Why I Built Teacher Time: A Letter to Exhausted Teachers

Written By Ryan Green

If you're reading this at 10 PM on a Sunday night, frantically finishing lesson plans for tomorrow—I see you. I've been you.

My name is Ryan, and I'm an Ontario Certified Teacher and New York State Certified Teacher with a Master of Science in Teaching from SUNY and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the University of Windsor. But more importantly, I'm a teacher who saw an issue with teachers sacrificing weekends, evenings, and own well-being to keep up with the never-ending demands of this profession we love.

The Breaking Point

It was a Sunday in October—the fourth weekend in a row student teaching I'd spent hours figuring out lesson plans. My family was downstairs watching a movie. I was upstairs, staring at a blank template, trying to differentiate a math lesson for a 6/7 split class with wildly different needs.

Three hours later, I had one lesson. One.

I did the math: If I spent 3 hours per lesson, teaching 5 subjects... that was 15 hours of planning per week. On top of teaching full days. On top of grading. On top of parent emails and IEP meetings and staff meetings and...

I was drowning. And I knew I wasn't alone.

Every teacher I talked to was exhausted. We all joked about "teacher tired"—but it wasn't funny anymore. We were burning out.

Then AI Happened

When ChatGPT launched, I was curious but skeptical. I tried the obvious: "Write me a lesson plan for 4th grade math on fractions."

The result? Generic garbage. Nothing I could actually use in my classroom. It didn't know my students. It didn't understand differentiation. It had no idea about my three IEP kids, my five ELLs, or the fact that I had zero budget for fancy manipulatives.

I almost gave up on AI entirely.

But then I thought: What if the problem isn't AI—it's the prompt?

The Turning Point

I started experimenting. Instead of "write me a lesson plan," I tried:

"You are an expert educator creating a differentiated lesson plan for a 4th grade math class with 7 below-grade-level students who need visual models, 15 on-level students, and 4 advanced students who need extensions. The topic is adding fractions with unlike denominators. I have 60 minutes, limited supplies, and need built-in formative assessments..."

The output changed everything.

Suddenly, I had a lesson plan that understood my classroom. With three tiers of practice problems. With sentence frames for my ELLs. With accommodations I could actually implement.

And it took 15 minutes instead of 3 hours.

I went from skeptic to believer in one Sunday afternoon.

But There Was Still a Problem

I started sharing my AI prompts with colleagues. They loved them. But they also said:

  • "This is overwhelming—I don't know where to start"

  • "I tried it but the output was still too generic"

  • "I don't have time to learn how to write prompts"

  • "Can you just give me the prompt you used?"

That's when I realized: Teachers don't need another tool to learn. They need ready-to-use solutions.

They need prompts that:

  • Are built on actual pedagogy (UDL, differentiation, PBIS)

  • Work in real classrooms with real constraints

  • Require zero AI expertise

  • Save hours immediately

  • Actually produce classroom-ready materials

That's why I built Teacher Time.

What Teacher Time Actually Is

Teacher Time isn't an AI tool. It's not another platform to log into. It's not a subscription that nickels-and-dimes you.

It's a collection of premium AI prompts—created by teachers, for teachers—that you can use with free AI tools you already have access to.

Each prompt is:

  • Pedagogically sound (built on educational frameworks, not guesswork)

  • Classroom-tested (used with real students in real schools)

  • Context-aware (accounts for IEPs, ELLs, limited resources, your actual constraints)

  • Foolproof (fill in the blanks, copy/paste, get results)

  • Time-saving (turns hours of work into minutes)

We have prompts for:

  • Differentiated lesson planning

  • Assessment creation with rubrics

  • Parent communication (emails, newsletters, progress reports)

  • Behavior intervention plans

  • Report card comments

  • IEP goals and accommodations

  • Substitute emergency plans

  • And more...

The Mission

I want to give 10,000 teachers their weekends back by 2027.

Because when teachers have time to breathe, students get better educators.

When teachers aren't exhausted, they can bring creativity, patience, and passion to their classrooms.

When teachers have their evenings back, they can be present with their families—or just rest.

Teaching is hard enough. The paperwork shouldn't be.

My Promise to You

Teacher Time will never:

  • Require expensive monthly subscriptions

  • Replace your professional judgment

  • Give you generic, one-size-fits-all templates

  • Claim AI can "do your job"

Teacher Time will always:

  • Respect your expertise as an educator

  • Save you real time (we're talking 1-3 hours per task)

  • Cost less than a single dinner out

  • Work with the free AI tools you already have

  • Be created by teachers who get it

What's Next?

Over the next few months, I'll be sharing:

  • How-to guides for using AI effectively in your classroom

  • Free sample prompts so you can try before you buy

  • Time-saving strategies that go beyond AI

  • Real teacher stories about reclaiming their time

  • Behind-the-scenes of building Teacher Time

But right now, I just want you to know:

You're not lazy for wanting your time back.

You're not a bad teacher for being exhausted.

You're not alone in feeling like there aren't enough hours in the day.

And most importantly: There's a better way.

Welcome to Teacher Time. Let's get your weekends back.

— Ryan

P.S. If you're ready to try your first time-saving prompt, check out our Differentiated Lesson Plan Generator. It's helped hundreds of teachers turn 3-hour planning sessions into 15 minutes.

P.P.S. Have questions? Email me directly at teachertimeai@gmail.com. I read and respond to every message.

Ryan Green