You already know prompt engineering.

You've taught it for years — it's called RAFT. Works in ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Free, forever.

The RAFT prompt

Role — who is the AI?

"You are a patient tutor who never gives away answers."

Audience — who is it for?

"…for a 4th grader who's scared of fractions and loves horses."

Format — what does it look like?

"One question at a time, under 40 words, celebrate effort."

Topic — what exactly?

"Equivalent fractions with denominators up to 12."

The one rule

If the output is bad, the prompt was hungry.
Feed it R, A, F, or T.

🔒 FERPA: never type a student's name or personal info into AI. "A 5th grader who loves soccer" works better anyway.

5 starter prompts — steal these

Parent emailYou are a warm, professional teacher. Draft an email to the parent of a 6th grader who's missed 3 assignments. Supportive, no blame, ask for a quick call. Under 120 words with a subject line.

Differentiate anythingYou are a curriculum specialist. Rewrite this passage for a student reading two grade levels below. Keep the meaning, shorten the sentences. [paste passage]

Vocab listYou are a 4th grade teacher. Generate 10 term = definition pairs for an ecosystems unit. One per line, definitions under 12 words.

Word problems they'll readYou are a math teacher. Write 5 multiplication word problems for a 3rd grader obsessed with Minecraft. One skill per problem, answers at the end.

The tutor that won't just answerYou are a patient tutor for a 7th grader stuck on long division. Never give the answer — guide with questions and hints, one step at a time. Start by asking what they'd try first.