Read: ~5 min · Fill it out: 20–30 min
The rubric is stronger. The template is shaped. The evaluation protocol is in hand. What is left is the practical question of how to begin: which assignment to start with, what to have ready, what to watch for, and what success looks like on a first run.
This planner exists to answer those questions before you teach, not afterwards. It is not a project plan or a research instrument — it is a one-page set of decisions that makes the first real use of TA39 calmer, smaller in scope, and easier to learn from.
The planner has four parts: choosing the assignment, preparing the inputs, setting one or two goals, and naming the quality checks you will run before sending feedback to students. There is a short reflection section for after the run.
Fill it out. Then go teach.
1. Choose the right first assignment
The first run is not the place to take a risk. Choose an assignment where the variables are well understood and the stakes are low enough that an imperfect first attempt does not cost anyone too much.
A useful first assignment usually meets most of these criteria:
- Familiar. You have taught and graded this assignment before. The common struggles are known. The rubric works.
- Lower-stakes. A formative essay, a draft, a short analytical paragraph, a practice response — not the major summative.
- Manageable in size. Fifteen to thirty submissions. Large enough to feel real; small enough to review carefully without losing momentum.
- Aligned to one curriculum framework. IB, AP, CBSE, IGCSE, or your own — clearly named. The first run is not the time to test cross-curricular adaptation.
- Rubric in reasonable shape. Ideally optimized already; at minimum, clear enough to apply with confidence.
Write down the assignment title, the class, and the curriculum framework. That is the first decision.
If the rubric is not in good enough shape, stop here. Work through From Good Enough to Clear and Fair and the Rubric Analysis Protocol first, then return.
2. Prepare the inputs
Three things need to be ready before the first run.
- The prompt. The actual assignment instructions students are responding to, in the form they will see them. Not a paraphrase. Not an internal version.
- The rubric. The optimized version, in TA39's rubric library. If you have run the Rubric Analysis Protocol, the rubric should already be sharper than the version you started the term with.
- The feedback template. Built from your Voice Profile and your chosen feedback structure, with the template principles applied — specific evidence, limited priorities, usable next steps. If you have not built one yet, the Building Your Template from Your Voice Profile product video walks through it.
Three items, all in the library. None of them perfect, all of them ready.
3. Set one or two goals for this run
It is tempting to try to learn everything from the first run. That is the surest way to learn nothing. Choose one or two specific goals — what you actually want this assignment to teach you about using TA39 well — and ignore the rest.
Possible goals, in rough order of usefulness for a first run:
- Calibrating quality. Does the generated feedback meet your standards? Which adaptations do you find yourself making most often?
- Time per student. How long does it actually take to review and adapt, end to end?
- Voice fidelity. Does the feedback sound like you, or like a competent stranger?
- Rubric pressure-testing. Which criteria does the system handle confidently? Which ones surface fuzziness in the rubric itself?
- Student response. Are students acting on the feedback differently than usual?
Pick one or two. Write them at the top of the planner. That decision narrows what to look for, which makes the first run informative instead of overwhelming.
4. Name the quality checks you will run before sending
The Evaluation Protocol covers five parts: student-focus, curriculum-sensitivity, grade verification, essential teacher additions, and red flags. For a first run, plan to apply all five, but with explicit attention to two questions:
- Does this sound like me? Read each piece of feedback aloud. If it doesn't pass your ear test, the template needs another iteration.
- Will this student know exactly what to do next? If the answer is unclear, the feedback needs fewer points, more specificity, and clearer actions.
Those two questions catch most of what tends to go wrong on a first run. The full protocol catches the rest.
For each student in this run, you will:
- Read the generated feedback completely
- Apply the five-part protocol
- Adapt where needed
- Verify the grade against the rubric descriptor
- Add any personal element the system could not know
- Only then, send
That is the workflow. Nothing about it is unfamiliar — it is what good feedback already requires. TA39 changes what gets drafted first; it does not change what gets sent.
5. After the run: a short reflection
The first run is data. Twenty minutes of reflection afterwards is worth more than ten more runs without it.
Five questions usually surface the most useful patterns:
- What worked well? Which parts of the generated feedback were strong enough to leave alone?
- What did you adapt most often? Tone? Specificity? Curriculum language? Voice? The pattern points at what to refine next.
- What surprised you? Anything the system handled better than expected, or worse?
- Did the rubric hold up? Did any criterion produce noticeably weaker feedback than the others? That criterion is probably the next one to optimise.
- Would you use TA39 for this assignment again? What would you change about the inputs or the workflow next time?
Note your answers. Most of them turn into the next iteration of the rubric, the template, or the workflow — and the second run is usually noticeably calmer than the first.
A note on transparency with students
Most teachers tell students when AI is used in feedback. The framing matters more than the disclosure: students respond well to "I am using a tool to help draft feedback, which I then personalize for each of you" and respond poorly to language that implies the tool replaces the teacher's judgment. Some schools have a policy on this; some leave it to the teacher. Decide ahead of the first run, not afterwards.
A note on support
The first run goes better when there is someone to compare notes with. An assessment lead, a department colleague, a peer partner, or another teacher trying TA39 at the same time — any of these works. A single twenty-minute conversation after the first run, comparing what each of you adapted and why, usually saves several runs of trial and error on your own.
The planner page
Everything above explains the why. This is the page to fill in.
Print this section, or copy it into a single document, and complete it before the first run. Aim for one page, in your own handwriting if possible — the act of writing it out is part of the planning.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────
MY FIRST TA39 ASSIGNMENT — PLANNER
─────────────────────────────────────────────────
Teacher: ________________________ Date: __________
1. THE ASSIGNMENT
Title: _______________________________________
Class: _______________________________________
Curriculum (IB / AP / CBSE / IGCSE / other): _______
Type (formative / summative): ______________
Number of submissions: ______
Why this assignment (one line):
_____________________________________________
2. INPUTS READY (check all)
[ ] Prompt — in TA39, in student-facing form
[ ] Rubric — optimized, saved in the library
[ ] Template — built from Voice Profile + chosen
feedback structure, saved in the library
If anything is not ready, what is the gap?
_____________________________________________
3. ONE OR TWO GOALS FOR THIS RUN
Goal 1: _____________________________________
Goal 2 (optional): __________________________
4. QUALITY CHECKS — for every piece of feedback
before sending
[ ] Read aloud — does it sound like me?
[ ] Will this student know exactly what to do next?
[ ] Five-part protocol applied
(student-focus / curriculum / grade /
additions / red flags)
[ ] Grade verified against the rubric descriptor
[ ] Personal element added where the system
could not know
5. AFTER THE RUN — REFLECTION (block 20 minutes)
What worked well:
_____________________________________________
What I adapted most often:
_____________________________________________
What surprised me:
_____________________________________________
Did the rubric hold up?
_____________________________________________
Would I use TA39 for this assignment again?
_____________________________________________
─────────────────────────────────────────────────
That is the planner. Fill it out. Then go teach.
What to read or watch next
After your first run, return to the reflection section of the planner and turn the answers into one or two changes for the next assignment. The first cycle is data; the second is where the workflow starts to feel right.
Move to Layer 4: Going Deeper when you have run TA39 for a few weeks. Layer 4 has four short articles that match different practice questions:
- Calibrating Quality: Is Your Feedback Good Enough? — when you want to sharpen your sense of what "good enough" actually means.
- Hard Cases: Where Teacher Judgment Matters Most — when an assignment, student, or topic feels like it doesn't fit the workflow.
- Assessing Your Own Growth with TA39 — when you want to take a structured look at how your practice is changing.
- Formative vs. Summative: When TA39 Helps Most — when you want a clearer rule for which assessments to use TA39 on.
For the revision-uptake side of the workflow, watch Revision Rounds: Tracking Whether Feedback Lands. It pairs naturally with the formative writing tasks the planner usually steers you toward.