01◎
Describe
Choose an assignment and explain what students are learning.
Output: learning goalINDEPENDENT TEACHER RESOURCES
SCIENCE WEISE · TEACHER DESIGN LAB
Keep the thinking
with the student.
ASK BETTER QUESTIONS ✳ FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
Build a student-facing NotebookLM learning coach for your own classroom. Use the copy-ready prompts, bring your own lesson materials, and create your own notebook. No shared Science Weise notebook or account connection required.
NO SHARED NOTEBOOK NEEDEDYOUR SOURCESYOUR STUDENTS
Teacher Design CoachExample conversation
GUIDEDAI DESIGN PARTNERWhat are students supposed to learn from the assignment, beyond finishing it?
TEACHERThey need to interpret their data and defend a conclusion.
AI DESIGN PARTNERThen AI can explain methods and check reasoning, but students should make the evidence-based claim. Want to define those boundaries?
Designed to coach, not complete the work
01START WITH LEARNINGNot the technology
02PROTECT THINKINGKeep decisions with students
03TEST THE EXPERIENCECheck real AI responses
THE PROCESS / 5 STAGES
From a lesson idea to
a learning coach.
Use the process as a conversation. No technical prompt-writing experience is required.
02⌁
Decide
Define which thinking students own and what AI may scaffold.
Output: boundaries03✧
Audit
Check whether AI might quietly do the important reasoning.
Output: thinking audit04⌘
Build
Generate student-facing NotebookLM Custom instructions.
Output: prompt < 10k05↗
Test
Try real student questions and check learning independently.
Output: improved coachOne public resource website. Your own private design process.
This website offers guidance and copy-ready prompts. Teachers use their own ChatGPT or Gemini conversation to design a coach, then create their own NotebookLM with materials they approve for students. This site never asks for files or stores your lesson information.
START HERE / NO SPECIAL SETUP
Begin in your own AI chat.
Open your preferred approved AI assistant, paste this prompt, and let it interview you about one assignment. You do not need access to anyone else’s notebook.
COPY-READY STARTER
One assignment. One conversation.
In a new conversation in ChatGPT or Gemini, paste this prompt. Attach your assignment or lesson plan if school policy permits.
I am a teacher building my OWN student-facing NotebookLM learning coach for one assignment. Act as an instructional design partner. Interview me one focused question at a time about the learning goals, student needs, available sources, and the thinking students must do themselves. Offer options and challenge ideas that let AI do assessed reasoning or make students unnecessarily frustrated. After our interview, conduct a Student Thinking Audit. Then help me write standalone NotebookLM Custom instructions under 10,000 characters, targeting 8,500 or fewer including spaces and line breaks. Do not write the final instructions until the design decisions are clear. If you cannot verify the character count with a tool, say so rather than guessing.
WHAT TO BRING
Choose one real assignment:
- A lab or investigation
- A text analysis or research task
- A writing or revision activity
- A review or skill practice lesson
Protect the learning:
“What should students be able to do without AI afterward?”
PROMPT TOOLKIT / COPY AND ADAPT
Good questions build
better instructions.
Use these during the teacher's design conversation. Choose the stage you need and copy its prompt.
STAGE 01 / DESIGN
Interview me about my assignment
Start with the learning and let AI gather context through conversation.
YOUR CLASSROOM / NOTEBOOKLM SETUP
Make your own
student notebook.
This is the practical setup after your AI design conversation. Each teacher owns their notebook, chooses their sources, and decides when to share it.
DESIGN SPACEChatGPT or Gemini
Interview, thinking audit, instructions, and revisions
CLASSROOM SPACEYour NotebookLM
Your lesson sources + your Custom coach instructions
LEARNING SPACEYour students
Read-only access after teacher testing and approval
Choose student-facing sources
Gather the assignment, student directions, approved readings, reference tables, procedures, and student-visible rubrics. Never upload answer keys, concealed results, private student data, or sources students should not access. Sources are the content the notebook can use.
Create your own notebook
Visit NotebookLM ↗ using a school-approved account. Choose Create new notebook and name it for the course and activity, such as Biology | Natural Selection Investigation.
Add your lesson materials as sources
Use Add source / Upload a source to include the student-facing material. Supported options may include PDFs, Google Drive files, copied text, web pages, or YouTube links. Inspect imported content and make sure nothing unintended is exposed.
Generate your Custom instructions
Return to your design conversation. Use the Thinking Audit and Final Prompt prompts. Paste the resulting instructions into the character checker. Aim for 8,500 characters or fewer and remain under 10,000.
Configure your notebook's chat
In NotebookLM’s chat panel, choose Configure Chat → Custom. Paste only the final student-facing instructions, select a response length, and Save. The built-in Learning Guide is an alternative, but Custom is the option for your own detailed coach behavior.
Test and revise before students enter
Ask realistic student questions, including genuine confusion, requests for answers, checking work, and repeated attempts to bypass rules. Ask: Does the student still make the important decisions? Check a new comparable skill independently, without AI.
Share only after reviewing access
Use NotebookLM Share to grant Viewer access to intended students, or attach it through Google Classroom if enabled by your school. Viewers can access notebook sources, even when a chat-only view is used. Confirm student access and district rules before publishing.
Important distinction: This website does not log in to NotebookLM, build your notebook automatically, or receive your class files. You do those steps inside your own account. Custom instructions guide behavior but cannot guarantee the AI will never make mistakes.
RESOURCE LIBRARY / ALL TEACHER-DOWNLOADABLE
Tools for your
own notebook.
Everything here works without a shared Science Weise NotebookLM. Download what helps, then build in your own approved AI tools and notebook account.
TEACHER GUIDE
KPS Teacher PD Handout
Four-page guide covering the learning goals, Student Thinking Audit, prompt creation, and student testing.
STEP-BY-STEP
Create Your NotebookLM
Independent teacher instructions: start a design chat, add sources, configure Custom, test, and share safely.
SOURCE TEMPLATE
Lesson Source Planner
A reusable worksheet for choosing lesson sources, writing learning goals, and screening for private material.
WORKED EXAMPLE
CSI Learning Coach v2.1
See a detailed science coaching prompt. Learn from its structure, but adapt boundaries to your own assignment.
STUDENT SAFETY
Student Source Checklist
Check visibility, privacy, source accuracy, student access, and independent assessment requirements.
OPTIONAL ADVANCED
Build Your Own Design Notebook
Optional instructions if you prefer a separate personal NotebookLM for teacher design. This site does not need it.
PD FACILITATOR
30-Minute Session Plan
A no-shared-notebook workshop: independent design chats, prompt building, notebook setup, and testing.
DISTRICT REFERENCE
KPS Artificial Intelligence Guidance
Review local expectations for age-appropriate use, privacy, academic integrity, and responsible teaching.
QUALITY CONTROL / BEFORE LAUNCH
Test the coach.
Not just the prompt.
Good instructions matter, but actual student interactions and independent transfer matter more.
STUDENT THINKING AUDIT✳
Who is doing the thinking?
For each important learning goal, ask:
- What does the student still decide or reason through?
- Could AI guide the student to an answer without understanding?
- Does the coach provide real help when students are stuck?
- How will students show the skill independently?
3–5 MINUTE TRANSFER CHECK
Try a new but comparable task with no AI. Does the student apply the same reasoning independently?
PROMPT LENGTH CHECKER8,500 TARGET / 10,000 MAX
Check before you paste.
Paste the student-facing NotebookLM Custom instructions, not the whole design conversation.
0characters (includes spaces & line breaks)
Ready to check08,50010,000
The checker counts text locally in your browser. NotebookLM's field is the final check for acceptance.
TRY THESE STUDENT MESSAGES
Test both too much and too little help.
Click a test to copy it for NotebookLM.
ABOUT THIS SITE / SCIENCE WEISE
An independent home
for teacher resources.
This resource hub is live at ai.scienceweise.com and runs independently of the main Science Weise website and any personal NotebookLM account.
SITE OWNER CHECKLIST
Keep the site useful and current
Use the site maintenance notes ↓ to prepare updates. Teachers can use these resources without access to any shared design notebook.