Teachers lose hours to work that AI can genuinely shorten: planning, leveling readings, writing quizzes, and giving feedback. The tools below are the ones teachers keep using past the first week. The complication is student data, which is where most of these need a careful read before you type anything real into them.
| Tool | Best for | Price from |
|---|---|---|
| MagicSchool | Lesson plans and teacher templates | Free; Plus about $9.99/mo |
| Diffit | Leveling readings and resources | Free; Plus paid tier |
| Brisk Teaching | Feedback and grading in Google Docs | Free; Pro add-on |
| Quizizz AI | Quizzes and worksheets | Free; paid from about $19/mo |
| Curipod | Interactive slide lessons | Free; paid tier |
| Gamma | Slides from an outline | Free; Plus about $10/mo |
MagicSchool is the broad first pick. It bundles dozens of teacher-specific tools behind one login: lesson plans, rubrics, IEP-friendly accommodations, and unit outlines, with a free tier that covers most of what a single teacher needs. The paid plan adds a student-facing space and more storage.
Diffit does one thing well. Give it a topic, a link, or a passage and it returns a reading at the grade level you choose, with vocabulary and questions attached. For differentiating the same text across a mixed class, nothing else is this quick.
Eduaide is the close competitor to MagicSchool, with a strong resource generator and a teaching-assistant chat. If MagicSchool does not click for you, try Eduaide before paying for anything.
Brisk Teaching lives as a Chrome extension inside Google Docs and Classroom. It drafts feedback, flags where a student may have pasted AI text, and adjusts reading levels in place. The free tier is generous, and it fits the tools most schools already run.
For open-ended grading, a general model like ChatGPT can draft comments against your rubric, but you stay the grader. Treat the output as a first pass that you read and correct, never a final mark, and keep names out of it.
Quizizz AI builds a quiz from a topic or a passage in seconds and runs it as a live game or a homework set, with automatic grading. The free plan handles a normal class load.
Curipod turns a prompt into an interactive lesson with polls, draw-it slides, and open questions. It is the better pick when you want the class clicking along, not just answering multiple choice.
Gamma takes a rough outline and returns a clean slide deck you can edit, which removes the worst part of making a presentation. The free tier watermarks exports; the cheap paid plan removes it.
Canva remains the safe default for posters, handouts, and visuals, and its Magic tools generate images and rewrite text without leaving the design. If your school already has Canva for Education, you have most of this for free.
Here is the line that matters. Many of these tools are not automatically cleared for student data, and FERPA puts the responsibility on the school. Before you paste a real name, an IEP detail, or a graded sample into any AI tool, check whether your district has approved it and signed a data agreement.
When in doubt, strip the identifying details. The tools work just as well on a generic prompt as on a named student, and the generic version keeps you out of trouble. Verify the output too, because these tools state wrong facts with total confidence, and a worksheet of confident errors is worse than no worksheet.
MagicSchool is the broadest option, with dozens of teacher templates behind one free login, from lesson plans to rubrics to accommodations. Eduaide is a strong alternative with a similar range. For leveling a single reading across grades, Diffit is faster than either.
AI can draft feedback and speed up grading of short answers, and tools like Brisk work inside Google Docs where teachers already are. But you stay the grader. Treat AI comments as a first pass to review and correct, and keep identifiable student work out of tools your district has not approved.
Not by default. Many AI tools are not cleared for student data, and FERPA makes the school responsible. Check whether your district has approved the tool and signed a data agreement first. When unsure, remove names and identifying details; the tools work just as well on a generic prompt.
Most have a free tier that covers a single teacher's normal workload. MagicSchool, Diffit, Brisk, Quizizz, and Gamma all offer free plans, with paid upgrades for more storage, student-facing features, or watermark-free exports. Many also offer school and district licensing.