# Science Weise | Build Your Own Student-Facing NotebookLM Learning Coach

**Independent teacher guide | November 2026**

This guide does not require a shared Science Weise notebook. Use your own school-approved AI design assistant and create your own student NotebookLM.

## 1. Select the learning activity

Choose one assignment. Write down the learning goal and what students must independently do to demonstrate it. Consider whether AI may explain, model, check work, give hints, or respond directly for this particular assignment.

## 2. Interview yourself with AI

Open a new ChatGPT or Gemini conversation (where school policy permits). Copy the **Interview** prompt from the Science Weise AI Coach Lab site. Share the lesson or sanitized instructions if appropriate. Answer the AI's questions one at a time.

**Avoid uploading private student information to any design assistant.**

## 3. Conduct a Student Thinking Audit

Use the site's **Thinking Audit** prompt. Ask: who selects methods? who interprets data? who identifies patterns? who writes the claim? Could students complete the work by merely following AI instructions? What support is too little for a struggling student?

## 4. Build the final student-facing instructions

Use the site's **Final Prompt** prompt. Ask for a single standalone set of Custom instructions including purpose, source rules, instructional boundaries, scaffolding, feedback, and response style. The prompt must work *without* the prior design conversation.

**Length:** Fewer than 10,000 characters including spaces and line breaks; target 8,500 or fewer. Check with the site's local character counter. Do not trust an AI estimate without verification.

## 5. Create your NotebookLM

1. Open https://notebook.google.com/ using your school-approved account.
2. Select **Create new notebook**.
3. Name it for the course/assignment, for example `Biology | Natural Selection Investigation`.
4. Add only approved **student-facing** sources: assignment directions, approved PDFs and readings, reference material, student-visible rubrics, and legitimate video links.
5. Review the imported sources. Keep keys, concealed results, student data, and private teacher notes OUT of the notebook. The notebook's viewers may see its sources.
6. In the **Chat** panel, choose **Configure Chat → Custom**. Paste the final student-facing instructions (not your design conversation or teacher planning notes).
7. Select a response length and **Save**.

The separate built-in **Learning Guide** chat style is an alternative, but Custom is needed to use your specific instructional boundaries.

## 6. Test before sharing

Use the site's test questions and the **Test** prompt in your design conversation. Check normal questions, genuine confusion, repeated answer requests, checking math, and source discrepancies. Test multi-turn interactions. Confirm students still do the intellectual work being assessed.

## 7. Check independent learning

Give a brief new but comparable no-AI task or discussion, typically 3–5 minutes, to see whether students can apply the targeted skill independently. A complete AI-assisted assignment alone does not demonstrate mastery.

## 8. Share cautiously

Use NotebookLM **Share**, assigning intended students **Viewer** access, or attach via Google Classroom if your school supports the integration. Review account permissions and student access beforehand. **Chat view does not prevent viewers from accessing sources.** Follow district AI use, data privacy, and sharing policies.

## 9. Improve the coach

Bring actual example exchanges back to your design assistant. Use the **Revise** prompt. Keep good instructions, fix specific problems, recheck the character limit, and retest.

## Resources

- NotebookLM: https://notebook.google.com/
- Create notebooks: https://support.google.com/gemininotebook/answer/16206563
- Configure Custom chat: https://support.google.com/gemininotebook/answer/16179559
- Add sources: https://support.google.com/gemininotebook/answer/16215270
- Google Classroom: https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/16534159
- District guidance: https://www.kentwoodps.org/departments/strategy-and-innovation/artificial-intelligence/

**Science Weise design principle:** The teacher decides the learning. AI supports the work. Students own the important reasoning.