In this edition of EdTech in the Spotlight, we’re excited to feature TeacherGPT — a multi-purpose teaching tool built here in Aotearoa to support primary school teachers with smarter planning and resource creation. Designed to reduce time spent on admin and prep, TeacherGPT helps kaiako create high-quality, editable classroom materials in minutes, giving them more time to focus on what matters most: their tamariki.
A practical AI assistant for primary school settings
TeacherGPT is built for primary school teachers who want to save time and create better resources and planning, without sacrificing professional judgement.
Its most popular features include the ability to generate:
- Google Slides presentations, synced directly into a teacher’s Google account and ready to edit or use immediately
- Visual resources such as worksheets, posters, hand-outs, flashcards, and more
- Lesson and unit plans, with optional syncing to Google Docs
- On-demand online learning games and activities, designed specifically for the teacher’s students and their learning needs
This last feature represents a real shift in how digital tools can support learning in primary school — moving from searching for a game that “sort of fits”, to designing an interactive activity on demand that targets exactly what a student or group needs to practise.
A key part of TeacherGPT’s approach is editability. Teachers can ask TeacherGPT to make changes, or update content themselves in friendly editors. The team believes this is essential: language models often get classroom content close, but only the teacher knows what’s right for their learners — and TeacherGPT is designed to leave space for that input.
Building for schools, not just individual teachers
Recently, the TeacherGPT team has been investing heavily in their school plan, including a new feature: school-wide instructions.
These instructions help TeacherGPT understand how to create Google Slides, resources, planning, and games specifically for each school. For example, a school can set a simple one-line instruction so that:
- planning always links back to school values
- resources include te reo Māori translation by default
- outputs align to school-specific expectations and style
This makes it easier for schools to implement AI in a consistent, safe, and context-aware way — without adding complexity for primary school teachers.
Working closely with primary schools in Hamilton
TeacherGPT has been engaging with several primary schools in Hamilton to understand their approach to AI — what’s already happening, what concerns they have, and what they’d love to see more of.
One of their closest partner schools is St Joseph’s Catholic School, where teachers have a strong understanding of how language models work, including risks for the next generation and privacy concerns around using un-vetted AI tools.
A consistent theme has been how AI-savvy primary school teachers already are — and how thoughtfully schools are approaching these tools to support learning, while managing risk appropriately.
Designed around real primary school needs
Working directly with schools has shaped TeacherGPT into something that actually works in a real primary school environment. These conversations have influenced the feature set — including Google Slides creation, online learning games, and school-wide instructions.
What the team keeps hearing from teachers is simple: it doesn’t need to be perfect — it needs to be ready for them to take over.
If a slide deck used to take an hour to build for a single lesson, TeacherGPT can create it in two minutes and get the teacher 95% of the way there. The final 5% — the tweaks, context, and professional judgements — remain with the teacher, where they belong.
That matters, because primary school teachers in Aotearoa are under real pressure right now, and the tools they use should be making their lives easier.
A tool built by people who understand primary school teaching
TeacherGPT was created by Eden and Kelly, both with over a decade of experience in enterprise software. Eden is also a former primary school teacher and has seen first-hand how much pressure teachers are under.
They genuinely believe in an Aotearoa where teachers are less stressed and able to do what they do best — teach. After all, nobody started teaching out of a passion for paperwork.
Explore TeacherGPT
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TeacherGPT’s tools:
An online student activity generated by TeacherGPT:
A chat with TeacherGPT, where a worksheet is generated:
