChatGPT is a great fit for helping life skills teachers come up with social stories in the classroom. Oftentimes, these social stories are needed for very unique and specific situations that cannot readily be found online. For this imaginary example, I have a student who keeps saying hello to the same person multiple times. Chat GPT created a wonderful social story I could easily adapt for my classroom instruction to support this students' learning.
MEAL PREP
ChatGPT is amazing at helping to meal prep! Have you ever found yourself staring in the fridge and just seeing ingredients instead of a final product? Well, this is where ChatGPT is smarter than us all haha. You can tell it what you have in your fridge and it will come up with suggestions for what you can do with those ingredients. This would be a great skill for life skills students to practice to help them use the ingredients they have on hand to try recipes they might not have even considered on their own. ChatGPT is also great for meal planning. Ask it to create a 5 or 7 day meal plan. You can specify things you don't like or are allergic to (fish, peanuts), and have it even focus on specific dishes (chicken only). I use this all the time myself as a teacher. Students could benefit so much from it!
PLANNING A VACATION
Whether your students want to travel to a nearby city or somewhere hours away, help them use ChatGPT to create a simple itinerary. ChatGPT takes the long reading and research out of your hands and provides a simple way for students to know must-see places. For this example, I asked "Help me come up with a weekend itinerary for visiting San Diego". The results did not disappoint!
JUST THE BEGINNING
This is just the beginning of AI like ChatGPT and its uses in the classroom. As it evolves, I cannot wait to see how else it can support instruction in the classroom.