9 High-School Teacher Tasks AI Can Speed Up

(and How to Start Today)

Author

Michael Rice
August 11, 2025

If you teach grades 9–12, your workday rarely ends when the last bell rings. Grading, lesson planning, resource hunting, and admin work often spill into evenings and weekends. These tasks are essential, but they eat into time you could spend connecting with students or recharging.

The good news is AI tools like ChatGPT can help you reclaim hours every week. By automating repetitive work and speeding up planning, AI lets you focus on what matters most: teaching and inspiring your students.

Here is how AI can help with the biggest time drains:

  1. Grading & Feedback — AI can auto-score objective items, draft rubric-based feedback, and create personalized comments.

  2. Lesson Planning & Prep — Generate standards-aligned lesson plans, activities, and assessments in minutes.

  3. Searching for Resources — Get curated, ready-to-use materials without endless scrolling.

  4. Administrative Tasks — Automate emails, forms, and scheduling.

  5. Student Interactions Outside Class — Use AI to prepare responses or resources for recurring student needs.

  6. Collaboration & Meetings — Have AI take meeting notes and generate action lists.

  7. Parent Communication — Draft, translate, and personalize outreach messages quickly.

  8. Professional Development — Summarize key takeaways from workshops or readings.

  9. Non-Curricular Involvement — While AI cannot coach your team, it can help organize event details.

Try this prompt:
“You are an experienced high school teacher. Create a grading rubric for a 10th-grade persuasive essay on renewable energy, then generate three personalized feedback comments for common student mistakes.”

Bonus Tip: If you use ChatGPT to track ongoing projects, you can find past prompts and answers in the sidebar on desktop or in the ☰ menu on mobile under "History."

Common Non-Classroom Tasks for Grades 9–12 Teachers
(Weekly Hours & AI Saving Potential)

 

Rank

Task

Avg Hours/ Week

AI Time‑Saving Potential

Why It Matters

1

Grading & Feedback

~5 hours

Education Week

Extremely High (50–90%)

Teachers could save 3 to 4.5  hours/week using AI to grading and provide feedback.  

AI can auto-score assignments, generate rubrics, and draft personalized comments.

2

Lesson Planning & Prep

~4.5 hours

Adelaide Now. Education World 

Very High (50–80%)

Schools report teachers plan and prep for an average of 4.4 hours/week

AI can generate lesson plans, activities, and aligned resources.

3

Searching for Resources

~7 hours

Education World

High (60–80%)

Teachers could save 5.5  hrs/week searching for materials.

AI-powered search tools can greatly reduce this time.

4

Administrative Tasks 

~3 hours

Education Week

Moderate (40–60%)

General administrative work consumes (paperwork, emails, general admin) 

AI can automate forms, routine communications, and scheduling. 

5

Non‑teaching Student Interactions

~3 hours

Education Week

Moderate (30–50%)

Time spent meeting students outside instruction (e.g. behavior support)

AI may help triage and pre-screen common student concerns.

6

Collaboration / Meetings with Colleagues 

~2 hours

Education Week

Moderate (30‑40%)

Collaborative planning takes ~2 hrs/week 

AI can assist with meeting notes, action item generation, and schedule coordination.

7

Parent / Guardian Communication 

~2 hours

Education Week

Moderate (40–60%)

Contacting parents/guardians takes ~2 hrs/week 

AI can draft messages, translate, and customize content.

8

Professional Development & Other Tasks 

~1–2 hours

Education Week

Moderate (40–60%)

PD, committee work, and school events take ~1 hr each, often totaling ~2 hrs/week 

AI can help summarize learnings or generate forms.

9

Non-curricular involvement 

~1 hour

Low (0–10%)

Clubs, coaching, events outside class hours..

These are human interactions and leadership roles not easily automated

Want more time-saving tips?
You can explore all our past articles at www.teachingsmarter.ai.

If you found this issue helpful, please forward it to a fellow teacher who could use a little extra time back in their week. Together, we can help more educators teach smarter.