What not to paste into an AI chatbot — a plain-language guide for teachers

AI chat tools can help with a lot of planning work. But when you type into one, your words usually go to a company’s servers, where they may be stored, reviewed or — depending on the product and your settings — used to improve future models. That makes one rule more important than any prompt trick:

Plan with AI. Keep students out of it.

This is practical guidance, not legal advice. Your district’s policies and any approved tools come first.

Leave these out

• Names, including first names and nicknames.
• Grades, scores and assessment results tied to a student.
• IEP, 504 or other plan details, diagnoses, or health information.
• Behavior notes, discipline records or family circumstances.
• Photos of student work that show names or faces.
• Anything that could identify a child when combined — “the only student in fourth grade who just moved from…”.

Describe needs instead of people

You almost never need personal details to get useful help. Compare:

• Instead of “Write a version for Jordan, who has dyslexia and reads at a first-grade level,” try “Write a version of this passage with shorter sentences and common words, around a first-grade reading level.”
• Instead of pasting a student’s essay, try “Here’s an anonymous sample paragraph I wrote that shows a common mistake. Suggest feedback.”

The second version of each gets you the same help without sharing anything about a child.

Check your tool and settings

• Use your district’s approved tool for school work if there is one. Approved tools may come with agreements about how data is handled.
• Look at the privacy settings. Many AI products let you turn off the use of your chats for model training or delete history. Know what yours does.
• Don’t sign students up for AI tools on your own. Age requirements and school approval rules often apply.

When in doubt, leave it out

If you’d hesitate to say it in a crowded room, don’t type it into a chatbot. You can always add the personal context back in when you adapt the material yourself.

Our AI tips page has more on planning with AI, and the prompt builder adds a reminder to every prompt it writes.