Chalkdust Tom (test)
Every routine below is something AI runs for Chalkdust. Press Copy for my agent on any of them to have your own AI build it.
Chalkdust Tom (test), you've got Gemini doing the morning admin, the parent drafts and the Friday quiz, with a sharp mixed-ability trick tucked in the margin.
1Brief me on today's lessons and cover changes
A notification lists today's periods, any cover I have been given, and emails from the office that mention my name. Silent at weekends and in the holidays.
Tue. P1 Year 9 (Room 12), P2 free, P3 and P4 Year 11, P5 cover for Mr Adeyemi (Year 7 geography, Room 3). Office: trip consent forms for Year 8 due by Friday; you are named on the list.
How to borrow it
- Reads
- my calendar, unread email from the school office
- Runs on
- an assistant on a schedule
Ask first - What time should it arrive? (default 7am on school days) - Which calendar holds your timetable? (default the work calendar) - Which senders count as "the office"? (default anything from the school's domain that is not a pupil) - Does your timetable live in your calendar today? If not, build it from a typed-in two-week timetable and add it to the calendar first. Needs - a calendar with the person's periods in it, in any form. If the timetable is only a printed grid, the person types it in once and the assistant creates the calendar entries. - read access to email from the school's domain. The assistant says: it reads only unread messages from the school's own addresses from the last 24 hours, and nothing from pupils or parents. - a chat-only version: the person pastes the day's calendar and asks for the brief; cover will be missing unless they paste the cover email too. Build 1. Read: at the scheduled time, today's calendar events and unread email from the school domain in the last 24 hours. 2. Decide: list periods in order with room. A cover is any event added in the last 48 hours whose title contains "cover" or another teacher's name. An office email counts if it names the person or their year groups; everything else is left out. Term dates define "school day": if the date falls in a holiday the task sends nothing. 3. Deliver: one notification of at most six lines. Nothing is replied to. Check - Add a fake cover event dated today and run once by hand: it appears as cover. - Run it on a Saturday: nothing arrives. In my version - Gemini scheduled actions on my school Google account, with Workspace connected. Term dates are in the school calendar, which I subscribe to.
2Draft replies to parent emails for me to check
A draft reply sits in Gmail under each parent email that arrived today. I read, edit and send; nothing goes out on its own.
Draft replies to parent emails for me to checkDraft
Dear Mrs Okafor, Thank you for your message. Daniel's essay was due on Monday; he has handed it in today, so no further action is needed. He is working hard in class. Best wishes, Tom
How to borrow it
- Reads
- email from parents, my own past replies to parents
- Runs on
- an assistant on a schedule
Ask first - How do you recognise a parent email? (default any sender outside the school domain whose message names a pupil) - Tone: how formal? (default warm and brief, two to four sentences) - Anything you never discuss by email? (default grades for other pupils, safeguarding matters) Needs - read access to the inbox and the ability to create drafts. The assistant says: it reads messages from outside the school and creates drafts; it never sends. - a few of the person's own past replies for voice. Without them, keep it plain. - a chat-only version: paste the parent's email, ask for a reply, copy it into Gmail. Build 1. Read: today's unread messages from senders outside the school domain that mention a pupil's name. 2. Decide: if the message asks a factual question the person can answer from the thread (homework, dates, a missing item), draft the answer. If it raises a complaint, a safeguarding concern or anything about another pupil, draft only "Thank you, I will come back to you tomorrow" and flag it in the notification. Never state a grade. 3. Deliver: one draft per thread, saved not sent, plus one notification line saying how many drafts are waiting and which were flagged. Check - Send a test email from a personal address naming a pupil and asking when homework is due: a draft appears with the date. - Send one mentioning another pupil by name: the draft is the holding reply and the notification flags it. In my version - Gemini on the school account, drafts in Gmail. I send about eight a week.
3Build a quiz from this week's lesson slides
A ten-question quiz per class lands in a Google Doc, built from the slides I taught that week, with answers at the end.
Build a quiz from this week's lesson slides
Year 9: The Peasants' Revolt
In which year did the revolt take place?
Name the tax that triggered it.
Who met the rebels at Smithfield?
...
Answers: 1381; the poll tax; Richard II.
How to borrow it
- Reads
- the week's lesson slides in Drive, the class list
- Runs on
- an assistant on a schedule
Ask first - Which folder holds your slides, and how are they named? (default one folder per class, files named by date) - How many questions, and what mix? (default 10: six recall, three explain, one source question) - Which classes? (default all with a lesson that week) Needs - slides or notes in a folder the assistant can read. If lessons are on paper, the person photographs the board or types the key points on Friday. - a folder to write into. - a chat-only version: paste the key points of the week and ask for ten questions. Build 1. Read: files changed in the slides folder in the last seven days, grouped by class. 2. Decide: write questions only from facts on the slides; never from general knowledge. Mix as set above. The answer key goes at the end under a heading. 3. Deliver: one Doc per class, named "Quiz, class, date". Nothing is shared with pupils; the person prints or shares it. Check - Put one test slide deck with three dated facts in the folder and run once: all three facts appear as questions and nothing else does. In my version - Gemini with Drive connected. Slides in one folder per class.
4Summarise the week's homework submissionsBuilding
A table per class showing who submitted, who is late and who has not started, from the class folder. Not running yet; the folder structure needs sorting first.
Year 10, essay due 10 Oct: 24 submitted, 3 late, 2 missing (A. Brown, J. Patel).
How to borrow it
- Reads
- the homework folder per class
- Runs on
- an assistant on a schedule
Ask first - Where do pupils submit: a shared folder, a classroom tool, email? (default a shared folder per class) - What counts as late? (default after the due date on the task) Needs - one place where submissions land, with the pupil's name on each file. Without that, the routine cannot tell who submitted. - a class list. Build 1. Read: files in each class folder added since the last run. 2. Decide: match each file to a pupil by name; anything that matches nobody goes in an "unmatched" row. Late is any file dated after the due date. 3. Deliver: one Sheet with a tab per class, overwritten each week. Check - Add three files with known names, one dated after the due date: the table shows two on time, one late, and the rest missing. In my version - Not built yet. Submissions are currently a mix of email and the classroom tool, so I am moving everything to one folder first.
5Tell me which pupils have gone quietIdea
A short list of pupils whose homework and quiz marks have dropped against their own term average, so I can check in before parents' evening.
Three to check in with: S. Hughes (two missing in a row), L. Nowak (quiz average down 20 points), R. Ahmed (no change in marks but three lates).
How to borrow it
- Reads
- the homework table, quiz marks
- Runs on
- not built yet
Ask first - What drop counts? (default two missing submissions in a row, or a quiz average down 15 points on the term) Needs - the homework summary routine running first, and quiz marks in a sheet. Build 1. Read: the last two months of the homework table and marks. 2. Decide: flag a pupil only on the rules above; show the evidence line for each. 3. Deliver: a chat note, nothing sent to anyone. Check - Seed one pupil with two missing in a row: they are the only name listed. In my version - An idea for after the homework summary works.
6Explain a source three ways for mixed ability
Three versions of the same primary source come back: a plain one, a supported one with a glossary, and a stretch one with a question to argue about.
Plain: The king promised the rebels their freedom, then took it back. Supported: The king (Richard II, aged 14) promised the rebels (farm workers protesting a tax) their freedom... Stretch: Was Richard's promise a lie or a tactic? Find one line in the source for each side.
How to borrow it
- Reads
- a pasted or photographed source
- Runs on
- a chat assistant
Ask first - What reading ages are your three groups? (default 9, 12, 15) - Do you want British spellings? (default yes) Needs - the source text, pasted or as a photo. Fully a chat routine. Build 1. Read: the source and the year group. 2. Decide: keep every fact from the source in all three versions; the plain version shortens sentences, never removes the meaning. The stretch version adds one open question with a line from the source for each side. 3. Deliver: three labelled versions in the chat. Check - Paste a source with one date and one name: both appear in all three versions. In my version - Gemini in the browser between lessons.
Tools
Reads from
- Gmailemail
- Google Calendartimetable
- Google Driveslides and homework
Runbook updated 14 October 2026