Shaping Little Minds Podcast: Integrating AI in Your Teaching Practice with Chris Hull

By: Otus Team

Educators are no strangers to long days, heavy workloads, and the feeling that there’s never enough time. As a former middle school teacher, Chris Hull knows that reality firsthand, and it’s part of what inspired him to co-found Otus, a K-12 data, assessment, and insights solution designed to simplify teachers’ lives.

On the Shaping Little Minds podcast, Chris joined host Adva to talk about how AI can help teachers reclaim time, manage their workload, and focus more energy on what matters most: connecting with students. The biggest lesson? AI is not here to replace teachers; it’s here to help them work smarter and feel more balanced.

3 takeaways every educator can learn from

Start small to see the benefits

When it comes to trying new technology, especially AI, Chris encourages teachers to start simple and explore where it can actually make life easier.

“Once you understand that AI can help you save time, help you be a little bit more efficient, help augment your amazing skills, I think it becomes much easier to explore because learning is about exploration.”

He recommends teachers begin one-on-one with AI before introducing it to the whole class. Test out the AI-powered tool by asking it to summarize notes, brainstorm lesson ideas, or refine a lesson plan. Small steps like these can reveal how AI can support creativity and reduce planning time without adding more to an already full plate.

AI should work with teachers, not for them

If there’s one thing Chris has said from the start, it’s that AI should (and will) never take over a teacher’s role. Instead, it should serve as a supportive partner (think “assistant”), one that helps educators find answers and insights quickly, without technical barriers.

“It’s comforting to know that all the work you’ve done, the AI didn’t replace it. You’re still the one evaluating the work… but not to be alone in that is absolutely amazing. It's the burden of always having to be on top of everything and also trying to pull everything together. And so, really, it's about providing tidbits of information that are going to make you more impactful as an instructor, which I think is the biggest value it can provide.”

In Otus, AI is built directly into the platform to make data more usable. Teachers can ask natural-language questions like “What standards is Jimmy struggling with in my class and what remediation can I provide?” or “What questions might parents ask me at parent-teacher conferences?” and instantly receive summaries, visualized data, and trends. This kind of assistance doesn’t replace a teacher’s judgement; it empowers it.

Students must learn to use AI responsibly

AI can also help students become more reflective, engaged learners when it’s modeled and guided appropriately. Imagine, for instance, a high school student who uploads their essay and rubric to an AI tool to receive feedback before submitting it.

“Instead of asking their parents to do this peer editing, instead of having the teacher help, they actually had a back and forth of, ‘Hey, your transition between your main idea and your first bit of evidence needs work.’ ‘Oh, okay, I know where to focus.’ Or, ‘In the rubric, it's asking you to provide three pieces of evidence, I only see two.’”

When students use AI as a feedback partner rather than a shortcut, they gain valuable insigh into their learning process. For teachers, it’s an opportunity to model ethical, effective AI use independence and critical thinking.

Wrapping it all up

For Chris Hull, the message is clear: AI isn’t about changing the heart of teaching, it’s about freeing teachers to focus on it. By starting small, exploring safely, and using AI to simplify rather than complicate, educators can find more balance in their work and more time for what truly matters.

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